2025 NHL DRAFT Thread

[Taze em]

Donno what else KD can do at this point the hay is in the barn.
#1, 3, 13, 18, 19, 27 on forwards
#2, #7, #25 on D
Nicely acquired G.

This side of the rebuild is pretty much done and it’s balanced and has a player for each type you’re gonna need going forward. Now it’s a matter of hitting ceilings.

 

[CanadianHawks]

SJ is officially going down the Leafs rebuild path

Love to see it

 

[MTU34]

Honestly shocked by that. I talked to him in June and he said Lev.

To be fair June would’ve been well after the lottery. At the time of the lottery they still haven’t zeroed in yet.

I do think it’s notable that he went Martone today. He’s plugged in enough to know they like him enough to consider doing that

 

[Callidusblackhawk]

This gives me Desnoyers or Frondell vibes. Both project as centers. I already assume Misa and Schaefer are off the board

Davidson mentioned picking guys that might have attributes that your current prospects lack. Martone feels like a more unique prospect to add to the pool than either Frondell or Desnoyers.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Still want more help up front than Bedard, Nazar, and one of Martone/Frondell/Hagens/Desnoyers. Bedard is Bedard. Nazar is a stud. Be awesome to hit on that 3rd overall pick. It'd just be nice to get one more big piece up front. Either another prospect of ours hit's their potential, or we sign a Marner level free agent, or McKenna. A few options to really help bolster that forward group.

I honestly think we're already in a good spot with D and goaltending, though. Rinzel looking like a potential stud 1D really helps that group a lot. Knight is a big addition in goal, and Commesso has really come into his own over the last few months.

I honestly like the shape we're in. Again though, a big thing is hitting on that 3rd overall pick. Time for the scouts to earn their paychecks.

 

[Taze em]

SJ is officially going down the Leafs rebuild path

Love to see it.

It is what it is for them they had sucky lottery luck and timed their badness unluckily. It’s really just history repeating itself. Another decade of being second best in the West incoming. Hopefully they can flip smith or misa for a D down the road to make it interesting.

 

[TLEH]

To be fair June would’ve been well after the lottery. At the time of the lottery they still haven’t zeroed in yet.

I do think it’s notable that he went Martone today. He’s plugged in enough to know they like him enough to consider doing that

Agree there. He usually doesn’t miss the mark

 

[ChicagoHockeyFan]

I do love Desnoyers but would be very happy with Martone as well. Martone does have some underrated nastiness to his game and he had a few absolutely lethal snipes in first round of the OHL playoffs. Will be interesting to watch him against men at the worlds to see if he fades at a faster paced game. He does bring something that would be completely unique to the prospect pool, nobody has the size, bite, and shot all together at his level in the pool.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Sharks and Hawks fans are probably both a tiny bit disappointed with how the lottery unfolded.

Sharks'll get Misa, who they don't need, instead of filling a position of need. Not a strong class of D after Schaefer.

Hawks' get one of the forwards not named Misa and hope they picked the right guy. Not many guys stand out after Schaefer/Misa in this class, so going to have to hope a bit of luck is involved with their selection process.

 

[Drumman44]

Man, Columbus should have really taken Davidson's pick swap deal last year. They passed on Demidov for a guy with a bad back and this year's pick is 14th overall. They could have picked up another piece later in the first last year too!

 

[Hattrick Kane]

It is what it is for them they had sucky lottery luck and timed their badness unluckily. It’s really just history repeating itself. Another decade of being second best in the West incoming. Hopefully they can flip smith or misa for a D down the road to make it interesting.

That’s the problem isn’t it. We all know D take longer to develop, hence why what Davidson makes sense. The D are going to be ready the same time the forwards are.

Meanwhile San Jose’s forwards will be ready, and their D won’t be close or they won’t have them at all. Which means they gotta find it another way via free agency or trade, which is much more likely to go sideways.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Man, Columbus should have really taken Davidson's pick swap deal last year. They passed on Demidov for a guy with a bad back and this year's pick is 14th overall. They could have picked up another piece later in the first last year too!

Both teams would've been in a better position if they did.

Hawks would've gotten Demidov, who is likely better than whoever will be available at 3rd. Jackets would've been able to draft a guy who can actually play.

I understand why they didn't make that deal, but in retrospect, the only team that would've gotten hurt from it would've been the Habs.

 

[Taze em]

Still want more help up front than Bedard, Nazar, and one of Martone/Frondell/Hagens/Desnoyers. Bedard is Bedard. Nazar is a stud. Be awesome to hit on that 3rd overall pick. It'd just be nice to get one more big piece up front. Either another prospect of ours hit's their potential, or we sign a Marner level free agent, or McKenna. A few options to really help bolster that forward group.

I honestly think we're already in a good spot with D and goaltending, though. Rinzel looking like a potential stud 1D really helps that group a lot. Knight is a big addition in goal, and Commesso has really come into his own over the last few months.

I honestly like the shape we're in. Again though, a big thing is hitting on that 3rd overall pick. Time for the scouts to earn their paychecks.

This is just straight up greed. You need more than Bedard and Martone with a Nazar kicker? With the OHL goal scoring record holder, KHL champion, the leading rookie scorer in college, etc etc. And before free agency.

The D has been settled and elite since the moment they picked Levshunov and Rinzel morphed in to a minimum top 4D.

The standard we have in this board for “being competitive” is insane. Just on basic non optimistic projection of these players it’s pretty ridiculous what we’re looking at here.

 

[CallMeShaft]

This is just straight up greed. You need more than Bedard and Martone with a Nazar kicker? With the OHL goal scoring record holder, KHL champion, the leading rookie scorer in college, etc etc. And before free agency.

The D has been settled and elite since the moment they picked Levshunov and Rinzel morphed in to a minimum top 4D.

The standard we have in this board for “being competitive” is insane. Just on basic non optimistic projection of these players it’s pretty ridiculous what we’re looking at here.

My big hangup is, given their size, I'm not entirely sold on Lardis and Kantserov both being on this team, let alone in top 6 roles. Sometimes guys that size just can't handle the NHL. Not to mention them and Bedard/Nazar would be a very small forward core.

I'm not saying Lardis and RK can't hit their potential, I'm just not necessarily expecting them to. I'm treating it more as a welcome surprise if it happens, rather than an expectation.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

My big hangup is, given their size, I'm not entirely sold on Lardis and Kantserov both being on this team, let alone in top 6 roles. Sometimes guys that size just can't handle the NHL. Not to mention them and Bedard/Nazar would be a very small forward core.

I'm not saying Lardis and RK can't hit their potential, I'm just not necessarily expecting them to. I'm treating it more as a welcome surprise if it happens, rather than an expectation.

I mean Lardis is 5’11. That’s not really small in the NHL these days. But he’s 5’11 with elite speed and an elite shot. To me at least, he just has way too many tools to fully fail in the NHL. Especially since he’s already mentioned his commitment to playing a more complete game moving forward.

Haven’t watched enough of Kantserov to say. Just heard he was pretty gritty for his size.

 

[Kevin Musto]

When is Mike Doneghey going to do his podcast tour? I always like listening to him talk about prospects

he didn't do any last year

 

[Taze em]

My big hangup is, given their size, I'm not entirely sold on Lardis and Kantserov both being on this team, let alone in top 6 roles. Sometimes guys that size just can't handle the NHL. Not to mention them and Bedard/Nazar would be a very small forward core.

I'm not saying Lardis and RK can't hit their potential, I'm just not necessarily expecting them to. I'm treating it more as a welcome surprise if it happens, rather than an expectation.

Me too. I agree with you. The point I think I’m making (maybe badly) is that having 3-4 top 2 D, coupled with a superstar forward… that’s like all you need. I’m saying that Nazar Teravainen Martone or whatever they end up with is already extra credit in my eyes. I’m just so sure on the defense.

 

[razor ray]

3. Chicago Blackhawks: Porter Martone, RW, Brampton (OHL)​

The Blackhawks don’t have many forwards like Martone in their prospect pool. Whether it’s been Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Roman Kantserov, Nick Lardis or others, the Blackhawks have drafted a lot of skilled forwards in the early rounds in recent years, but they haven’t taken a lot of size. Martone is a mixture of that much-needed size to go along with the level of skill that can play with other elite forwards. He could be the perfect complementary top-line winger to what the Blackhawks are already building. — Scott Powers

 

[ChicagoHockeyFan]

I think it seems like Powers might zero in on the pick early June, he seems to have done that the last few years.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

Skating might be an issue for him right now, but that doesn’t mean it will be forever. A solid offseason or two with a skating coach can get him up to average. He just has to have the drive to get better.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Me too. I agree with you. The point I think I’m making (maybe badly) is that having 3-4 top 2 D, coupled with a superstar forward… that’s like all you need. I’m saying that Nazar Teravainen Martone or whatever they end up with is already extra credit in my eyes. I’m just so sure on the defense.

Maybe it's me being picky, but I just feel like I want a touch more help up front. But if Martone becomes a power forward around the level of a Perry/Stone/Tkachuk, then that might be all that's required.

I do agree about the defense. They have the potential to be best in the league in 5 years. It's incredibly hard to have a 1-2 punch like Rinzel/Lev on the right side.

 

[ChicagoHockeyFan]

You don't draft Martone banking on him improving his skating. But it is one of the easier tools to improve especially for bigger guys.

 

[ello]

Desnoyers has gotta be KD's guy. Not sure if he'd get the green light from everyone else but Im so certain he's going to be banging the table for him

 

[Kevin Musto]

Desnoyers has gotta be KD's guy. Not sure if he'd get the green light from everyone else but Im so certain he's going to be banging the table for him

I could see it

Still 100% a big brain pick, but it wouldn't induce vomiting like Frondell

 

[ello]

Highest upside pick is Martone easily and that's what we need, should be the pick