Rangers chasing Gavin McKenna jackpot with strong NHL draft lottery odds again

Nypost · May 04, 2026 · 758 words · By Mollie Walker

Player Prospect Analysis NHL Draft Lottery Odds New York Rangers Team Strategy

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What to know about Player Prospect Analysis

The Rangers enter the NHL draft lottery Tuesday with the third-best odds of winning the No.

Claims checked 13

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The Rangers enter the NHL draft lottery Tuesday with the third-best odds of winning the No.

Why it matters

Access the Rangers beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mollie Walker about the inside buzz on the Rangers.

Common ground

tRY IT NOWAlready guaranteed a top five selection after finishing this past season with the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the third-worst overall, the Blueshirts have an 11.5 percent chance of earning the right to draft projected top pick Gavin…

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Player Prospect Analysis story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The NHL uses a four-number combination system to determine the selection order?
How does this story connect Player Prospect Analysis with NHL Draft Lottery Odds over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/04/sports/rangers-chasing-the-gavin-mckenna-jackpot-i…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified By Reference 3

schedule Pending 3

check_circle Corroborated 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

info Single Source 2

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Claim 1: “The NHL uses a four-number combination system to determine the selection order.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided or found in the search results regarding the 'four-number combination system' used by the NHL.

verified

Claim 2: “Juraj Slafkovský (2022) in Montreal, Connor Bedard (2023) in Chicago, Macklin Celebrini (2024) in San Jose, and Matthew Schaefer (2025) on Long Island [were first-overall picks]”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and NHL.com confirm Slafkovský (2022), Bedard (2023), and Celebrini (2024) as 1st overall picks. Matthew Schaefer (2025) is mentioned in the context of the 2025 draft, though the evidence provided is slightly less explicit for him than the others, the overall sequence is supported by the draft timeline.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Connor Bedard (born July 17, 2005) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a centre and alternate captain for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Considered one of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connor_Bedard

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025–26 NHL Three Star Awards are the way the National Hockey League denotes its players of the week and players of the month of the 2025–26 season.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_2025–26_NHL_Three_Star…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The NHL entry draft, originally known as the NHL amateur draft, is a collective meeting in which the franchises of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the exclusive rights to availa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first_overall_NHL_draf…

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 3: “One combination is designated as a redraw (11, 12, 13, 14)”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 4: “2020 first-overall pick Alexis Lafrenière”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and news reports, confirm Alexis Lafrenière was the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

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web search NEUTRAL — NHL first overall draft pick 2020.First overall NHL draft picks. Ice hockey people from Laurentides.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Lafrenière

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web search NEUTRAL — The New York Rangers selected Canadian Alexis Lafrenière with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft on Tuesday night.Despite the overall strength of this draft class, The Athletic’s Scott Wheel…
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4234718/2020/10/06/alexis-l…

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web search NEUTRAL — The New York Rangers selected forward Alexis Lafrenière with the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Vitals. Position: Left Wing. Age on Draft Day: 18.93 Years Old.Lafrenière is the first No. 1 overall …
https://www.blueshirtbanter.com/alexis-lafreniere-1st-overal…

schedule

Claim 5: “Since the Canucks finished in last place, Vancouver receives 185. The Rangers, who finished 30th in the NHL, receive 115.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 6: “Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg is expected to go at No. 2, which the Rangers have an 11.2 percent chance of landing.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific detail about Ivar Stenberg being expected at No. 2 and the Rangers' 11.2% chance of landing that pick is only found in one specific web search result.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City.In the 1939–40 season, the Rangers finished the regular season in second place behind Boston. The two teams then met in t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Rangers

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web search NEUTRAL — A second crack at developing a first-overall pick could rejuvenate a Rangers team that got younger as the 2025-26 season went along.Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg is expected to go at No. 2, which the R…
https://nypost.com/2026/05/04/sports/rangers-chasing-the-gav…

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web search NEUTRAL — How many picks will NY Rangers have in 2026? As the Kings’ conditional selection sent to the Rangers is confirmed to be a third-round pick, 81st overall, the Blueshirts have a better understanding of …
https://bolavip.com/en/nhl/ny-rangers-miss-out-on-nhl-draft-…

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Claim 7: “Under lottery rules, teams can move up a maximum of 10 spots. Therefore, only the top 11 seeds are eligible to receive the first-overall pick.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided or found in the search results regarding the specific '10 spot' movement rule or the 'top 11 seeds' eligibility.

schedule

Claim 8: “There are four balls numbered 1 to 14 and 1,001 possible four-number combinations.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “the ping-pong balls bounced their way into one of the top two picks in back-to-back drafts in 2019 and 2020.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results explicitly state the Rangers had top two picks in back-to-back drafts in 2019 and 2020. This is further supported by the fact they took Kakko at #2 in 2019 and Lafrenière at #1 in 2020.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2019–20 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 93rd season of play and their 94th season overall. The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other profe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_New_York_Rangers_seaso…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of players who have played at least one game for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1926–27 to the most recent complete season. As of the completion of the 20…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_Rangers_playe…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conferen…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Rangers

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 10: “Kaapo Kakko, whom the club took at No. 2 in 2019, now plays for Seattle”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and NHL.com confirm Kaapo Kakko was drafted 2nd overall by the Rangers in 2019 and was subsequently traded to the Seattle Kraken.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2019 NHL entry draft was the 57th draft for the National Hockey League. It was held on June 21–22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The first three selections were Jack Hughes by the New Jersey…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_NHL_entry_draft

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 4 Nations Face-Off (French: Confrontation des 4 nations) was an international ice hockey tournament held from February 12 to 20, 2025. The games were played in Montreal at the Bell Centre and in B…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Nations_Face-Off

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kaapo Ville Olavi Kakko (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkɑːpo ˈkɑkːo]; born 13 February 2001) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is a forward for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey Leagu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaapo_Kakko

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 11: “The Rangers enter the NHL draft lottery Tuesday with the third-best odds of winning the No. 1 pick for the second time in six years.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web search results confirm the Rangers have the third-best odds (11.5%) of winning the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft lottery.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024–25 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 98th season of play and their 99th overall season. The Rangers entered the season as defending Presidents' Trophy winners. Despite a 12–4–1 star…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_New_York_Rangers_seaso…

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 12: “the Blueshirts have an 11.5 percent chance of earning the right to draft projected top pick Gavin McKenna on the KeyBank Center stage in Buffalo on June 26.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the 11.5% odds, the date of June 26, the location at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, and the projected top pick Gavin McKenna.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2013–14 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 87th season of play and their 88th season overall. It was the Rangers' first season in the newly created Metropolitan Division, which was create…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013–14_New_York_Rangers_seaso…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The history of the New York Rangers began in 1926 when the National Hockey League (NHL) granted a franchise to Tex Rickard, the founder of the team. The Rangers experienced early success, winning the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_New_York_Ranger…

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 13: “The NHL Draft Lottery... will determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of generic NHL.com homepages and score pages; no specific text confirming the 2026 lottery's scope for the first 16 picks was found in the results.

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web search NEUTRAL — The official National Hockey League website including news, rosters, stats, schedules, teams, and video.
https://www.nhl.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — May 1, 2007 · The official source for scores, previews, recaps, boxscores, video highlights, and more from every National League Hockey game.
https://www.nhl.com/scores

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web search NEUTRAL — The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.
https://www.nhl.com/stats/

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.