Rangers draft Muskegon-bound Tomáš Chrenko in third round

The New York Rangers took Tomáš Chrenko 81st overall in the third round of the 2026 NHL Draft on Saturday at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, using the extra third-round pick they had acquired from the New York Islanders in the Carson Soucy trade. The selection came before Chrenko has played a shift for the Muskegon Lumberjacks, a sign that New York was willing to spend a premium pick on a player whose USHL work still lies ahead.

That draft slot says as much about expectation as it does about upside. Chrenko is set to join Muskegon for the 2026-27 season, and the Rangers clearly valued the chance to get ahead of the curve on a winger whose game already has an NHL-leaning shape: a dangerous scoring touch, high-end offensive instincts and a relentless compete level. For Muskegon, the pick adds another future NHL draftee to a roster that has not yet received his first junior shift but already knows the level of pressure that comes with that label.

Chrenko arrives with a résumé that explains why the Rangers were comfortable making that bet. The Nitra, Slovakia native helped HK Nitra capture the Slovakian championship, then carried that momentum into the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he finished tied for the tournament lead with five goals in five games. IIHF also noted that he scored a natural hat trick in Slovakia’s 4-1 win over Germany, and that he led Slovakia’s offense by scoring the team’s first three goals.

The market had him higher than the 81st pick, too. Daily Faceoff ranked Chrenko No. 53 in its final draft rankings, placing him in a range where some teams likely saw a player who could come off the board much earlier than the third round. The Rangers ultimately pounced after gaining the extra selection, turning flexibility from the Soucy deal into a wager on a Slovak forward with a strong international track record.

Muskegon’s draft-day haul added to the significance. The club said six Lumberjacks were selected in the 2026 NHL Draft, bringing the organization’s all-time total to 70 NHL Draft picks in its 15-year history. Its draft preview had already pointed to the Lumberjacks as the USHL’s most productive pipeline in recent years, and Chrenko fits that pattern: a high-end talent from outside the usual recruiting lanes, arriving with NHL eyes already on him and expectations attached before the first puck drops in green and black.