Rangers stand pat in quiet first night at NHL draft as K’Andre Miller uncertainty lingers

The Rangers were ultimately spectators during the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday in Los Angeles.

After president and general manager Chris Drury decided to send the 12th pick to Pittsburgh instead of deferring the transfer to 2026 in order to wrap up the acquisition of J.T. Miller from January, the Blueshirts went without a first-rounder for the first time since 2022 and just the second time since they went without one from 2013-2016.

The entire day was an eventful one for their cross-state rivals, the Islanders, though, with Noah Dobson heading out to Montreal in a trade before first pick Matthew Schaefer was brought in.

And who is the top pick looking forward to playing against the most?

“I’m saying Rangers,” Schaefer said. “I heard there’s a big rivalry. I want to play against the Rangers, and I want to beat them every single time we play them.”

Friday night was just another step in a new era for the Islanders under general manager Mathieu Darche.

The Rangers roster, however, remained the same as 32 players heard their names called inside the Peacock Theater.

Drury’s intentions to switch up the Rangers lineup and reshape the chemistry in the locker room are well known at this point in the offseason, but the market for arguably his biggest trade chip might not be what he had hoped.

Whether there haven’t been any legitimate offers for restricted free agent K’Andre Miller or none have enticed Drury enough to pull the trigger, the uncertainty surrounding the 25-year-old defenseman could complicate the Rangers head honcho’s plans.

If Miller still is a Ranger by July 1, it’s unclear how the organization would proceed. Perhaps it would increase the chances of the Minnesota native signing a one-year deal to stay in New York.

The Rangers have been connected to pending free agent defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. Set to hit the market Tuesday if the Kings don’t extend him, Gavrikov is expected to command around $7 million-$8 million per on his next contract.

It would be a challenge for Drury to fit both Miller and Gavrikov under the cap without other deals.

Deals for RFAs Will Cuylle and Zac Jones still are needed as well.

The Rangers are expected to have eight picks — Nos. 43, 70, 89, 111, 139, 166, 171 and 203 — to make Saturday, beginning with the second round.

Miller actually is the last remaining first-round pick from the Rangers’ stretch of six Round 1 selections from 2017-2019.

Selected seventh in 2017, Lias Andersson was traded to the Kings in exchange for the Golden Knights’ second-round pick in 2020 in October of that year.

Filip Chytil, who was traded to Vancouver as part of the J.T. Miller trade in January, was taken just a few spots later at 21st in 2017.

Including Miller, the Rangers ultimately made three first-round picks in 2018, the first being Vitali Kravtsov at ninth. The young Russian eventually was traded to Vancouver in February 2023 after a four-year saga.

Another first-round pick from that year who didn’t pan out the way anybody imagined was defenseman Nils Lundkvist, who was shipped to Dallas in September 2022 in exchange for a conditional first-round pick in 2023 and a conditional fourth-rounder in this year’s draft.

Kaapo Kakko, the Rangers’ prized second-overall pick in 2019, also was traded to Seattle this past season.