2025 NHL Draft Thread

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Is he at least an above average skater?

After Strome, Reinhart, MDC, Bellows, and Wahlstrom, we should be avoid anyone who isn't at least an above average skater in the first round. Avoiding like the plague.

My take is that Hensler is just fine as a skater. He will likely be chalked up as a Brock Faber type player.

Some have mentioned Arem Minnetian as a prospect player you might want to target at the deadline and I'd say Hensler is very much a comparable with a currently higher pedigree.

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In general, if the NYI are currently looking at this draft and saying to themselves that they'd want one of Hensler, Mrtka, or Fiddler - all very fine RHD with multiple tools - with their mid-round 1st rounder, then there's really no reason not to just re-sign DeAngelo (and Boqvist, for my taste) and move Dobson for either a solid package of up-n-comers or a similarly-aged impact forward (or both, if possible).

Personally, I'd be VERY excited about adding Mrtka to the fold, but the two Americans look like solid NHL options down the line.

Strategically speaking, it'd be an understandable path to take as this team redirects to stronger short and long-term competitiveness.

I cannot comment on whether those RHDs will be the BPP wherever the Isles will be selecting.

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No matter what thoughts you have about the draft now, please do not forget that the U18 Worlds has a huge impact on where the cookies crumble in the rankings come June.
 
My guess is you hit refresh 25-30 times before this result came up….. As for our pick, I don’t know the kids but I do know whichever player we select will be mediocre at best and 2 or 3 of the next 5 selections after us will be future NHL all stars ⭐️..

I pressed on RESET one time and got this...
1740486564245.png
 
I started watching this "all of Michael Misa's goals this year" video and got like halfway through.

I'm no scout, but every goal that I saw was a junior hockey goal, not an NHL goal. IDK, maybe he'll be able to score the tough ones when he has to, but if we have a high pick I'll be in the "anti-Misa" camp.
 
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I started watching this "all of Michael Misa's goals this year" video and got like halfway through.

I'm no scout, but every goal that I saw was a junior hockey goal, not an NHL goal. IDK, maybe he'll be able to score the tough ones when he has to, but if we have a high pick I'll be in the "anti-Misa" camp.
I'm right there with you. I feel like either Canadians are biased or don't realize guys like him never translate to the NHL. Either way, it's 1 - Schaefer, 2 - Hagens, 3 - Martone for me and I would take Desnoyers above Misa at 4. From there, I haven't seen enough of the Swedish kids, but I wouldn't take Misa top 5.
 
Just from those highlights (and the red and white jersey helps), he reminds me of Niklas Kronwall. That's a compliment!

That's just the Red Wings uniform he's wearing....

When I've viewed him, I keep thinking, "Wasn't this what Pulock looked like in juniors?"

But certainly an interesting prospect - with very gaudy goal totals for an OHL Dman.
 
I'm right there with you. I feel like either Canadians are biased or don't realize guys like him never translate to the NHL. Either way, it's 1 - Schaefer, 2 - Hagens, 3 - Martone for me and I would take Desnoyers above Misa at 4. From there, I haven't seen enough of the Swedish kids, but I wouldn't take Misa top 5.

Considering our track record at picking #5, I’d rather we trade the pick.
 
Just from those highlights (and the red and white jersey helps), he reminds me of Niklas Kronwall. That's a compliment!
That's just the Red Wings uniform he's wearing....

When I've viewed him, I keep thinking, "Wasn't this what Pulock looked like in juniors?"

But certainly an interesting prospect - with very gaudy goal totals for an OHL Dman.

giphy.gif


He's a center!
 
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Did I write "Pulock" and Dman?

I meant "Trocheck" and Cman. :naughty:

:laugh:

I just love the way he plays. His strength is in his smart all-around game, physical play, work ethic, and leadership abilities. He reminds me of a more physical Horvat with better leadership skills and better defensive game.

His biggest knocks are that he doesn't have high end skill and isn't a high end skater, but he's made a lot of improvements with his skating and I think his skill gets underrated.
 
Not as much as people wanted but we sold.

Where were slated to draft now (as of today it's 10th overall), I'd go for a dman. Jackson Smith is a target. Eiserman, Ritchie and Nelson up front (even Quinn Finley) but not too much is happening on D. Give me a guy we can look forward to in the top 4, 5 years from now.
 
Not as much as people wanted but we sold.

Where were slated to draft now (as of today it's 10th overall), I'd go for a dman. Jackson Smith is a target. Eiserman, Ritchie and Nelson up front (even Quinn Finley) but not too much is happening on D. Give me a guy we can look forward to in the top 4, 5 years from now.

I'm looking at Mrtka in that 9-13 spot.

He has me drooling, even if there are questions about his long-term possibilities (some of which have been answered positively this winter).

Of course, I've still got that thought in my head that Dobson can be moved. That's what has me keying in on RHDs, particularly bigger ones.

Truth is though, this team has 19 games to go and we realistically have to see this Barzal- and Nelsonless team experiencing more games like the one in Anaheim than the one in San Jose. I'm thinking they're gonna have a real hard time getting points in even 10 of them.

And maybe I'm being real generous there.

We could easily be drafting top 8 this summer.
 
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I'm looking at Mrtka in that 9-13 spot.

He has me drooling, even if there are questions about his long-term possibilities (some of which have been answered positively this winter).

Of course, I've still got that thought in my head that Dobson can be moved. That's what has me keying in on RHDs, particularly bigger ones.

Truth is though, this team has 19 games to go and we realistically have to see this Barzal- and Nelsonless team experiencing more games like the one in Anaheim than the one in San Jose. I'm thinking they're gonna have a real hard time getting points in even 10 of them.

And maybe I'm being real generous there.

We could easily be drafting top 8 this summer.
I was looking at that guy too

I like the top 15 of the draft, going to be happy with whoever we get I think
 
Personally I think there’s a clear top 8 that I would love to get into. I personally wouldn’t target a d-man, we have so many locked into long term deals (possibly even 5 after this offseason). We need not only quality but more young forwards who have a chance to play in the top-6 or hopefully top line.
 
Personally I think there’s a clear top 8 that I would love to get into. I personally wouldn’t target a d-man, we have so many locked into long term deals (possibly even 5 after this offseason). We need not only quality but more young forwards who have a chance to play in the top-6 or hopefully top line.

A top 6 pick in this draft - unless it's Schaefer - should be a forward.

That's right.
 
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