Jed Ortmeyer leaving Rangers after 9 years as player development head

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But player development has been an issue for the Rangers for the past decade and was a key in back-to-back playoff misses in the past two seasons. Top-10 picks Lias Andersson (No. 7 in 2017) and Vitaly Kravtsov (No. 9 in 2019) were busts, and Kaapo Kakko (No. 2 in 2019) never lived up to his draft status before the Rangers traded him to the Seattle Kraken in December 2024. Forward Alexis Lafreniere, the first player taken in the 2020 draft, has not reached 30 goals or 60 points in his six NHL seasons. 2023 first-rounder Gabe Perreault showed promise but is still a question mark.

More recently, Brennan Othmann, taken with the 16th pick in 2021, never panned out and was traded to the Calgary Flames in March. Lafreniere and defenseman Braden Schneider (No. 19 in 2020) are the only players left from the Rangers’ nine first-round picks from 2017-21, although they did have some success with recent mid- and late-round picks this season.

In addition, the Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, finished last in the league this season and has failed to consistently produce NHL-ready depth, generating criticism that the player development operation need a complete overhaul. With the Rangers embarking on what president and GM Chris Drury in January called a “retool” that’s going to be driven by adding young talent, a change in leadership for the player development operation isn’t surprising.

Jed Ortmeyer leaving Rangers after running player development

The first move came April 8, when Kevin Maxwell rejoined the Rangers as director of pro scouting. He’ll work alongside John Lilley, who’s their amateur scoring director, when it comes to running the player personnel department. Maxwell, now 66, spent 14 years scouting in the Rangers organization and was their director of pro scouting from 2011-22 before leaving to become the general manager of the St. Louis Blues’ AHL affiliate in 2022 after Drury made a number of moves in the Blueshirts’ scouting operation.

Maxwell was with the Rangers during their rebuild after a successful run in the 2010s, and his return came less than three months after Drury’s announcement of the current retool.

Drury was asked during a Zoom call with the media on April 17 whether the Rangers were considering changes to their player development staff. He responded that they “are looking at every different department and areas as to what we can do better.”

He had words of praise for director of amateur scouting John Lilley, who was responsible for picking players such as Perreault and Noah Laba — but did not mention Ortmeyer.

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The Rangers figure to have a chance to add the kind of prime young talent they’ve been lacking in this year’s NHL Draft. By finishing 30th in the overall standings, New York has an 11.5 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick in next week’s draft lottery, according to Tankathon. Even if they don’t get the first pick, the Rangers will be in the top five and should get a premium selection.

They also own the Dallas Stars’ first-round pick, which should be in the early-to-mid 20s. The Stars were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they lost 5-2 to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

Ortmeyer’s exit creates a major opening in a department Drury has identified as an area needing significant improvement. Tanner Glass, the assistant director of player development since 2019, figures to be a top candidate if Drury decides to promote from within.

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