NHL Entry Draft: 2026 NHL Draft pick watch: Rangers with 5th pick after Lottery

[Mugless]

Don't the players live in Westchester to be close to the training facility? If you can't handle the hustle and bustle of raging Westchester, you should never leave your house. I think Carels will be fine, unless they screw up his order at Starbucks.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Don't the players live in Westchester to be close to the training facility? If you can't handle the hustle and bustle of raging Westchester, you should never leave your house. I think Carels will be fine, unless they screw up his order at Starbucks.

Westchester does kind of suck tho

 

[Tawnos]

Don't the players live in Westchester to be close to the training facility? If you can't handle the hustle and bustle of raging Westchester, you should never leave your house. I think Carels will be fine, unless they screw up his order at Starbucks.

I don't remember hearing a lot about players living in Westchester, though I'm sure some must. It's usually either been in the city or in CT.

Then again, my mom met Beezer once at the library she worked at in Mt Kisco. No real reason for him to be there if he didn't live in the area. This was back when they still practiced in Rye.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Westchester does kind of suck tho

Been going downhill the past few years for sure. Everyone moving out of the City, everywhere is a traffic nightmare.

 

[Filip Chytil]

On SJS: almost guaranteed they're taking D there so it feels like they are bluffing about Stenberg to induce Chicago, Rangers or maybe even Calgary to trade-up with them to grab the Swede.

Unless I'm not remembering a recent example, it feels like trade-ups are rare in NHL drafts.

Sounds like the league believes SJ has Carels/Reid ahead of Verhoeff and Verhoeff isn't CHI's type of d-man. Putting two and two together, feels like Verhoeff is certainly going to be there at 5.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Verhoeff and Smits and many of the other options are just very lame and disappointing "rewards" for having suffered 2 of the worst seasons in NYR history. Its just kind of a lame draft overall, and dropping out of the top 3 doesn't help.

Sure i guess a Marc Staal or a Trouba at 5 are okay and have value for the team but, bleh

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Verhoeff and Smits and many of the other options are just very lame and disappointing "rewards" for having suffered 2 of the worst seasons in NYR history. Its just kind of a lame draft overall, and dropping out of the top 3 doesn't help.

Sure i guess a Marc Staal or a Trouba at 5 are okay and have value for the team but, bleh

Grabbing what we hope is a young top pair defenseman for the next decade seems pretty exciting to me. Yea it's no Kaapo Kakko at 2nd overall though

 

[kovazub94]

Unless I'm not remembering a recent example, it feels like trade-ups are rare in NHL drafts.

Sounds like the league believes SJ has Carels/Reid ahead of Verhoeff and Verhoeff isn't CHI's type of d-man. Putting two and two together, feels like Verhoeff is certainly going to be there at 5.

I'd put odds on trades within top-5/6 picks at 10% so very unlikely as you noted. But SJS sending out feelers if anyone would bite is still part of the game.

 

[Tawnos]

Been going downhill the past few years for sure. Everyone moving out of the City, everywhere is a traffic nightmare.

Traffic was a nightmare when I lived in the area 20 years ago. I can't imagine how much worse it is now (although the same "everyone moving out of the city" was said then too).

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Traffic was a nightmare when I lived in the area 20 years ago. I can't imagine how much worse it is now (although the same "everyone moving out of the city" was said then too).

Oh it's muchh worse now. Good luck driving on the Hutch during the day, at any time, without hitting traffic somewhere on it.

 

[Tawnos]

Oh it's muchh worse now. Good luck driving on the Hutch during the day, at any time, without hitting traffic somewhere on it.

I used to hit traffic on the Hutch on my way to work in Larchmont at 1pm (coming from Mahopac in Putnam Co). So saying that doesn't really convince me that traffic is worse.

I'm sure it is though. I've driven through Westchester each of the last 3 years, coming from camping in New England and going to visit family in NJ. The Saw Mill didn't seem much different from what I remember... but traffic coming out of Connecticut on 84 trying to get to 684 was waay worse than I'd remembered it ever being.

 

[kovazub94]

Oh it's muchh worse now. Good luck driving on the Hutch during the day, at any time, without hitting traffic somewhere on it.

I have to drive to Boston and Storrs, CT to my kids' unis over the last 4 years and unless I leave before 7am either Hutch or Merritt pway are always a disaster.

 

[Lone Ranger]

Yeah, I don't really read too much into that. He said he'd figure it out. It could just as easily be a good sense of self-awareness and not yet being good at interviews than any real indication of... well, anything. He *is* a teenager, and they aren't always known for their polished interview skills. "I think there would be a lot of things I don't agree with in a city" is an awkwardly worded statement to begin with, followed up by him saying he think he'd be fine.

If the Rangers draft him, I'm good. If they draft someone else in the same group, I'm also good.

I heard that Carels just has an irrational hatred of alternate side parking.

 

[Levitate]

Verhoeff and Smits and many of the other options are just very lame and disappointing "rewards" for having suffered 2 of the worst seasons in NYR history. Its just kind of a lame draft overall, and dropping out of the top 3 doesn't help.

Sure i guess a Marc Staal or a Trouba at 5 are okay and have value for the team but, bleh

truthfully there aren't that many super stars drafted beyond like 1 or 2. Getting a good reliable top 4 defenseman out of the #5 pick would be a good result. We can certainly hope for more though

 

[kovazub94]

I heard that Carels just has an irrational hatred of alternate side parking.

Nothing irrational about it. Irrational would be hating street food trucks, for example.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

truthfully there aren't that many super stars drafted beyond like 1 or 2. Getting a good reliable top 4 defenseman out of the #5 pick would be a good result. We can certainly hope for more though

I disagree. Yeah your Art Ross and Hart contenders are gonna be #1 picks mostly , but there are tons of star players taken later . You can get a 2nd pair dman in round 2 or 3 pretty readily .

When you have a premium pick you can reasonably expect a difference maker or at least someone with that kind of upside

 

[effen]

I heard that Carels just has an irrational hatred of alternate side parking.

You misspelled "completely justified".

 

[GoAwayRempe]

truthfully there aren't that many super stars drafted beyond like 1 or 2. Getting a good reliable top 4 defenseman out of the #5 pick would be a good result. We can certainly hope for more though

There are bunch of D who have a reasonable path to be really, really good #2's. Those players are always undervalued and under appreciated (D.Towes, Ekholm, Slavin before he became cheeks, etc.)


Don't love that there is more noise about them around the one guy who has the IMO the toughest road to get there (of the top guys at least, I'm not putting Rudolph in this category.)

 

[Daves a mess]

truthfully there aren't that many super stars drafted beyond like 1 or 2. Getting a good reliable top 4 defenseman out of the #5 pick would be a good result. We can certainly hope for more though

Man, Imagine if the Rangers were ever able to draft 1 or 2.

I'm a Carels guy, but if he doesn’t want to be in NYC, and the Rangers are getting those vibes, then, oh well, keep it moving and select Verhoeff or Smits.

Saw one prognasticator say that many believe that 1 thru 7 are a complete crapshoot.

Ive seen Verhoeff at 2 and 9.
I've seen Stenberg at 1, 5 and 7..
I've seen Reid at 2 and 9.
Cullen at 7 and 18. Interviewed well.
Viggo all over the place.
Smits at 5 and 12.

McKenna is the superior talent in the draft. Toronto fans will riot if they dont snag him. After that who tf knows. That makes it fun for me.

Lawrence and Rudolph getting some more love lately.

 

[MrAlmost]

Im just not seeing why Verheoff is bad to some people. I dont see the skating issues. And he was 17. Thats insane. We may have all been psyoped and this dude might be the best player in this draft.

 

[Mac n Gs]

I can see both sides of the argument for what Carels said during his interviews. What will be more telling will be how he answered the follow-up questions for how the different teams interpreted his comments. It seems like an easy miss by his agent to coach him through how to address that, but that's just my take.

I'm not sure it'll preclude the Rangers from selecting him if he's on the board, but I could see it potentially giving them pause given how he'll have control over his destination as an NCAA player. The answers from Reid, Smits, and Verhoeff definitely sat better with the Rangers.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Im just not seeing why Verheoff is bad to some people. I dont see the skating issues. And he was 17. Thats insane. We may have all been psyoped and this dude might be the best player in this draft.

Not a bad skater at all. It's telling when you never really read about his "bad skating" anywhere in scouting reports, aside from this section of the board lol.

Sure he can improve on stuff, skating including, but he's not bad.

 

[Levitate]

I disagree. Yeah your Art Ross and Hart contenders are gonna be #1 picks mostly , but there are tons of star players taken later . You can get a 2nd pair dman in round 2 or 3 pretty readily .

When you have a premium pick you can reasonably expect a difference maker or at least someone with that kind of upside

Sorry what I should really mean is that you're not getting a sure thing, not that it's impossible to get one. But it's just not an automatic thing. Anyone the Rangers pick at 5 could end up a disappointment even if we think it's a slam dunk on draft day. And a guy who seems like he has star upside might only end up a pretty good 2nd pairing guy or something.

 

[Lion Hound]

It's really just 2-3 loud posters who are all against Vehoeff. Certainly nowhere near half the board.

For the Board Mock Draft, Verhoff literally got only 2 votes. Carels got 51. Bjork was closer so was Smits.

Im hoping for Carels over Verhoff. I actually had him over Reid. I think he is more complete. But I don't dislike Verhoff. It wouldn't be a Lias Andersson throw the remote at the TV kind of moment if he was selected with the #5.

But the player im hoping for the most is Stenberg. Trade into #2. Use the #5, toss in Schneider.

 

[UnSandvich]

Under 5 days until the HP Black Book Draft Breakdown drops. For my money, that and the EP Draft Guide are two of the best draft resources out there by far.