EP's first 2025 ranking came out and it's a doozy.
1. Hagens
2. McQueen
3. Misa
4. Schaefer
5. Martone
Ryabkin down at 12, Frondell down at 15, and Hensler at 16. All judged to have limited upside, which I can't say I disagree with. Trethewey and Radivojevic outside the first round.
They're high on Malcolm Spence, whom I do like a lot as a high-floor almost certainly a 2nd liner, but not someone who will be in consideration for our pick. They like Jackson Smith as their second D off the board, who is a very interesting Korchinski-like LHD. And they're high on Victor Eklund as well, as they should be!
Someone that sticks out to me as interesting in the early 2nd is Jack Murtagh, he's a sort of power winger type, and he's stood out to me with the NTDP so far this season.
I would love if McQueen has a 1st overall caliber season, he'd be a great fit. I'm just not sold from what I've seen so far.
I wanted to share a couple tools ratings that EP does for a couple individuals. Take these numbers in order as [skating][shooting][passing][stick-handling][hockey sense][physicality]
James Hagens: 8 6 7 7.5 7 5.5
Roger McQueen: 5 6.5 7 7.5 7 7
Michael Misa: 7 6.5 7 7 7 6
Macklin Celebrini: 7 8 8 8 8 6
Will Smith: 5 5.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 4
Matthew Schaefer: 6.5 6.5 7 7 7 6
Jackson Smith: 7.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 6.5
Sam Dickinson: 7.5 6 5 5 5 6.5
Porter Martone: 5 7 6.5 6.5 7 7
Quentin Musty: 4.5 7 6.5 7 7 5.5
With the caveat that you can never capture the total impact of a player in numbers, my takeaways are:
1) Macklin Celebrini is awesome and the best
2) Hagens is like if Smith were a bit smaller but a great skater
3) Smith's brain is elite but his tools lack behind, which is why he may be an aggregate worse prospect than Hagens/McQueen/Misa, even if I don't believe in Misa like that.
4) Schaefer is really well-rounded but no standout trait. A '7' in IQ puts him at 'high-end' in that category, compared to Dickinson's 'NHL average' grade of 5.
5) Jackson Smith seems like a similar caliber of prospect as Dickinson but more offensively leaning and maybe a smidge better all-around.
6) Whoever we realistically draft this summer is going to be the best non-Celebrini asset in our org.