Chris Drury’s blueprint for the Rangers’ “retool” has been clear for months: he’s not chasing draft picks for the sake of stockpiling them. He wants players who can help now, and keep helping later.
That approach showed up again in the moves he’s made since issuing his January letter outlining the plan. When Drury traded Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings in February, the return included 2024 first-round pick Liam Greentree, a prospect expected to make the jump to pro hockey this upcoming season.
The Rangers also landed forward prospect Cole Beaudoin as one of the main pieces in the trade that sent Vincent Trocheck to the Utah Mammoth last week.
And Drury has been just as willing to part with draft capital to get young, established talent. That was the case in the deal for Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights, which cost the Rangers the 26th- and 92nd-overall picks in the 2026 draft, along with a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2028.
Even with the Rangers trying to get younger, Drury said he sees value in paying that price when the player fits the timeline and the contract.
“My philosophy, and our philosophy was, if they're for the right player or players that are at the right age with the right contract, that can help our lineup - not just in the next year or two, but for a number of years down the road - that would be worth it,” Drury said about his reasoning of giving up three first-round picks.
He also pointed to the returns the Rangers have already gathered as part of that same strategy.
“We were also able to acquire at the deadline a first-round pick that's closer to playing and turning pro this year in (Liam) Greentree, and a little later pick in (Jacob) Battaglia, and obviously Cole (Beaudoin) yesterday was a former first-round pick, so we felt like we plugged some holes with not only real players to put on our roster that can play in key roles, but also added some some other picks and actual draft picks and an actual prospects in those players I mentioned.”
In Other News...
Rangers Fans Still Can't Agree On What Braden Schneider Really Is
Braden Schneider has already become one of those Rangers players who can spark a debate just by coming up in conversation. The 24-year-old defenseman, drafted 19th overall in 2020, has logged 368 career games and 43 more in the playoffs, and his appeal is easy to understand: hes big, shoots right, and can be used in different spots on the blue line.
Still, the conversation around Schneider rarely settles into one clean answer. Some fans and analysts see a sturdy, useful piece with real pedigree and experience for his age, while others are less certain about how high his ceiling really is, which is why his status as a restricted free agent has only added to the uncertainty. For the Rangers, he remains one of those players whose value is obvious in some ways and far less settled in others. [Read more 🡒]
Vlad Gavrikovs First Rangers Season Left One Big Question
Vlad Gavrikov arrived in New York on a seven-year, $7 million deal to stabilize the Rangers on the left side of defense, and his first season gave the club plenty to like. He delivered a career-best offensive year, finishing with 14 goals and 35 points, and his scoring punch helped carry part of the load when Adam Fox was sidelined.
The bigger question is whether that production masks areas that still need work, because the Rangers saw enough unevenness in Gavrikovs defensive game to keep the conversation going. His shorthanded play and his work retrieving pucks and getting them out of the zone stood out as spots for improvement, which makes the next season a key one for a player expected to bring more than just offense to the blue line. [Read more 🡒]
Jacob Battaglia Suddenly Feels More Important To The Rangers Future
Jacob Battaglia arrives at his first pro season with a little more intrigue than a typical prospect because the Rangers did not just get a young forward from Calgary, they got one who spent last season learning a new position and looking more complete because of it. The 20-year-old moved to center after the trade to Flint, and even with his point total slipping from the year before, the broader growth in his game made him stand out as someone whose value might be rising for reasons beyond the scoresheet.
That matters in New York because the organization can use help down the middle, and Battaglias development camp showing only added to the buzz around him. Nathan Aspinall singled out his creativity and character, which is the kind of praise that tends to stick when a player is still early in his pro path. The real question now is whether Battaglias new role can translate once the games get faster and the stakes get higher. [Read more 🡒]