NY Rangers still weighing all options for No. 12 pick in 2025 NHL Draft

The 2024-25 NHL season officially ended June 17, with the Florida Panthers repeating as Stanley Cup champs while the rest of the league charges toward a critical stretch in the offseason calendar.

The draft is scheduled for June 27-28, with the free-agent signing window opening a few days later on July 1. In the span of a dizzying week or two, general managers around the NHL will complete the bulk of their summer transactions in preparation for the 2025-26 season.

That certainly includes New York Rangers' team president and GM Chris Drury, who already made a franchise-shaking trade by sending veteran forward Chris Kreider to Anaheim and is on the prowl for more. But before he can fully execute his offseason plan, Drury must decide what to do with this year's first-round draft choice.

He originally sent the pick to Vancouver (who quickly flipped it to Pittsburgh) in the Jan. 31 trade that brought J.T. Miller back to New York, but it was top-13 protected. The Rangers landed in the No. 12 slot, leaving Drury with the option of keeping the pick and sending an unprotected 2026 first instead or relinquishing it so he can hold onto next year's first-rounder. He has until 7 p.m. on June 25 to inform the Penguins of his choice.

The initial consensus was that the Rangers − who expect to return to the playoffs after a one-year hiatus and are determined to act accordingly − would take the former approach. They don’t intend to finish in the draft lottery again any time soon, so why not use their highest pick in five years and signal confidence in their ability to bounce back next season? But there have been some not-so-subtle hints that they’re open to going the other way, depending how the coming days play out.

Chris Kreider: Expresses 'gratitude' for Rangers tenure following trade

The RFA option

Maybe those are calculated smokescreens, but the usually guarded Blueshirts haven’t been shy about their interest in this restricted free agent class.

It's a road NHL GMs rarely go down, with only four offer sheets signed in the last 11 years. But two of them came last summer when the St. Louis Blues poached Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway from the Edmonton Oilers, which has people around the league wondering if others will follow suit this summer.

Any offer sheet comes with designated draft-pick compensation based on salary ranges, with a first-round pick part of the required package for any contract that carries an average annual value of $4.68 million or more. Hence, the Rangers would need their 2026 first-rounder to meet those conditions, which would mean forfeiting No. 12 overall this year. (The 2025 pick wouldn't help because the free-agent signing period doesn't open until after this year's draft.)

Everything is fluid at this time of year, but my sense is that Drury has yet to finalize his decision and will exhaust all options until the final hours.

One way or another, he’s determined to improve a regressing roster. Trades will be the focus leading up to the draft, but if nothing worthwhile materializes by the evening of June 25, then he can pivot and surrender the No. 12 pick to expand the list of pursuable RFAs. (Or even hold the 2026 pick for a future trade.)

In many respects, the RFA path makes more sense than overpaying anyone from this year's relatively weak UFA class. Age is an important consideration, with RFAs generally in their early-to-mid-20s while UFAs tend to be in their late-20s or 30s. If you're going to shell out a sizable contract, you'd rather do it for a player who's entering their prime, as opposed to one who's on the back end of it. But the RFA talent pool is also a significant factor.

At forward, Boston's Morgan Geekie, Toronto's Matthew Knies, Utah's Jack McBain, Anaheim's Mason McTavish, Buffalo's JJ Peterka, Minnesota's Marco Rossi, Winnipeg's Gabe Vilardi and Columbus' Dmitri Voronkov would all have appeal. And on defense, any of Buffalo's Bowen Byram, Vegas' Nic Hague, the Islanders' Alexander Romanov, Winnipeg's Dylan Samberg and Philadelphia's Cam York could help fill holes on the left side.

The Rangers could offer an AAV up to $7.02 million if they own the 2026 first-rounder, but they couldn't go higher unless they reacquire that year’s second-rounder from Utah. (Which was sent to then-Arizona in 2022 as part of the Patrik Nemeth salary dump.) But one advantage they do have is the deep pockets of owner James Dolan.

Multiple league sources have suggested that Drury could include a large signing bonus, creating an offer sheet some small-market owners would be reluctant to match.

Sizing up the 2025 draft class

Another consideration has to be the 2025 draft class itself and how the Rangers believe the board may shake out.

The No. 12 overall pick is being dangled in trade talks − but if they keep the pick and use it, will there be a prospect they’re excited about available in that slot?

That depends who you ask.

There are six players expected to go at the top of the draft we can safely cross the list of possibilities − forwards Caleb Desnoyers, Anton Frondell, James Hagens, Porter Martone and Michael Misa and defenseman Michael Schaefer, who's believed to be the Isles' target at No. 1. Otherwise, this class is considered light on high-end talents by most scouts and analysts.

That's not to say there aren't enticing prospects after that coveted group. There surely are, albeit with a few more blemishes. For the Rangers, it will be critical to identify who they like best from the second tier and determine their likelihood of making it to No. 12.

New York's thin pipeline could certainly use the jolt. It's slipped in recent years − in part because many from the 2017-20 rebuild era have either graduated or flamed out, but also because Drury has traded a slew of draft picks in pursuit of immediate help.

One spot where the Rangers are in pretty good shape is on the wing, where there's a dearth of up-and-comers following a string of six straight drafts in which their first pick was devoted to that position. That streak finally ended with the selection of defenseman E.J. Emery at No. 30 overall last year, but the biggest organizational deficiencies remain at center and on defense.

Ideally, they'd like to snag one of those two positions at No. 12. But will there be a player who combines need and value in that spot?

A trio of top-10 worthy centers would represent a best-case scenario in Brady Martin, Roger McQueen and Jake O'Brien. They each have varying strengths − Martin may be the most well-rounded, McQueen is the biggest (both in terms of size and upside) and O'Brien boasts the best production and skill − but all project as impactful NHL centers.

McQueen, in particular, is a player I've heard the Rangers are intrigued by. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native was once considered a possible top-five pick, but a nagging back injury has flared up repeatedly and could scare teams off. Maybe that will open the door for New York to roll the dice on the 6-foot-5, 192-pounder, who could end up being one of the steals of the draft if his health checks out.

If all three are gone by the time New York goes on the clock − which most experts see as likely given teams' thirst for centers − then there is a similar-sized next wave of defensemen, with righty-shooting Radim Mrtka and lefties Kashawn Aitcheson and Jackson Smith the names to watch.

I'm no math expert, but between the projected top six and the three centers and three defensemen identified as part of Tier 2, that's 12 prospects. That means, no matter how the first 11 picks shake out, the Rangers are guaranteed to have at least one of them on the board when they go on the clock.

It's possible that Drury and his scouting department, led by director of player personnel and amateur scouting John Lilley, grade these prospects differently and prefer others over the 12 we've gone over. Braeden Cootes, Jack Nesbitt or Cole Reschny could be in play if they're determined to take a first-round center for the first time since 2017, when they selected two in Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, or maybe they find the value of Swedish winger Viktor Eklund too good to pass up if he falls to them.

The point is, if the Rangers keep the pick, there should be a worthwhile option who upgrades their prospect pool at a position of need. It would be a different story if they were in the back half of the first round, but advanced scouting led them to insist on top-13 protection.

This could all be moot in a matter of days if they send the pick to Pittsburgh or use it in a separate trade − both very real possibilities − but it's important to weigh all scenarios before making that decision.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY Rangers still weighing options for No. 12 pick in 2025 NHL Draft