Why the Rangers Ruining the Tank Is Fine
With a loaded draft class on the horizon and a wave of young talent finally making its presence felt, the Rangers' late-season surge raises a question worth asking: Is a retool more realistic than anyone thought?
In the ten games that followed the league’s return to play from the 2026 Milan Olympics, the New York Rangers won six. After losing the next five, the Rangers went on to rattle off five more wins in their most recent six games.
Under normal circumstances, that would come as good news. But when the team has a legitimate chance at winning the draft lottery—or at least landing a top three pick—winning games could actually cost them potential success in the long term. While the Rangers certainly didn’t plan to be bad this season, if there was ever a year to be bad, it’s now.
The 2026 draft class is one that has been highly regarded for years leading up to it. Gavin McKenna was, at times viewed, in the same light as Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, and, of course, his cousin Connor McDavid. Beyond him, there was plenty of promise throughout the class, leaving NHL organizations and general managers excited at the potential. Chris Drury was no exception to this, seeing as he opted to give the Pittsburgh Penguins the Rangers’ 12th overall pick in last year’s draft as opposed to sending them an unprotected first in 2026 as part of the J.T. Miller trade. (The pick moved around quite a bit, as Vancouver sent it to Pittsburgh, who ended up trading it to Philadelphia).
This proved to be a wise decision, because even if the Rangers win out the rest of the season, they will surely end up picking higher than 12th in the 2026 draft. And while a some of the shine on this 2026 draft class has worn off leading up to it, to say there isn’t the potential for high-end talent up and down the first round is just foolish. While it would be better for the Rangers to lose games and increase their chances of landing a top two pick and one of Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg, what they’re gaining in their recent performance could be a sign that a retool is a realistic option.
The fact of the matter is, while tanking may seem like the right thing to do from a fan perspective, the ultimate goal for the New York Rangers is to get back into the postseason as soon as possible. Tearing this team down to the studs and indulging into a full-blown rebuild may seem like the only way out of this, but we know that’s not how the Rangers plan to operate. Whether they’re ready for it or not, this team is going to push to be competitive again as early as next season and, as a result, will make roster decisions to set them up for both short- and long-term success, as best as they can.
