As the 2025 National Hockey League Entry Draft is now a day away, we are working our way through the fourth and fifth rounds for the New York Rangers. If you missed the first parts of the Draft, then please click here and here.
In the fourth round, the Rangers having traded away their own fourth round pick will have the 111th pick which they got from Vancouver via Colorado. For the fifth, the Rangers have their own pick which will be at 139.
At this point in the draft, you are looking for value, those who are late bloomers or projects worth taking a risk on. For a team like the Rangers who are needing to build up their prospect inventory, they have had a good history of finding players in the middle to late rounds of the draft.
At 111, this is what we are looking at:
Burke Hood (Vancouver WHL) Goalie- The Rangers have a history of drafting goalies from the BC Division of the WHL having found Dylan Garand and Talyn Boyko. Hood had a strong second half of his rookie season in WHL finishing 13-8-3 after January 1. Needs work on his rebounds but there is also a lot of good as his record is not reflective of his play as Vancouver doesn’t make the playoffs if Hood is not standing on his head with his play. Does not rattle under pressure and squares up his position really well. Surround him with talent and he is a star.
Jimmy Lombardi (Flint OHL) Center– This is a player we got to see a ton of because of his teammate and sometimes linemate fellow prospect Nathan Aspinall. Solid skater, very good vision on the ice, very high hockey IQ, and very good on the forecheck. Needs to improve offensive consistency as well as on his face offs (getting physically strong would help). A good third line center at the pro level.
Zachary Morin (Youngstown USHL) Forward- here is a prime example of a player who is a project as Morin is a high risk/high reward player. Can be the most frustrating player because of his inconsistency or he can be your second unit power play quarterback. Solid playmaker who can skate with speed, it is his decision making that gets him in trouble and if he smartens up then you have a player. Will play another year in the USHL then he heads to Boston University in 2026.
In the fifth round this year the pickings are going to be a lot slimmer as this is not the deepest of drafts. For the Rangers, this is the time to look at USHL or European prospects to buy time to see if they can develop.
Anders Miller (Calgary WHL) Goalie- this is a prospect who it depends on who you listen is can be a solid goalie or a very frustrating one. Strengths are his glove hand, his positioning, and his smarts, Weaknesses are he struggles under pressure with traffic in front of him, struggles with rebound control, and weak puck handling. Yet he still put up good numbers over 22 games going 13-4-2 with 2.34 goals against average and 0.909 save percentage. Let us see how he does with a strong goalie coach working with him.
Teddy Mutryn (Chicago USHL) Center-here is a player whose scouts have had a hard time getting a good read on in large part because he played on a bad Chicago USHL team. What sells us on him is Boston College gave him a scholarship for next season. The good: power forward with good two-way play who can score and create. Not-so-good: takes bad penalties, weak defensive positioning, and will sometimes struggle with puck battles. Good coaching can fix all of that and Boston College has good coaching.
Nicholas Sykora (Omaha USHL) Left Wing- how about the son of a former Ranger who is heading to Owen Sound (OHL) for next season then Quinnipiac (ECAC) in 2026 next year? Son of Petr who has all the talent to be a top level talent but has been a suspect finisher. Good: playmaker who can run a power play, speed skater, and has nasty shots. Not-so-good: weak finisher in danger zone, badly needs to add muscle and strength, not at all physical player.
Will finish the draft tomorrow with the sixth and seventh round picks for the Rangers.
