2025 NHL Draft: Lose a ton for Porter Martone

[LadyStanley]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1850369393525731706

 

[Hodge]

Martone 22 points in 10 games
Hagens 5 points in 4 games

Yes the NCAA is a harder league to score in but not literally twice as hard. There's no justification for taking the smaller less productive forward.

The real debate should be Martone vs. Schaefer. Schaefer is 6'2 and guaranteed to be a dman at the next level while Hagens is not guaranteed to play C.

 

[tiburon12]

Cbj is winning the lottery anyway guys, we won't have to fret over this

 

[Celly4Celebrini]

Lets say we get Schaefer imagine a top 6 of

Eklund-Celebrini-McKenna
Musty-Smith-Chernyshov

with
Dupont-Dickinson
Schaefer-xxx

Askarov

after we lose the 2026 and 2027 lottos.

 

[Le Grand Quebecois]

Can we just exclusively draft D this year?

 

[macbowes]

No bad choices for SJS this year in the top 4. Either Hagens or Misa to be 2C behind Celebrini, Martone to be a 1W power-forward, or Schaefer to be an all-situations 1LD.

Eklund-Celebrini-Smith
X-Hagens/Misa-X

Or

Eklund-Celebrini-Martone
X-Smith-X

Or

Schaefer-X
Dickinson-X

I'm very high on Schaefer, I think he has Norris potential. Turning down another 1C, or a rare 1W like Martone is really tough, but I think it's important to draft a top D man before you become too good to be picking in the top 5. Makes the timelines match up better, and Schaefer is special.

No bad choices, I think there's a good reason to choose any of the 4. I think it's probable that SJS will be in lottery contention next year, so maybe McKenna is on the table as well, but I would be very surprised if you guys are still lottery contenders for the 2027 draft, I think you'll be moving out of the basement by then.

 

[Grinner]

Lets say we get Schaefer imagine a top 6 of

Eklund-Celebrini-McKenna
Musty-Smith-Chernyshov

with
Dupont-Dickinson
Schaefer-xxx

Askarov

after we lose the 2026 and 2027 lottos.

Isn't Dupont a righty?
While Dickinson is a lefty?

 

[Hodge]

Eklund-Celebrini-Smith
X-Hagens/Misa-X

This strikes me as too small of a top six to win in the current NHL. Maybe the next move is to trade Eklund for a defenseman but that projected lineup won't work in the long run.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

It would be malpractice to trade the #1 overall.

You keep it and draft BPA

You are probably right, but the Flyers have 3 1st round and 2nd round picks and they may be really bad. If they want someone bad enough, they will have enough draft stock to make it happen

 

[StanleyCup2035]

Lets say we get Schaefer imagine a top 6 of

Eklund-Celebrini-McKenna
Musty-Smith-Chernyshov

with
Dupont-Dickinson
Schaefer-xxx

Askarov

after we lose the 2026 and 2027 lottos.

DuPont’s stats for a 15 year old are insane. Not saying he’s the next Bobby Orr, but quite a talent…

 

[gaucholoco3]

DuPont’s stats for a 15 year old are insane. Not saying he’s the next Bobby Orr, but quite a talent…

I hope the Sharks are too good to draft DuPont but that kid looks so good.

 

[coooldude]

I hope the Sharks are too good to draft DuPont but that kid looks so good.

Tons of time for anything to happen, wouldn't be the first time a crazy good player petered out between 15 and 18, but as of now he looks like an insane talent that any team in the league would drool over.

Even if we are still bad, chances are we won't get to draft him, but that's the kind of player that puts any team over the top, if he keeps his trajectory.

 

[StanleyCup2035]

Tons of time for anything to happen, wouldn't be the first time a crazy good player petered out between 15 and 18, but as of now he looks like an insane talent that any team in the league would drool over.

Even if we are still bad, chances are we won't get to draft him, but that's the kind of player that puts any team over the top, if he keeps his trajectory.

Here is to hoping we finish 11th and win the lottery in 2027, our last lottery before becoming the best team of the 2030s in the NHL!

 

[weastern bias]

This strikes me as too small of a top six to win in the current NHL. Maybe the next move is to trade Eklund for a defenseman but that projected lineup won't work in the long run.

The 2019-2022 Tampa Bay Lightning are the best team of the salary cap era, they won a President's Trophy, 2 Stanley Cups and 1 more Prince of Wales trophy, they did not have a single top-6 forward bigger than 6'1"

Your obsession with size is both stale and inaccurate, talent matters far more than size,

Auston Matthews is 6'3" and plays like a wimp, Brayden Point is 5'11" and plays like a warrior, this is lazy player evaluation at best

 

[cheechoo]

He'll almost likely be outside of our range (6-10?), but Radim Mrtka really is an intriguing player, 6'6 RHD with a tonne of skill and personality on the puck. June birthday as well.

Could see him being a draft season riser like Seider was or Hampus Lindholm.

I guess all of this is barring how he performs for Seattle since he's headed there.

 

[coooldude]

He'll almost likely be outside of our range (6-10?), but Radim Mrtka really is an intriguing player, 6'6 RHD with a tonne of skill and personality on the puck. June birthday as well.

Could see him being a draft season riser like Seider was or Hampus Lindholm.

I guess all of this is barring how he performs for Seattle since he's headed there.

There are a bunch of intriguing D men that might go 10-25, including Mrtka, Fiddler, J. Smith, Hensler of course, Amico... Maybe one falls to 33 range or we try to move up into the 20's like the ducks did with my boy Solberg.

 

[cheechoo]

There are a bunch of intriguing D men that might go 10-25, including Mrtka, Fiddler, J. Smith, Hensler of course, Amico... Maybe one falls to 33 range or we try to move up into the 20's like the ducks did with my boy Solberg.

OUR BOY* Solberg

You think Granlund could garner a FRP at the TDL?

 

[coooldude]

OUR BOY* Solberg

You think Granlund could garner a FRP at the TDL?

Others have said it, but I think the only way he moves is if he does get a first, and this year or next year unprotected. Because he could be a very useful bridge piece to play with Smith or Celly and Toffoli as we go from worst to bottom 5-10 in the next 3 years.

 

[matt trick]

Granlund is awesome. He’s a leader, he works hard, he plays both ways, and he’s scoring PPG. Everyone wants a guy like that. San Jose needs more like him. However, his age isn’t a great fit and a late first might help us add long term solution in the top 4, either through drafting or trading it for a cap casualty/rebuild in the offseason

I would trade him for a first. Then, I’d offer him 2x$9M in the offseason. Maybe we get him through an overpay, maybe we don’t- traded UFAs seldom come back. We will have the space and the need. He might be able to get something like 4x$6M though. I’d probably consider that too, though that’s 2 years into Celebrini, Smith, and Askarov’s next contracts which will hopefully be sizable. Combined with Eklund, Zetterlund, Tofolli, and hopefully some legitimate defenseman, that’s a lot of money. Not to mention a likely new contract for this years top 5 pick. Probably sufficient room, but if the team is competing in year 4 and Granlund’s fallen off, might be regrettable.

Nashville (though they moved on), Boston, Vegas (traded first), Vancouver, Toronto (traded first), Colorado (traded first), Tampa (traded first), Buffalo, Minnesota, Ottawa, Washington, Calgary (maybe traded first), St. Louis, and Carolina could all use a top 6 forward and Granlund may be the best available. Aside from Calgary, each of these teams are exiting window, executive hungry for playoffs as proof of improvement (MN, STL, Ott, Buff), or have a sentimental (Oby) desire to make the playoffs.

An unprotected first next year could also be pretty interesting.

If we can steal a first/conditional first we might be in a position to grab one of the many good, but not Schaefer, D prospects. With say the 18-20th pick I think even Hensler/Mrtka (projected outside the top 10 some places) could be in range with some trade ups.

I also think Ceci will return a 2nd (Very few UFA RHD available- Fabbro, Savard). Not bad for a couple cap dumps.

Imagine if we turn Granlund, Ceci, and our 2nd into Hensler? It’s not perfect, but Dickinson, Hensler, Muk, Cagnoni, Wallenius, and Thompson is a solid collection of D prospects while spending all our top 5 picks on forwards.

 

[OversKy]

Unless his game falls apart, draft Schaefer.