Prospect Info: 2025 NHL DRAFT

[Scoresberg]

If we pick a forward, best we can hope for is a middle 6 talent. Even then, we havent exactly drafted a ton of them. Our forward drafting ability is beyond poor

Not to bring the trade talk into this thread, but that's why I would be willing to part ways with A LOT to get Jiricek. Lord knows our 1st rounders (maybe barring top-10's) are worth now more than they'll ever be.

 

[herzausstein]

Not to bring the trade talk into this thread, but that's why I would be willing to part ways with A LOT to get Jiricek. Lord knows our 1st rounders (maybe barring top-10's) are worth now more than they'll ever be.

Quite possibly. We will find a way to kill their creativity and drive.

 

[Soundgarden]

Tampa nearly came back from down 4-0 but ended up losing 5-3 vs. Toronto. We get one point.

Vegas is down by 4 in the 1st vs Utah.

 

[Soundgarden]

Ducks and Sens in a shootout, both teams directly in front of us.

Ducks win.

 

[ShagDaddy]

With all the picks they have accrued in this draft and this draft being as weak as it is, this is the year they should package up the drafts and players needed to go get that 23-24 year old center that is 2C future 1C material.

 

[beardawg]

Wood, Gibson and Molendyk all make Canada's World Junior roster

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Wood, Gibson and Molendyk all make Canada's World Junior roster

Most folks probably think Wood and Molendyk are essentially "locks" anyway. They'd have to mess up (or be injured) to be left out. I'm not sure Gibson is really a lock, but they invited 10 guys, 5 LD and 5 RD, so assuming they carry 4+4, he just has to beat out one other guy on RD, and he does bring that stay-at-home/shutdown type of presence the team probably needs? Pretty decent shot of having all 3 on the final roster. We'll see in a couple weeks.

 

[Viqsi]

For those wanting to follow along by points percentage:

Tankathon | 2025 NHL Draft Order & Lottery Simulator

2025 NHL Draft order tracker updated after every game. NHL lottery simulator to determine the top overall pick. View traded picks and playoff matchups.

tankathon.com

It also gives a very good idea of how vicious the odds are against any given team. (Put it this way: for any given team with a bottom-5 finish, the most likely outcome is moving down in the lottery.)

 

[Flgatorguy87]

I only had to sim it about 12 times for us to win!

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Not to bring the trade talk into this thread, but that's why I would be willing to part ways with A LOT to get Jiricek. Lord knows our 1st rounders (maybe barring top-10's) are worth now more than they'll ever be.

I don't watch Jiricek, but the warning signs are evident. Columbus isn't some mega-contender who simply doesn't have space for a young RD. They had room. They picked up a guy on waivers instead, right?

So get me the real pro scouting report on Jiricek. I get he was a #6 pick. #6 picks have totally bombed in the past. (We would know better than most).

If you are going to give up most of a draft (1st+2nd+3rd+4th) plus a solid/ok D prospect, you want to get a good return. I'm not sure we have a great analog to Daemon Hunt. He's at least at the Stastney/Wilsby level as a legit NHL candidate. He's not Molendyk. Maybe Gibson?

Is that 1st+2nd+3rd+4th worth more than us offering our TB+VGK 1sts both? I don't think so. So our offer must have been competitive. Just... I would honestly have had cold feet paying EITHER offer for that player given the struggles he has had so far?

 

[Scoresberg]

I don't watch Jiricek, but the warning signs are evident. Columbus isn't some mega-contender who simply doesn't have space for a young RD. They had room. They picked up a guy on waivers instead, right?

So get me the real pro scouting report on Jiricek. I get he was a #6 pick. #6 picks have totally bombed in the past. (We would know better than most).

If you are going to give up most of a draft (1st+2nd+3rd+4th) plus a solid/ok D prospect, you want to get a good return. I'm not sure we have a great analog to Daemon Hunt. He's at least at the Stastney/Wilsby level as a legit NHL candidate. He's not Molendyk. Maybe Gibson?

Is that 1st+2nd+3rd+4th worth more than us offering our TB+VGK 1sts both? I don't think so. So our offer must have been competitive. Just... I would honestly have had cold feet paying EITHER offer for that player given the struggles he has had so far?

He's a 2022 pick coming from overseas. I think he will be fine in due time, it's not like he's a finished product, he's 21 yrs old already dominating the AHL.

The chances for any one of those assets ever amounting close to Jiricek's level are slim. Hunt may be something but he's a 2020 pick putting un-spectacular numbers in the AHL. The picks are plenty but more of quantity over quality. The 1st this year will be a low-one in an already weak draft and the later round picks are whatever, you rarely get anything out of them.

I think that trade's a great bet from the Wild. If Jiricek can develop properly - no matter how big of an if that is right now - he's going to be head and shoulders above anything the Wild gave up on him. Even if he busts, I don't think the Wild lost that much.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

He's a 2022 pick coming from overseas. I think he will be fine in due time, it's not like he's a finished product, he's 21 yrs old already dominating the AHL.

The chances for any one of those assets ever amounting close to Jiricek's level are slim. Hunt may be something but he's a 2020 pick putting un-spectacular numbers in the AHL. The picks are plenty but more of quantity over quality. The 1st this year will be a low-one in an already weak draft and the later round picks are whatever, you rarely get anything out of them.

I think that trade's a great bet from the Wild. If Jiricek can develop properly - no matter how big of an if that is right now - he's going to be head and shoulders above anything the Wild gave up on him. Even if he busts, I don't think the Wild lost that much.

Would you have given up our TB + VGK 1sts then, to beat out the Wild? Or apparently CLB liked the Wild offer better than our 2 1sts already?

I just see a lot of lukewarm/negative reviews of Jiricek's development/play, sooooo...

 

[Scoresberg]

Would you have given up our TB + VGK 1sts then, to beat out the Wild? Or apparently CLB liked the Wild offer better than our 2 1sts already?

I just see a lot of lukewarm/negative reviews of Jiricek's development/play, sooooo...

Yes. I would've started off with one of the 1sts + Gibson + all the picks the Wild now offered. If that would've not been enough, I would've been okay giving up both 1sts from VGK and TBL. Again, the chances of us getting anywhere close to that talent are low, especially given our recent draft history.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Yes. I would've started off with one of the 1sts + Gibson + all the picks the Wild now offered. If that would've not been enough, I would've been okay giving up both 1sts from VGK and TBL. Again, the chances of us getting anywhere close to that talent are low, especially given our recent draft history.

It feels overly bold to me, given the reports I've read from CLB fans. Like, Hunt and Fabbro are quite likely to turn out better than Jiricek? Barring some kind of turnaround?

One can't help getting excited about a #6 OA pick... unless... some of those players crash too, and all my reading of the tea leaves does make me worried on that front for Jiricek.

 

[Viqsi]

It feels overly bold to me, given the reports I've read from CLB fans. Like, Hunt and Fabbro are quite likely to turn out better than Jiricek? Barring some kind of turnaround?

"Trade them ASAP before folks realize they're a bust!" is a common refrain at HFCBJ, and has historically been applied to many such guys. Recent examples include Jiricek (which you're seeing right now), Sillinger, and KJ. Historic examples include Filatov, Johansen, and Werenski.

Or, in other words, you're looking at a broken clock.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

"Trade them ASAP before folks realize they're a bust!" is a common refrain at HFCBJ, and has historically been applied to many such guys. Recent examples include Jiricek (which you're seeing right now), Sillinger, and KJ. Historic examples include Filatov, Johansen, and Werenski.

Or, in other words, you're looking at a broken clock.

It must be at least somewhat refreshing to live in a world where "ALL our prospects suck!" as opposed to the usual HF bias.

 

[Viqsi]

It must be at least somewhat refreshing to live in a world where "ALL our prospects suck!" as opposed to the usual HF bias.

It's more that MacLean's habit of dramatically overselling literally every single prospect we ever got (only to leave us disappointed and still doomed) infected people long ago, and even tho it's been damn near two decades since we canned that asshat, the root of the infection is still pretty deeply entrenched.

Jiricek genuinely has some serious skating issues that are holding him back, and I suspect he looks worse than he's capable of in terms of hockey IQ because he's trying to do different reads to work around the problem rather than actually solve it, and this has been an issue ever since he was drafted. For some folks, that and Allan Walsh being Allan Walsh was more than enough to move on. I still figured he'd be fixable, and I'm not all that thrilled with the return (folks are going "we got three dimes and two nickels for a quarter, WOOHOO!" and meanwhile I'm over here saying "but the laundromat only takes quarters and we kinda still need to do our laundry"), but there's a legit debate to be had over whether or not he does put it all together.

 

[jumb0]

Instead of waiving Fabbro include him in the offer for Jiricek, but that would make too much sense

 

[Armourboy]

It's more that MacLean's habit of dramatically overselling literally every single prospect we ever got (only to leave us disappointed and still doomed) infected people long ago, and even tho it's been damn near two decades since we canned that asshat, the root of the infection is still pretty deeply entrenched.

Jiricek genuinely has some serious skating issues that are holding him back, and I suspect he looks worse than he's capable of in terms of hockey IQ because he's trying to do different reads to work around the problem rather than actually solve it, and this has been an issue ever since he was drafted. For some folks, that and Allan Walsh being Allan Walsh was more than enough to move on. I still figured he'd be fixable, and I'm not all that thrilled with the return (folks are going "we got three dimes and two nickels for a quarter, WOOHOO!" and meanwhile I'm over here saying "but the laundromat only takes quarters and we kinda still need to do our laundry"), but there's a legit debate to be had over whether or not he does put it all together.

Frankly I think it's a lot to give up for a guy with skating issues. Poor skating will get you out of the NHL faster than just about anything else imo.

 

[Predsanddead24]

I'm not prospect expert so maybe this is unwarranted but reading about Jiricek just gives me a lot of Cal Foote vibes.

 

[Scoresberg]

It feels overly bold to me, given the reports I've read from CLB fans. Like, Hunt and Fabbro are quite likely to turn out better than Jiricek? Barring some kind of turnaround?

One can't help getting excited about a #6 OA pick... unless... some of those players crash too, and all my reading of the tea leaves does make me worried on that front for Jiricek.

We shall re-convene on this matter in the future. Right now, I take Jiricek before any random guy we draft in the 1st and end up waiving anyways in a few years.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

We shall re-convene on this matter in the future. Right now, I take Jiricek before any random guy we draft in the 1st and end up waiving anyways in a few years.

I dunno, if the random guy we draft late in the 1st is a Tanner Molendyk... Or Zachary L'Heureux?

The organization does seem to love SOME of our late 1sts. (for now) They aren't ALL Tomasino/Tolvanen/Fabbros...

 

[Kat Predator]

The obvious trade would have been Fabbro (soild NHL player our coach can't figure out how to use) for Jiricek (not an NHL player that CBJ was disillusioned with, so actually in a similar boat). Both were 1st round picks, and maybe Preds had to toss in a 4th round pick in the 2038 draft as well, but that doesn't seem like an impossible deal.

Instead, we get the big brain move of waiving Fabbro because we couldn't extort CBJ. I think Poile would've figured out a way to make a deal both sides could've lived with.

Jiricek going somewhere else is, from his perspective, a really great thing for him. In fact, he might have gotten some say in the deal and suggested he didn't want to go to a team where young players come to eat popcorn and text their agents on game nights.