Prospect Info: 2025 DRAFT Thread

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I will NOT let this interfere with my already-scheduled panicking.

 

[CBJx614]

could lead to some extra moves

 

[tunnelvision]

1. Schaefer
2. Misa
3. Mrtka
4. Martone
5. Smith
6. Hensler
7. Martin
8. Desnoyers
9. Eklund
10. Frondell
11. O'Brien
12. Hagens
13. Bear
14. Lakovic
15. McQueen
16. Boumedienne
17. Spence
18. Aitcheson
19. Potter
20. Prokhorov

My final top-20 for this year. Not a lot of changes from the one I posted a month ago, partly due to the fact I didn't have as much time to re-watch some of the top-end guys as I planned. I felt less awkward ranking players at 1-7 than 8-15 and beyond that.

Had to drop McQueen a bit after watching Simon's breakdown video of him. I still think there's a small chance he'll be a 1st liner in the NHL, with that size, hands, creativity and ability to cut inside I can't imagine a trajectory where his playmaking rates and shot quality doesn't improve at all. Health and balance while getting checked are bigger concerns.

Hagens fell from top-10 as well. I couldn't find NCAA shift-by-shifts of him showing line driving ability or being the primary scoring threat. I see a solid skillset and offensive IQ but it seems he's going to be a winger and will depend on others doing much of the dirty work at 5v5 and creating space for him.

I removed Zonnon and Carbonneau from the list. Carbonneau because of character concerns and inconsistent decision-making. Zonnon because of skating, the flaws were pretty badly exposed in the Q playoff game I recently watched.

Personally, hardest player to assess might be Frondell. So many outlets have him the top-5. I keep struggling to see an obvious top line talent. Crazy shot, impressive stats and good positional play. Skating, agility, playmaking and puck handling however are much less impressive. Compete level looks alright but I always find myself thinking something is missing there. I wish I saw the same level of intensity that I see in Martin, Eklund and Bear for example.

 

[majormajor]

1. Schaefer
2. Misa
3. Mrtka
4. Martone
5. Smith
6. Hensler
7. Martin
8. Desnoyers
9. Eklund
10. Frondell
11. O'Brien
12. Hagens
13. Bear
14. Lakovic
15. McQueen
16. Boumedienne
17. Spence
18. Aitcheson
19. Potter
20. Prokhorov

My final top-20 for this year. Not a lot of changes from the one I posted a month ago, partly due to the fact I didn't have as much time to re-watch some of the top-end guys as I planned. I felt less awkward ranking players at 1-7 than 8-15 and beyond that.

Had to drop McQueen a bit after watching Simon's breakdown video of him. I still think there's a small chance he'll be a 1st liner in the NHL, with that size, hands, creativity and ability to cut inside I can't imagine a trajectory where his playmaking rates and shot quality doesn't improve at all. Health and balance while getting checked are bigger concerns.

Hagens fell from top-10 as well. I couldn't find NCAA shift-by-shifts of him showing line driving ability or being the primary scoring threat. I see a solid skillset and offensive IQ but it seems he's going to be a winger and will depend on others doing much of the dirty work at 5v5 and creating space for him.

I removed Zonnon and Carbonneau from the list. Carbonneau because of character concerns and inconsistent decision-making. Zonnon because of skating, the flaws were pretty badly exposed in the Q playoff game I recently watched.

Personally, hardest player to assess might be Frondell. So many outlets have him the top-5. I keep struggling to see an obvious top line talent. Crazy shot, impressive stats and good positional play. Skating, agility, playmaking and puck handling however are much less impressive. Compete level looks alright but I always find myself thinking something is missing there. I wish I saw the same level of intensity that I see in Martin, Eklund and Bear for example.

Now I feel like a coward for not going higher on Hensler.

Where do you see him ending up?

 

[tunnelvision]

Now I feel like a coward for not going higher on Hensler.

Where do you see him ending up?

I'm not well informed about the rumors on who is going to target who at any given selection in top-10 but I read that Utah likes Martin and Chicago likes Frondell. Based on depth charts there might be a bunch of teams that could welcome another RD to their system. Maybe Anaheim could be the first team interested in him if Mrtka is already taken? I think it's more likely he goes in the 12-20 range. Just can't make an educated guess on the team preferring him.

 

[alphafox]

Took a look at TSN's Mock draft. Had us coming away with Bear and Hensler which would be a pretty excellent draft day if we can't make a trade happen.

 

[CBJx614]

Took a look at TSN's Mock draft. Had us coming away with Bear and Hensler which would be a pretty excellent draft day if we can't make a trade happen.

If we trust our doctors and they say he's okay I'm all for it, but that makes two back to back risky first round picks in Lindstrom and Bear.

 

[alphafox]

If we trust our doctors and they say he's okay I'm all for it, but that makes two back to back risky first round picks in Lindstrom and Bear.

True. I think for me the difference is draft position and alternatives. I was not a fan of the Lindstrom pick because there were other options I preferred over Lindstrom (Demidov, Parekh, Zeev, etc) and the fact that you hopefully aren't picking that high often means you need that pick to hit. At this point In the 1st taking homerun swings makes much more sense because unless you are already contending just getting a contributor at a low cap hit matters a lot less and our alternatives at 14 and 20 I see just don't have the ceiling those two do.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I’m not the biggest on the draft so whatever my opinion is worth but Bear has been my choice all along and I never really pivoted based on his injury.

 

[Doggy]

1. Schaefer
2. Misa
3. Mrtka
4. Martone
5. Smith
6. Hensler
7. Martin
8. Desnoyers
9. Eklund
10. Frondell
11. O'Brien
12. Hagens
13. Bear
14. Lakovic
15. McQueen
16. Boumedienne
17. Spence
18. Aitcheson
19. Potter
20. Prokhorov

My final top-20 for this year. Not a lot of changes from the one I posted a month ago, partly due to the fact I didn't have as much time to re-watch some of the top-end guys as I planned. I felt less awkward ranking players at 1-7 than 8-15 and beyond that.

Had to drop McQueen a bit after watching Simon's breakdown video of him. I still think there's a small chance he'll be a 1st liner in the NHL, with that size, hands, creativity and ability to cut inside I can't imagine a trajectory where his playmaking rates and shot quality doesn't improve at all. Health and balance while getting checked are bigger concerns.

Hagens fell from top-10 as well. I couldn't find NCAA shift-by-shifts of him showing line driving ability or being the primary scoring threat. I see a solid skillset and offensive IQ but it seems he's going to be a winger and will depend on others doing much of the dirty work at 5v5 and creating space for him.

I removed Zonnon and Carbonneau from the list. Carbonneau because of character concerns and inconsistent decision-making. Zonnon because of skating, the flaws were pretty badly exposed in the Q playoff game I recently watched.

Personally, hardest player to assess might be Frondell. So many outlets have him the top-5. I keep struggling to see an obvious top line talent. Crazy shot, impressive stats and good positional play. Skating, agility, playmaking and puck handling however are much less impressive. Compete level looks alright but I always find myself thinking something is missing there. I wish I saw the same level of intensity that I see in Martin, Eklund and Bear for example.

The argument I have heard for Hagens still being one of the three best players in this draft is that...

1) If he had played CHL instead of NCAAs his numbers would have been far more comparable to guys like Misa, Martone, etc. I buy this, Hagens had to make the much bigger jump playing against much bigger physically mature players.

2) Hagens played on a line with Ryan Leonard and didn't need to do the dirty work. The expectation is that Hagens really pops this year as the driver at BC and then teams are really going to wonder what they missed when evaluating him.

I don't know if he is #3 - #4 worthy but there is a strong likelihood he will be a better pro than quite a few guys drafted above him based on your rankings.