The New York Rangers have decided to send the 2025 12th overall pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The Rangers were on the hook for sending either their 2025 or 2026 first-round pick to the Penguins to complete a mid-season trifecta of trades. New York originally traded the pick to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for J.T. Miller, as part of a multi-player trade. The Canucks then flipped the pick to the Penguins in a move that landed them defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor in another multi-player deal.
The Rangers landed on this decision after finding more value in holding onto their 2026 first, per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. It’s not necessarily a statement on New York’s behalf that they’re resigned to missing the postseason again in 2026 after falling out of the playoff frame this past season. Even an early elimination and a pick in the 16-20 range in 2026 likely holds equal or more value than this year’s No. 12 selection due to an anticipated deeper class of prospects to choose from next year.
Pittsburgh’s own pick is No. 11 overall, so they’ll have the opportunity to make back-to-back selections to add depth to a middle-of-the-pack prospect pool amid their retool. The Penguins’ system was labeled 20th in the league by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler in January. However, they’ve since added 2024-25 SHL Rookie of the Year Melvin Fernström and 2021 first-rounder Chase Stillman to their pool in separate trades, although the latter has really struggled to adjust to the pro game.
Now equipped with two picks in the top 15, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Pittsburgh at least consider packaging the two selections or parting ways with one of them to move higher up in the draft order. They’ve got a fair amount of depth in their pool in the form of a few mid-to-late first-round choices and some high-value second-round picks, but lack a true blue-chip piece. While there likely won’t be one available to them at 11th or 12th overall, they could snag one if they manage to sneak into the top seven or eight selections.