2025 NHL Draft Thread

[hawksfan50]

I think there is a consensus that Schaefer shoukd go #1overall..can be a #1D game-cager ...director /controller..skill like Makar or Quinn Hughes..but much better defensiveky..

Broken collarbone shoukld heal and I do notvthink,especially for hockey,that that type of injury would prevent from from getting g back to 100%form he had before the injury.. Perhaps it woukd affect foitbalk pkayers more (maybe line men)from being as godxas they were before..butvisI do not think Ffects hockey skills.. Tgerexwas noninjueyxaffectibg his skating so thatvis certainly no issue. HE WILL have time to re-hab and perhaps all the extra training will make home enough better in upper body strength by the time he returns which woukd be end-of-life March /early April or next sesson if his doctorsmore curious.


However turning to Hagens..I know he is #1still on some lists or #2or#3at worst on most lists...but:

Compare hon at B.C. this season to what Celebrini did his draft seaso at Boston U.

Celebrini dominated at 1.68 pts/g in 38 GP
Hagens in his freshman year to date at B.C.
Is ONLY a measles 1 25 at 16GP/g which is not realky dominating and hevusxskewed to 3x more assists than goals (5g15 a)...

So given this...andcthat he plays with studs for wingers (Leonard and Oerraukt) and tgat hev is onlyv 5'11 ...I am sorry but Irealky cannot rank him top 3.

If the Hawks draft a Cen7eter they gotta get more size at the position ...

I have concerns that if you had hom ona teamwith lesser talents than Leonard and Perrault,he probably coukd not even get to his current NCAA scoribgboacr.

The company is always to Jack Hughes given they are both 5'11175 as listed fir their respective draft years...but my eyectesys tells me Hagens cannot cobtdol pucks with top speed and agility to dipsy tgrough and aroubd checkers for highlight reel scoribg like Hughes could..


I think Hagens has a different style...maybe higher hockey sense and ability to park I the right place,go houbdctge puck and score in close ratger that some great shot from morecdistabce. Maybe a better passrr that Hughes .
Better defensively that Hughesxwas..so all in all a very good player.. but I think Hawks probably better off thing the Ekite speed of Michael Misa and his high elite offebsive difference-mJing scoribg rate.
Misa is biggerxat 6'2 185 already and shoukd fill out even stronger...but he is a lit more sjilk than physical though he us used in d to kill penalties and is trusted defebsively using his high hockey sense and and good stick...he has improved usibg body position butcstill you cannot call him a physical cebter..but I think he is more elite offensive game-changercr than Hagens..

Misa also better than Hagens on faceoff win% ..Miisa I currently is at 54.5% on draws in the OHL..

In any case I have Hagens below Caleb Denoyers as the next best Center prosoect after Misa.

He is tge top scoring draft eligible from the QMJHL currently...Tgectoo 3 scorersxarexall over 20 years old.. Hevis still 17.
He has played 5 games less than tgectoo scorer ..so tgat puts him even higher on projection for same number of hMes..
Hevisxen fuego lastx10GP so gettibgveven more dominating.
He leads tge Q in GWG with 8...
Hevis +36 to lead the Q.
He dominates on draws at overv63%.
He us the best 2 way C i the draft.

The only question scouts posed is was he a 1C orvonlyv2C mater,oak.

I think his production has answered that..
Given alk that be does so well plus his size atc6'2 already (bitvonlyc173 so will fill out even stronger), goodxakobgvthe biatdsxasxwell as to p skills to score ..scorobg with both shotcand crestovevpkaynaking ..Goodson evading checks by getting to open spaces.. good connector woth wingers. Pkaysxwoth pace ..high conpetevlevel always moves his feet..

He hustcreekscofcsuccess as as an NHL pro xebter to pkaycalk situations.

My ansercus UES he can be an imoactful 1C ..but 190% guarantee he will be an inoactful 2V at minimum..so hogh high floor.
By sesdon end maybe heceven surpasses Misain my rankibg..but I think both could ralky impact tge Hawksxas partbof a fiture corks.

I know the talk of sone is to get Porter Martone ss the perfect compliment for the small Bedard ..We do need size and thatl oloong sought Big powrer forward to dig pucksv ut from board battkes to feed Bedard..Witv Daco doing that for line 2 ..

However I was disappointed by what Maroine showed at h8ge WJC..I though t his skatibg was less fast than expected and he realky did not dominate physically as much as I was hoping to see...maybe just a bad tournament for him ..same as many forwards on Team Canada U-20 Jrs....but it usuaky is 19 year old tournament where the older players shine and so he might be more impactful next World Jrs.

Anyway my top 5 :
1.Schaefer
2 Misa
3.Denoyers
4.Martone
5.Hagens *

I cannot see us adding ANOTHER smaller forward i to the top 6 ..and with Lardis and Kantserov conibg diwn the pipeline on the wings; just cannotcm see how Hagens fits our needs uo front..You need more size up front whether a power winger or bigger cebters who can impact in all situations,score ,be responsible defensively ...AND win faceoffs!!!!!

So of D picks Hagebs if we draftanywhere top 4,he is a terrible GM...
We need otger abilities than what Hagens coukdcadd and it woukd give usxa future corps wehec5/6 top forwards All undersized at bekiwc6'0...
Just too small..sorry.. Hagens goita beautiful!!!

 

[Taze em]

Don't know if there's ever been a better D prospect corp in NHL history than if we got Schaefer.

#1OA, #2 OA, #7 OA, #25 OA on the roster potentially in September 2025.

Challenge: Name better D prospects corp in NHL History, genuinely curious.


... and then add Jones and Vlasic. lol. filth. What is anyone complaining about.

I'll answer my own challenge. Sabres with two #1 overalls on their team right now. One of which they may flip in to an EP or a Miller.

 

[WarriorofTime]

BC played tough schedule so far, their schedule will lighten up from year so I wouldn't be shocked if the top line had offensive explosion. 50 is a bit notorious for hating on American prospects but I think whomever gets Hagens will be really pleased. Should be in NHL next year and will be a good producer by his D+2, D+3. I'd be surprised if say Logan Cooley (35 points in 40 games in his D+3) ends up the more productive player over their careers.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I'll answer my own challenge. Sabres with two #1 overalls on their team right now. One of which they may flip in to an EP or a Miller.

Yeah the history of First Overall Picked Defensemen is undewhelming. Working backwards, Power, Dahlin, Ekblad, E. Johnson, Phillips, Berard, Jovanovski, Hamrlik, Kluzak, Ramage, Green, Joly and then finally you go back to Denis Potvin, drafted over 50 years ago in 1973, to get that Hall of Fame, multi-time Norris winner, #1 DMan on multiple Stanley Cups DMan that you dreamed of. If Schaefer is the guy, hopefully he's the one to break that trend.

 

[u2wojo]

Yeah the history of First Overall Picked Defensemen is undewhelming. Working backwards, Power, Dahlin, Ekblad, E. Johnson, Phillips, Berard, Jovanovski, Hamrlik, Kluzak, Ramage, Green, Joly and then finally you go back to Denis Potvin, drafted over 50 years ago in 1973, to get that Hall of Fame, multi-time Norris winner, #1 DMan on multiple Stanley Cups DMan that you dreamed of. If Schaefer is the guy, hopefully he's the one to break that trend.

If you focus on the more recent (say 2 decades) this is a pretty decent showing in a really small sample size. Ekblad and Dahlin are both really really good NHL D. Power is only 22 (which 22-23 is generally where D guys blossom) and has been pretty good up to this point on bad teams. Johnson has played a 1000 games won a cup and was a real good player especially in his prime.

If you peel back another layer and look at 1st D (not just #1OA) taken in their draft the last couple decades, you bring in guys like Ryan Suter, Doughty, Hedman, Hanifin, Sergachev, & Heiskanen (Makar went next that year), you are getting into some real elite guys.

1st D off the board in most draft years eventually gets you a REAL good player which lets hope Levshunov trends more toward Doughty/Hedman than he does some of these others (or gasp....Cam Barker)

 

[WarriorofTime]

If you focus on the more recent (say 2 decades) this is a pretty decent showing in a really small sample size. Ekblad and Dahlin are both really really good NHL D. Power is only 22 (which 22-23 is generally where D guys blossom) and has been pretty good up to this point on bad teams. Johnson has played a 1000 games won a cup and was a real good player especially in his prime.

Would you say any had the impact of say, Patrick Kane or Steven Stamkos? I probably wouldn't, and there were better Number 1s than those guys.

Agreed much of the best NHL defensemen were good to very very good draft prospects. Just a bit of an oddity quirk that they weren't seen as first overalls in their years. I think it does speak to Defensemen being harder to project out.

 

[u2wojo]

Would you say any had the impact of say, Patrick Kane or Steven Stamkos? I probably wouldn't, and there were better Number 1s than those guys.

Agreed much of the best NHL defensemen were good to very very good draft prospects. Just a bit of an oddity quirk that they weren't seen as first overalls in their years. I think it does speak to Defensemen being harder to project out.

Which D in the last 20 years have had the impact of Stamkos/Kane and of that tiny list, how many were not the first (or 2nd like Makar) D off the board in their draft year?

 

[WarriorofTime]

Which D in the last 20 years have had the impact of Stamkos/Kane and of that tiny list, how many were not the first (or 2nd like Makar) D off the board in their draft year?

Not sure I'm following the prompt. There is a Norris winner every year and 4 post-season All-Star team selections as well. Topic isn't so much first D off the board, but D that were seen as worth a 1st overall on draft day.

A fairly expansive (somewhat arbitrary?) list of best defensemen since the 90s is something like

Bourque (9th overall), Murphy (4th overall), Coffey (6th overall), MacInnis (15th overall), Chelios (2nd round), Blake (4th round), Stevens (5th overall), Leetch (9th overall), Lidstrom (3rd round), Niedermayer (3rd overall), Gonchar (14th overall), Pronger (2nd overall), Chara (3rd round), Boyle (undrafted), Keith (2nd round), Giordano (undrafted), Suter (7th overall), Burns (20th overall), Weber (2nd round), Subban (2nd round), Letang (3rd round), Doughty (2nd overall), Pietrangelo (4th overall), Karlsson (15th overall), Carlson (27th overall), Josi (2nd round), Hedman (2nd overall), Fox (3rd round), Heiskanen (3rd overall), Makar (4th overall), Q. Hughes (7th overall)

Not a first overall amongst them. Three 2nd overalls, two 3rd overalls, three 4th overalls and one 5th overall however, and then 22 after that. It's somewhat arbitrary as well, but there is something to be said for being a first overall. You would hope if you're drafting a defenseman first overall they'd at the very least make that 31 player list. No doubt Defensemen do appear just harder to project out,.

 

[MHO]

Not sure I'm following the prompt. There is a Norris winner every year and 4 post-season All-Star team selections as well. Topic isn't so much first D off the board, but D that were seen as worth a 1st overall on draft day.

A fairly expansive (somewhat arbitrary?) list of best defensemen since the 90s is something like

Bourque (9th overall), Murphy (4th overall), Coffey (6th overall), MacInnis (15th overall), Chelios (2nd round), Blake (4th round), Stevens (5th overall), Leetch (9th overall), Lidstrom (3rd round), Niedermayer (3rd overall), Gonchar (14th overall), Pronger (2nd overall), Chara (3rd round), Boyle (undrafted), Keith (2nd round), Giordano (undrafted), Suter (7th overall), Burns (20th overall), Weber (2nd round), Subban (2nd round), Letang (3rd round), Doughty (2nd overall), Pietrangelo (4th overall), Karlsson (15th overall), Carlson (27th overall), Josi (2nd round), Hedman (2nd overall), Fox (3rd round), Heiskanen (3rd overall), Makar (4th overall), Q. Hughes (7th overall)

Not a first overall amongst them. Three 2nd overalls, two 3rd overalls, three 4th overalls and one 5th overall however, and then 22 after that. It's somewhat arbitrary as well, but there is something to be said for being a first overall. You would hope if you're drafting a defenseman first overall they'd at the very least make that 31 player list. No doubt Defensemen do appear just harder to project out,.

You have to consider who else is in the class. If there is clearly a best player coming out and he stands out amongst the others, you take him regardless of whatever position he plays.