NHL Entry Draft: 2025 Draft Pick Watch

Nope, there is a consensus top 4. Then another handful +, then it’s a total crapshoot. And I get the next year is always better blah blah, but next year is legitimately superior both at the top and in its depth. Starting with Gavin McKenna who has legit franchise altering potential. Not that he’ll be in play for us.
 
There are always people touting the strength of the next draft over the current one. When 2026 comes around, those same people will probably suggest that 2026 is weak and 2027 will be better.

It's totally possible that the 25th player in 2026 ends up being better than the 12th player in 2025, but that could be a function of making the wrong pick rather than having anything to do with the relative strength of each draft.

People are suggesting that the 2025 draft falls off after pick 13, but who says the top 13 players will be taken with the top 13 picks? Given the history of the draft, the odds are against that happening. Do we even have any kind of consensus on who the top 13 players are?
I do not have a consensus.
I was talking about people comparing the two drafts.
Me worrying a little about the NYR crashing and burning next year where Pitt would get our unprotected pick just comes from almost six decades of being a NYR fan... hahahaha.
 
IF we crash out and miss the playoffs and somehow win the lottery to get #3 OVR, would folks want to see us keep the pick?

I would assume brass would keep the pick and expect us to be better next year. It’s sunk cost at that point but I’d rather not give Pitt an unprotected 1st in 2026.

Short of winning the lottery for #1 I would just give them the pick this year no matter what. Worst case is we miss the playoffs and keep the #10 pick, crash out next year and hand over an unprotected 1st to Pittsburgh.
 
My overall preference is to get it over with and give them the pick this year, but that’s obviously cause I assume that it’ll be 14 and that next year it could be a much better pick. I don’t really care if we give them 14 and then end up keeping 17 next year; that difference is relatively negligible. I don’t want to see us keep 12 and then crash and burn next year and have to give them a top 10 pick which is a very real possibility.

If you told me we would get the third overall pick this year I’d be happy we would be keeping it cause I don’t think we are lucky enough to pick first or second overall next year.
 
They get the option to send the 2025 pick to Pittsburgh (or whoever owns the pick if it ends up being traded prior to that selection) if it's in the Top 13, or send the 2026 pick instead, per PuckPedia (they confirmed this). If it's 14 or later it automatically goes to Pittsburgh.


Does this mean they get to see what player is available at #13 (or above) before assigning the pick?
 
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Anything outside of top 5 I would give it up.
We would like to be better next year but who are we bumping off.

Carolina, Washington, and NJD are comfortably set atop the division and don’t appear to be on the decline

In the Atlantic - Toronto, Florida and Tampa Bay have a similar stranglehold.

That leaves us battling it out with Columbus, Montreal, and Ottawa for a WC spot. I don’t seee us being markedly better that we could make the playoffs and could in fact be worse unless we make some drastic moves in the offseason and find an upgrade in coaching.

Ideally I’d rather miss the playoffs this year and win the draft lottery, acquire reinforcements and win the cup next year. Barring that and / or if we make the playoffs this year then just give up the pick and reload for next year.
 
IF we crash out and miss the playoffs and somehow win the lottery to get #3 OVR, would folks want to see us keep the pick?

I would assume brass would keep the pick and expect us to be better next year. It’s sunk cost at that point but I’d rather not give Pitt an unprotected 1st in 2026.

Short of winning the lottery for #1 I would just give them the pick this year no matter what. Worst case is we miss the playoffs and keep the #10 pick, crash out next year and hand over an unprotected 1st to Pittsburgh.

Drury or whoever replaces him though is not going to go into next season thinking the Rangers are going to miss the playoffs again. If he isn't replaced he cannot afford for the team to underachieve again. He certainly won't have a job if two years in a row. He'll trade that 2026 1st anyway if it means bringing in a player that he thinks might save the season and in the meanwhile whatever moves are made over the summer will be all about righting the ship and getting back to being a good team again. Igor for one with his huge new contract will be expected to rebound. If Mika's still here he will be too. I also don't think whoever is coaching this team next year is going to be doing this man to man defense scheme and though we don't have the greatest puck movers on our D apart from Fox they are for the most part competent enough defensively I would think with a zone kind of D system.
 
Tonight’s win places the Rangers into the #13 draft position. The Rangers, Montreal and Columbus are in a tight fight for the last playoff position. The red Wings and Isles will have to run off a streak to get into the mix. Right now, Columbus has two games in hand on the Rangers (two points back) and the Blueshirts are tied with Montreal but the Canadians have a game in hand. The Rangers hold tiebreakers over both Columbus and Montreal if they ended up tied in points.
 
I'll just say landing in the 14th, 15th or 16th spots is the worst scenario. Rangers best options are going on a real winning streak to make the playoffs or just lose as much as possible. Win one lose one is not good and win three lose two isn't either because I don't think we'll make the playoffs that way. We got to like win 9/10 of our last 11. This team has not shown it can win big games so I think the chances of winning that much is somewhere between slim and nonexistent.
Your worst scenario is far too kind.

The worst scenario is we do the smart thing and give up a top 10 pick, and then we tank next year and dont get higher than 10th.

Best case scenario is we get into the playoffs, hand the pick off, and then tank next year for top 3.
 
No, worst case is getting 13 this year and keeping the pick. Shitting the bed next year, winning the lottery for #1, having to give the pick to Pitt and missing out on Gavin McKenna. That is absolute WCS.

The worst case is making decisions based on being worried about something that likely has around a 1% probability.
 
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Anything outside of top 5 I would give it up.
We would like to be better next year but who are we bumping off.

Carolina, Washington, and NJD are comfortably set atop the division and don’t appear to be on the decline

In the Atlantic - Toronto, Florida and Tampa Bay have a similar stranglehold.

That leaves us battling it out with Columbus, Montreal, and Ottawa for a WC spot. I don’t seee us being markedly better that we could make the playoffs and could in fact be worse unless we make some drastic moves in the offseason and find an upgrade in coaching.

Ideally I’d rather miss the playoffs this year and win the draft lottery, acquire reinforcements and win the cup next year. Barring that and / or if we make the playoffs this year then just give up the pick and reload for next year.
You've also got to look at the other end. Buffalo, Anaheim, Pittsburgh, Seattle, San Jose, Chicago, Nashville, Philly, Detroit, Islanders, Boston, Utah, Columbus, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary. These are all teams on the bubble or worse this year. Which of those teams will be better than us next year?

Most of them are either treading water, actively tanking, or heading into a rebuild. I don't know what moves Drury is going to make, but I know the intention will be to make the playoffs. We aren't tanking next year. Outside of a string of significant injuries, I doubt we finish bottom 10 next season.

More than likely, the only way we get a top 10 pick this year or next is if we win the lottery. If we win the lottery this year, we keep the pick. If we end up winning the lottery again next year, so be it. I'll take that chance.

Vancouver lost last night, which isn't good for us. They are only 2 points ahead of us and we hold the tiebreaker. Utah is only 1 point ahead of us, and again, we hold the tiebreaker. Calgary is 3 points ahead with a game in hand. It's very possible that we'll end up somewhere between 14 and 16. If we end up at 16 and win the lottery, we move up to 6th. There's no way I'm giving up the 6th overall pick out of fear that next year's pick might be better.

If we finish 14 to 16 and don't win the lottery, obviously we have to give up the pick. If we finish between 9 and 13 and don't win the lottery, maybe we give up the pick, but I'd be more inclined to keep it. Maybe there is a scenario where we get the 13th pick and trade up for a player we really like. The team will have to evaluate their options in that case and weigh it against the possibility of getting a high pick again next year.

I doubt they will make a move out of fear, though. Drury expects to be a playoff team next year. He negotiated the top 13 protection on the pick for a reason. If we finish top 13, don't be surprised if we keep the pick.
 
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I’m in agreement that the mandate and objective for next year will be to field a competitive team but there are realistic scenarios where Rangers drop out of contention. Look at how quickly Boston and Pittsburgh fell off even with their stars.

The core of the team save Shesterkin and Fox will be aging out of their prime.

There’s nothing to suggest that Laf, KAM, Cuylle or the other young guns have another gear. Plus we’re probably looking at another coach which comes with its own growing pains.


TLDR: Top 5 pick - keep; 6th through 32nd pick give up the pick
 
No, worst case is getting 13 this year and keeping the pick. Shitting the bed next year, winning the lottery for #1, having to give the pick to Pitt and missing out on Gavin McKenna. That is absolute WCS.

Worst cases can happen but it's not very likely. A GM is not going to operate thinking that a worse case scenario will be the inevitability of whatever he does. Whether that's Drury or whether it's any other GM. They are in the business of step at a time improvement and progress.
 
Plus we’re probably looking at another coach which comes with its own growing pains.
We're typically better year 1 under a new coach than year 2, at least going back to AV.

1st year under AV we went to the finals. 1st year under Quinn, we went nowhere, but we were better. 1st year under both Gallant and Lavi, we went to the ECF.

Maybe we should change the coaching staff every year.
 
So, what are Rangers fans thoughts on the 1st round pick? Keep it if it ends up 9th-13th or give it to Pittsburgh so that you have the unprotected 2026 pick?
Send it to Pittsburgh. I don't like this class beyond the top 3 and next year's draft is deeper and better at the top. Next year also stands a good chance to be a top 10, maybe top 5 pick.
 
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