The Rangers spent last season staring at the wrong end of the standings in two places at once.
New York finished in last place in the Eastern Conference, and Hartford - the club’s AHL affiliate - ended up last in the entire league. That kind of double dip naturally set off alarm bells, because when the big club is sinking and the prospects aren’t moving forward, the whole operation starts to look shaky.
Since then, the Rangers have tried to restock the cupboard in a hurry. At the NHL trade deadline, they traded Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings and landed winger prospect Liam Greentree.
In the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft, they used the fifth overall pick on Latvian defenseman Alberts Smits. Then on July 1, they added center prospect Cole Beaudoin as part of a larger deal with the Utah Mammoth that sent Vincent Trocheck the other way.
That gives the Rangers a much better-looking pipeline than they had a year ago. But “better” is relative here, because the organization’s draft history has left it in a hole that’s been years in the making.
This is a team that has repeatedly pushed first-round picks out the door in search of immediate help. From 2013 through 2016, the Rangers didn’t have a single first-round selection, having shipped those picks out for Rick Nash, Martin St.
Louis and Keith Yandle while chasing a Stanley Cup that has eluded them since 1994. They came close in 2014, winning the Prince of Wales Trophy as the Eastern Conference’s top team before losing in five games to the Los Angeles Kings.
The pattern didn’t stop there. In 2022, the Rangers sent their first-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Andrew Copp.
In 2025, they dealt their first-rounder to the Vancouver Canucks for J.T. Miller.
Neither move delivered the payoff they were after. In 2022, the Rangers fell to the Tampa Bay Lighting in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In 2025, they missed the playoffs altogether.
When a team keeps trading away premium picks, the selections it does keep have to hit. For New York, too many didn’t.
The list of misses is a rough one: Lias Andersson, Vitali Kravtsov, Brennan Othmann and Kaapo Kakko, who never became the dangerous scorer the Rangers hoped for when they took him second overall in 2019. That one stung even more because the New Jersey Devils took Jack Hughes first overall right before them.
It hasn’t been all bad news, though. Brady Skjei, taken in the first round in 2012, gave the Rangers some useful years even if he didn’t become the long-term answer they envisioned.
K’Andre Miller, selected in 2018, was solid in New York before being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, where he immediately won the Stanley Cup and played the best hockey of his career. Alexis Lafrenière, the 2020 lottery winner, has had his share of ups and downs, but last season suggested he can still be part of the Rangers’ future.
He showed chemistry with Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault, who looks like a first-round pick with real promise and a chance to grow into one of the team’s top-six forwards.
That context matters because the Rangers haven’t gone for a full teardown. Chris Drury has taken more of a retooling route, bringing in prospects and young players while also trying to keep the team competitive. It’s not the cleanest path, but the roster looks better on paper than it did a year ago.
Smits, in particular, arrives with a strong reputation. He was viewed as the most pro-ready player in the 2026 draft class, and while there’s no urgency to rush him, his play in training camp could force Mike Sullivan’s hand. Greentree and Beaudoin bring more upside up front, but the safer bet is to let both develop in Hartford under new coach Jay Leach, whose work with prospects during his time with the Boston Bruins has earned praise.
The Rangers’ efforts to rebuild the pipeline have drawn notice from scouts, too. The Athletic’s Vince Mercogliano spoke with evaluators about the organization’s work, and one Eastern Conference scout pointed out that with the Rangers having traded away so many picks - 20 since Drury became general manager in 2021 - a deep system was never going to be easy to build.
“New York’s in a position where you can’t really expect them to have a deep pool,” the scout said. “Having tried to basically win the last few years, they haven’t had the picks to really do that.”
So yes, the Rangers have reason to feel better about where the prospect pipeline stands now. But the microscope isn’t going anywhere. Smits, Greentree and Beaudoin will be watched closely all season, and if the progress doesn’t come, the frustration around the franchise will quickly land back on Drury.
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Ducks Just Opened The Door For Their Next Big Move
Chris Kreiders brief stay with the Ducks has come to an end, another notable turn in a career that already carried plenty of Rangers significance. After being traded from New York, the veteran winger spent last season in Anaheim, where his presence was as much about experience and pedigree as it was about what came next for a club trying to juggle its roster and salary structure.
The move also gives Anaheim some needed breathing room under the cap as it works through its restricted free-agent business, including talks with Cutter Gauthier. Kreider, 35, leaves with a long track record of production behind him, including 348 goals and 632 points, and his next stop will be one of the more interesting follow-up stories for a player whose career has already taken an unexpected late turn. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Bottom-Six Battle Just Got More Complicated After Tolvanen Signing
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The signing also sharpens the pressure around the fringe of the lineup, where several players are fighting for limited spots and the margin for error is thin. With line combinations still being sorted and waiver rules very much in play, the Rangers suddenly have more to weigh than just who fits best on paper, and less room to keep everyone they might want to keep. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Prospects Have An Early Chance To Force Tough Camp Decisions
The Rangers are getting an early look at their next wave this week, with prospects headed to Allentown, Pa., for two rookie games against the Flyers. It is a useful first checkpoint for a 26-man camp roster built mostly from drafted and signed prospects, along with a couple players who have already seen limited NHL action. Before the real camp battles begin, this is the kind of setting where young players can start separating themselves and putting a little pressure on the decisions that follow.
For several of the rookies, this will be their first game action in the organization, including a big chunk of this years draft class. Jay Leach, hired recently to coach Hartford, is also making his organizational debut while handling rookie camp practices and games, which gives the Rangers another fresh eye on a group trying to make a first impression. The results in September do not settle anything, but they can shape the conversation fast, especially for prospects who know they are already on the clock. [Read more 🡒]