Analyzing the New York Rangers’ decision to trade the twelfth pick as the Penguin – Hockey Writer – New York Rangers
The New York Rangers just announced that they will choose to retain their first-round pick in 2026, giving their division rival Pittsburgh Penguins, the 12th overall pick in the 2025 NHL NHL Entry Draft. We will explore how the 12th exchange draft pick falls into Pittsburgh’s hands, the conditions and what this means for the Wanderers and the Penguins.
These two transactions
This draft pick isn’t a direct deal from the Rangers to the Penguin – the Vancouver Canucks serve as the middleman. On January 31, the Rangers traded disgruntled star forward JT Miller, Prospect Jackson Dorrington and defensive Erik Brannstrom. In exchange, the Canucks received six mid-range forwards Filip Chytil, Prospect Victor Mancini and first-round draft picks.
At the time, the Canucks were dealing with one of the most dramatic seasons in recent memory. Miller and Elias Pettersson clashed with each other, forcing the Canucks to choose between them. The Rangers seized the opportunity and brought Miller back to the franchise that selected him for the 15th time in 2011. Additionally, the Wanderers acquired defenseman Dorlington – who left Northeastern University three years later joined the Hartford Wolves in the American Hockey League (AHL). Finally, the Rangers won the 2017 first-round draft pick Brannstrom, who played six games with Hartford before being traded to the Buffalo Sabers.
Meanwhile, Vancouver won Chytil at the solid mid-six center drafted by the Rangers in 2017, and he has developed into a decent scorer before his injured career derailed. Mancini split the season between the Canucks and their AHL branch in Abbotsford after several years of excellence at Providence College.
Still hopefully they can make the playoffs after trading Miller, and then the Canucks transfer the Rangers’ first-round draft pick to the Penguins. In the trade, the Garners also gave up winger Danton Heinen, a solid bottom six option, along with defenseman Vincent Desharnais. In exchange, the Canucks won top four defensive players Marcus Pettersson and depth winger Drew O’Connor.
That’s how the Wanderers’ first-round draft pick falls into the hands of the Penguins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nterkeqdusm
condition
The first round pick is the top 13 protection, meaning that if the pick lands in the top 13, the Wanderer can choose whether to transfer in 2025 or postpone it to 2026 in 2026. Basically, when trading with the Canucks, they can choose to use the 2025 draft picks, or put it exactly where it is in 2026 and then put it exactly in 2026, instead.
Related: Ranger and Adam Edstrom Expansion
In the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery, the Rangers received their 12th cross-draft pick, activate the conditions. After careful consideration, they chose to send the 12th exchange draft pick to Pittsburgh and for their 2026 first-rounder themselves.
What does this mean for the wanderers
I saw two main reasons why Rangers decided to send their 2025 first-round pick to Pittsburgh, and none of them were drawn with great sight.
First, they may be preparing for reconstruction. It sounds like a bold claim, but if the Rangers don’t want to rebuild, they’ll give the Penguins a 2026 first-round draft pick. That way, the Wanderers could have used their 12th draft pick to stay competitive, and then Pittsburgh would get a draft pick, and the worst of all are the teenagers. Instead, the Rangers bet on themselves next season by choosing to send the 2025 draft pick to the Penguins, and their 2026 first round will end up with a better position than 12th place. For me, this suggests that the Rangers will do some sort of reconstruction or at least rebuild over the next two to three years.
Another reason Rangers do this is that they can use their 2026 first-round pick as a trade chip, which doesn’t make much sense to me. If that’s the reason, they’d better choose highly touted prospects in their overall ranking of 12. The Rangers did not rank as high as 12th in five years, and the 2025 draft class was very solid. By the deadline, sticking to their first round of 2026 could be a risky move, and the last few times the Wanderers have done it hasn’t paid off.
Ultimately, it’s not a big deal to give the Penguins a 2025 first-round pick instead of a 2026 draft pick, but the move comes with the basic information that the Wanderers are rebuilding. This may indicate that the current version of the Rangers team is approaching the end of its window and management is trying to prepare for the future.
