Rangers prospects: Playoff success; spotty goalie depth; 2026 Draft options
At one point this season, the New York Rangers had 13 prospects playing in North America, which is a pretty considerable amount. But an even better number is eight, representing how many of those prospects are still active in their respective postseasons, gaining valuable playoff experience.
Now, eight does include defenseman Drew Fortescue, who’s playing with the Rangers after finishing up at Boston College a couple weeks ago. And it also includes forward Brody Lamb, who’s playing with Hartford of the American Hockey League after his NCAA career concluded at Minnesota. Lamb had a six-game AHL point streak end this past weekend.
The number of prospects still playing could go back up to nine if the Rangers choose to have defenseman Artem Gonchar sign an ATO with Hartford. Raoul Boilard and Cape Breton were eliminated in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs Sunday.
Malcolm Spence and EJ Emery are in the Frozen Four this week and could meet in the NCAA Championship Game next weekend, should both Michigan and North Dakota advance with wins Thursday. Nathan Aspinall and Jacob Battaglia face-off against Liam Greentree in the second round of the OHL playoffs.
This is quite a turn around from where the prospects pool was a year ago when Gabe Perreault and Noah Laba were pretty much the only ones worth talking about.
But a word of caution since the Rangers have a Grand Canyon size hole in their prospect pipeline. Let’s call this a beginning, a good start. The Rangers must hit on a majority of their 11 picks in the 2026 draft — especially their lottery selection — to restock a pretty barren pipeline.
Speaking of the Draft (Part 1)
The Rangers have plenty of holes to fill organizationally, at all positions. But even with Igor Shesterkin locked in as the No. 1 on Broadway, the goalie depth behind him is lacking.
If Jonathan Quick moves on or retires and Dylan Garand proves he is a solid backup, then that’s not a bad placer to start after Shesterkin. But what happens if Shesterkin gets hurt, as he did this season?
Ask anyone who was around when, first, Mike Richter and then Dan Blackburn saw their careers derailed by injuries. The Rangers had nobody who could step in behind them and they went through goalies like water.
Taking Quick out of the equation, the Rangers goalie depth chart looks like this:
1- Igor Shesterkin
2- Dylan Garand (RFA)
3- Spencer Martin
4- Callum Tung
5- Hugo Ollas (RFA)
6- Talyn Boyko (RFA)
Raise your hand if you think that should Shesterkin sustain a longer-term injury that the Rangers are equipped with enough depth to weather that storm again? Boyko is on loan to a team in Finland, and Ollas spent most of the season shuttling back and forth with Tung between Bloomington of the ECHL and Hartford. They’re not real NHL prospects.
Tung and Martin have contracts for next season, so they will at least start the year with the organization. But after that, the market for undrafted free agent goalies is pretty dried up, so why not use a couple draft picks on goalies, and have better footing for the future?
Take one, say, playing in the USHL and heading to the NCAA, and another playing in Europe, who is willing to come over to play North American junior. Or draft a 19-year-old goalie who is closer to being pro ready. No matter the strategy, drafting goalies is a must in 2026.
Speaking of the Draft (Part 2)
Chase Reid – photo courtesy OHL Images
The recent strong play down the stretch for the Rangers is doing wonders to make some fans happy, but it potentially could be damaging to where they pick in the first round of the draft. After two more wins this past weekend, the Rangers odds of winning the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery are 9.5 percent, per Tankathon.
Right now, sitting with the fourth pick, the Rangers could be looking at the following:
Tynan Lawrence – C- Boston University – Talented BU kid? How could Chris Drury and Mike Sullivan resist? Lawrence is a pretty big (6-foot-1, 185-pound) two-way center, who most think would turn pro if not right away then in a year. This is the best of the expected options, after he left Muskegon of the USHL to join BU in January, where he was the second-youngest player in NCAA Division I hockey.
Caleb Malhotra – C – Brantford (OHL) – Older Rangers fans are set to scream “Not another Malhotra!” But this is very much not father like son. Caleb brings excellent offensive skills to his plate as well as the defensive-minded game that his father did have. Manny Malhotra wasn’t the star the Rangers expected at No. 7 overall in 1998, but the center did play 991 games in the NHL, most of them after he was traded away by the Rangers. Selecting his son is not a bad pick, but boy will Drury need to sell Ranger fans on this one
Chase Reid – D – Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) – The right-shot defenseman was an early favorite of this site but his draft stock dropped as he appeared to run out of gas this season. Reid’s not as physical a defender as the Rangers really need, but hopefully offense bounces back.
Ethan Belchetz – LW – Windsor (OHL) – If you like Greentree, then you’ll love this 6-foot-5, 230-pound man child. Belchetz drops here because he sustained a broken left clavicle in March. But before he was injured Belchetz recorded 34 goals in 57 games. Greentree had 38 in 52.
