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2025 NHL DRAFT Thread

doublechili said:
Big picture thought. If it's true that this year's draft is pretty meh, then the way to go is to focus on skill/talent and not be caught up with size. Also look to Europe. I think prior "weak" drafts will bear that out to some extent.
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Actually, there are no more weak drafts, per se. Not from the outset.

The boys at the top are always going to be players (taking into account that the exception verifies the rule).

The overall level of worldwide hockey development has risen to such an incredible height that there are future stars being churned out in every batch, each and every year. In addition, the ability of scouting staffs to view these kids and their highlights for years leading up to a draft has essentially drastically minimalized the "hit or miss" possibilties of yesteryear.

Those who are doing their homework will identify the guys who bring something they feel qualifies them for a future job in the NHL.

What takes place in the developmental period in the years thereafter is another topic.

Long story short, this draft is also looking just fine.

If anything, the long-term injuries to Schaefer and McQueen, Hagens' lack of pure domination, Hensler/Vansaghi/Cutter's nice but human pure freshman college seasons, Ryabkin's disappointing start, little man Benak's inability to (realllly) excel in the USHL, as well as a USNTDP U18 squad that has lacked big name burners in a bland crop have combined to put a damper on the excitement.

Some of this can change at the U18 Worlds.

And some of the guys are known to be extremely high end talents, even if the scouting community didn't get to see the kind of draft year (due to injury or what first became late pushes) everyone had hoped for.

That might just end up meaning that those guys turn into the type of impact NHLers that you just couldn't gauge from their draft year.

***
The 2026 draft is already getting some heavy love because McKenna and possibly Björck are looking like generational stars in the making. I mean, I'd say McKenna is the best thing since McDavid. Don't think there's any arguing that right now.

Folks are also pretty doggone fond of no less than Roorbroeck, Villeneuve, Belchetz, Stenberg, and - believe it or not - a Norwegian playing in Sweden named Aaram-Olsen.

I could throw out names like Steiner, Berchild, Nemec, Lin, and Kosick as ones to watch as well. They could be looking REALLY good this time next year!
 
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Chapin Landvogt said:
Actually, there are no more weak drafts, per se. Not from the outset.

The boys at the top are always going to be players (taking into account that the exception verifies the rule).

The overall level of worldwide hockey development has risen to such an incredible height that there are future stars being churned out in every batch, each and every year. In addition, the ability of scouting staffs to view these kids and their highlights for years leading up to a draft has essentially drastically minimalized the "hit or miss" possibilties of yesteryear.

Those who are doing their homework will identify the guys who bring something they feel qualifies them for a future job in the NHL.

What takes place in the developmental period in the years thereafter is another topic.

Long story short, this draft is also looking just fine.

If anything, the long-term injuries to Schaefer and McQueen, Hagens' lack of pure domination, Hensler/Vansaghi/Cutter's nice but human pure freshman college seasons, Ryabkin's disappointing start, little man Benak's inability to (realllly) excel in the USHL, as well as a USNTDP U18 squad that has lacked big name burners in a bland crop have combined to put a damper on the excitement.

Some of this can change at the U18 Worlds.

And some of the guys are known to be extremely high end talents, even if the scouting community didn't get to see the kind of draft year (due to injury or what first became late pushes) everyone had hoped for.

That might just end up meaning that those guys turn into the type of impact NHLers that you just couldn't gauge from their draft year.

***
The 2026 draft is already getting some heavy love because McKenna and possibly Björck are looking like generational stars in the making. I mean, I'd say McKenna is the best thing since McDavid. Don't think there's any arguing that right now.

Folks are also pretty doggone fond of no less than Roorbroeck, Villeneuve, Belchetz, Stenberg, and - believe it or not - a Norwegian playing in Sweden named Aaram-Olsen.

I could throw out names like Steiner, Berchild, Nemec, Lin, and Kosick as ones to watch as well. They could be looking REALLY good this time next year!
Click to expand...

I want my A Frondell . . .

 
Chapin Landvogt said:
Actually, there are no more weak drafts, per se. Not from the outset.

The boys at the top are always going to be players (taking into account that the exception verifies the rule).

The overall level of worldwide hockey development has risen to such an incredible height that there are future stars being churned out in every batch, each and every year. In addition, the ability of scouting staffs to view these kids and their highlights for years leading up to a draft has essentially drastically minimalized the "hit or miss" possibilties of yesteryear.

Those who are doing their homework will identify the guys who bring something they feel qualifies them for a future job in the NHL.

What takes place in the developmental period in the years thereafter is another topic.

Long story short, this draft is also looking just fine.

If anything, the long-term injuries to Schaefer and McQueen, Hagens' lack of pure domination, Hensler/Vansaghi/Cutter's nice but human pure freshman college seasons, Ryabkin's disappointing start, little man Benak's inability to (realllly) excel in the USHL, as well as a USNTDP U18 squad that has lacked big name burners in a bland crop have combined to put a damper on the excitement.

Some of this can change at the U18 Worlds.

And some of the guys are known to be extremely high end talents, even if the scouting community didn't get to see the kind of draft year (due to injury or what first became late pushes) everyone had hoped for.

That might just end up meaning that those guys turn into the type of impact NHLers that you just couldn't gauge from their draft year.

***
The 2026 draft is already getting some heavy love because McKenna and possibly Björck are looking like generational stars in the making. I mean, I'd say McKenna is the best thing since McDavid. Don't think there's any arguing that right now.

Folks are also pretty doggone fond of no less than Roorbroeck, Villeneuve, Belchetz, Stenberg, and - believe it or not - a Norwegian playing in Sweden named Aaram-Olsen.

I could throw out names like Steiner, Berchild, Nemec, Lin, and Kosick as ones to watch as well. They could be looking REALLY good this time next year!
Click to expand...
IDK, look at 2017's draft. Not a great draft relative to other drafts, whether you want to call it "weak" or not.

Cale Makar lasted until #4 and ended up being probably the best player from the draft - I'm assuming the first 3 teams passed on him for size or style of play concerns?

Cody Glass, Lias Andersson and Michasel Rasmussen were top 10 forward picks, ahead of Necas and Suzuki who went 12 and 13. Robert Thomas went #20 and Jason Robertson went #39. Lots of busts and borderline players were taken in the 1st round.

And, the next year, 2018, was worse. Four of the top seven picks are great players (arguably #7 Quinn Hughes could have gone #1 or #2), but after that it started to get ugly. The rest of the 1st round is mostly a Who's Who of the waiver wire. CBJ made one of the better picks of the draft getting Marchenko in the 2nd round. I'd say 2018 can be characterized as a "weak" draft.
 
doublechili said:
IDK, look at 2017's draft. Not a great draft relative to other drafts, whether you want to call it "weak" or not.
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Well, it's interesting that you bring this one up.

It was heavily referred to as "weak" draft throughout that season.

Our own GM moved his first (17th overall) and a C-grade prospect (+ a 2019 2nd rounder) in that draft simply to get rid of Grabovski and ensure that Vegas selected Berube.

Other teams were happy to use their firsts as trade collateral as well.

And yet tremendous players came out of it - in the first round and beyond.

doublechili said:
Cale Makar lasted until #4 and ended up being probably the best player from the draft - I'm assuming the first 3 teams passed on him for size or style of play concerns?

Cody Glass, Lias Andersson and Michasel Rasmussen were top 10 forward picks, ahead of Necas and Suzuki who went 12 and 13. Robert Thomas went #20 and Jason Robertson went #39. Lots of busts and borderline players were taken in the 1st round.
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Makar "lasted" until #4???

Gotta ask what you're talking about here?

Or put differently, you're making my argument for me. A draft is not weak because 4-8 first rounders don't amount to much or because the guys who turned out good went 4th instead of 1st overall. That could easily be the case every other year, including those labelled in advance as being strong.

More important is that no less than Makar, Pettersson, Suzuki, Heiskanen, Hischier, Tippett, Necas, and Oettinger make it a wonderful draft. Those are star players for the league and cogs for their respective teams.

And we're seeing that level of quality coming out of just about every single draft nowadays.

There are players that can be cogs for a number of franchises in every single draft now. And that's my point.

Cause the overall development throughout the major and even some of the minor hockey nations is at a level that simply has made that the standard.

The 2025 draft is just fine.

Future franchise cogs are coming out of it for a number of teams - in the 1st round and beyond.

At this point, 2026 looks like it could be even better. Definitely at the very top.
 
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Chapin Landvogt said:
Well, it's interesting that you bring this one up.

It was heavily referred to as "weak" draft throughout that season.

Our own GM moved his first (17th overall) and a C-grade prospect (+ a 2019 2nd rounder) in that draft simply to get rid of Grabovski and ensure that Vegas selected Berube.

Other teams were happy to use their firsts as trade collateral as well.

And yet tremendous players came out of it - in the first round and beyond.



Makar "lasted" until #4???

Gotta ask what you're talking about here?

Or put differently, you're making my argument for me. A draft is not weak because 4-8 first rounders don't amount to much or because the guys who turned out good went 4th instead of 1st overall. That could easily be the case every other year, including those labelled in advance as being strong.

More important is that no less than Makar, Pettersson, Suzuki, Heiskanen, Hischier, Tippett, Necas, and Oettinger make it a wonderful draft. Those are star players for the league and cogs for their respective teams.

And we're seeing that level of quality coming out of just about every single draft nowadays.

There are players that can be cogs for a number of franchises in every single draft now. And that's my point.

Cause the overall development throughout the major and even some of the minor hockey nations is at a level that simply has made that the standard.

The 2025 draft is just fine.

Future franchise cogs are coming out of it for a number of teams - in the 1st round and beyond.

At this point, 2026 looks like it could be even better. Definitely at the very top.
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When I said Makar "lasted" until #4, I'm getting at the question why he didn't go 1 or 2? Was there a bias in favor of other players due to size or perceived all-around play? Kind of the point of my earlier post was that in less strong drafts teams REALLY need to lose that kind of bias.

I think calling 2017 a "wonderful draft" is overstating things. IMO, it's a borderline weak draft. I did agree with your previous post when you said that the top guys are always good. And there are generally some diamonds found later. So you can count on there being a handful of really good players in pretty much every draft. Maybe the definition of "weak" is more about the depth of quality. Are you fairly consistently seeing top 6 forwards and top 4 defensemen in the 10-32 range of picks?

I see you didn't respond to 2018. I think because that was a weak draft by pretty much any metric other than comparing it to freak years like 1996.
 
doublechili said:
When I said Makar "lasted" until #4, I'm getting at the question why he didn't go 1 or 2? Was there a bias in favor of other players due to size or perceived all-around play? Kind of the point of my earlier post was that in less strong drafts teams REALLY need to lose that kind of bias.
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I got that you were getting at that. It's just, Makar had a lower profile heading up to his draft because of where he had been playing (in the underscouted and clearly weaker AJHL). Nothing from his performance in that league - and without international appearances - could comparatively indicate that he had more to offer than the two top forwards and a Heiskanen who had not only spent the whole season in Liiga action but KILLED it at the U18s with 12 points in 7 games.

Many felt it was even risky taking him 4th.

Can't abuse the hindsight with all that in mind.

Meanwhile, both Hischier and Patrick were looking like sure thing impact players with the scouting community having followed Patrick heavily for years. Don't forget that he had 102 points in his DY-1 and then added another 30 in 21 playoff games. Teams would have drafted him Top 5 already in 2016!

On the whole, Hischier has been just fine. Jersey certainly won't complain.

Patrick's career-ending injuries are naturally a very saddening situation for him and the Flyers. We'll never know what could have come of him.

At the time though, he and Hischier were the top forwards and that's what Jersey and Philly needed most.

doublechili said:
I think calling 2017 a "wonderful draft" is overstating things. IMO, it's a borderline weak draft.
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We'll just have to agree to disagree here.

doublechili said:
I see you didn't respond to 2018. I think because that was a weak draft by pretty much any metric other than comparing it to freak years like 1996.
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Yes, I'll agree that the 2018 draft didn't necessarily live up to its billing. More was expected from a number of those kids.

Sure, no denying though what's become of Dahlin, Hughes, Bouchard, Svechnikov, Tkachuk, and even Dobson, but there have definitely been a high rate of misses, including our own Wahlstrom.

There have been some good 2nd rounders though. A real shame that we got exactly one NHL game out of our two 2nd round picks. That hurts. That's like Snow-period 2nd round inefficiency.

Alas, the draft pundits sang high praises about our draft that summer. It looked very promising at the time. Everyone felt the staff took real solid picks at each juncture. I do remember one outlet saying that as daring as selecting Wahlstrom, Iskhakov, and Wilde was, they felt only Dobson was looking like a sure thing with each of the others having clear red flags.

That outlet ended up being right.

Sidenote:
When we picked Iskhakov, a Russian colleague wrote to me saying that he knows there are some out there who were really enchanted with Iskhakov's U18 Worlds and some of the slick moves he's got and passes he can make, but he couldn't believe a team would select him with Marchenko still on the board. He felt Marchenko was far and away the best Russian forward in that draft after Svechnikov, Kravtsov included.

Also, when we picked Skarek, some Czech friends wrote to me saying that they were very surprised a team decided to take him over Dostal. Said they understand the general interst but felt that Dostal was already the "superior" prospect and had gotten the jist that the scouting community was well aware of that.
 
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SI90 said:
Slim chance and if we don’t have a top3-5 pick it won’t be our choice but cool to see Eiserman recruiting lol

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The interesting thing here is that at the moment, it feels like the karma of the universe is in motion.

Hagens is "dropping" and unless he's added to the men's WC team, his season is over. A few others in the top 10 still have time to strut their stuff. The U18 Worlds always generates new interest and both Frondell & Eklund should be there.

We've now lost 6 in a row, look more & more worn out each game, and the final 8 games are all tough for various reasons. Nashville is literally the only opponent not playing for anything and not on a heater of some sort.

Teams like the NYR and CBJ are still battling for their playoff lives.

Topping it off, the team is playing those final 8 games within a 13-day period, including 4 games in 5 days from the 9th-13th (is that even legal?). Heck, the team plays on 3 straight days from the 11th-13th. That's insane!

There could be a potentially very ugly losing streak to conclude this season.
 
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Chapin Landvogt said:
Hagens is "dropping" and unless he's added to the men's WC team, his season is over. A few others in the top 10 still have time to strut their stuff. The U18 Worlds always generates new interest and both Frondell & Eklund should be there.
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My guess is we finish 9th to 11th(fighting it out with Anaheim and Detroit). Longshot Buffalo catches us

I can't see Hagens falling that far , I am guessing he goes 3-4 and if he falls at most it would be 6. I guess we can always try and move up using Colorado's pick
 
So I am trying to figure out how the draft lottery works, i know they changed it a bit since we last picked top 10. Now from my understanding if a team has won either of the lottery spots since 2022 two times that means they don't get any chance to win it this year. Looks like Chicago finished 1st and 2nd in both 2023 and 2024
 
Chapin Landvogt said:
Sidenote:
When we picked Iskhakov, a Russian colleague wrote to me saying that he knows there are some out there who were really enchanted with Iskhakov's U18 Worlds and some of the slick moves he's got and passes he can make, but he couldn't believe a team would select him with Marchenko still on the board. He felt Marchenko was far and away the best Russian forward in that draft after Svechnikov, Kravtsov included.
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Okay, that's depressing!
 
boredmale said:
So I am trying to figure out how the draft lottery works, i know they changed it a bit since we last picked top 10. Now from my understanding if a team has won either of the lottery spots since 2022 two times that means they don't get any chance to win it this year. Looks like Chicago finished 1st and 2nd in both 2023 and 2024
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Not sure, but from our perspective it doesn't matter since CHI will be ahead of us anyway. I guess the question is whether it changes the odds (ie., do they take their ping pong balls away?). I'd assume they just run it as usual and if CHI wins they just do it over until a different team wins?
 
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