The Rangers are set to pick fifth overall in the 2026 NHL Draft, a chance to add young talent after recent drafting missteps. Several of the worst selections since 2010 cluster in 2017–2021, a period tied to later roster weaknesses such as a lack of scoring depth and, more recently, primary scoring. Kaapo Kakko was selected second overall in 2019, but the pick is criticized as choosing an average player when Mortiz Seider could have been available, despite Kakko being the consensus selection at the time. Brennan Othmann was chosen 16th overall in 2021, with the expectation that the Rangers would secure a key contributor to support their contention push.
"The draft has not been very forgiving to the Rangers in recent history, as New York has made plenty of mistakes along the way, whether it be in Chris Drury's tenure, or Jeff Gorton before him. These are definitely the Rangers worst draft picks in recent memory, and unfortunately most are bunched in the same window that prevented the current iteration of the Rangers from continuously infusing the roster with young talent. Four of the picks were in that critical window of 2017-2021 that led to a lack of scoring depth or, more recently, primary scoring."
"I struggle with this one a lot, as there was the most merit in selecting Kakko compared to other entries on this list and other players in Kakko's draft. If any other team in the league had the pick, they were selecting Kakko. He was the consensus second overall pick. Still, I don't personally believe Kakko's terrible Rangers tenure is because of poor development work by the Rangers. Kakko has shown very little potential, and his Seattle Kraken tenure hasn't been much better."
"Simply put, the Rangers took an average player with the second overall pick, when in hindsight they could have gotten Mortiz Seider. But again, Kakko was the consensus second overall pick. There's also some revisionist history with Seider, who was deemed a reach at the time of the draft."
"The Rangers needed to nail the 2021 first round pick. They were heading back into their contention era, and supplementing the pipeline with young talent was critical to keep the window open. Picking Othman"
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