Rangers Gave Away Three First-Round Picks. Chris Drury Says It Was the Only Move That Made Sense.

The New York Rangers were the worst team in the Eastern Conference last season. That tends to make a general manager do drastic things. Chris Drury just did a few of them in a hurry.

Before the NHL Draft, he shipped two first-round picks to Vegas for Pavel Dorofeyev. Then he sent another first-rounder to Vancouver for Marcus Pettersson. Three first-round picks gone in a matter of days. That’s the kind of spending spree that usually makes people nervous. But Drury, talking to Molly Walker of The New York Post, laid out why he felt fine about it.

“My philosophy and our philosophy was if they’re for the right player or players, that are at the right age with the right contract that can help our lineup — not just in the year or two, but for a number of years down the road — it would be worth it,” Drury said.

He also pointed out that the Rangers weren’t just throwing picks away. They recouped some by trading Vincent Trocheck to Utah, getting back Cole Beaudoin — a 2024 first-rounder who just put up 88 points for Barrie in the OHL. They also landed Liam Greentree at the deadline, a prospect close to turning pro, and Jacob Battaglia, a later pick. So Drury sees it as shuffling assets, not just burning them.

Dorofeyev and Pettersson fill real holes

Dorofeyev is 25 and coming off back-to-back 35-plus goal seasons. He scored 37 last year and added 12 more in the playoffs. That’s not a fluke. That’s a legitimate scoring threat the Rangers desperately needed after a year where nothing went right offensively.

Pettersson is 30, which is still prime for a defenseman. He struggled some in Vancouver after leaving Pittsburgh, but his contract is manageable and his track record suggests he can bounce back. The Rangers need a steady presence on the blue line, and they’re betting his best hockey isn’t behind him.

The whole thing is a gamble, sure. First-round picks are valuable. But when you finish dead last in your conference, you can’t just wait around for draft night year after year. You need players who can help now. Dorofeyev and Pettersson are that. The Rangers have prospects coming, too, but they also have two proven guys who can step in and change the look of the roster.

Drury put it simply: three first-round picks is a lot. But the Rangers got two impact players and restocked some prospect depth along the way. For a team coming off a disaster season, that might be the best outcome they could have hoped for.