The New York Rangers had a disastrous 2025-26 season throughout the entire organization. Not only were the Rangers in last place in the Eastern Conference, but their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, finished in last in the entire league. With that, there was legitimate concern and alarm bells were being sounded by fans and experts alike. If a team is performing poorly and the prospects aren't developing as planned, that's a true recipe for disaster for any pro sports team.
Starting with the NHL trade deadline, the Rangers prioritized bolstering the prospect pipeline, surrendering some of their top players to help their case. Artemi Panarin was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, and the Rangers got prospect winger Liam Greentree in return. During the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft, the Rangers selected Latvian defenseman Alberts Smits fifth overall. Then, on July 1, the Rangers brought in center prospect Cole Beaudoin as part of a larger deal with the Utah Mammoth in exchange for Vincent Trocheck.
The outlook for the Rangers is much better than it was last season. It's perhaps as good as it could get, given their draft history.
Rangers' draft history reason for dire farm system situation
As Rangers fans all know, this is an organization that is always willing to trade their top draft picks to bring in a player to help them win a Stanley Cup. From 2013 until 2016, the Rangers didn't hold a single first-round pick. That's because they gave up said picks for the likes of Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis, and Keith Yandle in hopes that they could help the franchise win their first Stanley Cup since 1994. They were close in 2014, winning the Prince of Wales Trophy as the top team of the Eastern Conference, before losing in five games to the Los Angeles Kings.
Then, there was 2022 and 2025 where the Rangers gave up their first round picks. In 2022, the Rangers moved their first round pick for Winnipeg Jets forward Andrew Copp. In 2025, the Rangers flipped their first rounder to the Vancouver Canucks for current team captain J.T. Miller. Neither of those trades brought the Rangers another Stanley Cup. In 2022, the Rangers lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Tampa Bay Lighting. In 2025, the Rangers failed to even make the playoffs.
By giving up so many first round picks in over a 10-year span, they have to capitalize on the picks that they didn't surrender. Unfortunately for the Rangers, there were a lot more misses than hits.
The Rangers' most notable busts include Lias Andersson and Vitali Kravtsov, who essentially flunked out of the NHL without making much of an impact with the Rangers. Brennan Othmann could be included as well, considering he failed to do much of anything with his opportunities with the Rangers. Kaapo Kakko never lived up to the hype as the second overall pick in 2019 as a legitimate, dangerous scorer. That pick stung that much more considering the New Jersey Devils drafted Jack Hughes first overall.
That's not to say the Rangers only drafted busts. In 2012, they drafted Brady Skjei in the first round, with hopes that he could be their long-term answer on defense. He didn't pan out as the team expected, but he did showcase some positives during his time. Predictably, he improved once he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Rangers drafted K'Andre Miller in 2018 after Kravtsov. While he may not have turned out to be the shutdown, star defender in New York, he was solid throughout his time. On brand, the Rangers traded Miller to the Hurricanes, and watched him immediately win the Stanley Cup while playing the best we've seen in his career. In 2020, the Rangers won the draft lottery to select Alexis Lafrenière, and he's had plenty of ups and downs during his time.
But this past season has shown that he can be a contributor for the Rangers for the foreseeable future, while showcasing chemistry with Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault, the latter of whom is showing that he is a first round pick of promise that could be one of their top six forwards of the future.
Given the Rangers' willingness to trade away their top draft picks, you'd expect them to have some that not only panned out, but are under contract for the foreseeable future.
Rangers' retool plan helped give franchise more promising, long-term prospects
The one way to bring in top talent is to rebuild the team. We've seen the Montreal Canadiens do that, and they look like legitimate Stanley Cup contenders for the foreseeable future. But for President and General Manager Chris Drury, he instead opted to acquire prospects and young, pro-ready players, while also adding potential difference makers to help them contend. The half-measure approach usually doesn't work, but when looking at the roster, the team looks better on paper.
As for their new prospects, Smits was touted as the most pro-ready player in the entire 2026 draft class. There is no real rush to place him on the pro roster, given the additions on defense, but his play in training camp could make it hard for head coach Mike Sullivan not to give him a spot.
Greentree and Beaudoin do have tremendous upside as forwards, but it is probably best to let them develop in Hartford with new coach Jay Leach, who has been lauded for his work getting the most out of prospects during his time with the Boston Bruins.
The Athletic's Vince Mercogliano talked to scouts about the Rangers' work bolstering their prospect pipeline. One scout in the Eastern Conference said considering the draft picks they traded away, notably 20 since Drury took over as general manager in 2021, it's a good starting point.
“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.”
It's hard not to be a bit excited about the potential of these new prospects to the organization. However, fans are going to be watching them through a microscope throughout the season to see if they are taking the proper steps forward. If that doesn't happen over time, the vitriol and fury of the fanbase will once again be directed at Drury.
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