Alexis Lafreniere Won’t Be Traded by Rangers. Here’s What Changed.

The New York Rangers hold the fifth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, which should give them a chance to add a real impact player. But one name that keeps popping up in trade chatter — Alexis Lafreniere — apparently isn’t going anywhere.

According to a Wednesday night report from The Athletic’s Vincent Z. Mercogliano and Peter Baugh, the Rangers have fielded calls on the 24-year-old winger but are not actively shopping him. Two league sources told them the expectation is that Lafreniere stays in New York heading into next season. The team is only willing to move him if they get an offer that blows them away, which is basically code for: it’s probably not happening.

That’s a notable shift from earlier in the offseason, when it felt like Lafreniere’s name was in every other trade rumor. He was the first overall pick in 2020, and for a while it looked like the Rangers might have whiffed on that selection. A guy taken that high is supposed to be a franchise cornerstone, not a middle-six guy whose production has been up and down.

But here’s the interesting part. Lafreniere actually finished the 2025-26 season on a serious heater. Over his final 27 games, he scored 14 goals and added 28 points. That’s a 42-goal pace over a full season. For a team that finished dead last in the Eastern Conference, that kind of production mattered. He ended the year with 24 goals and 57 points in 82 games. Not superstar numbers. But solid. And the Rangers are betting that late surge carries into 2026-27.

It’s easy to forget he’s still only 24. Players develop at different speeds. Some guys hit the ground running, others need a few years to figure out the league. Lafreniere might be one of those guys who just needed longer to adjust to the speed and structure of the NHL game. He’s not the first high pick to have a slow start — and he won’t be the last.

Now the Rangers have to decide what to do with that fifth pick. The smart move might be to keep it, add another young piece, and try to build around a core that’s been underperforming for a while. Lafreniere being part of that future, at least for now, gives them some certainty on the wing. He’s not going anywhere unless someone makes a wild offer. And in this market, that doesn’t seem likely.