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2025 NHL Draft Thread

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MicronMega said:
Schaefer is an incredible player. But, how do you ignore the holes upfront when you already have Korchisnki, Levshunov, Rinzel, Vlasic etc? How will you ever pay that much on the back end and not score goals?
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how did dallas, vegas, florida, tb etc build great forward groups with minimal top 5 picks, time for gm and co to earn keep
 
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dreadpirateroberts said:
They might not have top 10 prospect pools at the moment, but Carolina and Dallas are definitely the cream of the crop when it comes to scouting, especially relative to their draft position. The Wild have been pretty successful too.
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For teams to stay good for a long time in this day and age, they either need to:

1. Be able to find stars and NHL quality role players in the later first round and later rounds of the draft

2. Hit big on stars at the top of the draft, hope that the stars remain stars for extended periods of time, and keep drafting NHL quality role players in the later first round and later rounds of the draft

They also need to avoid giving out bad contracts to both internal and external free agents. It seems so easy right?
 
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In theory I’ve got no problem loading up D prospects. Always take the best player. Nothing is set in stone yet with any of them aside from Vlassic. If our D core is so stacked 5 years from now we put can put Jones on the 3rd pairing we’re going to be in a great spot. Defense does take longer to develop too.
 
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x Tame Impala said:
In theory I’ve got no problem loading up D prospects. Always take the best player. Nothing is set in stone yet with any of them aside from Vlassic. If our D core is so stacked 5 years from now we put can put Jones on the 3rd pairing we’re going to be in a great spot. Defense does take longer to develop too.
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And you can always trade players to get what you need after all.
 
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MicronMega said:
Schaefer is an incredible player. But, how do you ignore the holes upfront when you already have Korchisnki, Levshunov, Rinzel, Vlasic etc? How will you ever pay that much on the back end and not score goals?
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Just because you have a surplus of young d-men doesn’t mean you have to keep them all, they become assets that can be used to help fill voids in other positions groups on the roster or prospect pool. This is why you always go BPA, it gives you the most organizational strength moving forward.
 
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If you think Shaefer is the best player, especially if that is the consensus and he is by far and away the best dman in the draft, you do one of two things: 1) take him and figure out the rest later; or 2) you trade the pick to move down slightly and get a kings ransom to do so.
 
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Chelios said:
If you think Shaefer is the best player, especially if that is the consensus and he is by far and away the best dman in the draft, you do one of two things: 1) take him and figure out the rest later; or 2) you trade the pick to move down slightly and get a kings ransom to do so.
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I think you just draft him. Who cares what prospects we already have?
 
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The more I read about these prospects, the more I'm hoping we end up with a top 3 pick.

Although I'm looking forward to seeing more of Misa this year. Something about him is less exciting than the idea of Hagens, Martone, or Shaefer but I'm far from a prospect expert.
 
Kevin Musto said:
That's the thing.

Players like Artamonov and Cristall have been available for the Hawks regime to grab... and then they just don't.
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Yes - recall you slamming the table on some of these players and they should be taking swings at every single one of these types of guys going forward (outside their top 5-10 picks where you just need to walk away with a good player at a low probability of busting because a bust is so detrimental to a rebuilding roster with infinite holes).. they're doing OK at defense and goalie is just as a random as it gets that it can more easily be addressed via UFA/trade - teams can only start one and they become available more frequently (Askarov)...but yeah, take Schaefer if he's BPA but after that just go heavy at forward for the forseeable future and hope to get lucky on some guys
 
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GIADF said:
The more I read about these prospects, the more I'm hoping we end up with a top 3 pick.

Although I'm looking forward to seeing more of Misa this year. Something about him is less exciting than the idea of Hagens, Martone, or Shaefer but I'm far from a prospect expert.
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feels like a very 2019 esque draft with the one defenseman in the top 4 and a bunch of forwards but no clear cut order after 1, Hughes (Hagens) then the field at forward and Schaefer (Byram) at defense

x Tame Impala said:
In theory I’ve got no problem loading up D prospects. Always take the best player. Nothing is set in stone yet with any of them aside from Vlassic. If our D core is so stacked 5 years from now we put can put Jones on the 3rd pairing we’re going to be in a great spot. Defense does take longer to develop too.
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lets say Korchinski pans out and you have Vlasic for the next 8 years or whatever making 4.6 per on your third pair, thats an embarrassment of riches and a good problem to have or KK is on the 3rd pair as a strictly OFD/PP2 guy but shielded from the tougher matchups come playoff time
 
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Do any of these forwards have special traits or are they just the best of a weaker group? Know Misa was granted exceptional status etc
 
Toews2Bickell said:
Do any of these forwards have special traits or are they just the best of a weaker group? Know Misa was granted exceptional status etc
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That's what's bumming me out the most watching this draft class. There's a lack of standout qualities in these players that get me excited when I watch them.

A lot of these guys are jack of all trades, masters of none. Many of them feel like safe bets to be middle sixers, without the potential for more.

Here's what I'd say for the top 5 forwards right now:

-Martone's IQ is top notch
-Hagens is a really good skater
-McQueen has soft hands
-Misa is the best of the all-rounder types
-Spence has that dog in him

You saying they're "the best of a weak group" is apt.
 
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Kevin Musto said:
That's what's bumming me out the most watching this draft class. There's a lack of standout qualities in these players that get me excited when I watch them.

A lot of these guys are jack of all trades, masters of none. Many of them feel like safe bets to be middle sixers, without the potential for more.

Here's what I'd say for the top 5 forwards right now:

-Martone's IQ is top notch
-Hagens is a really good skater
-McQueen has soft hands
-Misa is the best of the all-rounder types
-Spence has that dog in him

You saying they're "the best of a weak group" is apt.
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If you combined the '24 draft class with the '25 prospects...after Celebrini I suspect Misa/MartoneHagens in some order would be ranked higher at this point of the draft process than any other forwards (Demidov later in the process or with 20/20 hindsight of his D+1 season start would be an arguement). While last years draft class may have been deeper in general going a dozen or so deep in very good prospectss (mostly because of how many D there were), I think this class may be a touch better in top end forward options.
 
I'm a really big fan of all three OHL guys and of Misa in particular. Havent watched Hagens much but I wouldn't feel shortchanged at all with any of those guys in the top 4.
 
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Right now I like Martone the most of the forward group, but I don't think he plays with the pace that Kyle is looking for.

The reality is, Martone will be a below average skater in the NHL.

If you ask me, his IQ (and size) makes up for it. But KD doesn't think that way.
 
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GIADF said:
The more I read about these prospects, the more I'm hoping we end up with a top 3 pick.

Although I'm looking forward to seeing more of Misa this year. Something about him is less exciting than the idea of Hagens, Martone, or Shaefer but I'm far from a prospect expert.
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I really like Martone, but I could see Misa ending up the best forward in this draft.
 
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Hawkaholic said:
Maybe, I feel like he is more likely to bust than any other forward. But I haven't been too high on him, need to watch him more this year to get a better idea.
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It's a tough draft to evaluate. 2026 draft is much more promising. You can see why Davidson had no issues trading the pick for Demidov.
 
dreadpirateroberts said:
I'm curious to see how Schaefer stacks up to guys like Heiskanen, Hughes, and Makar when they were coming out as prospects.
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Schaefer is the most complete of all of them at the same age. Hughes and Makar played their age 17 seasons in their draft year minus 1. Both are 11 months older than Schaefer.
I would say he is more similar to Heiskanen, not only in development/age, but also in size, hockey sense and skating.
 
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I know it’s only December, but there’s almost no chance this team isn’t picking top 5, right?

Kinda surprised some are so down on the top forward group. I really like Hagens, Misa and Martone. McQueen too but he’s a bit of a wildcard right now.
 
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