The Rangers will have the fifth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft after Toronto won the first lottery drawing and San Jose won the second drawing.
The Rangers had the third best odds to win one of the lottery drawings.
Adam Rotter: They were right there for number one. They needed a 9 or a 14 and it came up 12 and that meant that the Maple Leafs won the lottery and bumped the Rangers back one spot to 4.
They had two chances again when the last ball was about to come up and move up to number two but it didn’t come up their way and so they will now select 5th.
The Rangers should have a chance to get one of the top defensemen in the draft but it’s possible that center Caleb Malholtra or Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg could drop to them if San Jose and Chicago both go defense. Vancouver would likely select one of Malholtra or Stenberg and that could leave the other one for the Rangers. If Malholtra and Stenberg are both gone then defense should be the easy call. There are a bunch of top defensive prospects and it will be on the Rangers and their scouting staff to figure out which one fits the best.