NHL Draft Notebook: Rangers to decide future of No. 12 pick

The 2025 NHL Draft is just over a week away with the main event on June 27-28 from Los Angeles. Follow along on TSN.ca with the latest news, rumours and speculation from around the NHL

Rangers put on notice

The New York Rangers are currently projected to draft in the No. 12 spot in the first round at the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles on June 27, but the team still needs to make a decision on the future of that selection.

New York has until June 25 at 7 p.m. ET to decide whether they're going to keep their selection in this year's draft or send it to the Pittsburgh Penguins to complete the conditions of the J.T. Miller trade that was made at the end of January.

Vince Mercogliano of USA Today reports that his understanding is that general manager Chris Drury will use all his available time to weigh his options.

The Rangers traded forward Filip Chytil, defenceman Victor Mancini, and a 2025 top-13 protected first-round draft pick to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Miller, and defencemen Jackson Dorrington and Erik Brannstrom.

Vancouver then flipped that draft pick, along with forwards Danton Heinen, Melvin Fernstrom, and defencemen Vincent Desharnais to the Penguins in exchange for forward Drew O'Connor and defenceman Marcus Pettersson the same day.

If the Rangers elect to keep the draft pick this season, the Penguins will receive an unprotected first-round pick from the Rangers for the 2026 draft.

Flyers looking to move up

The Philadelphia Flyers have the No. 6 selection in the draft and while there's a lot of focus on who they'll take at that spot, the team is also looking at improving their standing later in the first round.

Philadelphia also have the No. 22 pick (from the Colorado Avalanche) and the No. 31 pick (from the Edmonton Oilers) and are looking to use their capital to move up in the draft.

"We've said from the beginning we'd like to move up if it was possible," Flyers general manager Daniel Brière told reporters on Tuesday. "There's just not a lot of options out there. Teams are all looking to move up, so we'll have to be patient. And maybe there's an opportunity that comes where we can create value going the other way also."

As for the No. 6 selection, Brière said that there's no need to make a big swing because of the range of players that should be available at the spot. He admitted that he takes size, skating, hockey sense, and competitive edge as part of the team's considerations, but the team is still focusing on taking the best player available.

"At six, I don't know if we would be taking a swing," said Brière. "There's a number of players there in that range that aren't really swings for me. There's different strengths and weaknesses and different types of players, but they're all going to be good down the road.

"I think we've shown that we're not afraid [to take a swing], but we're going to do what we feel is the best player."

Goalies could be selected in Round 1

Goaltenders being drafted in the first round has been a rare occurrence the last three seasons but that could change this time around.

A goalie have not been chosen in the first round since 2021 when the Detroit Red Wings selected Sebastian Cossa 15th overall and the Minnesota Wild picked Jesper Wallstedt at No. 20.

Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr was asked about the possibility of a goalie being selected with one of their three picks, which he believes is possible.

"Potentially one this year, but there’s a number of goalies as the draft goes along that our guys are high on and feel there’s a lot of potential there that we can use that player for a positional player versus a goaltender in that spot," said Flahr. "We'll manage that as we go along. you've seen it before - once one goalie goes, usually it's bang, bang, bang, they all start to go. We have a number of picks in that range, we'll see.

TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button has two goalies within his top 32 of his final draft list with Brampton Steelheads netminder Jack Ivankovic at No. 12 and Prince George Cougars goalie Joshua Ravensbergen at No. 29.

Ivankovic went 25-12-5 with the Steelheads last season in the Ontario Hockey League with a .903 save percentage and 3.05 goals-against average. He also went 1-3 in the playoffs before the Steelheads were eliminated by the Oshawa Generals in the first round.

The 5-foot-11 netminder is well decorated on the international stage for Canada, with gold medal wins at the 2023 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge, 2024 and 2025 Under-18 World Championships, and 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Ivankovic starred at the 2025 U-18 World Championship, going 6-0 with a tournament-best 1.05 GAA and .961 save percentage, and was named the tournament's top goaltender.

Ravensbergen put up a 33-13-14 record last season with the Cougars in the Western Hockey League with a 3.00 GAA and .901 save percentage. He went 2-4 in the playoffs as the Cougars fell to the Portland Winterhawks in the first round.

The 6-foot-5 netminder came on the scene during the 2023-24 campaign and recorded a 26-4-2 record with a 2.46 GAA and .907 save percentage, helping Prince George to the second-best record in the WHL. 

Both Ivankovic and Ravensbergen represented the Canadian Hockey League at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge and Ivankovic was invited to Canada's 2025 World Juniors selection camp.