2025 NHL Draft Rankings: Sandman's Winter is Coming Edition - Top 100

[UpsideHockey]

As winter envelops our western basecamp in Calgary, Alberta in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, we have released Upside Hockey’s prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis's alternative draft rankings:

"For an alternative perspective to Upside Hockey’s incomparable Chief of Scouting Eldon MacDonald, our prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis offers up his Top 100 November edition. While we’ll have much more in terms of prospect analysis, we’re keeping this version simple: just the rankings list."

Top 10 teaser:
Who’s: too high? too low? missing in action?

1) C James Hagens
2) RW Porter Martone
3) C Mike Misa
4) D Matt Schaefer
5) C Roger McQueen
6) C Anton Frondell
7) D Jackson Smith
8) C Ivan Ryabkin
9) LW Victor Eklund
10) C Caleb Desnoyers
For the Top 100:

2025 NHL Draft Rankings: Sandman's Winter is Coming Edition

Upside Hockey’s prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis's alternative draft rankings

upsidehockey.substack.com

__________________

Dare to compare against our official rankings from our chief of scouting, Eldon MacDonald, highlighted in this thread:

Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Rankings: November Edition Top 96

NEW Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Rankings: November Edition via our@SubstackInc eNewsletter/post: Top 96 ranked with ~350 prospects included along with NHL Central Scouting prospects of interest (2nd column). https://upsidehockey.substack.com/p/upside-hockeys-2025-nhl-draft-rankings-ad3

forums.hfboards.com

Click to read more...

 

[UpsideHockey]

You'll notice when compared to our official rankings, one William Moore has made a big leap up the charts. Charlie Trethewey has also jumped well into the first round. Ihs-Wozniak also is a first rounder in Curtis's eyes, while MacDonald has him slated as a mid-2nd rnder at this point.

Any other glaring discrepancies on where you see prospects landing next June?

 

[jtechkid]

Both have fallen in most of the better draft profiles ive seen . Moore i see because of the upside potential but hes late first round . trethaway i dont see in any first round mock picks and ive watched 6 games i dont see it at all so whats your scout reasoning on it ?

 

[Namejs]

You'll notice when compared to our official rankings, one William Moore has made a big leap up the charts. Charlie Trethewey has also jumped well into the first round. Ihs-Wozniak also is a first rounder in Curtis's eyes, while MacDonald has him slated as a mid-2nd rnder at this point.

Any other glaring discrepancies on where you see prospects landing next June?

Osmanis seems to be buried in the lower rounds.

Can you elaborate on why he ranks lower than Klingsell or Ekberg?

Osmanis is one of <5 players globally to have succesfully transitioned into pro hockey at his age. Seems weird he's still ranked so low.

Players scoring at that rate in Allsvenskan usually go in the 2nd round.

 

[Czechboy]

The Good: Lots of Czechs and feels optmistic for us.
The Weird: I think it goes Mrtka and then Cihar and I didn't see his name. Did I miss it?

 

[ORRFForever]

As winter envelops our western basecamp in Calgary, Alberta in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, we have released Upside Hockey’s prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis's alternative draft rankings:

"For an alternative perspective to Upside Hockey’s incomparable Chief of Scouting Eldon MacDonald, our prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis offers up his Top 100 November edition. While we’ll have much more in terms of prospect analysis, we’re keeping this version simple: just the rankings list."

Top 10 teaser:
Who’s: too high? too low? missing in action?

1) C James Hagens
2) RW Porter Martone
3) C Mike Misa
4) D Matt Schaefer
5) C Roger McQueen
6) C Anton Frondell
7) D Jackson Smith
8) C Ivan Ryabkin
9) LW Victor Eklund
10) C Caleb Desnoyers
For the Top 100:

2025 NHL Draft Rankings: Sandman's Winter is Coming Edition

Upside Hockey’s prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis's alternative draft rankings

upsidehockey.substack.com

__________________

Dare to compare against our official rankings from our chief of scouting, Eldon MacDonald, highlighted in this thread:

Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Rankings: November Edition Top 96

NEW Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Rankings: November Edition via our@SubstackInc eNewsletter/post: Top 96 ranked with ~350 prospects included along with NHL Central Scouting prospects of interest (2nd column). https://upsidehockey.substack.com/p/upside-hockeys-2025-nhl-draft-rankings-ad3

forums.hfboards.com

How close are you, if at all, to replacing Hagens as # 1 ?

 

[UpsideHockey]

Some awesome questions - I'll check in with our ranker for this article and get back to you.

***
Bonus; this is already a wee bit out of date admittedly as the games click off, but icymi:

Upside's 2025 NHL Draft Stat Watch​

Our prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis's keeps a close eye on the numbers​

Upside's 2025 NHL Draft Stat Watch

(note, of course, there's much much more to rankings to stats in their draft yr - just one area to keep an eye on)

 

[UpsideHockey]

Both have fallen in most of the better draft profiles ive seen . Moore i see because of the upside potential but hes late first round . trethaway i dont see in any first round mock picks and ive watched 6 games i dont see it at all so whats your scout reasoning on it ?

who are you referring to as 4 guys were mentioned in preceding post

ahhh,. nvmnd - i misread

 

[UpsideHockey]

Both have fallen in most of the better draft profiles ive seen . Moore i see because of the upside potential but hes late first round . trethaway i dont see in any first round mock picks and ive watched 6 games i dont see it at all so whats your scout reasoning on it ?

"Simply put, I love Will Moore- even if his production is not where it was expected to be. He's a stud, with excellent skill, skating, and hockey sense, and he plays with power. Trethewey is ranked 13th by Craig Button, 15th by Bob McKenzie, 14th by Jason Bukala, and 13th by Daily Faceoff- there are questions about his decision-making under pressure at times, but he's otherwise a physical two-way presence with good mobility and skill who plays a pro-style game. This year's edition of the NTDP looks pretty weak, which has affected his numbers, but his production from 2023-24 (in his D-minus-1) makes me think there's much more in his arsenal offensively than he's been able to show thus far." ~ TC

 

[UpsideHockey]

The Good: Lots of Czechs and feels optmistic for us.
The Weird: I think it goes Mrtka and then Cihar and I didn't see his name. Did I miss it?

"No disrespect to Cihar, he's an excellent player with some grit and physicality, but there are questions about his offensive ceiling- some say he projects to bottom-6 duty at best, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. His skating is good, but not great, and his overall hockey sense has been questioned, along with his defensive game. In this summer's Hlinka, his offensive contributions were overshadowed by fellow draft-eligibles Adam Benak, Vit Zahejsky, Adam Novotny, Tomas Poletin, and Dominik Pavlik- although he performed well by all accounts in the most recent U-20 5 Nations. I think some of his countrymen may have higher ceilings, but Cihar might just have a higher floor." ~ TC

 

[Czechboy]

"No disrespect to Cihar, he's an excellent player with some grit and physicality, but there are questions about his offensive ceiling- some say he projects to bottom-6 duty at best, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. His skating is good, but not great, and his overall hockey sense has been questioned, along with his defensive game. In this summer's Hlinka, his offensive contributions were overshadowed by fellow draft-eligibles Adam Benak, Vit Zahejsky, Adam Novotny, Tomas Poletin, and Dominik Pavlik- although he performed well by all accounts in the most recent U-20 5 Nations. I think some of his countrymen may have higher ceilings, but Cihar might just have a higher floor." ~ TC

Thank you! I don't necessarily agree but I do apprecaite the quote and different perspective from my biased one.

 

[jtechkid]

"Simply put, I love Will Moore- even if his production is not where it was expected to be. He's a stud, with excellent skill, skating, and hockey sense, and he plays with power. Trethewey is ranked 13th by Craig Button, 15th by Bob McKenzie, 14th by Jason Bukala, and 13th by Daily Faceoff- there are questions about his decision-making under pressure at times, but he's otherwise a physical two-way presence with good mobility and skill who plays a pro-style game. This year's edition of the NTDP looks pretty weak, which has affected his numbers, but his production from 2023-24 (in his D-minus-1) makes me think there's much more in his arsenal offensively than he's been able to show thus far." ~ TC

I completely disagree and see Moore late first round trethaway second round but i see your view with a really weak ntdp that hurts their produdution and how they perform - thats valid argument. thx reply .

 

[UpsideHockey]

Osmanis seems to be buried in the lower rounds.

Can you elaborate on why he ranks lower than Klingsell or Ekberg?

Osmanis is one of <5 players globally to have succesfully transitioned into pro hockey at his age. Seems weird he's still ranked so low.

Players scoring at that rate in Allsvenskan usually go in the 2nd round.

"Osmanis had some eye-popping numbers in 2023-24 in the J20 Region, but that's Sweden's second-tier junior league. His numbers this year in the J20 Nationell (2 goals and 13 points in 17 games) are a bit mediocre, even though the team he plays for isn't good. In the Allsvenskan, he has managed to produce 6 points in 12 games, despite limited minutes and the occasional benching. He's a smaller forward who works hard- but not consistently, and he lacks high-end skill and skating. His defensive efforts are spotty at best, as well. I've read that some expect him to go later in the draft, if at all." - TC

 

[Namejs]

"Osmanis had some eye-popping numbers in 2023-24 in the J20 Region, but that's Sweden's second-tier junior league. His numbers this year in the J20 Nationell (2 goals and 13 points in 17 games) are a bit mediocre, even though the team he plays for isn't good. In the Allsvenskan, he has managed to produce 6 points in 12 games, despite limited minutes and the occasional benching. He's a smaller forward who works hard- but not consistently, and he lacks high-end skill and skating. His defensive efforts are spotty at best, as well. I've read that some expect him to go later in the draft, if at all." - TC

Allsvenskan is a highly competitive pro league with an NHLe of 0.46. It ranks above ECHL and is close to the Finnish top tier.

There has not been a single prospect scoring at a 0.50 ppg pace in Allsvenskan who has went undrafted over the last 20 years. The lowest anyone ever went was #97 overall - Lucas Wallmark.

Bringing up 2023 and the Swedish 2nd tier juniors is as relevant as looking up OJHL stats when a prospect is already producing in the AHL.

 

[UpsideHockey]

How close are you, if at all, to replacing Hagens as # 1 ?

"Very close, to be honest. If I'm an NHL GM right now, it would be very hard to pass up the likes of Mike Misa and/or Porter Martone (and even perhaps D Matt Shaefer) in order to draft a 5'10" forward- even though that forward has world-class skill and talent. When Jack Hughes was taken 1st-overall in 2019, he didn't have the same level of competition breathing down his neck (no disrespect to Kaapo Kakko, who put forth one of the best U-18 seasons in Finnish Liiga history). Misa and Martone are #1, and #2 respectively atop the OHL scoring race, each producing at 2 ppg- and that doesn't happen often with players in their draft year. Misa has breathtaking speed and vision, to go with a competitive two-way game, and Martone is a "unicorn"- a physical power-forward with skill and speed who will help your team win in the playoffs. All three are top-line talents though, and all three are sure to top 100 points in the NHL when they hit their stride." - TC

 

[ORRFForever]

"Very close, to be honest. If I'm an NHL GM right now, it would be very hard to pass up the likes of Mike Misa and/or Porter Martone (and even perhaps D Matt Shaefer) in order to draft a 5'10" forward- even though that forward has world-class skill and talent. When Jack Hughes was taken 1st-overall in 2019, he didn't have the same level of competition breathing down his neck (no disrespect to Kaapo Kakko, who put forth one of the best U-18 seasons in Finnish Liiga history). Misa and Martone are #1, and #2 respectively atop the OHL scoring race, each producing at 2 ppg- and that doesn't happen often with players in their draft year. Misa has breathtaking speed and vision, to go with a competitive two-way game, and Martone is a "unicorn"- a physical power-forward with skill and speed who will help your team win in the playoffs. All three are top-line talents though, and all three are sure to top 100 points in the NHL when they hit their stride." - TC

Thank you.

I don't know much about the NCAA but Hagens stats this year appear "underwhelming" to a novice while the Canadians kids are excelling. Of course, I am highly biased.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

"Very close, to be honest. If I'm an NHL GM right now, it would be very hard to pass up the likes of Mike Misa and/or Porter Martone (and even perhaps D Matt Shaefer) in order to draft a 5'10" forward- even though that forward has world-class skill and talent. When Jack Hughes was taken 1st-overall in 2019, he didn't have the same level of competition breathing down his neck (no disrespect to Kaapo Kakko, who put forth one of the best U-18 seasons in Finnish Liiga history). Misa and Martone are #1, and #2 respectively atop the OHL scoring race, each producing at 2 ppg- and that doesn't happen often with players in their draft year. Misa has breathtaking speed and vision, to go with a competitive two-way game, and Martone is a "unicorn"- a physical power-forward with skill and speed who will help your team win in the playoffs. All three are top-line talents though, and all three are sure to top 100 points in the NHL when they hit their stride." - TC

Hagens is 5’11.

Thank you.

I don't know much about the NCAA but Hagens stats this year appear "underwhelming" to a novice while the Canadians kids are excelling. Of course, I am highly biased.

Not exactly. He’s second in the NCAA in assists.

With a normal shooting percentage, he’d be like second in the NCAA in points.