Rangers at No. 5: Scott Wheeler points to three defensive prospects as trading-down talk swirls

As the 2026 NHL Draft nears, attention is sharpening on where the New York Rangers go with the fifth overall pick. According to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, the franchise has at least three defensive prospects that have emerged as potential targets in scouting discussions: Alberts Šmits, Carson Carels, and Keaton Verhoeff.

The names matter because they reflect a clear theme for the Rangers entering draft week. Rather than focusing on a single “type” of player, the reported shortlist centers on defensemen, suggesting New York is trying to build from the back end as the organization continues to balance short-term roster needs with long-term development. Defense is often the most difficult position to project year-over-year, so having multiple options can be a practical way to manage uncertainty in prospect evaluation.

Wheeler’s reporting also included the idea that trading down could be on the table. The Rangers holding the fifth pick creates natural incentives on both sides of the draft board, where teams are willing to move if they believe they can still secure a preferred prospect at a discount. While the notion of a trade is not the same thing as confirmation, it frames how New York may think about the value of the pick versus the availability of certain players further back.

The three prospects associated with the Rangers each represent a different flavor of defensive prospect profile, and that diversity is part of why multiple names are being discussed. In draft markets, teams rarely see identical upside and risk across a group, even when they share a position label. The Rangers’ reported linkage to Šmits, Carels and Verhoeff implies New York’s scouts and decision-makers could be aligning on comparable skill sets, while still weighing which player best fits the organization’s preferred development path and ceiling.

What to watch next is not only whether any of the three prospects are still available at fifth, but whether the “trading down” chatter changes the order of priorities. If the Rangers are willing to move, then the evaluation becomes less about who is best overall at the selection point and more about whether their preferred tier of defensemen drops far enough to make a transaction worthwhile. If they stand pat, New York’s process is likely pointing toward a specific set of characteristics that they believe can translate quickly to the NHL level.

For Rangers fans, the near-term takeaway is straightforward: New York’s draft night interest appears heavily defense-oriented, and the organization is being linked to multiple young players who could shape the blue-line pipeline. Whether the Rangers end up selecting one of those defensemen directly, or create flexibility through a trade, the decision at No. 5 will be a defining marker of how the franchise wants its defensive identity to evolve over the next several seasons.