2025 NHL DRAFT Thread

[Hawkaholic]

I'm thinking that Martone would be my preferred choice even though his skating is poor.

its not poor..lol

 

[Nazzz]

Desnoyers is listed at 6/2 but has always looked smaller to me and in Bob Mckenzies ranking that just came out he's listed at like a bit over 6 foot. Interested to see the combine measurement come in

Desnoyers is taller than Misa and is as tall as Schaefer.

 

[Muffinalt]

I'm a big Frondell fan. Always have been. But Desnoyers is making me change my mind quite a bit. That kid is a gamer. Has that Toews factor. Just wins. Then you add in his skinny frame. He is gonna put on muscle and will likely get more explosive in his skating.

I think Desnoyers has a much higher level to get to than Frondell. He carries the puck, his playmaking at times looks super good, and he does all the rest that Frondell does, or close to it (compete, physicality, board battles, defense). Except that shot.

Plus he's an actual agitator and will always be in every scrum. He's defense is at least equal if not better and he's also more projectable at center than Frondell, who I really think is a wing at the next level.

And then comes the skating which and him being rail thin, which lends itself to a lot of physical development. His character is that Toews like I agree.

I like him much more than Frondell, he has a lot more going for him.

Now I still don't think he's the typical KD type besides the compete, but he's leaning closer to that style than Frondell imo.

 

[ello]

its not poor..lol

Right like was Corey Perry any faster than Martone? Getzlaf? When youre that big and strong it doesnt really matter.

Martone is 6'3, 200+ with potentially the best offensive IQ and passing skills among any forward in this draft. You take that and run, imo. The only thing is I wouldnt be surprised if it takes him until his mid 20s for everything to really click

 

[TeeEyeFiddyTree]

• Total words: 350
• Total typos: 34
• Typos as a percentage: 9.7%

I have rejected Hagens (too small... we already have lots of small-skilled players... can't all be the same small forwards... period. Forget rankings. Bad fit for Hawks' needs. Personally, I don't even rank him in the top 3 anyway. He underperformed relative to his hype against older, bigger men in his freshman season at top-ranked B.C., despite the great wingers he centered most of the season (Leonard and Perrault).

Also rejecting Frondell despite some higher rankings for him—big fail at U18s. Did not dominate. In fact, he played poorly in my view... slow... easily "handled" by Canadian D-men. I watched the gold medal game. Did not pass my eye test.

Now Misa is the slam-dunk choice IF SJ does not pick him (Craig Button, in his mock draft after the draft lottery results, showed SJ taking Martone at #2. The rationale is they already have 2 NHL centers for their path ahead... they want a top scoring winger to complement their 2 centers [Celebrini and Will Smith], so Martone fits their positional need. Yes, they have Chernyshov coming in... Adding Martone gives them either 1 top line or a balance of scoring on 2 lines with 2 center/wing duos. So, they could pass on Misa).

Yes, Misa could play wing, but he blossomed when moved from wing to center this season. He wants to be a center... maybe happy camper if they use him at 3C or drop Smith 1 line.

In other words, the Hawks still could land Misa if SJ goes for Martone as the top winger in the draft.

I will do a post later going into a deep dive on the other candidates for #3 if Misa goes off the board ahead of the Hawks' pick.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Ok how about this... If McQueen didn't have back issues/injury
and had a great year ?
Would he be a top 3 pick ??

Yes. But he did.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Martone or Hagens.

 

[hawksfan50]

The doom and gloom of not getting tge #1or#2 and missing out on sure-fire "stars" Scaefer or Misa is understandable..But getting another "good player" to help specifically in roles and fit in the top six for the Hawks up front is not a bad situation..There are guys better than Misa ...not is scoring of course but in sone other aspects of the game..

We need help in a lotvofvareasto be better inthevtop six /top 2 lines both scoring and defending.

Anyway I already posted why Hagens and Frondell are bad fits...Martone is actualky Not a prototypical power forward as many assume but ratger a very skikked nig giy with some but not optimum physicality for hos size and who has more skill than the usual big forwatd..But he hasxareas he needs to improve in like consistency of effort and defensive awareness and improving his skating.

JAKE oOBrien playibg only 2C and "youbf" (June 2007 birthdate) has a longer runway to add mass and more strength onto his lanky 6'2 frame..Considered the best paser in the draft he
could have the highest ceiling to beconeca star 1C but needs more development..So improving strength as he add weight to frame...trying to get stronger in the legs for more soeedxandcexpkosion and trying to up his low volume but very hogh shooting % , maybe these things work out this coming season as he goes to a more go to 1C role I Brantford.. He needs to up hos Even Strength scoring whike still maintaining deadly Pp scoribg points.. He us not all forned Yet but has tge runway to realky hot star ceiling.. Do you gamble on him putting it akk together this seadon and be patient whike he okays another season in junior or do you go for the maybe more pro ready Martonexat wing since he already has an NHL size and body ?

Or do you go for more 2 way cebters with better defensive abilities than P'brien ...maybe less offebsive upside but still show decent abilities to score?

So below I go into a deep dive on the stats of thse candidates but include Misa in case SJ goes wibger with Martone to help Cekebrinni or Smith on thee wing.


So tge stats breakdown*

* First I give the actual regular season stats for their Games Played...but since Misa played more games,I will add equalization totals for the otger candidates so that they match with Misa's GP.

Actual:

Misa 65 GP 284 SHOG S% 21.8 62g 72a
134 pts 23PPG 21PPA 2.106 pts/g
+45
Martone 56GP 190 SHOG S% 19.47 37g 61a
98 pts 7PPG 22PPA 1.719 pts/g
+ 19

Desnoyers 56G 176 SHOG S% 19.9 35g 49a
84pts. 6PPG 13PPA 1.5 pts/g
+51

O'Brien 66GP 134 SHOG S% 23.88 32g 66a
98pts 9PPG 41PPA 1.495 pts/g
-2...(early in the season I think he
Iwas near-20 ).

Martin 57 GP 202 SHOG S% 16.336 33g 39a
72pts 8PPG 5PPA 1.26pts/g
+25
Looking deeper still : SHOG/ game:

MISA 4.369

MARTONE 3.33

DESNOYERS 3.14

O'BRIEN 2.03

MARTIN 3..543

So you will note that after Mosa the giyvwith the highest shot generation is Brady Martin..lowest shooting % but maybe because he had less talent to help him ...so not as easy as perhaps theotgerschadvon setups by surrounding help.

Also could be reason Martin had low power play points...the Soo Pp not that good.
1 guy cannot do it alk ...or notcsurevifvhecwas even used Pp1 forvthe SOO..

Just saying that for Marin's offensive production...the context of pkaying on a less talented and less dep team does impact what 1 player can do to score.Jeeo this in mind.

Now looking at Ratio of PP ponts to Total Points:


Misa 44/134 = 32.83% 90 nonPP points)

Martone 29/98 = 29.89% 69 nonPP points

Desnoyers19/84= 22.6% 65 nonPP points

O'Brien 50/98= 51% 48 nonPP points


This shows how much O'Brien was dependant on the PP for offensive production.. must improve production outsidevthecPo next season to be a mire complete threat and not be so skewed to the Point to produce..His move up to 1C should help do that..I think.

MARTIN 13/72 = just 18% PP dependant for his offebsive production...axwhopingv72% came in non-pp situations.

We all knkwcHawks Po was pretty goid..but 5x5 pkayvwas not very good or productive...E nedcbeyter 5x5 pkayers..Maybe Martin shoukd be ooked at plusctge context he pkayedvin forca bad teamwork not the greatest of PP threat compared to the other 4 guys.


Other considerations:

Faceoff stats:WINNING%

MISA 51.0%

MARTONE 36.0% (but took very few draws...he is not a Center)

DESNOYERS 63.7%

O'BRIEN 44.7%

MARTIN 46.2%

Clearly Drsnoyers has the best FO win % by a lot...andvitbisca very high %...butvI think I recall Misa took more than twice the amount of draws Misa did..so MaybevMoncton only uses him for his tongside draws not all draws when he is on shift?

HITS:

Was unable to find hit data ..but GooglexAI did find some data on 2vofvthecabove pkayers..it said that :

Desnoyers averages 1.5 "hard hits) oer game

And that Martin averages above 3 hard hits per game.

Tgeceuectestcatvtgevu18s shows me a very high hit total for Martin including average hits and "hard hots".

I wish we had accurate hitsctotals but tge CHL 3 leagursxapparebtky do not track this...Nut NHL scouting depth. Should.
Anway a lot of scouting reports say Brady Martin is the best hitter in the draft ..
Plays a man's game...bigger than his 6'0 178lbs(but he looks big framed to me so should easily put more weight on.. if he hits this hard at 178lbs, imagine the intimidating fioechecking threat he becomes adding 20more lbs!!!!

Adjusted points to 65Gp ( same as Misa played):



Misa 65 GP 62g 72a 134 +45

Martone projected: 42g 70a =112 pts

Desnoyers projected 41g 57 a =98 pts

0'Brien played 1 more game than Misa...sobdeduct 1aat 65GP to equalize..so drops to 97 points 32g 65a

Martin projected to38g 44a =82 poibts.



Tge take-away from thos alk is:

Howmany more points Brandy Martin put up if instead of playing for the 14th worst team in the OHL (out of 20 teams) , hevibstead pkayed with better talent like alk theotgers we ookedxatvdid?
Ifvhebphayedcon better talentedvPowrr okays?

I thinknyou gotta ask this apart from just tge loubtblevel he did put up...I think hecwoukdchave added a lit more points abd pp points especialky..He had the highest non pp points ratio to total points (or looked thevotgercwah the lowest pp poi tscto total points ratio among alk these candidates..


Unlike Misa had no Parekh..no Chernyshov level help top-level piibts ...esoeciallybo tge Pp..

There was no ThomasvorcLardis to help him pileup sone more points...No t much help on the Soo Pp..

Hard for 1cguy alone to match the conditions he faced ona bad team..

Nor didvhevpkayvforvthevtop team I the league as does Drsnoyers with that department Moncton team I the Q.
So at least considering Martin and what he can bring, you must cobsidervtge context of how mich help a giy has.

Hoevervtgecrevers is not true.

A giy lije Martin coul cdo wonders for a Hawks team that is not physical or has more physical but slow skater types who cannot stick with their checks or create mich off tge forecheck...

Now I am not saying Martin is tge best candidate for#3..justctgatvifcwe cannot land Misa he shoujd be up there in consideration with Desnoyers if we want a Cebter...

Drsnoyers does have a mich better face off win% but as I pointed out he did not take the volume of draesxthat Martin and Misa took for tgeir teams...suggesting Moncton used him mostly for his strongside draws.
The stats alone do not tell the entire story.

This is why they pay team scouting depatments to look at All the factors plus use the eye test.

In akk tgecscouribgvrankibgsxwe get openly published by various non-NHL team scoutibg organizations,no one ever brings in mybpintbon context..how good or poor was the team the guy played for and how do you adjust up or down for this huge differentiation factor ?
This is why (apart from the size isdue( I eliminated Hagens from consideration.. He pkayed for the top team in college hockey this srason...had the privilege of 2 of the best wingers in college hockey...and he did Not put up the numbers exoected. And onlyv9 goals!!!WTF?

No way does anyone consideration after blowing this much privileged great situation.
On the other hand...on a very poiteam,Martin was their top scorer and eye tests looking at him always remarked what a relentless effort /hard worker he is every time on shift.
Imagine if he pkayex with sone better help.. What he could do for such a better team plusxgice you inspirational by example work habits ..
He has risen al l seasony 17th N A skater mid-season by Central Scouting ..11th N.A. on fibak ranking..but at 18 was better than the hyped and higher ranked Frondell...eyesxsaw how he tilted the ice on his shifts...the physicality...2 wY pkay...great foreclosures.. great backcheck..stioubgvexits and re-attackibg..transition attack after stopibgboppsong rushes tge neutral zone or from thecd-zone..he was dagererous creating so manyvscoribg chances for himself and for others on Canada u18s...
Could easily have had 5 orc6 more goaksvin the tournament if his shoitibg was more accurate or even upto par with his shotibg % i the OHL ...he generates so many scoribg chances in Even strength play.. and is this nitcwhat Hawks need?
Someone to tilt the ice in Eveb Stength shifts!
Someone to show by example to the rest of the Hawks what it takes to work harder thatvtheopps...someone to inspire with Follow Me ..someone who is never going to mope because goals are not going g in for him(are you listening#98?)...someone who
will say: you do that to our big Starland I will hunt you down.. look out cause I an gonna hot you Hard.
So if we must talk doom because we did not land a pisdibke superstar.. there still are otger with attributes that realky can help us be a better TRAM by demonstrating their particular shining attributes and contributions they bring to the table.. types of roke players we do not have ..Guysxwho arex2 way pkayers..who can actuakky check ..as well as contribute to the offense.
Guys who will not slack off Guysxyou can rely on to CONPETE.

I see opportunity to add attributes we do not have now ...
I do not know if Desnoyers or Martin is the better help of the two..but I do know both compete.and eitger can help us.
But can they help this season...immediately?

Maybe Marton witb his size and weight can pkay right away..maybe tgat factors most for KD even if he is not a 2C solution.
But adds Size on our wing..

Maybe more Talent offensively than Drsnoyers or Martin..but will he Compete as hard?

Tough decisions..
Still forget the doom and gloom.We will get a goid pkayerod sone Kind.

As long as KD avoids the shrimp and the slow *Hagens and Frondelk( we should get a forward to help us in some ways )..


BUT..maybe still get Misa if SJ goescfor Martone as the winger they need to balance out their top six up front.
Their need is not another top 1 irx2c..they have young talent there..They need top wingers.
So maybe they kindly leave Misa for us?

Or they make a deal with us for an extra pick or player=Berutizzi/Alkan/Crevier?

OR NYI trades down with SJ and they take Scheafer and trades down again with us for some extra picks orvpkayers?

Anything is posdible..

But 1fibak thought:

WTF happened to Misa in his last 10GP...he went -6 in his last 6 regular season games then -10 in 4 playoff games...he was +45 for the regular season ..so what happened to his 5x5 defending? -16 in last 10 played!!!
His scoring was justvover 2 pts a game for 65 regular season games but dropped to just 1.3 points a game in the last 10 ganes he played...

He might have been playing banged up..I am sure NHL teams are inquiring on this bad development ...finish off a greatxsradon so poorly from his own high standards...

I'm contrast...Brady Martin last 10GP:

5g 9a +14

Desnoyers last 10:

7g 11a+4

Martone last 10:
9g 6a +6


.....just saying....








d

 

[Castle8130]

Scott Wheelers mock draft has him thinking the Hawks are drafting between Desnoyers or Frondell if Schaefer and Misa are gone

 

[ChicagoHockeyFan]

I wouldn't put too much stock into Powers early mock I know he had Demidov at 2 after the lottery last year and zeroed in on it being Levshunov in June. Also in 2019 I cant find the post lottery mock but I think he had hawks taking Podkolzin and then closer to draft zeroed in on Dach as well. Wheeler thinking Martone is compltely out of the picture is just pure speculation.

 

[eklund2chicago]

 

[Kevin Musto]

I wouldn't put too much stock into Powers early mock I know he had Demidov at 2 after the lottery last year and zeroed in on it being Levshunov in June. Also in 2019 I cant find the post lottery mock but I think he had hawks taking Podkolzin and then closer to draft zeroed in on Dach as well. Wheeler thinking Martone is compltely out of the picture is just pure speculation.

It's honestly hilarious how Powers and Laz keep leaking their picks.

Beaudin and Gajan were other ones.

I remember thinking the Lev stuff was a smokescreen because they were making it so painfully obvious in the media... but nope that was the pick.

Hawks org needs to tighten up.

 

[ChicagoHockeyFan]

It's honestly hilarious how Powers and Laz keep leaking their picks.

Beaudin and Gajan were other ones.

I remember thinking the Lev stuff was a smokescreen because they were making it so painfully obvious in the media... but nope that was the pick.

Hawks org needs to tighten up.

I remember Powers also talking about them liking Protas in 2019 after he met with hawks a few times before the draft. Boy would that pick look good now

 

[MTU34]

I wouldn't put too much stock into Powers early mock I know he had Demidov at 2 after the lottery last year and zeroed in on it being Levshunov in June. Also in 2019 I cant find the post lottery mock but I think he had hawks taking Podkolzin and then closer to draft zeroed in on Dach as well. Wheeler thinking Martone is compltely out of the picture is just pure speculation.

They very much liked Demidov though. Even tried to get back in at 4 to get him. Martone being Powers pick right after the lottery doesn’t mean it’s him but I’d hazard a guess it means he’s absolutely in the conversation

 

[ChicagoHockeyFan]

They very much liked Demidov though. Even tried to get back in at 4 to get him. Martone being Powers pick right after the lottery doesn’t mean it’s him but I’d hazard a guess it means he’s absolutely in the conversation

Yep they definitely loved Demidov as well but I remember Powers saying he would be very surprised if it wasn't Lev at 2. Also agree Martone is for sure in the picture

 

[featherhawk]

I think Desnoyers has a much higher level to get to than Frondell. He carries the puck, his playmaking at times looks super good, and he does all the rest that Frondell does, or close to it (compete, physicality, board battles, defense). Except that shot.

Plus he's an actual agitator and will always be in every scrum. He's defense is at least equal if not better and he's also more projectable at center than Frondell, who I really think is a wing at the next level.

And then comes the skating which and him being rail thin, which lends itself to a lot of physical development. His character is that Toews like I agree.

I like him much more than Frondell, he has a lot more going for him.

Now I still don't think he's the typical KD type besides the compete, but he's leaning closer to that style than Frondell imo.

Agreed. I like Desnoyers more than Frondell

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Davidson mentioned a few times in the post-lotto press conference using position as a tie breaker and it seems like that was the deciding factor last year

 

[ello]

I wish we drafted Demidov so badly. We already have Rinzel as an RHD who has a great chance of being able to chew up like 25+ minutes a game and defense via comittee by the rest of the D is so normal these days. Trade for like a Demelo or something when we come into your prime and we are set.

Out of the remaining playoff teams, best RHD on each team:

Toronto: Tanev
Florida: Jones/Ekblad
Washinton: Carlson
Carolina: Brent Burns
Jets: Demelo
Stars: Ceci
Oilers: Bouchard
Knights: Pietrangelo

There's no true number 1 dman here aside from maybe Bouchard who is flawed as hell and also a bunchhh of second pair calibre guys. Yet one of them is gonna win the Cup!

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I wish we drafted Demidov so badly. We already have Rinzel as an RHD who has a great chance of being able to chew up like 25+ minutes a game and defense via comittee by the rest of the D is so normal these days. Trade for like a Demelo or something when we come into your prime and we are set.

Out of the remaining playoff teams, best RHD on each team:

Toronto: Tanev
Florida: Jones/Ekblad
Washinton: Carlson
Carolina: Brent Burns
Jets: Demelo
Stars: Ceci
Oilers: Bouchard
Knights: Pietrangelo

There's no true number 1 dman here aside from maybe Bouchard who is flawed as hell and also a bunchhh of second pair calibre guys. Yet one of them is gonna win the Cup!

I think Petro is still a legit #1 and has been for 10+ years.

 

[ello]

I think Petro is still a legit #1 and has been for 10+ years.

Top pair sure but he's 35 and put up 33 points this year.

Regardless Rinzel can be that guy and Vegas's second best RHD is Zach Whitecloud. I just think it was a misallocation of assets

 

[TheFridge]

I wish we drafted Demidov so badly. We already have Rinzel as an RHD who has a great chance of being able to chew up like 25+ minutes a game and defense via comittee by the rest of the D is so normal these days. Trade for like a Demelo or something when we come into your prime and we are set.

Out of the remaining playoff teams, best RHD on each team:

Toronto: Tanev
Florida: Jones/Ekblad
Washinton: Carlson
Carolina: Brent Burns
Jets: Demelo
Stars: Ceci
Oilers: Bouchard
Knights: Pietrangelo

There's no true number 1 dman here aside from maybe Bouchard who is flawed as hell and also a bunchhh of second pair calibre guys. Yet one of them is gonna win the Cup!

The Jets would be Pionk.

On the flip side, you look back at the 2010s and you had Seabrook (x3), Letang (x2), Doughty (x2), Carlson and Pietrangelo all as top-pairing RHD and/or true #1 D on Cup-winning teams.

Ideally, you have two excellent RHD in your top-4 so no one has to play their off-side. Should Levshunov and Rinzel both pan out, the Hawks will. That's going to be an advantage for them over a lot of teams.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Davidson mentioned a few times in the post-lotto press conference using position as a tie breaker and it seems like that was the deciding factor last year

He mentioned that yeah.

I interpret that as Frondell is at the bottom of the pack because he's a winger. I don't care what anyone says, there's no shot he's a center in the NHL.

Desnoyers could play 3C, but I just don't see him becoming a 2C. I think he could play 2W though. But at center I think he's a bit more limited because right now he doesn't really take faceoffs, and his playmaking isn't up to snuff to produce as a 2C.

Martone is obviously a winger, but he has actual top line upside so he outclasses Frondell by a landslide.

Hagens doesn't seem to be in the conversation, if we go off of what Powers is hearing.

So it's going to be between Desnoyers and Martone for the Hawks.

I can see KD liking Desnoyers more because he skates and plays with better pace than Martone. But I think that would be shortsighted. In my opinion so many of the kinks in Martone's game will get ironed out by playing college hockey. Meanwhile Desnoyers will still be playing QMJHL and not getting challenged any further. Get me confirmation that Desnoyers goes to college next season, and maybe my opinion could soften.