The New York Rangers have been very busy on Day 2 of the 2026 NHL Draft, and in the sixth round the front office made a very familiar selection by selecting Andre Mondoux. Mondoux is a defenseman who last played for the Kingston Frontenacs, and he is the type of player the team has historically targeted through the draft.
Mondoux is a prototypical Blueshirts draft pick
Mondoux is 6'4" and 201 pounds, and his Elite Prospects blurb tells you everything you need to know. "A hard-hitting, battling defenceman, Mondoux already understands how to use his size to his advantage. He’s a tight rush defender, closing gaps on the reception and denying the space for opponents to build speed." The Rangers love drafting defenders with size, and they especially love those defenders who use their size effectively.
Mondoux is a defender who will never standout for his offense, but he finished this season with a respectable six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 66 games. He is yet another player from the CHL who is heading to NCAA hockey this fall, and he will join the University of Notre Dame. He is 19, and therefore classified as an overager who re-entered this draft.
He appears to be a work in progress, and profiles as someone who might eventually be a third pair defender. The Rangers would be fine with that, considering where he was drafted, and this pick was very much in line with how they've approached the draft in recent years. They did make their run of mobile offensive-minded defenders earlier on, but you could bank on them taking a "beefier boy" toward the end of the draft.
What people are saying about the pick
André Mondoux is off to the @NYRangers with the 162nd overall pick 🤩
— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) June 27, 2026
Read more about his game here: https://t.co/fqNCB8j0zM pic.twitter.com/CVABe0UrpJ
#NYR selected D Andre Mondoux 162nd overall.
— Keegan Jarvis (@TheKeeganJarvis) June 27, 2026
Described as a defensive defenseman, Mondoux combines good size (6’4, 200 lbs) with strong skating and simple, smart play with the puck. Uses his size to his advantage. He’s committed to Norte Dame.
Andre Mondoux goes to New York. Had a solid year for Kingston. Size/mobility combination on the back-end. Great at killing transitional attacks; defends down hill. Solid upside as a stay at home type. #NHLDraft
— Brock Otten (@BrockOtten) June 27, 2026
With the 162nd overall pick in the #2026NHLDraft, the New York Rangers have taken Andre Mondoux! #NYR pic.twitter.com/quCu4gRfjR
— Tape2Tape Prospects (@T2TProspects) June 27, 2026
At this stage of the draft, most teams are looking to try and find value, or pick a player with traits that they value most. The Rangers took some swings early on in the draft, a very good thing, and them going for a traditional bruiser later on who projects to be a lower-end defender is very on brand. If it works out for Mondoux, great! If not... it really doesn't matter given the other players who were added to the pool during the draft.
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