Prospect Info: 2025 DRAFT Thread

[koteka]

McKenzie's Rankings

If Mrtka was available at 11 (where he is ranked here) would you trade 13 & 20 (19?) to move up and select him?

There is a stretch of 6th to 10th of teams that I could see draft the highest rated right D.

6) Buffalo - need right D
7) Penguins - early in rebuild is a good time to draft a big right D
8) Ducks - could go a few directions, but right D wouldn’t be a shock
9) Islanders - early in rebuild is a good time to draft a big right D
10) Rangers - Mrtka could be a nice trade piece if they turn it around, or a nice part of a new core if they need to overhaul the team

 

[stevo61]

I've only seen bits and pieces of Brady Martin at the U18s, so this might not be any closer. But when I think of a great bodychecker who was only about 6'0 and only a little above a point per game in junior, the first guy that comes to mind is Mike Richards. Now getting that type of outcome out of a #13 pick would be unlikely, but if we could get a solid physical #2C, that is something we can use.

I'll add to my last point aswell. You can never expect that out of a mid to late 1st round pick but it's often where they are found or later. Pure talent gets drafted early and then these guys often pop up later and everyone asks how they slipped, especially if they aren't 6'2" 200+lbs at 17 years old

 

[majormajor]

I'll add to my last point aswell. You can never expect that out of a mid to late 1st round pick but it's often where they are found or later. Pure talent gets drafted early and then these guys often pop up later and everyone asks how they slipped, especially if they aren't 6'2" 200+lbs at 17 years old

By all accounts this kid is extremely strong - he doesn't have a lot of frame left to add muscle but if he's already stronger than most NHLers then there's no problem.

 

[stevo61]

By all accounts this kid is extremely strong - he doesn't have a lot of frame left to add muscle but if he's already stronger than most NHLers then there's no problem.

I'd place a significant wager he's not stronger than most NHLers. But if he can time a hit and he's a naturally aggressive, sign me up just like I was for Lindstrom

 

[tunnelvision]

if that's the case, i love the idea of using the MIN pick to swing big on an undersized impact forward. kindel, potter and schmidt all stand out, but i also really like adam benak.

there's always gonna be a vocal "this team doesn't need small guys" contingent, but waddell's staff in carolina seemed to nail a lot of those draft evals (jarvis, blake, nadeau) and extract a lot of surplus value that way.

I wouldn't approve selecting Benak or Schmidt at 20. Benak has elite hands and vision but I don't think he's elusive enough for his size. Schmidt might have a bit of Cam Atkinson in him with explosive speed bursts and hustles but overall offensive toolset hasn't fully impressed me. We know that 5'7 forwards can't afford to have many weak areas in their game.

Potter certainly stood out from Team USA. There didn't seem to be many holes in his game, he looked quick, smart and skilled. Maybe not a high-end talent worth a top-10 ranking but I liked him more in this tournament than Reschny and Cootes, two similar size top forwards from Canada.

Kindel remains a bit boom/bust type of prospect to me. Another guy in the smaller side but he seems pretty cerebral. If he's able to get stronger and quicker, I think we could suddenly see huge strides and watch him outplay his draft position much earlier than people expect, maybe in same way that Poitras did in his D+1.

When I started reading this the 1st name I thought of was Dustin Brown.

Don't know if Martin has what they had in overall compete but if he does at all any team would love him

Also for me, Brown is the first player that come to mind. If I was to question something about Martin's potential, it wouldn't be the compete level, strength, physicality, balance and overall hockey sense, but rather the tight area skills. He doesn't have very smooth hands or fluid edges but usually he gets the job done against his peers because of superior strength and competitiveness. I can't tell how he would do in the NHL now in terms of physical play but I don't think he looked any weaker than Frondell who's ranked about 5-10 spots higher and has the same 6'0 frame to work with.

 

[stevo61]

He's a Soo Greyhound so he probably doesn't make it by 9 anyway

Apparently he grew up on a farm, explains the strength

 

[ColumbusTrill]

His skating stride looks a lot like Boone’s to me. We have tough guys but I think we need more assholes on the ice. Martin fits that bill