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2025 NHL DRAFT Thread

Who should we pick 3rd overall (assuming Schaefer and Misa are gone)?

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ello said:
Some prospects certainly end up developing less physically compared to others, but yea its really unpredictable and often comes down to work ethic and random genetics

Anecdotally I would argue that really small wiry players that lack physicality are usually actually less likely to have the genetics/drive to fill out (some Hawks guys like this are Reichel, Sikura, Boqvist), whereas the smaller guys who are more tenacious and physical more often do reach that "man-level" of physicality needed to make it in the NHL (debrincat, nazar so far). I would agree with Musto that Eklund most likely falls into the latter category and I would bank on his developmental runway being impressive and it certainly helps that his brother has found a way.

re: Frondell. 200 pounds at 6'1 is objectively quite large for a 17 year old. How much more size can he put on? Is he going to play at 220? at 6'1? I'm not sure that would be feasible without compromising mobility, especially for a forward. At the same time though, strong people are usually much more likely to get stronger and I'm sure he has a ways to go in terms of learning how to take advantage of his weight and strength and it's not like he's bullying a bunch of kids right now. I'd say it all evens out for him at the end of the day.

Desnoyers is a guy that I think has a tantalizing amount of physical development left at 6'2 178. He could easily put on 25+ pounds without slowing him down and he certainly already plays a very engaged game and seems to have a good on ice work ethic at least.
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Man strength isnt about how much you have to add weight to get stronger. He is 17 year old, no way he is at his peak performance not even close to it. Bodybuilders add bulk, powerlifters are more lean but strong and explosive as hell.

Skill development isnt linear also. For example Vlasic (mustos take he would never be NHL player) wasnt known for his high skill and IQ at draft. Look how that turned out. He still isnt that much of a dangler but he sure has effective way of playing. Not every player need to be incredible dangler!!
 
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ello said:
Some prospects certainly end up developing less physically compared to others, but yea its really unpredictable and often comes down to work ethic and random genetics
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it's tea leaves as far as i am concerned. i think size is overemphasized.
ello said:
Anecdotally I would argue that really small wiry players that lack physicality are usually actually less likely to have the genetics/drive to fill out (some Hawks guys like this are Reichel, Sikura, Boqvist), whereas the smaller guys who are more tenacious and physical more often do reach that "man-level" of physicality needed to make it in the NHL (debrincat, nazar so far).
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i'm not trying to overstate the possibility that eklund doesn't grow very much as he physically matures. what you say very well could be true for all i know, and i generally wouldn't take eklund's size as a large reason to avoid him. i think it is a credit to him that he has done as well as he has in spite of it.
ello said:
re: Frondell. 200 pounds at 6'1 is objectively quite large for a 17 year old. How much more size can he put on? Is he going to play at 220?
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no, probably not. he maybe puts on 5 to 10 pounds over a few years. at most 15 if he grows an inch taller. even just doing that he would be heavier (and potentially taller) than the average nhl player. i don't understand how one can say that is more improbable than eklund adding 20-30 pounds. i don't find either proposition very hard to believe.
 
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Now that Djugarden won Allsvenskan and will play in SHL next season Anton Frondell is headed to Texas. He might play as soon as against USA today. Not ideal to jump from the plane to play but it´ll be interesting to see him playing though. Good for the tournament. Too bad Misa couldn´t participate.
 
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I see lots of talk about Frondell and Eklund here, you might already know this but Marcus Krüger is the captain of their team and just won the playoffs MVP. Fantastic role model for two young players to have in their team, there is lots to learn from him on and off the ice.
 
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ello said:
Some prospects certainly end up developing less physically compared to others, but yea its really unpredictable and often comes down to work ethic and random genetics

Anecdotally I would argue that really small wiry players that lack physicality are usually actually less likely to have the genetics/drive to fill out (some Hawks guys like this are Reichel, Sikura, Boqvist), whereas the smaller guys who are more tenacious and physical more often do reach that "man-level" of physicality needed to make it in the NHL (debrincat, nazar so far). I would agree with Musto that Eklund most likely falls into the latter category and I would bank on his developmental runway being impressive and it certainly helps that his brother has found a way.

re: Frondell. 200 pounds at 6'1 is objectively quite large for a 17 year old. How much more size can he put on? Is he going to play at 220? at 6'1? I'm not sure that would be feasible without compromising mobility, especially for a forward. At the same time though, strong people are usually much more likely to get stronger and I'm sure he has a ways to go in terms of learning how to take advantage of his weight and strength and it's not like he's bullying a bunch of kids right now. I'd say it all evens out for him at the end of the day.

Desnoyers is a guy that I think has a tantalizing amount of physical development left at 6'2 178. He could easily put on 25+ pounds without slowing him down and he certainly already plays a very engaged game and seems to have a good on ice work ethic at least.
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Agree with your whole post.

Eklund's style of play, competitiveness and slight frame make me really excited for what he can become in a few years, purely just because he could pack on a ton of muscle yet. It would be a really enhancing dimension for him. Frondell and the more developed guys of course will grow and benefit too, but it won't likely be game changing because they're already strong and are using it. It will be increases on the margins.

Btw I agree with the Desnoyers part as well. He's a twig now, very thin but he has a really good frame. So it could be significant muscle and strength that he adds. He plays a heavy game already, but that much extra will I think open up new avenues for him likely as well. And actually if he can increase lower body muscles too, he might gain a step in skating. That I think would elevate him to another level of player. So compared to Frondell I think he has much higher of a ceiling based on body strength. I'm opening up to him slowly and slowly, because he's not really a finished product right now, but has all the intangibles and tools to get to his ceiling.
 
Drumman44 said:
What if Philly offers us the same deal KD offered to Columbus? Let's say they really like two different people in the top 6 of the class. If Philly offers the 24th or 25th overall pick and an unprotected 2026 first (in a much deeper draft), would you take it?

In this scenario, two teams jump in the the standings and Chicago falls down to 4th overall. Do you take the risk? If it pays off, you have 2 lottery tickets for McKenna or could grab some forwards in a deeper draft. Potentially even 2 picks in the top 5

View attachment 1022440
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Id trade down only for an overpayment. Lets say Hawks are selecting 2nd and philly moves to 5th. If they want to move up, we take their next highest 2025 pick to move down 3 spots. Below are a couple of scenarios:

Trade 1

Philly receives: 2nd oa

Chicago receives: 5th oa + 24th oa (Edm) + 40th oa


Trade 2

Philly receives: 2nd oa + 29th oa (Toronto)

Chicago receives: 5th oa + 2026 1st (Philly) + 36th oa

The 2nd trades value is borderline. I dont have a trade calc, so im going off instinct. Phillys 2026 1st is likely top 10 and i doubt they would trade it, but this is a more experimental scenario where Philly is trying to steer the ship quickly.
 
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Castle8130 said:
Id trade down only for an overpayment. Lets say Hawks are selecting 2nd and philly moves to 5th. If they want to move up, we take their next highest 2025 pick to move down 3 spots. Below are a couple of scenarios:

Trade 1

Philly receives: 2nd oa

Chicago receives: 5th oa + 24th oa (Edm) + 40th oa


Trade 2

Philly receives: 2nd oa + 29th oa (Toronto)

Chicago receives: 5th oa + 2026 1st (Philly) + 36th oa

The 2nd trades value is borderline. I dont have a trade calc, so im going off instinct. Phillys 2026 1st is likely top 10 and i doubt they would trade it, but this is a more experimental scenario where Philly is trying to steer the ship quickly.
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I wouldn't mind a trade around Pitt 1st for KK and 29th OA. Hawks could walk away with Schafer and Desnoyer then grab Ihs Wozniak, Murtagh or McKinney at 34

I would be just fine with Frondell and Desnoyer if the Hawks don't win the lottery and slip to 3-4
 
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Sounds like it's starting to get a little murkier around 3-4. I think most still have some combo of Hagens-Martone there but maybe the gap to 5 is closing.

Having said that, if we move back to 3-4 and Nash/Phi don't jump us, is it worth trading back 1-2 spots for one of their mid 20's picks?

You can think of this as Hagens vs Frondell/Eklund/Desnoyers + Potter. Maybe even package our 2nd to move up a little more to get him.

I'd be interested if some combo of 2 late firsts + our 2nds could turn into Potter + a swing at McQueen. I assume he'll still go too high though.
 
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MicronMega said:
I wouldn't mind a trade around Pitt 1st for KK and 29th OA. Hawks could walk away with Schafer and Desnoyer then grab Ihs Wozniak, Murtagh or McKinney at 34

I would be just fine with Frondell and Desnoyer if the Hawks don't win the lottery and slip to 3-4
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I think thats a bit too optimistic to get Desnoyers at 9th oa or even get 9th oa for that package. I'm not going to disagree with the value being close, but more so Pittsburg wouldn't find the deal appealing. They have a couple of KK level prospects (or slightly below) in their organization with Pickering and Brunicke. I doubt KK would appeal to them and they would likely need an overpayment to move down if KK is the main package. The price for 9th oa would likely be 29th oa + Roman Kantserov for them specifically.

I'm unsure what would be available at 9th oa either. I'm guessing the best players available at 9th oa by consensus would look something like;

Eklund
Bear
Mcqueen
Martin

An outside chance of Jackson Smith, Radim Mrtka, or Porter Martone



Pretty sure Jake O'Brien has supplanted Porter Martone by what I've heard. I think it's safe to say all of Schaefer/Misa/Frondell/Desnoyers/Hagens will not make it to 9. At this point I don't think any of those 5 make it out of the top 6. Jake O'Brien, Porter Martone, Jackson Smith, and Radim Mrtka as the next grouping of players that I believe scouts like. My only sources on this is are the Athletic, Central scouting, and the information that Grant Mckegg has released about his "NHL scouting buddies"
 
clydesdale line said:
www.nytimes.com

Meet Jack Murtagh: 2025 NHL Draft prospect, lover of scoring goals, ‘gamer’ and ‘freak athlete’

Given his age and the lost time at the start of his draft year, Murtagh is proud of his season and happy with the way his game is trending.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Nice piece by Scott Wheeler on my guy as well as @Castle8130 Murtagh. Gonna be really interested to see where he goes. I know @Kevin Musto likes Murtagh too.
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What's not to like about Murtagh? From the article:

Both Moore and Meloni point out that despite his physical maturity, he’s also one of the younger players in the draft, with an Aug. 22, 2007, birthday that was just three weeks shy of being eligible for the 2026 draft.
 
TLEH said:
Murtagh definitely is likable in that area. Depends on how the board falls. I prefer some other names but they might go earlier.
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That's where I'm at with him.

He's in my top 20, but I want nothing more than to move up for Potter which would likely mean leaving Murtagh for someone else to grab.
 
Castle8130 said:
Id trade down only for an overpayment. Lets say Hawks are selecting 2nd and philly moves to 5th. If they want to move up, we take their next highest 2025 pick to move down 3 spots. Below are a couple of scenarios:

Trade 1

Philly receives: 2nd oa

Chicago receives: 5th oa + 24th oa (Edm) + 40th oa


Trade 2

Philly receives: 2nd oa + 29th oa (Toronto)

Chicago receives: 5th oa + 2026 1st (Philly) + 36th oa

The 2nd trades value is borderline. I dont have a trade calc, so im going off instinct. Phillys 2026 1st is likely top 10 and i doubt they would trade it, but this is a more experimental scenario where Philly is trying to steer the ship quickly.
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What would be the point of acquiring more draft capital?
 
Nothing against Potter the speed is undeniable. But, when you have moore, nazar, bedard, kantserov, thompson, ludwinski, savoie etc who are all 5'11 and under, where do you put them all? You look at the size of Dallas, Vegas, Colorado, Florida...size tends to beat small size in the playoffs when it gets more physical.

Frodell/Misa, Murtagh, Nesbitt, Wosniak, moore seem like the direction to add around our smaller skilled players.
 
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MicronMega said:
Nothing against Potter the speed is undeniable. But, when you have moore, nazar, bedard, kantserov, thompson, ludwinski, savoie etc who are all 5'11 and under, where do you put them all? You look at the size of Dallas, Vegas, Colorado, Florida...size tends to beat small size in the playoffs when it gets more physical.

Frodell/Misa, Murtagh, Nesbitt, Wosniak, moore seem like the direction to add around our smaller skilled players.
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You draft BPA

You don't build a team through the draft, you acquire the highest value assets

Potter has a high ceiling, he can do things almost no one else in the draft can do

Whether he ends up a fit for the current roster or not doesn't matter because players can always be moved
 
Kevin Musto said:
You draft BPA

You don't build a team through the draft, you acquire the highest value assets

Potter has a high ceiling, he can do things almost no one else in the draft can do

Whether he ends up a fit for the current roster or not doesn't matter because players can always be moved
Click to expand...

So with what pick should Hawks draft him?
 
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