3 Rangers Storylines to Follow Heading Into the 2026 NHL Draft

The NHL offseason is in full swing with many major trades already being made ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft this week and free agency on July 1. One team that has been quiet so far has been the New York Rangers, and with the team wanting to be better next season, it’s safe to assume they won’t stay quiet for long. With the fifth overall pick in the upcoming draft and multiple players’ names out in trade rumors, these next two weeks could end up being busy for general manager Chris Drury. In this piece, we are going to go over three storylines Rangers fans should follow as we inch closer to the draft.

Who Will They Select at Fifth Overall?

The Draft Lottery was not kind to the Rangers, as they fell from third to fifth overall in the upcoming draft. The feeling right now is that the top four will consist of Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, Chase Reid, and Caleb Malhotra. If those four players are off the table, it seems the Rangers are likely going to take one of four players, three of which are defensemen and one forward. If they were picking to address their most needed position, they would likely take Viggo Björck, who is a center that can also play wing. The issue teams could have with him is that he is only 5-foot-9, and Drury has also preferred bigger, tougher players over the smaller, skilled players.

If they don’t take a forward, there are three defensemen they could look to take to help bolster their blue line for the future. Those three players are Carson Carels, Albert Šmits, and Keaton Verhoeff. With Carels, he is the most skilled of the three, with his offensive and transition games being strong. He is also a solid defender, so if he is available to the Rangers at pick five, they would likely take him over Šmits and Verhoeff. While the latter two players are likely better defensively than Carels, the Rangers need a player besides Adam Fox on their blue line who can create offense.

Do Trocheck & Schneider End up Moving Before the Draft?

Two names who have been on the trade market for months now from the Rangers are Vincent Trocheck and Braden Schneider. Drury set a high price on these players heading into the trade deadline earlier this season, and no team was willing to meet that price. Now, with more teams in the mix and the salary cap on the rise, now is the perfect time to trade these players in order to get back assets to help the Rangers going forward. The question now is, are any teams going to step up and give Drury what he is asking, or will he have to settle for what he thinks is the best offer, as you don’t want this situation dragging out over the offseason?

Trocheck seems like the more likely of the two to get traded soon, and with his recent switch to Pat Brisson as his new agent, he likely wants a trade sooner rather than later. His 12-team no-trade list drops to 10 teams on July 1, so maybe that is when a move is made. However, with all the trade action happening around the league due to the lack of top free agents, a trade happening before or during the draft is not out of the question. Drury could want to try and get another first in the draft this year and use that, plus other assets, to make a bigger move. It will be interesting to see if these players move, as the noise around them has been quiet so far.

Will Drury Make Any Other Trades?

Drury has plenty of work to do if he wants to turn the Rangers back into a playoff contender next season. Since the free agent market is so weak this offseason, he is going to have to look to the trade market to try to address some of the needs this team has. They need another top-six winger, and with names like Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars and Matthew Knies with the Toronto Maple Leafs out there in rumors, could Drury try to go for one of these players? Players like Brady Tkachuk, William Eklund and Jordan Kyrou have already been traded this week, so these kinds of players can be had, but is Drury willing to pay the price?

The Rangers also need to add another top-four defenseman, one who is preferably left-handed. A name they were linked to was Bowen Byram, but he just got traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for the fourth-overall pick. Drury was never going to pay that price for a player who is going to want a massive extension and has a history of injuries. Not many interesting names are out there in terms of puck-moving left-handed defensemen that could be available, so Drury is going to have to get creative if he wants to bring one in.

With all the action that has taken place over the past few days, the Rangers have been one of quieter teams. There have also been fewer rumors involving them over the past few weeks than there have been in the past. Maybe Drury is trying to keep a tight lip on what he wants to do and who he wants to go after, but it’s safe to assume he won’t stay quiet for long. The Rangers need to get involved in the action, and these are three key storylines you need to watch for as the draft gets closer.