All the talk this offseason is about offer sheets, especially for the Rangers. Will Cuylle is rumored to be a prime offer sheet candidate, as is–to a lesser degree–K’Andre Miller. Aside from the players the Rangers might “lose” to offer sheets, there are rumors Chris Drury wants to leverage offer sheets of his own. While it’s possible, the Rangers 2026 2nd round pick remains a need if they want to be a bit more flexible with the possible offer sheets they can submit.
Tracking the pick
The Rangers 2026 2nd round pick was traded way back in 2022, so it’s easy to forget the Rangers don’t actually have their own pick. The Rangers 2026 2nd round pick was actually sent to Arizona, now Utah, in the Patrik Nemeth contract dump, acquiring Ty Emberson in the process. Emberson is no longer with the Rangers, as many know, but that’s neither here nor there for the sake of this discussion.
Utah currently has three picks in the 2026 draft: their own, the Rangers, and the Senators. Assuming the Rangers rebound under Mike Sullivan, it’s expected the Rangers 2026 2nd round pick will be the worst of those three picks. Ottawa and Utah are likely going to pick in the 15-20 pick range of that round, while the Rangers–again assuming some level of rebound and making the playoffs–could be in the low 20s.
If Utah is looking to surrender a 2nd round pick for an asset, then they probably want to part ways with the Rangers 2nd round pick first, given it should be the lowest of the picks. However, they are not unaware of the value the Rangers 2026 2nd round pick has to the Blueshirts. It may not impact actual trade value, but it might impact Chris Drury’s urgency to reacquire it.
Rangers 2026 2nd round pick provides offer sheet flexibility
The Rangers 2026 2nd round pick will give them far more flexibility in offer sheet compensation. Without it, the Rangers can only offer two tiers of RFA compensation: $4.68 million-$7.02 million (1st and 3rd round compensation) and over $11.7 million (4 1st round picks). Using JJ Peterka as an example, Buffalo will match for former and the latter is a gross overpayment.
By adding the Rangers 2026 2nd round pick back into the mix, the Blueshirts get access to three more tiers of RFA compensation: $2.34 million-$4.68 million (2nd round pick), $7.02 million-$9.36 million (1st, 2nd, 3rd round picks), and $9.36 million-$11.7 million (2 1sts, 2nd, 3rd round picks). Again using JJ Peterka as the example, Buffalo might not match a five year, $8.5 million offer sheet that is heavily paid in bonuses.
A note about offer sheets: The compensation range is calculated off a five year average. Again using Peterka as the example, if the Rangers sign him to a 7 year, $7 million contract ($49 million total), the actual RFA compensation is calculated by taking that $49 million over 5 years, which is $9.8 million (2 1sts, 2nd, 3rd round picks).
For those thinking creatively, it means if the Rangers 2026 2nd round pick comes back home, the Blueshirts may be able to offer Peterka a longer contract at a lower cap hit, again bonus laden, and still have the same RFA compensation target. A 7 year, $46.75 million contract would carry a $6.67 million cap hit, but would be calculated at $9.35 million for the RFA compensation (1st, 2nd, 3rd round picks). Whether Buffalo matches remains to be seen.
Can the Rangers even make this happen?
Reacquiring the Rangers 2nd round pick would require a bit of creativity, something we haven’t really seen as a strength for Drury. Utah would be an interesting landing spot for K’Andre Miller, and if we assume Drury is targeting the Rangers 2026 2nd round pick, then more would certainly need to come back to the Rangers. Despite fan backlash, Miller should have tremendous value as a high ceiling, possibly buy low defenseman with true 1LD potential. Yes, he does have that potential.
It’s highly unlikely the Rangers are able to pry Logan Cooley from Utah with a Miller package, but Jack McBain is an intriguing target. The 25 year old center, an RFA, put up 13-14-27 in 82 games last season and may be a steady 3C. His contract projections from Evolving-Hockey are manageable, with a 2 year bridge deal at $3.1 million the most likely scenario. Would Miller for McBain and the Rangers 2026 2nd round pick work? Personally I think it’s light from Utah and they’d need to add, but I also thought Chris Kreider would fetch more in a trade.
Even if Miller for McBain, one for one, makes sense, the goal is to reacquire the Rangers 2026 2nd round pick, so that must be part of the return. That’s what makes things tricky for Drury. He can also only trade with Utah here, limiting his options significantly.
Naturally, this Miller trade idea is just me spitballing based on available information. Reacquiring the Rangers 2026 2nd round pick falls somewhere between a priority and a nice to have, depending on Drury’s offer sheet strategy. Given what we know about Miller, the Rangers trade rumors, offer sheet rumors, the need to reacquire the Rangers 2026 2nd round pick, and rumblings that Utah wants to make some moves, this may be somewhat plausible.
