The New York Rangers entered the trade deadline looking to retool by trading away veterans for younger players and draft capitals. The trade deadline has passed, and one of their more valuable trade chips, Vincent Trocheck, remains after no team met the asking price General Manager Chris Drury set. So, it wasn't exactly a rousing success for the Rangers.
But around an hour after the 3:00 p.m. ET deadline, it was revealed that the Rangers had one more trade in the queue. The Athletic's Vince Mercogliano reported that the Rangers were trading away prospect and former first-round pick Brennan Othmann to the Calgary Flames. In return, the Rangers are receiving right wing prospect Jacob Battaglia.
Jacob Battaglia is the return. #NYR https://t.co/GLAZ9BPLtM
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) March 6, 2026
With Othmann now out of New York, it once again highlights how poorly the Rangers have drafted in recent memory.
Brennan Othmann trade highlights Rangers' rough draft history
Othmann was a first round pick for the Rangers back in 2021, but he never had a chance to crack the roster as an every day player. After losing out on a roster spot in training camp, reports indicated that the Rangers were in discussions with other teams regarding a trade. Othmann played in 17 games this year, but only recorded one goal. In his career, Othmann has just three points in 42 career games. He never really had a chance to crack the roster, but he didn't exactly do much to ensure he would be locked in.
The Rangers have been under fire as of late for their inability to develop young players and top prospects to their full potential.
Kaapo Kakko was the second overall pick who was lauded for his scoring ability. He was supposed to be a great consolation prize after losing the draft lottery in 2019 to the New Jersey Devils, who were drafting Jack Hughes. Kakko never really developed into a top scoring option for the Rangers. Granted, he was on a win-now team loaded with veterans in the top six. Still, he never lived up to his potential. In his six seasons with the Rangers, Kakko recorded 131 points (61 goals, 70 assists) in 330 games. Kakko was traded last season to the Seattle Kraken for right-shot defenseman Will Borgen, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick.
In 2020, the Rangers won the lottery and the rights to select Alexis Lafreniere, who was viewed as a potential star in the making. Much like with Kakko, there wasn't much room for Lafreniere to receive significant playing time on the Rangers. But in the 2023-24 season, Lafreniere looked to have finally broken out, putting up a career-high 57 points (28 goals, 29 assists) in 82 games. The Rangers rewarded Lafreniere with a seven-year, $52.1 million contract extension, which just kicked in this year. Lafreniere never got close to replicating those numbers. This season, he has 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists) in 61 games. If the Rangers do explore trading Lafreniere in the summer, they can't expect much in return, certainly nowhere near close to what you'd get for a former No. 1 overall pick.
Let's not forget other Rangers' first round picks. Vitali Kravtsov and Lias Andersson both flamed out of the NHL, who each recorded less than 20 points each in their short NHL careers. Nils Lundkvist never really got a chance with the Rangers, was traded to the Dallas Stars in 2022, four years after he was drafted and after receiving just 25 games of playing time in his lone season with the Rangers. Braden Schneider is potentially on the way out this summer, as he was floated in trade talks throughout this season. Schneider does have some promise, but by replacing Adam Fox during his injury absence, his defensive struggles came to light.
The number of successful first round picks by the team recently is rather minimal. K'Andre Miller turned into a reliable option on defense for the Rangers. Sure, while he did have his struggles in terms of turnovers, it can be argued that Miller was their most successful first round pick in recent years. That's about it, unless some of their first-round picks in the past couple of years turn into superstars.
The Rangers have seen some serious promise from Gabe Perreault this season. It's quite possible E.J. Emery can develop into a solid, everyday defenseman once he heads over from college to the Rangers.
From here on out, the Rangers need to ensure they are drafting the right players and have the right development program in place. With Othmann now heading to Calgary, he is yet another one of the Rangers' first round picks who failed to pan out for them.