2025 NHL DRAFT Thread

[hawksfan50]

Interesting that ekiteprosoects.com differs significantly from the consensus of most top ten lists..

They have Frondell only 12th in the April ranking..
So not Iin top ten.

They have Martone still high at #3...admit there are still consistency issues but they say he did improrove his pace in the 2nd half and got better on some details like in his reads ....they say tgexsize,skill and physicality package is too good to pass up on..otger scouts still question if Martone hits the promise of his ceiling because of inconsistent effort...one scout,Grant McCagg of Recrutes.com on the Sick Hockey youtube c
show they do,even called Martone lazy...really questioning his consistency....so do you take a risk he applies his talent with more consistent work habits as he matures and realizes what it takes to be a top six nhl pro
OR do you pass on him due to
his iffy compete consistency issues?

Eliteprospects also has Drsnoyers only at #9 and Jake O''Brien #10...others have them higher ..

Hagens at #4 on the EP ranking...I thought he pkayeued and shoukd have been better than justxavlintva game especialky pkaying with Leonardxand Perrauktcat #1akk season Boston College...he did notvdrivevtyevoffebse lije Celebrini dodvin hos draft season as a freshman in the season prior for histeam (Boston U.).

In amy case tgevluttkecshrinp Hagebsvisxa wrong fit for what Hawks need..more size forwards.

Anyway...sebastian High the USHL scout for EP who hosted the latest (Aoril) 32ranking show for them on YouTube , staredctgatcSxhaefervisctge clear #1and Misatge clear #2 on their rankings andctgat is the top tier..

Followed by anotger tier from 3-24 whovakso grade out forcthenas "A" level prospects..

He said from #25 through endbofv2nd round and maybe deepervi tobthec3rd roubd you have a kit of "B" level raked pkayerscon theirvlist where itcis close and you can have them rankedcanywherecwithin that wide range of B level prospects.
Maybe otger scouts disagree on how large the B level group goes ifctgey feel this is not such a deep draft.

So if EP is correct in assessing a cutoff after #24 fromA grade to B grade prospects it means that KD will need to package the Leafs pick plus our own #34 to try to move to grab anotger "A" grade prospectcesrkier in round 1..

B levelprospects are only projected bottom six forwatds or 4-7dmen ceilings...

Of course sone late firsts or 2nd rounders still could exceed expectations as op os and become top six forward stars or top 3 dmen ...but these are few.Gotta get lucky.
And not a first rounders or even all top ten picks succeed i to top stars..


So will KD package the Leafs 1st we have plus#34 to move up if hevthinks there is a cut-off at after #24 too as EP thinks there is,so tgat hevgeysxanotger A level prospect ...or does he think there is awider range of targets from 20-34 that he would prefer holding 2 picks he holds (Leafs pick slot and#34 to hopefully get the targets he wants anyway?

Do not know what he values most...may depend where he thinks the A level cutoff soit is and if he can movevuoto it if his prone target still on the board forvourc2ndvoveralk selection i round one...

2 targets I would consider for the Leafs pick we have are Mikton Gastrin and Alexander Zharovsky ...but ifvibsyead he wants more size and physicality over skill and scoring ...if he wants size and physicality wingers..then maybe hold on to the Leafs pick and #34 and draft for that neerd the bottom six forwards ...maybe Vaclav Nestrasil ?

 

[CallMeShaft]

I’m telling you guys we need to launch that goofy barefoot strength and conditioning coach that ruined Strome into the sun

To be fair, Strome was already ruined.

But I get what you're saying.

 

[dj Mahoney]

skip it

 

[Castle8130]

Interesting that ekiteprosoects.com differs significantly from the consensus of most top ten lists..

They have Frondell only 12th in the April ranking..
So not Iin top ten.

They have Martone still high at #3...admit there are still consistency issues but they say he did improrove his pace in the 2nd half and got better on some details like in his reads ....they say tgexsize,skill and physicality package is too good to pass up on..otger scouts still question if Martone hits the promise of his ceiling because of inconsistent effort...one scout,Grant McCagg of Recrutes.com on the Sick Hockey youtube c
show they do,even called Martone lazy...really questioning his consistency....so do you take a risk he applies his talent with more consistent work habits as he matures and realizes what it takes to be a top six nhl pro
OR do you pass on him due to
his iffy compete consistency issues?

Eliteprospects also has Drsnoyers only at #9 and Jake O''Brien #10...others have them higher ..

Hagens at #4 on the EP ranking...I thought he pkayeued and shoukd have been better than justxavlintva game especialky pkaying with Leonardxand Perrauktcat #1akk season Boston College...he did notvdrivevtyevoffebse lije Celebrini dodvin hos draft season as a freshman in the season prior for histeam (Boston U.).

In amy case tgevluttkecshrinp Hagebsvisxa wrong fit for what Hawks need..more size forwards.

Anyway...sebastian High the USHL scout for EP who hosted the latest (Aoril) 32ranking show for them on YouTube , staredctgatcSxhaefervisctge clear #1and Misatge clear #2 on their rankings andctgat is the top tier..

Followed by anotger tier from 3-24 whovakso grade out forcthenas "A" level prospects..

He said from #25 through endbofv2nd round and maybe deepervi tobthec3rd roubd you have a kit of "B" level raked pkayerscon theirvlist where itcis close and you can have them rankedcanywherecwithin that wide range of B level prospects.
Maybe otger scouts disagree on how large the B level group goes ifctgey feel this is not such a deep draft.

So if EP is correct in assessing a cutoff after #24 fromA grade to B grade prospects it means that KD will need to package the Leafs pick plus our own #34 to try to move to grab anotger "A" grade prospectcesrkier in round 1..

B levelprospects are only projected bottom six forwatds or 4-7dmen ceilings...

Of course sone late firsts or 2nd rounders still could exceed expectations as op os and become top six forward stars or top 3 dmen ...but these are few.Gotta get lucky.
And not a first rounders or even all top ten picks succeed i to top stars..


So will KD package the Leafs 1st we have plus#34 to move up if hevthinks there is a cut-off at after #24 too as EP thinks there is,so tgat hevgeysxanotger A level prospect ...or does he think there is awider range of targets from 20-34 that he would prefer holding 2 picks he holds (Leafs pick slot and#34 to hopefully get the targets he wants anyway?

Do not know what he values most...may depend where he thinks the A level cutoff soit is and if he can movevuoto it if his prone target still on the board forvourc2ndvoveralk selection i round one...

2 targets I would consider for the Leafs pick we have are Mikton Gastrin and Alexander Zharovsky ...but ifvibsyead he wants more size and physicality over skill and scoring ...if he wants size and physicality wingers..then maybe hold on to the Leafs pick and #34 and draft for that neerd the bottom six forwards ...maybe Vaclav Nestrasil ?

Elite prospects always has some rankings I find really odd. I remember they had Gracyn Sawchyn 13th oa in a very stacked top 15 of the 2023 draft and that take looks very poor right now.

They take the weirdest stances on players and rank players drafted in round 2-3 that (end up busting) absurdly high. They also take stances of putting players like Frondell (highly touted by NHL scouts) a lot lower than any consensus.

Ive always disagreed with a lot of their ranking's because I dont see players the same way and their track record isn’t that great.

Here are the 2024 draft rankings in March that were way different than the consensus and how the draft went;

Andrew Basha #17 oa
Carter Yakemchuk #18 oa
Beckett Sennecke #19 oa (had him 9th oa in final rankings)
Miguel Marguez #21 oa
Jett Luchanko #46 oa

All 5 of these players were drafted in completely different spots and were thought of either way higher or lower

 

[Hull2Roenick2Kane]

They are ripping Desnoyers apart on the Flyers board.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

They are ripping Desnoyers apart on the Flyers board.

They have a history of drafting high fooor low ceiling players, see Jett Luchenko.

 

[ColbyChaos]

Yeah I keep saying that.

He has passed on great talent because he's stuck on this vision.

With that said, I can at least respect that he has a vision. Nothing worse than a GM with no clear direction. At least I can see what he's trying to accomplish.

Aka bowman from 2018-2022

 

[Kevin Musto]

They have a history of drafting high fooor low ceiling players, see Jett Luchenko.

funny cause Kyle wanted him

 

[Joemoe]

Aka bowman from 2018-2022

This is why I always correct people when they say the rebuild started earlier then the 2022 draft, that era after the Panarin trade up until that point made no f***ing sense what was going on.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

funny cause Kyle wanted him

I mean when it’s your first pick in the draft, you’re really hoping for a home run swing.

But in a scenario where you’ve already picked once, you can maybe afford that kind of pick. See Moore being taken after Bedard.

 

[kmwtrucks]

anton Frondell 2 assists and eklund 2 goals today in the playoffs

 

[hawksfan50]

Desboyers 7g 14a +10 last 10GP...hard tovrop tgatxaoart ...most scouts think he has a great floor as a middle six C...Best defensive forwardsnd center in the draft..Hogh compete rate.. Ised alk situations...very high faceoff win% ..Ok maybe others have hogher ceilings..butcalso higher risks.. Ddznoyers very hogh hockey I.Q....ok not ekiteclikecMisa north south speedbit goidcedges +knows where to be atzalk tonrsvo thevice..anticipation and marts.. alk makes up for supposed lack of speed...does not stop hom getting 2 on1s or breakaways..because ofvtge smarts and reads...transition from defense to offense is goid. SO hardlycamy risk with this type of pkayer..Will be a goidvpro...maybe a Tkews like 65-70poibts C With a hogh positive +/-..Winibg tens can use that..

Sure Maybe McQueen can be a DraosItl top superstar type at 100pts + or he could be an injury prone failure.. you do not know why he willbe..potential sure.. but sone big risk if he is not fully healthy i career ..also has his own areas of improvement need.. We did not get a view of his progresscthisxsradobduectovthe ling tone out from injury..Maybe hevis the cat's meow or maybe he does not improve ..at least with Drznoy ears you getxa so lid flour and a winner.. led W in important goals..inGWHs..
Hard to find mich flaw I hom.

Oliver Moore has in contrast ekite speed..but not the hockey sense of a Drsnoyets..

Maybe the knock on Ddznoyers is strictly the down grade of any pkayer from the Q?
Seems superstars from the Q are not posdible ...weaker league bugs?
Hey 84vpiubt Kirby Dach from the "mich better Dib" went 3rdvoverall...but he cannotcstaycheKthy...you never know.

84 point Drsnoyers ...surevis not 134 liubt Misa.. but who had hogher +/'?

Who had a terfibkevladt 16GP with horrible negative +/' despite hiscoveralk regular season goid +45 (tgs sNe spectacular Misa...no explanation how he got so poir defensively in5x5 in last 16GP unless he got hurt?

DRftibg is a crap-shoot..some "studs" fail badly (eg the consensus GeberationL Alexandre Daigle ...the "cannot niss" Niall Yakupov or the greatest #1flip of alk tone=Doug Wickenheiser.

The draft isxa crapshoot...You can find studs i round two also...Look how mNy teNscosssed on Nikita Kuxherov whike the Hawks took only tge average (bit still made the Show Brandon Daad and tge total flip error Adam Clemndemning both before Kucherpv went late at #58 overall.

The draft is a crapshoot..

But there IS an eye test.. Mathew Schaefer is a certified #1Fman and woukd be the best dman o the Hawks..better than Ronzel or Lev will be as promising as they are..But Schaefer controls a game ..is so good both was attacking or defending.a clear as she a cannot miss as there is.

Misa SHOULD be very good..but still goitaxwobder what happened to his defending as his plus/minus got so negative last 16GP ..Just maybe raises questions if not maybe a red flag?

Tge only certainties I this draft are that Schaefer isxa stud and Drsnoyers isxa very special useful 2C or a higher level 3C effectively giving a tean the potential of 2 2Cs each driving a line.Not swing Denyoers is going g to be a 1C stud star..but a winning 2C or 3C with high positive plus at evens. Who can rip in that?

 

[hawksfan50]

Michael Misa was invited to Canafa's u18 selection canopbut the Hockey Canada website article on the initial 18 invitees said he was "unable to attend"...this may explain why he had such a poor performance over his last 16Gp where he was so much I the negative I plus/ minus o relative to his fantastic overall season where he was so hogh lying positive in that stat..that he turned down beibg on the u18 squad I do not think was a refusal (ie. Agent not wanting g to risk an i jury before the draft...if that was the case Avoid drafting gbhim forsuch a selfish refusal...But I think he honestly turned it down because he was pkayong injured for sone tine as the season woukd down and into his pkayoff series where he and Saginaw got eliminated...So alk teams need to do due diligence to find out what the injury was and how serious it may or may not be...strange we heard nothing about this before tge "unable" to inarticulate in the u18s blurb came out..

They usually never reveal what exactly an injury is .but given the importance of health before draftibg s kis,NHL teams i position to drFt him Must find out ...I hope for his sKe it is not serious and no surgery required ...maybe just rest????

 

[Muffinalt]

Are Misa and Frondell the only two Powers mentioned?

Kantserov has that Kaprizov skating, a great skater. Also Bedard was basically forced to us

While i do agree skating isn’t a must, it is definitely a trait they covet the most. A majority of our picks have that trait. I will say this though, the hawks are NOT prioritizing hockey IQ. There is not a single drafted player from KD thats best trait is Hockey IQ. Ill go a step further and say there isnt a single player that’s two best qualities are Hockey IQ and Skill. Martone would fit under that category.

Agree with your assessment. They seem to be going for tools you can't teach like the strong skating and compete, and probably banking on the development of situational awareness/IQ and skill.

Total opposite basically of the previous regime.

These guys will also have a better floor though, and I do love the idea of a super fast team that has insane compete and are puck hounds.

It's shaping up that way nicely.

We just need 1 or 2 more guys that have the plus IQ/skill side to put everyone in place. Bedard is one, Nazar is there. Marner would be amazing.

This strategy is working really well with the D but at F we need some more line drivers, not guys with complimentary game.

 

[Castle8130]

Agree with your assessment. They seem to be going for tools you can't teach like the strong skating and compete, and probably banking on the development of situational awareness/IQ and skill.

Total opposite basically of the previous regime.

These guys will also have a better floor though, and I do love the idea of a super fast team that has insane compete and are puck hounds.

It's shaping up that way nicely.

We just need 1 or 2 more guys that have the plus IQ/skill side to put everyone in place. Bedard is one, Nazar is there. Marner would be amazing.

This strategy is working really well with the D but at F we need some more line drivers, not guys with complimentary game.

Yeah I'm in the same boat there. In this draft, I don't see a true top line driver outside of Schaefer on the back-end. Looking at the 3 of Misa, Frondell, and Desnoyers I see all 3 as top 6 forwards in their own right. When trying to project Misa, I see him as more of the same with what we got. I know he's 6'0" or 6'1", but he doesn't play a very strong game. He's not great in the dirty areas of the ice and when you have guys the size of Nazar and Bedard as the core you build around, I don't like the fit. My proposal is to draft Frondell out of the 3 because not only does he play a heavier game, but he has an Elite shot and excels in the dirty areas. He wins a ton of board battles, net front battles, and probably ends up an NHL center

 

[Kevin Musto]

Yeah I'm in the same boat there. In this draft, I don't see a true top line driver outside of Schaefer on the back-end. Looking at the 3 of Misa, Frondell, and Desnoyers I see all 3 as top 6 forwards in their own right. When trying to project Misa, I see him as more of the same with what we got. I know he's 6'0" or 6'1", but he doesn't play a very strong game. He's not great in the dirty areas of the ice and when you have guys the size of Nazar and Bedard as the core you build around, I don't like the fit. My proposal is to draft Frondell out of the 3 because not only does he play a heavier game, but he has an Elite shot and excels in the dirty areas. He wins a ton of board battles, net front battles, and probably ends up an NHL center

Maybe not along the boards, but Misa scores a lot of garbage goals where he's just banging in loose pucks out in front

 

[Castle8130]

Okay imagine this scenario: The Hawks end up somewhere in the top 3. During the interviews the Hawks really love both Frondell/Desnoyers. After the top 3 go Philly is on the clock and hate whats available. One of Desnoyers/Frondell are there.

Would you trade a mega package that consists of Toronto’s 1st, one of Edm/Korchinski, and one of Lardis/Kantserov?

I ask this because i think KD will make a huge push to get another premium top 10 pick by trading a significant asset. We have a surplus of Lardi/Kantserov types and a deep defense pool. Would not shock me to trade a Lardis/Kantserov/Moore/Boisvert/Vanacker to swing for the fences

 

[Kevin Musto]

Okay imagine this scenario: The Hawks end up somewhere in the top 3. During the interviews the Hawks really love both Frondell/Desnoyers. After the top 3 go Philly is on the clock and hate whats available. One of Desnoyers/Frondell are there.

Would you trade a mega package that consists of Toronto’s 1st, one of Edm/Korchinski, and one of Lardis/Kantserov?

I ask this because i think KD will make a huge push to get another premium top 10 pick by trading a significant asset. We have a surplus of Lardi/Kantserov types and a deep defense pool. Would not shock me to trade a Lardis/Kantserov/Moore/Boisvert/Vanacker to swing for the fences

lol no

Lardis is better than Frondell and Desnoyers

In a good draft year, Frondell and Desnoyers aren't even taken in the top 10

 

[TheFridge]

lol no

Lardis is better than Frondell and Desnoyers

In a good draft year, Frondell and Desnoyers aren't even taken in the top 10

This is a wild take.

 

[bwanajamba]

This is a wild take.

It's that time of year for him

 

[Darkstar]

lol no

Lardis is better than Frondell and Desnoyers

In a good draft year, Frondell and Desnoyers aren't even taken in the top 10

Woahhhhhh, buddy!

 

[Kevin Musto]

This is a wild take.

It's really not that crazy.

Even scouts that are high on Frondell and Desnoyers will tell you they only see them as 2nd liners.

What do you see Lardis being? I think he's easily a top 6er. He could be in that role as soon as next season. Why trade him for guys that might be able to do that in 3 years?

 

[Hattrick Kane]

This is a wild take.

This is not even a top 10 wild take for him.

And I call him out plenty for being a loon. With that being said, I can absolutely see where he’s coming from.

Top 5 picks bust or disappoint all the time. Lardis just scored 70 goals in the OHL. Yes it’s only a minor league, but there’s a reason that so few do it.

With those two, their offensive upside could be limited. In that case, having a Debrincat type career would make him the better player. But that’s looking past draft status and looking at what’s in front of you.

 

[Darkstar]

It's really not that crazy.

Even scouts that are high on Frondell and Desnoyers will tell you they only see them as 2nd liners.

What do you see Lardis being? I think he's easily a top 6er. He could be in that role as soon as next season. Why trade him for guys that might be able to do that in 3 years?

I've been very vocal in my support of Lardis, even before we drafted him, but those two have much higher floors than him. Lardis still needs to greatly improve his off puck play and show that his offensive game will translate. Those other two are bigger, way more defensively aware and could still have a role if they aren't top 6.

 

[Kevin Musto]

I've been very vocal in my support of Lardis, even before we drafted him, but those two have much higher floors than him. Lardis still needs to greatly improve his off puck play and show that his offensive game will translate. Those other two are bigger, way more defensively aware and could still have a role if they aren't top 6.

Frankly I'm not concerned with floor

This organization is filled with high floor prospects