Rangers Complete Trade, Give Penguins 2025 First-Rounder; Snap Analysis

The Pittsburgh Penguins will have two picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Tuesday morning, multiple reports broke that the New York Rangers made their decision, and to complete the trade they made with the Vancouver Canucks for J.T. Miller, they will deliver their 2025 first-round pick, 12th overall, to the Penguins.

That means the Penguins own the 11th and 12th overall picks in this year’s draft.

New York had a difficult choice to make. The pick was top-13 protected, so New York could have held onto the pick, thus surrendering their 2026 pick without condition. However, general manager Chris Drury made the call to protect against another bad season and losing his lottery ticket in the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes.

Read More Penguins draft prospects video and analysis on the PHN Penguins Prospects page.

The pick has been well-traveled. Drury traded it to the Vancouver Canucks in the Miller deal, but then Vancouver traded it to the Penguins in the Marcus Pettersson/Drew O’Connor deal on Jan. 31.

The first round of the NHL Draft is Friday. Rounds two through seven will be on Saturday. For the first time, the NHL is using a decentralized draft, so all teams will be in their home offices making selections while the top prospects will be at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

Snap Analysis

The Penguins now have more ammunition to increase the depth of their prospect pool, as several worthy prospects will be on the board at 11 and 12. The Penguins may not get their desired choice or one of the top centers in the draft, but they’ll have a couple of chances to hit on a pick to become an impact player.

Perhaps if the Penguins are split on a prospect, they now have the opportunity to take both.

Also, two picks in the first round means GM Kyle Dubas also has a real opportunity to trade up in the draft to select one of the blue-chip prospects. Last week, PHN profiled the costs and analytics evaluations of such a Penguins trade. The Rangers obviously hedged their bet. Despite hiring coach Mike Sullivan, the Rangers still need sweeping changes from the team that tanked this season. Drury was surely somewhat worried about another bad season as they attempted a quick transition.

Also, by retaining their 2026 first-round pick, New York will be able to make a big offer to a restricted free agent, such as JJ Petrka.