2025 NHL Draft: Lose a ton for Porter Martone

[Hodge]

I'd pass on the smurf when there's a big power winger and potential #1D available.

 

[spintops]

We are going to debate what to do with the #1 pick 300 times before actually getting the #3 pick in the draft. And I'm honestly here for it.

 

[Saskatoon]

I'm fine thinking we got last place again but the odds are still we don't get the #1 pick

 

[Gecklund]

I really want Schaefer. Theres a part of me that is getting my hopes up because he has mono and that I’ve seen a lot of players slip because of mono. Couture dropped because of mono, timo was affected the entire D+1 (or maybe 2 can’t remember) season because of it.

 

[sharski]

We are going to debate what to do with the #1 pick 300 times before actually getting the #3 pick in the draft. And I'm honestly here for it.

The league definitely made sure the sharks got the #1 pick in 2024 and are also DEFINITELY going to make sure they don't get the #1 pick in 2025 no matter how bad the team is

#sanjosescrewjob

 

[Juxtaposer]

We are going to debate what to do with the #1 pick 300 times before actually getting the #3 pick in the draft. And I'm honestly here for it.

The cool thing is that there are three players whom I like almost equally as much in Hagens, Martone, and Schaefer. So long as we finish last, and we are going to, I'm happy however the ping pong balls fall. There are no bad options in the top-3 this year, unlike last year where it truly was Celebrini or bust.

 

[Hodge]

The cool thing is that there are three players whom I like almost equally as much in Hagens, Martone, and Schaefer. So long as we finish last, and we are going to, I'm happy however the ping pong balls fall. There are no bad options in the top-3 this year, unlike last year where it truly was Celebrini or bust.

I'm not convinced we will finish last again. Montreal, Columbus, Chicago, Calgary, even Anaheim are all within striking distance.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I'm not convinced we will finish last again. Montreal, Columbus, Chicago, Calgary, even Anaheim are all within striking distance.

I guess if guys like Bedard/Vlasic, Carlsson/McTavish/Mintyukov, or Fantilli/Werenski have major injuries like they'd did last year and we stay healthy, it's possible. I think Columbus is the most likely other than us to finish last.

It also depends on how good Celebrini and Smith are out of the gate. If Celebrini scores 70 and Smith scores 50, then this team has legs. Or if Blackwood wins a Vezina, I suppose. I don't think any of that is likely, but it's not impossible.

It's just hard to look at a team with average goaltending, an average top-9 forward age of like 22, and a top pairing of Jake Walman and Jan Rutta and see anything but the worst team in the league. I'd put money on it if I were a betting person.

 

[Hodge]

I guess if guys like Bedard/Vlasic, Carlsson/McTavish/Mintyukov, or Fantilli/Werenski have major injuries like they'd did last year and we stay healthy, it's possible. I think Columbus is the most likely other than us to finish last.

It also depends on how good Celebrini and Smith are out of the gate. If Celebrini scores 70 and Smith scores 50, then this team has legs. Or if Blackwood wins a Vezina, I suppose. I don't think any of that is likely, but it's not impossible.

It's just hard to look at a team with average goaltending, an average top-9 forward age of like 22, and a top pairing of Jake Walman and Jan Rutta and see anything but the worst team in the league. I'd put money on it if I were a betting person.

Habs have a similarly weak roster to ours. Suzuki and Caufield probably won't be that much better than Granlund and Toffoli in 2024-25 but we should get more out of our young core of Celebrini, Eklund and Smith than they do out of Slaf, Dach and Newhook. Neither team has a legit top pair defenseman or starting goalie.

We have respectable forward depth and 6 NHL defensemen. If Blackwood or Askarov has a good season, or Warsofsky's system helps limit chances against, we could finish 29th or 30th. I'm not expecting much higher than that.

 

[coooldude]

I'll be v surprised if we're not bottom 3 and picking top 5, which puts us in striking distance of a lot of exciting players that we could absolutely use in the pipeline. Any of (in my current very rough order) Martone, Schaefer, Hagens, Ryabkin, McQueen, and a glut of others would be amazing adds and probably immediately a Smith-level prospect.

 

[matt trick]

The cool thing is that there are three players whom I like almost equally as much in Hagens, Martone, and Schaefer. So long as we finish last, and we are going to, I'm happy however the ping pong balls fall. There are no bad options in the top-3 this year, unlike last year where it truly was Celebrini or bust.

Think we’re still the worst on balance but unlike last year far from a guarantee, as Columbus, Anaheim, Chicago, Montreal, Philly, a post sell-off Calgary, and a Doughty-less Kings all could be rough. I don’t see us being better than 4 of those teams, but I could see us being better than any 2-3 based on injuries and luck.

Martone, Schaefer, or Hagens would all be a major prize, ahead of Smith, and second only to Celebrini in the rebuild. Martone and Schaefer each bring something we lack in our u23 pool.

Think I’d take all three over Levshunov who was my #2 this year. Finishing a better version of last and guaranteeing one of those three would be great. It’s early but I’d be less enthused about Frondell, McQueen, Rybakin, or Hensler though they’d also be good pickups. It’s just right now, the top three look great.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Habs have a similarly weak roster to ours. Suzuki and Caufield probably won't be that much better than Granlund and Toffoli in 2024-25 but we should get more out of our young core of Celebrini, Eklund and Smith than they do out of Slaf, Dach and Newhook. Neither team has a legit top pair defenseman or starting goalie.

We have respectable forward depth and 6 NHL defensemen. If Blackwood or Askarov has a good season, or Warsofsky's system helps limit chances against, we could finish 29th or 30th. I'm not expecting much higher than that.

I'll give you Toffoli over Caufield but I don't agree with the rest. Suzuki is a legit low-end 1C whom I like a lot and would comfortably take over two Granlunds. I like Celebrini/Smith/Eklund over Slafkovsky/Dach/Newhook long-term, obviously, but I don't think they're better next season. And even if they don't have a legit top pairing, they at least have several top-4 guys between Matheson, Guhle, and maybe even Hutson. We have maaaybe one top-4 guy in Walman and that's not for sure.

Montreal had like twenty more points in the standings than us last year and that was with Guhle and Dach out the whole season.

 

[LilLeeroy]

I'd pass on the smurf when there's a big power winger and potential #1D available.

A smurf who just set the record for most points ever in the U18s