Five Names for the Rangers To Watch in the Third Round
From a Boston University-bound goalie to an overage center who quietly racked up 91 points, these are the names the Rangers should be circling once the third round arrives.
Looking ahead at the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, the New York Rangers will be—barring any trades—making four selections in the third round. As a result, it would be wise of them to consider packaging one with their late second in attempts to move up in the draft but as things currently stands, the Rangers will be picking 67th, 77th, 81st, and 92nd overall.
While we’re still over two weeks away from draft day, it’s worth keeping an eye on potential names that could and should be of interest to the Rangers. Let’s look at five prospects the Rangers should have on their priority list.
Brady Knowling - Goaltender, U.S. National Development Program, USHL
I wrote at length earlier that goaltending is becoming a bit of a growing need for the Rangers and Brady Knowling would be an incredibly exciting get for them. The 6-5, 202 pound netminder checks off the size box as well as the USA Hockey box, two things the Rangers have certainly seemed to prioritize in recent years.
A couple of things that immediately stand out about Knowling. First and foremost, his size is obviously something that helps him stand tall in the crease and allows him to confidently get in front of the shot. However, he’s also pretty solid positionally. He plays his angles well enough and more often than not, is where he needs to be in the blue paint. One thing that does concern me is his side-to-side ability, as he’s not the quickest goaltender in the crease. That’s quite noticeable in the USA vs. CHL prospects challenge as he gets beat when Canada got him going side-to-side on a two-man passing play. Knowling ends up biting on the forward cutting towards the slot and doesn’t get to the one timer in time.
He has a tendency to play from his knees, which is advantageous for large netminders, but in scenarios like that first goal where he’s already down and bites on the initial play, it makes adapting quickly even more of a challenge. Outside of that, and a goal in which he was likely screened, Knowling looked real solid in that prospects challenge with over 40 saves against Canada’s best players.
Many of the same things were on display during the 2025 World Juniors, especially in their outing against Sweden. Knowling had a difficult time shutting down the Swedes east-west play which resulted in Team USA falling 5-2.
His movement and shot recovery are two areas of concern for me, especially at the professional level but are reasonable enough works-in-progress that can be improved on. He reminds me a bit of Jakob Markstrom, which has its pros and cons. But for a team like the Rangers that needs to revamp its goaltending pipeline, if he’s available to them in the third round, he’s a worthwhile gamble to take. Knowling is ranked at the top of the NHL central scouting list for North American goalies, but according to Tankathon, is projected to go earlier in the third round. There’s always a chance teams in more desperate need of goaltending could reach for a prospect like Knowling, but either way he should be on the Rangers’ radar.
Knowling is committed to attend Boston University next year, which is all the more reason for the Rangers to have interest with all the ties Mike Sullivan and David Quinn have there. If he can establish himself as the number one goalie for a top NCAA program and continue to have success there, the hype surrounding this prospect will only rise higher.
