New York Rangers add to prospect cupboard with large 2025 draft class

At the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Entry Draft, New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury got the job done.

Drury selected five defenseman and three forwards (one left wing, one center and one right wing) at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Additionally, this was the least amount of Americans since Drury took over back in 2021. This year, 25 percent of the Rangers' draftees were Canadian and 25 percent were Swedish. The remaining four were American, Czech, Norwegian, and Russian. 

Ahead of the free agency frenzy beginning at noon EST, here's a more in depth look at Drury's full list of selections from the 2025 NHL Draft.

No. 43 - Malcolm Spence

This year, the Rangers did not have a first round selection (originally No. 12 from the draft lottery which ended up going to Pittsburgh) as a result of having to close things up from January's trade for J.T. Miller.

The Blueshirt selected left wing Malcolm Spence as their first overall selection in the 2025 draft in the second round.

Standing at 6'1" and weighing 203 pounds, Spence is known for having a motor which creates havoc on his opponents while showing he can have some offensive success too. He uses his combination of size and speed to break up plays and is not afraid to throw the body around when that opportunity is there.

On top of being an established defensive forward, he has 135 points in 131 OHL games in his past two seasons and was originally projected to go in the first round.

Another of his strengths include his hockey IQ — a trait we're seeing a lot of in this year's draft — and the fact that he was born in 2006 and already wins a majority of puck battles due to his size and strength.

No. 70 - Sean Barnhill

The New York Rangers' second pick at the 2025 NHL Draft is a young defenseman from Scottsdale, Arizona named Sean Barnhill.

Barnhill is an 18-year-old from the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints was described as "an animal" by the NHL Network draft panel, and Barnhill shows that with 54 games this season for the Saints, with 4 goals and 8 assists for 12 points. Barnhill also is committed to play for Northeastern University this fall.

He is a developing two-way defenseman with a huge stature. Standing at 6'5" and weighing a hefty 214 lbs., he makes a solid case for teams looking for defensemen with some offensive prowess to boot.

No. 89 - Artyom Gonchar

While not the most physical guy, Drury got his selection in for another defenseman with his third selection off the boards in this year's event at the Los Angeles Peacock Theater.

Artyom Gonchar was one of the smaller players in this year's draft weight wise. Standing at an even 6'0" and weighing only 156 pounds — Gonchar is known to be a dynamic defenseman with quick hands and solid puck skills.

Gonchar had a strong season in the Russian junior league, with 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 50 regular-season games for the Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk in the MHL. His play is highlighted by his ability to join the rush and start plays in addition to working hard to get back in his own zone.

Another player with a strong hockey IQ and family history of the sports (he's the nephew of Stanley Cup champion Sergei Gonchar), Artyom also possesses an excellent eye for making the smart pass on the ice.

No. 111 - Mikkel Eriksen

As our contributor Ben Burns wrote on draft day, center Mikkel Eriksen out of Färjestad BK and Sweden’s J20 league was taken by the Rangers at the No. 111 overall pick and was one of the youngest players in this year's draft.

Eriksen, a 17-year old Norwegian national, is an undersized, offensive-minded center who has produced at every level of his hockey career thus far. This past season he potted 22 goals and added 21 assists for 43 points in just 40 games with Färjestad BK. He also starred with Norway’s junior teams, tallying six goals, seven assists, and 13 points over 16 combined games for the U18 and U20 national teams. He is slated to continue his develop in Sweden next year.

No. 139 - Zeb Lindgren

Another defenseman, Zeb Lindgren was a selection that immediately made waves across the Blueshirt fanbase simply because of his last name.

Lindgren stands 6'2" and weighs 192 pounds., making him another hefty defenseman the Rangers can bolster the Blueline with. He was ranked 20th among European skaters in this year's NHL Central Scouting. Lindgren is also strong on the one on one aspects of the game, in addition to having an already high hockey IQ.

Lindgren came in at 74th in The Hockey News' overall prospect rankings with his best developed traits being his unique and simple playstyle, plus his skating mobility, making him a mildly decent all-around player that could play other positions than what he currently plays at defenseman.

No. 166 - Samuel Jung

With pick No. 166, the Rangers selected right winger Samuel Jung (6'3", 172 pounds).

Ranked at No. 300 prospect by McKeen's Hockey and is from Czechia, this past season he appeared in 44 games for Kärpät and posted a line of 22-10-32 and tallied 50 penalty minutes from Kärpät U20.

No. 171 - Evan Passmore*

Defenseman Evan Passmore is my personal favorite selection for the New York Rangers from this year's draft. In pretty much all of my pre-draft content I wrote how the Rangers needed a young defenseman to add some size to their Blueline.

Passmore comes in at 6'5" and 212 lbs., and turns 19 this December. He skated for the Barrie Colts and was ranked anywhere from No. 83 overall to No. 214 overall — so him going to the Rangers at No. 171 makes perfect sense.

Another reason I like Passmore so much is because he's good, plain and simple.

He's described as having impressive range, and someone who has an active stick and is great at breaking up chances by separating players from the puck and shutting plays down entirely.