2025 NHL DRAFT Thread

[WangMustGo]

I think I know Lou's response to this...

***
Something like this seems very thinkable to me:

To OTT
2025 1st, Pageau, Bolduc

To NYI
Pinto, 2026 3rd

But what’s next after Pinto? Who else do we add? Ehlers and Marner are no realistic. To me this just pushes us further into no man’s land. So we replace Pageau with basically a younger… Pageau? I don’t get it. This team needs top end talent, moving our first removes the possibility of getting that talent.

 

[SI]

I think I know Lou's response to this...

***
Something like this seems very thinkable to me:

To OTT
2025 1st, Pageau, Bolduc

To NYI
Pinto, 2026 3rd

IMO, adding Pageau to it does make it more difficult for Ottawa to say no,

It frees up 5m in cap space, but it does leave a hole in the 3C. I guess Cizikas can fill that role or they could grab someone from free agency.

Also, JGP has the highest faceoff % in the league and is a 40+ point 3C - that has value.
Dowd just signed for 3M a season.

JGP at the TDL could go for a nice pick.

NO reason to add Bolduc - non event.

EDIT
10th or 11th OA pick and Pageau
for
Pinto and 2026 2nd round pick (lower pick)

OR
10th OA, 2025 2nd (42nd OA), and Pageau
for
*21st OA and Pinto

If Ottawa wins tonight, their pick (unless they went to the Stanley Cup Final would be 21st) will move up 2 slots.

 

[iggy]

But what’s next after Pinto? Who else do we add? Ehlers and Marner are no realistic. To me this just pushes us further into no man’s land. So we replace Pageau with basically a younger… Pageau? I don’t get it. This team needs top end talent, moving our first removes the possibility of getting that talent.

I really feel that Lou will consider Pettersson. We don't know what happened to him this season but Horvat probably has first hand knowledge of the situation since they are close friends. Vancouver probably doesn't want to trade him after trading Miller but if he wants out then they might have to. I could see a Dobson, Pageau, and a swap of 1st round picks if Isles is higher for Petterson. Top 3 centers of Pettersson-Horvat-Ritchie with Barzal on wing with maybe another signing or trade for top six wing will propel this team into contention. Lou did say that there will be changes.

 

[leeroggy]

But what’s next after Pinto? Who else do we add? Ehlers and Marner are no realistic. To me this just pushes us further into no man’s land. So we replace Pageau with basically a younger… Pageau? I don’t get it. This team needs top end talent, moving our first removes the possibility of getting that talent.

Let's do a little what-if:

Dobson and Danny Nelson to Columbus for Marchenko? Columbus' RHD is pretty lean. We sign DeAngelo.

Make the Pinto trade

Buyout Mayfield and sign Boqvist. If Ritchie is ready, trade Cizikas

Sign Boeser

Boeser - Barzal - Marchenko
Lee - Horvat - Palms
Tsyp - Pinto - Holmstrom
Engvall - Cizikas/Ritchie - Gatcomb

Romanov - DeAngelo
Pelech - Boqvist
Reilly/Perunovich - Pulock

Thin on defense, but we can look to add someone like a Ceci or Grzelcyk for one year. Then focus the 2026 draft on defense. Looks like 2026 will have a number of RD in the Top 50 and we'll have 2 shots for that.

 

[JRD76]

Let's do a little what-if:

Dobson and Danny Nelson to Columbus for Marchenko? Columbus' RHD is pretty lean. We sign DeAngelo.

Make the Pinto trade

Buyout Mayfield and sign Boqvist. If Ritchie is ready, trade Cizikas

Sign Boeser

Boeser - Barzal - Marchenko
Lee - Horvat - Palms
Tsyp - Pinto - Holmstrom
Engvall - Cizikas/Ritchie - Gatcomb

Romanov - DeAngelo
Pelech - Boqvist
Reilly/Perunovich - Pulock

Thin on defense, but we can look to add someone like a Ceci or Grzelcyk for one year. Then focus the 2026 draft on defense. Looks like 2026 will have a number of RD in the Top 50 and we'll have 2 shots for that.

No disrespect but when people do these what if's, be a little more realistic. Like actually think about if the bluejackets GM would want to trade a player who had a career year and put up 73 points in 78 games for a defenseman who has question marks and a prospect who you're assuming will be a solid NHLer.

 

[doublechili]

BTW:
In the recent article by Sears, he pointed out that for the drafts between 2018-2022, NO team in the NHL has had a worse turnout for the players picked in the 2nd round and beyond than the Isles.

None.

Not a single one, measured by NHL games played for us.

Things would look even worse if it hadn't been for George this season, cause Skarek, Lennox, Dufour, and Iskhakov are among those who have seen NHL ice and they each did so for 2 or less games.

YIKES!

That can't be something a scouting staff is proud of.

It should actually be something that leads to heads rolling.

EVEN WORSE:
This scouting staff generally works with slightly more than an average of 5 picks per draft. In fact, 2018 was the only Lou-time draft with more than 6 picks. And the six we had last summer was first possible with the deal struck up with Chicago to gain an extra 2nd rounder.

Now, take into account that despite having so few draft picks, this staff managed to pick 4(!) players along the way who were not ranked by any outlet within the top 225, namely Ljungkrantz, Machu, Tikkanen, and Good Bogg. Taking that further, the latter three were ranked nowhere, by any outlet.

Back in 2019, very few outlets had overagers Bibeau and Chorskey within their top 225.

Throwing oil on the flames is the fact that Bibeau and Malinen (you guys remember him?) BOTH quit hockey within 2 years of being drafted.

Friggin' awesome!

***
In a day and age where these staffs can watch broken down video of basically every player out there for years in advance of their draft year, the track record of our staff is nothing short of comical.

Then again, our beloved GM has spent a good amount of time using draft picks as currency to offload salary, so the message sent to his scouting staff surely isn't one of vesting importance or confidence in their work.

We don't talk about specific scouts or really anyone beyond Lou in management (other than Chris L a bit), but the whole organization is due for a housecleaning. There are a ton of holdovers from the Snow years, and pretty much everyone added since then is from the Lou/NJ connection (including "special assignment scouts" David Conte and Jacques Lemaire!). That Pellegrini guy is supposedly the "Capologist" - he's doing a bang up job. Trent Klatt and Kautonen have been here running (ruining?) amateur scouting way too long. I love Ken Morrow the player, but he's been head pro scout for ages and when I look at our player acquisitions I'm not blown away - certainly no Verhague or Dylan Strome in there.

 

[leeroggy]

No disrespect but when people do these what if's, be a little more realistic. Like actually think about if the bluejackets GM would want to trade a player who had a career year and put up 73 points in 78 games for a defenseman who has question marks and a prospect who you're assuming will be a solid NHLer.

No disrespect, but did you:

Look at their roster, specifically the RD with Severson as their #1
Understand that an established, young RHD is more valuable than a winger
Understand the concept of a hockey trade
Understand they might see Dobson as more of the 2023-24 version, not this year

It's called WHAT-IF for a reason . . . as speculation. Realistic is in the eyes of the parties involved, not GM wannabes.

 

[MJF]

I really feel that Lou will consider Pettersson. We don't know what happened to him this season but Horvat probably has first hand knowledge of the situation since they are close friends. Vancouver probably doesn't want to trade him after trading Miller but if he wants out then they might have to. I could see a Dobson, Pageau, and a swap of 1st round picks if Isles is higher for Petterson. Top 3 centers of Pettersson-Horvat-Ritchie with Barzal on wing with maybe another signing or trade for top six wing will propel this team into contention. Lou did say that there will be changes.

The only way EP40 would fit here is to make a salary for salary trade. I can’t see that happening. But I still like the idea of a change of scenery for Pettersson. He has a skill set the Isles need more than what Barzal brings to the table.

 

[WangMustGo]

Let's do a little what-if:

Dobson and Danny Nelson to Columbus for Marchenko? Columbus' RHD is pretty lean. We sign DeAngelo.

Make the Pinto trade

Buyout Mayfield and sign Boqvist. If Ritchie is ready, trade Cizikas

Sign Boeser

Boeser - Barzal - Marchenko
Lee - Horvat - Palms
Tsyp - Pinto - Holmstrom
Engvall - Cizikas/Ritchie - Gatcomb

Romanov - DeAngelo
Pelech - Boqvist
Reilly/Perunovich - Pulock

Thin on defense, but we can look to add someone like a Ceci or Grzelcyk for one year. Then focus the 2026 draft on defense. Looks like 2026 will have a number of RD in the Top 50 and we'll have 2 shots for that.

So we have at best an above average offense with a horrible defense? Then draft 2 defenseman in 2026 who will take a minimum of 2 years before they are NHL ready. I don’t see how this becomes a roster that is challenging for a cup.

Let’s not forget that there is zero chance the Bluejackets trade Marchenko for Dobson. Boeser is likely headed to Minnesota.

This team needs a good retool, adding Pinto does the opposite of that. Move Lee and Pageau, try to get rid of Mayfiels/Pelech/Pulock/Cizikas. Ideally suck enough next year to get a top 5 pick and reevaluate when some of these awful contracts are closer to an end.

 

[WangMustGo]

I really feel that Lou will consider Pettersson. We don't know what happened to him this season but Horvat probably has first hand knowledge of the situation since they are close friends. Vancouver probably doesn't want to trade him after trading Miller but if he wants out then they might have to. I could see a Dobson, Pageau, and a swap of 1st round picks if Isles is higher for Petterson. Top 3 centers of Pettersson-Horvat-Ritchie with Barzal on wing with maybe another signing or trade for top six wing will propel this team into contention. Lou did say that there will be changes.

Just what we need a broken down player that has a cap hit of 11.6 million for 7 more years. There is a reason he is being run out of town despite the fact that they have no center depth. Trading for Pettersson would absolutely screw this team over. He isn’t the player he was 2+ years ago.

 

[leeroggy]

So we have at best an above average offense with a horrible defense? Then draft 2 defenseman in 2026 who will take a minimum of 2 years before they are NHL ready. I don’t see how this becomes a roster that is challenging for a cup.

Let’s not forget that there is zero chance the Bluejackets trade Marchenko for Dobson. Boeser is likely headed to Minnesota.

This team needs a good retool, adding Pinto does the opposite of that. Move Lee and Pageau, try to get rid of Mayfiels/Pelech/Pulock/Cizikas. Ideally suck enough next year to get a top 5 pick and reevaluate when some of these awful contracts are closer to an end.

Don't we ALREADY have the awful defense?

At best an above average offense? Isn't that what we've hoped for?

 

[WangMustGo]

Don't we ALREADY have the awful defense?

At best an above average offense? Isn't that what we've hoped for?

And removing Dobson makes it that much worse. No I don’t care where the offense ranks. I care about winning a cup, and the team as constructed is nowhere near a cup. Not 1 player way, not even 3-4 players away. This team needs a major overhaul. The core is rotten the foundation is broken.

 

[Arsenalogist24]

BTW:
In the recent article by Sears, he pointed out that for the drafts between 2018-2022, NO team in the NHL has had a worse turnout for the players picked in the 2nd round and beyond than the Isles.

None.

Not a single one, measured by NHL games played for us.

Things would look even worse if it hadn't been for George this season, cause Skarek, Lennox, Dufour, and Iskhakov are among those who have seen NHL ice and they each did so for 2 or less games.

YIKES!

That can't be something a scouting staff is proud of.

It should actually be something that leads to heads rolling.

EVEN WORSE:
This scouting staff generally works with slightly more than an average of 5 picks per draft. In fact, 2018 was the only Lou-time draft with more than 6 picks. And the six we had last summer was first possible with the deal struck up with Chicago to gain an extra 2nd rounder.

Now, take into account that despite having so few draft picks, this staff managed to pick 4(!) players along the way who were not ranked by any outlet within the top 225, namely Ljungkrantz, Machu, Tikkanen, and Good Bogg. Taking that further, the latter three were ranked nowhere, by any outlet.

Back in 2019, very few outlets had overagers Bibeau and Chorskey within their top 225.

Throwing oil on the flames is the fact that Bibeau and Malinen (you guys remember him?) BOTH quit hockey within 2 years of being drafted.

Friggin' awesome!

***
In a day and age where these staffs can watch broken down video of basically every player out there for years in advance of their draft year, the track record of our staff is nothing short of comical.

Then again, our beloved GM has spent a good amount of time using draft picks as currency to offload salary, so the message sent to his scouting staff surely isn't one of vesting importance or confidence in their work.

We’ve failed multiple times to bring in big fish free agents. Draft and development needs to significantly more important for a franchise like ours

 

[WangMustGo]

We’ve failed multiple times to bring in big fish free agents. Draft and development needs to significantly more important for a franchise like ours

We need to look at successful teams like Winnipeg and Carolina. They are not attractive destinations for high profile UFAs, yet year in and year out they are at the top of their conferences. Build through the draft. Acquire as much draft capital as possible and develop the talent. That is the #1 key to long term success.

 

[iggy]

The only way EP40 would fit here is to make a salary for salary trade. I can’t see that happening. But I still like the idea of a change of scenery for Pettersson. He has a skill set the Isles need more than what Barzal brings to the table.

That is why I added Pageau. Dobson will get at least 8 mill. Probably more. Pageau at 5 mill. That is 13+ million going out with EP40 at 11.6 and Ritchie less than 1 million we are ahead of the game in cap space.
I believe Vancouver might be desperate to trade him because his NMC kicks in on July 1st. Vancouver loses any leverage. Change of scenery could give this team the offensive star that they have needed for many years.

 

[xECK29x]

Go forwards, the D in the first round this year would rank in the teens/20s of last years class. Strong C group in the top-10, stick there.

 

[SI]

I really feel that Lou will consider Pettersson. We don't know what happened to him this season but Horvat probably has first hand knowledge of the situation since they are close friends. Vancouver probably doesn't want to trade him after trading Miller but if he wants out then they might have to. I could see a Dobson, Pageau, and a swap of 1st round picks if Isles is higher for Petterson. Top 3 centers of Pettersson-Horvat-Ritchie with Barzal on wing with maybe another signing or trade for top six wing will propel this team into contention. Lou did say that there will be changes.

This is a really good point, but they do not need to include Pageau in a trade.
Could just be Pinto for a 1st round pick?

S

 

[JRD76]

No disrespect, but did you:

Look at their roster, specifically the RD with Severson as their #1
Understand that an established, young RHD is more valuable than a winger
Understand the concept of a hockey trade
Understand they might see Dobson as more of the 2023-24 version, not this year

It's called WHAT-IF for a reason . . . as speculation. Realistic is in the eyes of the parties involved, not GM wannabes.

Fair enough

 

[SI]

Another possibility would be to -
Trade down

NYI trade
2025 1st (10th OA)
to
Calgary for 2025 1st - 18th and 22nd picks in the draft.

NYI Isles trade
2025 (18th OA)
for
Ottawa for Pinto

IN 2020, Calgary traded down from 10th

• Calgary traded the 10th overall pick (Yaroslav Askarov went there) to Minnesota in exchange for the 12th and 22nd picks

Columbus also has the 13th OA and 21st OA picks in the draft

 

[Kevin27nyi]

If CBJ wanted to move 13 and 21 for 10 I’d do it. Really wouldn’t be able to stress how much our prospect pool would improve over two years with 6 picks in the top two rounds just by trading down.

A trade with CGY picks is more realistic, our pick and a third value wise matches up with the two firsts according to puck pedias draft pick value

 

[WangMustGo]

If CBJ wanted to move 13 and 21 for 10 I’d do it. Really wouldn’t be able to stress how much our prospect pool would improve over two years with 6 picks in the top two rounds just by trading down.

A trade with CGY picks is more realistic, our pick and a third value wise matches up with the two firsts according to puck pedias draft pick value

I agree, get as many darts as possible. Would be great if we could pick up a couple more picks on the first 2 rounds.

 

[boredmale]

Another possibility would be to -
Trade down

NYI trade
2025 1st (10th OA)
to
Calgary for 2025 1st - 18th and 22nd picks in the draft.

NYI Isles trade
2025 (18th OA)
for
Ottawa for Pinto

I could be wrong but doesn't Montreal own Calgary's pick(Monahan trade)?

 

[SI]

I could be wrong but doesn't Montreal own Calgary's pick(Monahan trade)?

Yes, however, Calgary owns Devils and Panthers picks.

 

[MattMartin]

Hate to burst your bubble but even if we go 0-4, decent chance we don't pick 7 or 8(maybe 9). The second we win 1 or more games our odds go significantly down

Welp, this aged like fine wine, If they did go 0-4 we would be picking 7th

 

[boredmale]

Welp, this aged like fine wine, If they did go 0-4 we would be picking 7th

The post had more than 1 condition, and we didn't fulfil condition 1 but did fulfill part 2 of it. Odds were we win at least 1 game of the last 4