Rangers reportedly eyeing a bold move to shake up 2025 NHL Draft

The 2025 NHL Draft gets underway this weekend, and this is the time when draft lists get solidified and teams continue to work the phones to head into the weekend with as much information as possible before things officially get underway. That applies to the New York Rangers, currently slated to pick at No. 12 overall unless they complete the J.T. Miller by sending this year's pick as opposed to a 2026 first rounder, but it appears they are considering a bold move to shake up the draft.

The news comes from Scott Wheeler's final mock draft at The Athletic, and he reported that the Chicago Blackhawks are shopping the No. 3 overall pick and have expressed they are open to offers for it. According to Wheeler three teams have spoked to Chicago, and the Rangers were the first team on his list.

Moving up to No. 3 overall would be quite a shocking move for the Rangers, and you have to wonder if that doing so is contingent on how the first two picks in the draft go. Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa are widely considered to be in their own tier up top, and if someone like Misa were to drop the Rangers would certainly be interested in adding him to their prospect pool.

Misa is a 6'1" and 182-pound center from the Sagniaw Spirit of the OHL and he just finished a season in which he tallied 134 points (62 goals and 72 assists) in 65 games. Him dropping would be a surprise, but there has been speculation that the Sharks have had interest in players such as Anton Frondell at this spot.

Even if Misa does go at No. 2, and No. 3 overall remains available for the taking, there are quite a few players that the Rangers would love to add to their system. That includes Frondell, a 6'1" and 204-pound center from Djurgarden in Sweden, Caleb Desnoyers, another 6'1" center who played for the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL, or quite possibly Porter Martone a 6'3" winger from the Brampton Steelheads of the OHL.

In any of these cases the Rangers would be getting a high-end prospect which would inject some excitement and upside to the prospect pool. Doing so would give the Rangers, and their fans something to look forward to, and would add some insurance if the team takes a step back in the next few years with a mostly veteran roster.

What's important here is that this is just a rumor, one of the many that will certainly come out at this time of year often referred to as "silly season", but the fact that the Rangers are at least considering moving up in some regard would suggest that there are some players they really like and would prefer grabbing as opposed to sitting at No. 12 overall. There's no good way of telling what it would cost to move up, as the Blackhawks are a team with a number of needs.

You'd think K'Andre Miller would be involved, as would their current first rounder, but you never know how another team values your assets. Maybe Chicago is a big fan of a youngster like Brennan Othmann. We certainly will get some clarity as we see other teams in the league make trades and set a market price, but in the interim this is something exciting for fans to speculate about.