Chris Drury made it clear back in January that the Rangers were not ripping everything down. The plan was a “retool,” not a rebuild, and that distinction matters because it puts the spotlight on the kind of young players New York has added since then.
For this approach to work, the Rangers need more than just names on a prospect list. They need Liam Greentree, Alberts Šmits, and Cole Beaudoin to become real pieces - players who can help sooner or grow into bigger roles later.
“You try to identify players that we think can get to this stage and play in big moments and make big plays,” Drury said in February. “Specifically to him, we valued him and a prospect like him higher than 26 or 27 first-round pick.”
Greentree is one of the most interesting of the three. The 20-year-old captained the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League and put together a huge 2024-25 season, finishing with 49 goals, 70 assists, and 119 points in 64 games.
Even with that production, opening night may still be a tough ask. The additions of Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen make the Rangers’ roster picture crowded, so Greentree is more likely to be a name to follow closely in rookie camp and training camp than an immediate lineup lock.
Šmits arrived in a different way, but with the same idea behind the pick. After a disappointing 2025-26 season that ended with the Rangers missing the playoffs for a second straight year, New York held the fifth overall pick and used it on the 18-year-old defenseman.
There were still other defensemen available, but the Rangers went with Šmits anyway because he was viewed as one of the most pro-ready blue-liners in the 2026 draft class. He has already signed his entry-level contract, which gives him a chance to win a spot out of camp.
That said, the left side of the Rangers’ defense is deeper now with Marcus Pettersson in the mix, so Hartford in the American Hockey League looks like a very real starting point for Šmits.
“We're gonna do right by him and the long-term health and well-being of him as a Ranger,” Drury said of Šmits. “This is not a sprint for him.
We hope he's a rock-solid defenseman for the Rangers for the next 15 years. We're not going to put him in positions or situations that he can't handle.
So excited to add him, but again, not going to do anything that's not in the best interest long term for him.”
Still, the Rangers will get a close look at him through training camp and the preseason before deciding what comes next.
Beaudoin came to New York in a different transaction entirely. On July 1, the Rangers traded Vincent Trocheck to the Utah Mammoth and got Beaudoin as the main part of the return.
He was a first-round pick by Utah in the 2024 NHL Draft, and like Greentree, he already looks like a player built for the pro game. This past season, the 20-year-old served as captain of the Barrie Colts and posted 33 goals, 55 assists, and 88 points in 54 games.
The Rangers’ signing of center Joe Veleno suggests there’s no urgency to rush Beaudoin into the NHL right away. He’s expected to begin the season in Hartford as well.
Whether any of Greentree, Šmits, or Beaudoin breaks camp with the Blueshirts for the start of the 2026-27 season, the bigger picture is obvious. The Rangers still have an older core with Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox, J.T. Miller, and Mika Zibanejad, and that means the young talent has to start arriving in waves.
That’s why these three prospects sit at the center of the retool. Their growth will go a long way toward deciding how successful it really is.
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