Rangers' Draft Dreams Shattered artwork

Rangers' Draft Dreams Shattered

New York Rangers News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now!

June 24, 2026

Rangers’ hopes for a top-five pick took a wild turn Tuesday as trade chaos reshaped the draft landscape, leaving them with the fifth pick and a slim chance at coveted forward Ivar Stenberg—now likely headed to San Jose with their second pick.
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It's June 24th. This is New York Rangers News Today, AI-powered stories from inside your team.
So, the Rangers were hoping for a high draft pick, maybe even one of the top two spots, but they ended up with the fifth pick. This meant that a guy named Gavin McKenna was pretty much out of reach from the jump. There's always a lot of shuffling with mock drafts and who teams are looking at, and some thought Ivar Stenberg, who was also considered a top. Prospect, might fall a bit.
Rangers fans were hoping he could slide down to number five, giving them a solid scoring winger for the future. But then, on Tuesday, things got wild. The San Jose Sharks traded away William Eklund and a couple of prospects to the Ottawa Senators for the ninth overall pick. Now, the Sharks have the second and ninth picks. Since they moved Eklund, it looks like they're definitely using that second pick on Stenberg. This is a pretty big setback for the Rangers if they were banking on landing a top forward. It's almost a sure thing the Toronto Maple Leafs will take McKenna first overall. With the Sharks holding two top ten picks, they'll likely grab the best player available with their first selection, which could very well be Stenberg. Even though the Sharks need defense, they could still grab one with their ninth pick. Things got even more complicated when the Chicago Blackhawks traded the fourth overall pick to the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Bowen Byram.
The Sabres might use that pick on defense to bolster their strong group, or maybe afford to replace Alex Touch if he leaves in free agency. Two, they really show that anything can happen this offseason. Who would have predicted Byram being traded for the fourth pick? Or the Senators using the ninth pick, which they got for Brady Tikachuk, on Eklund. For the Rangers, they need help all over the ice except for goaltending. So, picking a defenseman like Carson Carels or Keaton Virhoff at number five wouldn't be a bad move, but their biggest need is definitely at forward. If Stenberg or Caleb Malholtra were to fall to them, that would be amazing.
However, with all the moves on Tuesday, is looking like Stenberg falling to the fifth spot is pretty much impossible now.

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