I think Desnoyers & Frondell are my top two choices based on where we are most likely picking. Going to be strange to circle the draft lottery date on my calendar.
2025 NHL DRAFT Thread
- Thread starter Saxon Eric
- Start date
If they can get Zonnon in the 2nd rd or if they get another late 1st, he would be a good choice, I saw him play against Moncton and he was one of the best players on the ice.
I'm getting very excited about the draft. A top10 pick, another at 45, then again at 55.
I wonder if Will Moore will be there at 45.
I wonder if Will Moore will be there at 45.
So since I dont know diddley about these kids but am in full tank mode now. What does say picking 5 thru 9 possibly get you?
Looking around where we'd be picking today I really like Carter Bear. Helps that his name fits the team well, but he seems like a player that competes hard and produces offensively.
After all these young forwards just got acquired i wonder if they go defense with the pick. They need centers for sure but their defensive prospects are kind of non existent. At least at forward theres a ton of lottery tickets. Maybe jackson smith kid or radim mrtka?
Also theres this huge kid who missed a bunch of time this year still projected top 7 but maybe hes slips with the lack of games played this year, roger mcqueen
Also theres this huge kid who missed a bunch of time this year still projected top 7 but maybe hes slips with the lack of games played this year, roger mcqueen
I think the Bruins have always been good at identifying D in later rounds or through free agency/trades. I think the 1st needs to be used on pure offensive ability. This system needs scoring way more than anything else, and I don't think the couple prospects they brought in yesterday move the needle that much.
Thats what they did when they drafted lysell. I liked it at the time but now i just want them to not miss. I want an impact player at a position. No more projected bottom 6 forwards, no more bust top 6 projected forwards. Someone who is good that becomes good.
If they draft a forward ill be fine, i just want the best player available (besides goalie.)
You could be looking at solid picks like Frondell, Desnoyers and O'Brien, all would be great adds. Desnoyers reminds me of a young Bergeron.
Definitely not the time to get cute and pick positionally. They better spend a couple years taking the best guy on the board. All set on Sweeney overthinking things, thanks.
My thoughts, admittedly a composite of reading lots of other people's thoughts since September and watching relatively useless highlight videos.
I feel like we are likely picking 8th or 9th based on current standings, games remaining, etc. Feel like there are a couple of tiers that kind of break with pick 8, probably could put Frondell in the top tier if you like
Tier One
Schaefer
Misa
Hagens
Martone
Tier Two
Frondell
Desnoyers
Eklund
McQueen
McQueen could be a do not draft for some teams picking this high. He has Spondylosis which I understand to be chronic but not sure if there are different levels...tends to be a repetitive use injury as we thought my son had it at one point.
It would be great to get into that top 6 ideally (Frondell & Desnoyers from tier II) but would also be good with Eklund at 8 or McQueen if they somehow have confidence the back won't continue to be an issue.
Mrtka and Jackson Smith are generally right after this tier. I like both but all around type D-men who aren't dominant at one thing sort of lose value to me this high n the draft. Mrtka with his 6'6" frame is more interesting as I imagine he'll continue to grow into his body and he's already mobile, good defensively and a good puck handler but seems like he will never has the physicality of Jackson Smith despite the size.
Jake O'Brien is interesting but seems to have disappeared on bigger stages with elite competition a bit. Like Carter Bear, Malcolm Spence and Justin Carbonneau as guys who have some intensity, skating ability and somewhat safe floors along with decent ceilings and are generally ranked in the 10-20 range. Lakovic is big, skilled and skates well but not sure but I also get some Raphael Lavoie vibes for some reason.
I feel like we are likely picking 8th or 9th based on current standings, games remaining, etc. Feel like there are a couple of tiers that kind of break with pick 8, probably could put Frondell in the top tier if you like
Tier One
Schaefer
Misa
Hagens
Martone
Tier Two
Frondell
Desnoyers
Eklund
McQueen
McQueen could be a do not draft for some teams picking this high. He has Spondylosis which I understand to be chronic but not sure if there are different levels...tends to be a repetitive use injury as we thought my son had it at one point.
It would be great to get into that top 6 ideally (Frondell & Desnoyers from tier II) but would also be good with Eklund at 8 or McQueen if they somehow have confidence the back won't continue to be an issue.
Mrtka and Jackson Smith are generally right after this tier. I like both but all around type D-men who aren't dominant at one thing sort of lose value to me this high n the draft. Mrtka with his 6'6" frame is more interesting as I imagine he'll continue to grow into his body and he's already mobile, good defensively and a good puck handler but seems like he will never has the physicality of Jackson Smith despite the size.
Jake O'Brien is interesting but seems to have disappeared on bigger stages with elite competition a bit. Like Carter Bear, Malcolm Spence and Justin Carbonneau as guys who have some intensity, skating ability and somewhat safe floors along with decent ceilings and are generally ranked in the 10-20 range. Lakovic is big, skilled and skates well but not sure but I also get some Raphael Lavoie vibes for some reason.
Dom had this write up, hope he don't mind reposting this
A riser. McKenzie had him 13 mid season. Brock had this write up, sounds like he's B's material. If we stay where we are he's an option.
“I just love everything about Martin’s game. He’s been on an absolute tear the last month or so and has been really taking over games. Do I wish he were a more dynamic skater? Absolutely. It’s not likely to ever be a strength of his game. But he’s got everything else. He’s a gamer who would go through a wall to help his team win. I know that’s a cliche, but it’s the truth. Then you combine that with his skill and creativity that allows him to create time and space and you have a prospect with a bright future.” (Brock Otten)
A riser. McKenzie had him 13 mid season. Brock had this write up, sounds like he's B's material. If we stay where we are he's an option.
“I just love everything about Martin’s game. He’s been on an absolute tear the last month or so and has been really taking over games. Do I wish he were a more dynamic skater? Absolutely. It’s not likely to ever be a strength of his game. But he’s got everything else. He’s a gamer who would go through a wall to help his team win. I know that’s a cliche, but it’s the truth. Then you combine that with his skill and creativity that allows him to create time and space and you have a prospect with a bright future.” (Brock Otten)
You may regret it later, but McQueen is not the guy I touch in the top 10, maybe he has the highest ceiling of player there when Boston picks, but there are so many concerns about his game and his health. Maybe he has a dominant finish to the season, but way to many red flags for Boston to touch in the top 10
Top 2025 NHL Draft Prospect Out For The Year After Suffering Brutal Injury
Carter Bear is one of the more intriguing prospects in the 2025 NHL Draft, but now the 18-year old forward has suffered a devastating, season ending injury.
www.bladeofsteel.com
Bad News Bear.
precisely, we don`t need deep thinkers, take BPA and be on with it
Mock draft has Bruins selection as 10th
10. Boston Bruins: Justin Carbonneau
Years of sacrificing draft picks in trades to shore up their roster left the Bruins' prospect pipeline depleted. Fabian Lysell is their only natural right winger among their top prospects, and it remains to be seen if he becomes a full-time NHL player.
Justin Carbonneau of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League could address that need for the Bruins. The 6'1”, 192-pound right wing leads the Armada with 46 goals and 87 points in 58 games, sitting second among QMJHL scorers.
NHL Central Scouting has the 18-year-old Carbonneau at No. 13 on their mid-term rankings of North American skaters. The Athletic's Scott Wheeler ranked him 10th on his list, citing his strong skating and offensive skills, including his quick release.
The limited depth among quality right wingers among this season's top prospects leave the Bruins with few options to address that issue. Unless Porter Martone is still available at this stage, they should snap up Carbonneau with this pick.
10. Boston Bruins: Justin Carbonneau
Years of sacrificing draft picks in trades to shore up their roster left the Bruins' prospect pipeline depleted. Fabian Lysell is their only natural right winger among their top prospects, and it remains to be seen if he becomes a full-time NHL player.
Justin Carbonneau of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League could address that need for the Bruins. The 6'1”, 192-pound right wing leads the Armada with 46 goals and 87 points in 58 games, sitting second among QMJHL scorers.
NHL Central Scouting has the 18-year-old Carbonneau at No. 13 on their mid-term rankings of North American skaters. The Athletic's Scott Wheeler ranked him 10th on his list, citing his strong skating and offensive skills, including his quick release.
The limited depth among quality right wingers among this season's top prospects leave the Bruins with few options to address that issue. Unless Porter Martone is still available at this stage, they should snap up Carbonneau with this pick.
He is a really good player Wally.That said though, I think Bruins will slip further down yet with those road games left.
Mick Riddleton
“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”
With the Wings winning today the Bruins are 9th from the bottom - in the points % column. The Pens and Ducks could pass them, the Flyers seem to be tanking. The Bruins will probably end up as I said right from the start of the year a .500 club. As of today that is exactly what they are. Getting a good player would kick start the return.
Islanders only 2 pts back of Bruins with 3 games at hand too.Falling definitely helps longterm..
How ‘incredible’ Jake O’Brien became one of the 2025 NHL Draft’s top prospects
By Scott Wheeler
46
March 16, 2025Updated March 17, 2025 8:05 am EDT
Jake O’Brien is the reigning OHL Rookie of the Year. After leading all OHL rookies with 64 points in 61 games last season at 16, he’s chasing 100 points and a top-10 finish in OHL scoring at 17 this season.
He’s got a chance to be a top-10 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, too. NHL Central Scouting slotted him eighth among North American skaters on their midterm rankings.
Advertisement
And he has ascended to the top of the 2025 class as a center, as one of the youngest top prospects in the draft because of his June 16 birthday, as an alternate captain and without his Brantford Bulldogs running mate, Blackhawks first-rounder Marek Vanacker, for much of the season.
Jay McKee, the Bulldogs’ head coach, told The Athletic that O’Brien has been “incredible” in his two years in the OHL. He talks about an “elite, elite hockey IQ,” about how games just “flow and slow down for him,” and about how he “sees plays developing before they happen.” He talks about his passing ability, his deceptiveness, his unpredictability, how coachable he is, a shot that has improved and his leadership.
But most of all, he talks about his love for the game.
And that part he comes by honestly.
Jake O’Brien playing in the 2024 CHL/USA Prospects Challenge. (Eric Young / CHL)
Hockey was always going to find Jake O’Brien.
His dad, Dan O’Brien, played four seasons at Clarkson University and one in the ECHL.
His mom, Amy Turek, was a captain at Laurier University and reached the pinnacle of the game as a member of the Canadian national women’s team from 1999 to 2000. She also represented Canada at the 2003 and 2004 Inline Hockey World Championships, winning a gold and a silver. After her playing career, she opened Victory Hockey School, offering summer, holiday and March break hockey programs to girls from an all-female coaching staff. Her dad played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and won a Grey Cup.
The Tureks at the 50th anniversary of Ed Turek winning the Grey Cup. Left to right: Jake’s sister Maddy O’Brien, Ed Turek, Jake O’Brien, Amy Turek, and Adele Turek. (Courtesy of Amy Turek)
O’Brien grew up in Brooklin, Ont., a suburb northeast of Toronto, and they billeted former NHLer Christian Thomas after he got traded from the London Knights to the Oshawa Generals and Dan reached out to Thomas’ dad, former NHLer Steve (a childhood friend of his), offering to have him at their place.
The videos of Jake and Christian’s mini sticks games live on.
Though Amy’s hockey school didn’t accept players until age 6 and was originally just for girls, he spent his summers on the ice at her camps starting at 3. Eventually, when O’Brien grew adamant about hockey, she started a boys division and they’d split the ice with boys on one side and girls on the other.
Advertisement
“He’d be there all day, every day, all summer long with the older kids on the ice,” Amy said.
When he wasn’t on the ice with her, he was playing mini sticks, floorball or street hockey at home. At 2, he could sit and watch a full Generals game.
“As long as I can remember, as soon as Jake could walk and talk, he had a hockey stick in his hand. He would take slapshots with this mini stick and a puck in our living room and that’s all he did,” Amy said.
A young Jake O’Brien. (Courtesy of Amy Turek)
By 7 and 8, he was on the streets of Brooklin beating teenagers in games of road hockey, and Dan and Amy started to sense it.
In his first game for the AAA Whitby Wolves, they got blown out by a Toronto team but he dominated and scored the lone goal. That season, coaches from the GTHL teams would try to find him after their games. After they eventually moved to Toronto, he later joined the Toronto Jr. Canadiens. In spring hockey, minor hockey, and eventually internationally, he always won.
At 14, he won the GTHL title. At 15, he finished his minor hockey career by registering 17 points in seven games at the 2023 OHL Cup, winning tournament MVP and leading the Jr. Canadiens to the title. That performance made him the eighth pick in the 2023 OHL draft.
“Ever since Jake was this high,” Dan said, lowering his hand to his knee during the intermission of a recent game, “you could tell. I think the whole way along we kind of knew. … He has always been that kid who has carried the team. And I’m not just saying that from a dad’s perspective. I played college and pro and I coached junior, and from a hockey guy he’s always had that mentality and the will.”
Jake O’Brien with the GTHL atom AAA 2017-18 regular season champions trophy. (Courtesy of Amy Turek)
At 16, O’Brien followed in his mom’s footsteps, representing Canada for the first time at the Under 17 World Hockey Challenge. Last summer, shortly after his 17th birthday, he won gold with Hockey Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup — a unique moment for Amy.
“It was always an amazing feeling to wear the jersey, and to see him have the same experiences is really special and to see him standing on the blue line for ‘O Canada’ with the jersey on is such a memory for me and now I get to experience watching him,” Amy said.
Advertisement
Soon, she’ll get to experience watching him get drafted into the NHL in Los Angeles in June.
“It’s a special time to see the progression and be part of the journey. To experience it as a parent, I just can’t wait to be there for him,” Amy said.
Ask O’Brien about the people who’ve had an impact on his young hockey career, and after his parents and his sister Madison (a student at Queen’s University), he goes to his skills coaches, Dan Sisca and Leland de Langley, and his strength and conditioning coach Matt Nichol.
Sisca coached the 2006 Jr. Canadiens AAA team and O’Brien was always one of his call-ups from the 2007 age group when someone missed a game through injury, illness or suspension. Because the 2007s always played before the 2006s, Sisca watched O’Brien’s games, too. The team invited him to their practices as well. Eventually, Sisca started working with him through the on-ice development work he does with his CAD Sports Group, with O’Brien coming by after school and in the summers for skates.
At an early age, Sisca was always struck by how focused and determined to get better O’Brien was every time he was on the ice.
In atom and peewee, before any of the players had hit puberty, O’Brien was “that special player” who made “everybody around him better.” He always had the skating and the IQ, too.
There was a time, though, into the bantam years, when his teammates and opponents all grew, he stopped dominating quite as much and people wondered, “When’s he going to hit puberty and get that man strength?” He didn’t start growing until minor midget, and he and that Jr. Canadiens team didn’t really take off until after Christmas. But once he grew (he’s now almost 6-foot-2 and a lean 172 pounds), he pushed them to that OHL Cup win, according to Sisca.
A letter Jake’s grandfather, Jack, sent to a friend. (Courtesy of Dan O’Brien)
Throughout, Sisca credited Amy and Dan for never being overbearing hockey parents.
“They have been through it already so they weren’t overly concerned about everything, they were like ‘All right, let it take its path when he grows and gets bigger,” he said. “He has all of the tools, it’s obviously going to come.’ And when you have all of the tools and then you actually hit that growth spurt, then it gets to where it is.”
Advertisement
And where it is today, Sisca insists, is that “everything that he does (stands out).” At their summer skates, people stop at the glass to watch him do drills because of how skilled he is.
“His edge work is elite. His shot’s elite. His stickhandling ability in complicated drills and taking pucks off the wall,” Sisca said. “No matter who he is skating with, whether he’s skating with NHL players now or other OHL players, his skill set in a skills session is like a wow factor.”
de Langley has seen the same things in their skates, too. He saw O’Brien play a few times with the Jr. Canadiens but last summer was their first full offseason skating together: two to three times a week for four months.
Watching him in U16 play, de Langley saw the ability but also the demeanor and attitude to excel at the next level. Now he has seen the practice habits and maturity firsthand as well.
“I was like, ‘Oh, OK, s—, this guy’s focus is laser sharp, laser sharp.’ And in summer training a lot of guys can take it easy, but he’s always looking to get better and he’s a sponge where he’s able to do things and learn from mistakes in practices, and he can just keep building off of it. That’s why he’s a leader on his team. That’s why he was a leader at the (OHL) prospects game. And that’s why I truly believe he’s going to have a long career and potentially be a future captain one day,” de Langley said. “So I’m not surprised at all by the season he’s been having. Nothing seems to overwhelm or faze him.”
On the ice, O’Brien is a cut above in de Langley’s small-area games and decision-making drills.
“He has this knack for time and space,” de Langley said. “He’s very smooth. He’s effortless. His two-way game right now is exceptional. The sky really is the limit for him. He’s really going to be able to produce offensively but it’s his two-way game and that defensive aspect that’s really going to help him excel. I know a lot of people compare him to a Ryan O’Reilly or an even more high-end Phillip Danault where you can just trust these guys in all situations. There’s still so much room for him to grow into his body from a physical maturity standpoint, too, and that’s only going to help him.”
O’Brien at the 2024 CHL/USA Prospects Challenge. (Eric Young / CHL)
Over the last two years, O’Brien has worked on that physical piece with Nichol both through the Bulldogs and in the offseason.
“He’s muscular and strong and fit, but he does have a very slight frame and he’s quite aware of that so it’s always been something that’s on his radar,” Nichol said. “Everyone’s got their areas of focus and it’s been one and will probably continue to be one for him.”
Advertisement
Nichol’s also quick to point out, though, that “it’s not bodybuilding, it’s hockey,” and that he shouldn’t just add weight for the sake of adding weight.
And while weightlifting is still a big part of the work Nichol and O’Brien do together, so is other athletic training. And when they do things outside of the gym, the body control and spatial awareness that people talk about in hockey terms also stand out in other settings and sports.
“Some people just have a little bit more (athleticism) to start off with than others and he’s definitely got that,” Nichol said.
Nichol has also seen him come out of his shell.
“As proud of him as I am for his statistics on the ice, I think the thing that I’m even more proud to see is that he has taken on a leadership role with his team,” Nichol said. “(O’Brien) has always been a wonderful kid and extremely coachable and hardworking and polite and respectful, and I never like to label people as shy because I don’t know if I’m qualified for that, but he was definitely a quieter kid. And he has really come into that and his play has always spoke for itself and his leadership by example has always been there but he has also taken on a more vocal leadership role within the team and you can see that in the gym as well, encouraging others and he’s got some guys that he’s bringing along and pushing and that’s cool to see.”
The focus that Sisca, de Langley and Nichol all talk about is something Amy said he has had since he was little.
Though he never saw her play, she said he has always been a lot like her in that way. He’s the same way with everything that he does, whether it’s hockey or staying out all day muskie fishing to try to catch that 50-incher.
“He’s really routine-oriented. And he has always had really good habits. Like at a young age he had really good habits as far as eating properly, and working hard, and being the hardest worker on the ice, and setting goals and striving to achieve those goals, so I never had to bug him to try to work extra on his shot or anything else. He was always doing the extra stuff,” Amy said, smiling.
“Anything he does he jumps in with two feet. He just wants to be great at anything he does.”
(Top photo: Brandon Taylor / OHL Images)
hmm, I`m not a fan of taking a goalie that early but I also have zero knowledge of this goalie, hell, unless it`s a player who plays in the WHL and who visits Victoria (entire league does not visit here) , chances are I haven`t seen them play live so I tend not to comment but...
...I`m not as convinced as many that Swayman`s year is an outlier brought on by missed camp. Not me, by this time of year, you`d figure he`d have gotten into the swing of things so maybe a goalie might be the way to go but in all honesty, I want the simplest of picks, best player available and if that`s Ravensbergen, so be it
Team in front of him hasn`t been good but his rebound control, movement is nothing that he showed in previous years , surely he still can`t be behind the 8 ball of missed camp in game 60 something?
I think this goalie prospect has a lot of Carey Price in him, could be the next star goalie. I would absolutely take him in round 2 and also sign the U Maine goalie as an NCAA free agent. Chances are that Bussi goes elsewhere next year and maybe even Dipeitro, they have Sevdberg who looks pretty good, but goalie depth is something they need.
