2025 NHL Draft Thread

[JotAlan]

Martone is the perfect fit for SJ or CHI.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Hagens. He is #1 overall favorite but if you already have Bedard, Celebrini, Carlsson...

Imo, Martone is good, but if you have a talent like Hagens you just pick him. Imagine Hagens+Bedard/Celebrini/Carlsson/Fantilli. But there is a good possibility that GMS will pass Hagens for Martone, Frondell or some D that explodes. The only team that would win the lottery would definitely choose Hagens would be Calgary

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Imo, Martone is good, but if you have a talent like Hagens you just pick him. Imagine Hagens+Bedard/Celebrini/Carlsson/Fantilli. But there is a good possibility that GMS will pass Hagens for Martone, Frondell or some D that explodes. The only team that would win the lottery would definitely choose Hagens would be Calgary

Disagree on the bolded. If Hagens plays as expected, no one is going to pass on that because they have center depth. SJ/CLM/ANA would all grab Hagens and move someone else to wing.

 

[clydesdale line]

Hagens is a special talent. Kid arguably should've made Team USA's gold medal winning team in juniors. You don't pass on someone like that because Martone is a better fit. Pick Hagens and you either put him at wing, or you trade a top prospect to upgrade somewhere else.

 

[Chuck Testa]

You 100000000% pick Hagens if you get 1st overall no matter what f***ing need your team may have.

 

[JotAlan]

Disagree on the bolded. If Hagens plays as expected, no one is going to pass on that because they have center depth. SJ/CLM/ANA would all grab Hagens and move someone else to wing.

Hagens is a special talent. Kid arguably should've made Team USA's gold medal winning team in juniors. You don't pass on someone like that because Martone is a better fit. Pick Hagens and you either put him at wing, or you trade a top prospect to upgrade somewhere else.

You 100000000% pick Hagens if you get 1st overall no matter what f***ing need your team may have.

I finally found people who agree with me. Because what I have seen in most forums, especially San Jose fans, is that they prefer and would choose Martone. Imo, it's impossible to pass Hagens. Pick him and move Smith to wing or whoever from San Jose or any other team

 

[Chuck Testa]

I finally found people who agree with me. Because what I have seen in most forums, especially San Jose fans, is that they prefer and would choose Martone. Imo, it's impossible to pass Hagens. Pick him and move Smith to wing or whoever from San Jose or any other team

They can take Martone with their pick. If that means Hagens is there for the Hawks to take? Sign me up.

 

[Castle8130]

You 100000000% pick Hagens if you get 1st overall no matter what f***ing need your team may have.

Add him to the group!

---

 

[Kevin Musto]

You 100000000% pick Hagens if you get 1st overall no matter what f***ing need your team may have.

A ridiculous thing to say a year out from the draft

 

[TLEH]

Hagens is trending really well but he's a late birthday and needs to have a great year at BC to stay 1. So much is going to happen between now and the draft. Just look at Eiserman. There were articles about him challenging Celebrini this time last year by really reputable people.

Ryabkin might play KHL minutes this year and he looked really good last year in the MHL. Frondell and Martone obviously as well right there.

 

[Castle8130]

Fun fact; In the last 3 drafts, KD has drafted 17 forwards in the first 3 rounds of the drafts. Of those 17, only 1 player is 6’3” or taller (Jiri Felcman drafted 93rd oa in 2023)

8/17 are under 6’0”

2/17 are over 6’0” and drafted top 50 (Boisvert and Vanacker)

 

[clydesdale line]

Hagens is trending really well but he's a late birthday and needs to have a great year at BC to stay 1. So much is going to happen between now and the draft. Just look at Eiserman. There were articles about him challenging Celebrini this time last year by really reputable people.

Ryabkin might play KHL minutes this year and he looked really good last year in the MHL. Frondell and Martone obviously as well right there.

The difference is Hagens, like Celebrini, has been locked in at 1 for a while. Sure he can go the way of Shane Wright (although when's the last time a prospect regressed that much to his draft year from his exceptional status?) but not a doubt in my mind he'll be fine in BC. Hell McKenna is also a late birthday for 2026 draft... and that kid to me is right there with McDavid and Bedard as can't miss and that draft isn't till 2 years from now.

 

[Kevin Musto]

The difference is Hagens, like Celebrini, has been locked in at 1 for a while.

Not really.

That only happened in his D-1 year.

D-2 Misa was seen as #1 in the 2025 draft.

 

[TLEH]

The difference is Hagens, like Celebrini, has been locked in at 1 for a while. Sure he can go the way of Shane Wright (although when's the last time a prospect regressed that much to his draft year from his exceptional status?) but not a doubt in my mind he'll be fine in BC. Hell McKenna is also a late birthday for 2026 draft... and that kid to me is right there with McDavid and Bedard as can't miss and that draft isn't till 2 years from now.

Its likely, obviously but I agree with Musto that a lot can happen between now and the draft. I really like Hagens and still expect him to be really good at BC.

I thought he should have made the WJC team.

 

[clydesdale line]

Not really.

That only happened in his D-1 year.

D-2 Misa was seen as #1 in the 2025 draft.

He was seen by Canadian market. Because he got exceptional status that he shouldn't of gotten. But that's another topic. Hagens is American. I get it.

 

[Kevin Musto]

He was seen by Canadian market. Because he got exceptional status that he shouldn't of gotten. But that's another topic. Hagens is American. I get it.

Draft consensus is nearly all media bias anyway.

Everyone in the media said Demidov was a lock for #2, and then he went 5th overall. Happened a couple years ago with most locking in Wright for #1, and then he went 4th.

These sorts of things happen every year.

The point is, at this point in time it's silly to lock in an undersized non generational talent as the #1 pick in the upcoming draft. He could be by the time we get there, he could also be surpassed by a handful of other guys.

 

[kmwtrucks]

Fun fact; In the last 3 drafts, KD has drafted 17 forwards in the first 3 rounds of the drafts. Of those 17, only 1 player is 6’3” or taller (Jiri Felcman drafted 93rd oa in 2023)

8/17 are under 6’0”

2/17 are over 6’0” and drafted top 50 (Boisvert and Vanacker)

did vanacker get measure at the combine? I know he did not do the physical testing

 

[clydesdale line]

Draft consensus is nearly all media bias anyway.

Everyone in the media said Demidov was a lock for #2, and then he went 5th overall. Happened a couple years ago with most locking in Wright for #1, and then he went 4th.

These sorts of things happen every year.

The point is, at this point in time it's silly to lock in an undersized non generational talent as the #1 pick in the upcoming draft. He could be by the time we get there, he could also be surpassed by a handful of other guys.

So what do you think of Gavin McKenna right now in 2 years? You think he'll lose the #1 spot?

 

[Castle8130]

did vanacker get measure at the combine? I know he did not do the physical testing

Didn't see his combine results, but he is somewhere between 6'0"- 6'1". He looks like it from the eye test too, so I just assume a little under 6'1"

 

[Kevin Musto]

So what do you think of Gavin McKenna right now in 2 years? You think he'll lose the #1 spot?

I don't have a crystal ball, but the McKenna hype is certainly larger than Hagens.

McKenna is getting into that Bedard/McDavid echelon of hype.

We'll see how he looks this upcoming season.

 

[TheFridge]

When you have a late birth year like Hagens, I think you always compare where you think they would have gone in the previous draft to get a sense of how they'll go the following year. To me, if Hagens was available in 2024, he would have challenged Celebrini and would have been the surefire #2 behind him. I think at the end of the day, Celebrini wins out because he has size and a more well-rounded game over Hagens but the offensive upside probably leans Hagens.

 

[JotAlan]

Draft consensus is nearly all media bias anyway.

Everyone in the media said Demidov was a lock for #2, and then he went 5th overall. Happened a couple years ago with most locking in Wright for #1, and then he went 4th.

These sorts of things happen every year.

The point is, at this point in time it's silly to lock in an undersized non generational talent as the #1 pick in the upcoming draft. He could be by the time we get there, he could also be surpassed by a handful of other guys.

Have you ever watched Hagens? Probably not, because otherwise you would know that he is a special talent and there is no chance of him being surpassed by a handful of guys. I doubt just one would be able to reach it.

Hagens is trending really well but he's a late birthday and needs to have a great year at BC to stay 1. So much is going to happen between now and the draft. Just look at Eiserman. There were articles about him challenging Celebrini this time last year by really reputable people.

Ryabkin might play KHL minutes this year and he looked really good last year in the MHL. Frondell and Martone obviously as well right there.

I agree that a lot can happen, but you can't compare Eiserman with Hagens. Eiserman, even in the hype, was already highly criticized and placed outside the top 5 by several analysts for being a one-dimensional winger incapable of making his teammates better. Hagens is a center with phenomenal skill and IQ and an elite defensive game. Completely different perspectives.

 

[JotAlan]

When you have a late birth year like Hagens, I think you always compare where you think they would have gone in the previous draft to get a sense of how they'll go the following year. To me, if Hagens was available in 2024, he would have challenged Celebrini and would have been the surefire #2 behind him. I think at the end of the day, Celebrini wins out because he has size and a more well-rounded game over Hagens but the offensive upside probably leans Hagens.

Exactly. He's so good he would be a lock for second place, and I believe if at draft time he was 2 inches and 10/15 pounds heavier it would become like picking apples and oranges between him or Celebrini. Something very out of the ordinary would have to happen to him or another player would have to have a monstrous season to surpass him, imo

 

[TLEH]

I agree that a lot can happen, but you can't compare Eiserman with Hagens. Eiserman, even in the hype, was already highly criticized and placed outside the top 5 by several analysts for being a one-dimensional winger incapable of making his teammates better. Hagens is a center with phenomenal skill and IQ and an elite defensive game. Completely different perspectives.

Yeah I mean not even comparable players but dropping from challenging 1 (for some people) to getting picked 19th is a massive drop was all I was saying, no one would have said he would have gone 19th this time last year.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

A ridiculous thing to say a year out from the draft

I think that the issue isn't specifically to Hagens. I read JotAlan's post as folks theorizing that organizations would pass on a player that everyone ranks as the #1OA because of their organizational depth (SJ with Celebrini and Smith for example). If Hagens struggles this year - it's very possible he does a Shane Wright and falls in the draft.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Hagens set the all-time single tournament point record at the U18s. I wouldn't even say it was a very stacked team as his next highest teammate was a defenseman (C. Hutson) that was 9 points back. If you look at the linemates he played with, they are nothing special (Teddy Stiga, 2nd round pick and Brodie Ziemer, 3rd round pick... most commonly). So it wasn't like a Leonard-Smith-Perreault situation. And as a younger '06 that wasn't even draft eligible. It's possible someone tries to be the smartest guy in the room and goes for size, but I think Hagens would need to have a disappointing year to not go first overall. And him having a disappointing year is pretty unlikely, he should take the spot Smith and Gauthier are vacating at BC, so he'll have ice time, and we already know he can produce a lot against college competition.