The Rangers’ chances of winning the draft lottery and the right to select projected No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna currently stand at 13.5 percent, the second-best odds according to Tankathon.
No one knows better than the Blueshirts, who snagged Alexis Lafrenière at No. 1 with the 14th-best odds to do so in 2020, that moving into the top spot is not guaranteed. What should be guaranteed is internal pressure for the Rangers to get whichever two picks they make in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft on June 26 right.
Drafting and developing has not been a strong suit of the organization since it released its first rebuilding letter in February 2018. The Rangers have made nine first-round selections since the draft in 2018, but just three are actually in the lineup at present.
Three — Brennan Othmann, Kaapo Kakko and K’Andre Miller — have been traded away in the past 15 months or so.