2025 NHL DRAFT

[AintLifeGrand]

Good list. Would love to hear your reasoning as to why McQueen is so low, and why Desnoyers is top-five? Also, Smith seems a bit low as well, I think he’s a borderline top-10 talent in this draft.

Mcqueens injury history is sus

Desnoyers to most of the people paying attention has been rising all year

He’s being compared to a ROR type , which we could us

My draft board is

1. Misa
2. Frondell
3. Hagens
4. Desnoyers
5. Eklund
6. Martone
7. Mcqueen
8. O’Brien
9. Bear
10. lackovic

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Good list. Would love to hear your reasoning as to why McQueen is so low, and why Desnoyers is top-five? Also, Smith seems a bit low as well, I think he’s a borderline top-10 talent in this draft.

Thanks. McQueen is low bc he missed almost all year with back injury. That scares me. If he looks good last part of season will probably move him up. The talent is clearly there.

Desnoyers I love. Best player on best team in Q (maybe all of Chl) by wide margin at 17. Smart player who does most everything well. Has enough size you don’t worry about him. Played in u18 as underager last year and didn’t look out of place taking McQueen spot on top line when he got hurt. He isn’t potential jack eichel like misa is, but he could be Nico hischier type.

Smith I like the tools but he hasn’t produced and hasn’t been great in my viewings. He looks more like k’andre miller type and less like top pairing guy that I was thinking before season started.

 

[Scoresberg]

The more I watch Frondell, the more I get convinced that he's a top-3 talent in this draft. Man, I hope we can get him.

 

[Weber to Josi]

I am kind of shocked when some of the rankings around here.
Personally after reading all of the experts opinions and mocks I have seen. There is clearly a very clear cut top 4 in this draft. The top four tier is easily:
Schaefer
Misa
Hagens
Martone

I would rank them in that order as well.

Then the second tier is (in order):

McQueen
Frondell


Then third tier is guys like:
Smith
Desnoyers
Eklund


Ideally we need to get one of the top 4. I would be ok with frondell or McQueen as well but anything short of those six is a disappointment. Especially after the brutal season we have had.
I personally am quite high on McQueen, dude missed basically the whole season and is still ranked this high? Plus he’s a massive centre our team should be drooling all over. Sure he had a big injury but he’s young and will recover fine. Not worried about it at all. Unless we can get one of those top 4 tier guys then I say McQueen or bust. We have never had that guy ever on this team.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

McQueen played 4 games of U15 AA in 2020-21 and got 27pts, i.e. almost 7 pts per game. Hilarious stats line there.

Anyway, I can't pretend to know anything about any of these prospects, but as a 2006 player who just missed the cutoff for last year's draft, I think you also have to add that little grain of salt to the McQueen balance sheet. (He is not alone in that at the top of this year's draft, btw, since all of Hagens, Martone, and Eklund are also late '06s). At least his back injury turned out not to be a disc problem, so that worry can go away.

Just reading through the various descriptions, he sounds a little more in the "consolation prize" category, like Desnoyers, to me. I am training myself to expect a "consolation prize" in this draft, however, as opposed to somebody from the 1st tier.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

I am kind of shocked when some of the rankings around here.
Personally after reading all of the experts opinions and mocks I have seen. There is clearly a very clear cut top 4 in this draft. The top four tier is easily:
Schaefer
Misa
Hagens
Martone

I would rank them in that order as well.

Then the second tier is (in order):

McQueen
Frondell


Then third tier is guys like:
Smith
Desnoyers
Eklund


Ideally we need to get one of the top 4. I would be ok with frondell or McQueen as well but anything short of those six is a disappointment. Especially after the brutal season we have had.
I personally am quite high on McQueen, dude missed basically the whole season and is still ranked this high? Plus he’s a massive centre our team should be drooling all over. Sure he had a big injury but he’s young and will recover fine. Not worried about it at all. Unless we can get one of those top 4 tier guys then I say McQueen or bust. We have never had that guy ever on this team.

nah man it’s more like

Elite upside
Schaefer
Misa

1st Line Upside

Hagens
Frondell
Desnoyers
Eklund
Martone


Top six / top 4 potential
Mcqueen
Bear
O Brien
Lackovic
Smith

 

[braindead]

With three first round picks, I’d say for first time in our history I’d consider the goalie with a late rounder (fully recognizing all of the prior disasters):

Joshua Ravensbergen

G

Prince George (WHL)

6-5/190

27-Nov-06

50

33

12

2.93

0.903

 

[Scoresberg]

Knowing our draft philosophy, they'll go to whoever has the best U18 tournament. Unfortunately, none of Hagens, Martone or McQueen will play there. Frondell, Desnoyers, Misa will be there unless their playoffs drag on for too long.

 

[PredsV82]

Excuse my ignorance but who are the top centers in the draft. That is Trotz unicorn. Picking this high he has to go with a C

 

[Scoresberg]

Excuse my ignorance but who are the top centers in the draft. That is Trotz unicorn. Picking this high he has to go with a C

Fortunately for us, even though it's not the best draft year overall, there's a lot of centers at the top of this draft. Misa, Frondell, Hagens and Desnoyers as the top ones.

 

[Scoresberg]

A good little write-up on Misa's great season. Ties Tavares with 134 points as a draft-eligible forward in the OHL.

Top 2025 NHL Draft prospect Michael Misa records one of the best OHL seasons in 21st Century

 

[predhead1]

So assuming SJ wins the draft lottery, what do you think it would take to get them to trade that pick so we can draft Misa? They are pretty well stocked with young C depth, so I'm guessing they'd be more interested in Schaefer anyway. So if we get the #3 pick, maybe they'd be willing to swap if we give the #3 and another first round pick+?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I wonder how high Chernyshov or even Greentree would go in a re-draft? It's early days, but they are a couple who are really killing it in their D+1 years. Too bad we didn't have the extra late 1sts last year instead of this year.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

So assuming SJ wins the draft lottery, what do you think it would take to get them to trade that pick so we can draft Misa? They are pretty well stocked with young C depth, so I'm guessing they'd be more interested in Schaefer anyway. So if we get the #3 pick, maybe they'd be willing to swap if we give the #3 and another first round pick+?

I don't think they would be willing to swap down to 3+... Chicago or whoever picks #2 would probably want Schaefer also?

I think our only path is to win the lottery. It's not impossible depending on how the interviews go or whether anybody raises their stock at the U18s that Misa could fall on his own to 3+... but those odds are probably on the same order as the odds of winning the lottery.

I am going to try to temper my expectations to us dropping to #5 or #6, and simply picking there from amongst the second tier options.

 

[Scoresberg]

So assuming SJ wins the draft lottery, what do you think it would take to get them to trade that pick so we can draft Misa? They are pretty well stocked with young C depth, so I'm guessing they'd be more interested in Schaefer anyway. So if we get the #3 pick, maybe they'd be willing to swap if we give the #3 and another first round pick+?

I'm not sure but that's not an inconceivable idea. With this year being truly wide-open for the #1 pick, I think teams could be in the mood for trading. Sharks would take Schaeffer, that's true. Hawks I think could go either way, Schaefer or Misa, although I do think they want more offensive talent to surround Bedard.

What I'm not 100% convinced about is that is Misa truly worth trading up for? I know his numbers look terrific but with the points he's putting up, why is he not a clear-cut top pick in the draft? There's something in his game that scouts are not 100% sold on. In my mind, Frondell or even Hagens could even ultimately turn out as better players. Of course there's a lot of factors that go into that.

 

[PredsV82]

I don't think they would be willing to swap down to 3+... Chicago or whoever picks #2 would probably want Schaefer also?

I think our only path is to win the lottery. It's not impossible depending on how the interviews go or whether anybody raises their stock at the U18s that Misa could fall on his own to 3+... but those odds are probably on the same order as the odds of winning the lottery.

I am going to try to temper my expectations to us dropping to #5 or #6, and simply picking there from amongst the second tier options.

I'm not gonna assume anything unless we win the lottery and have 1OA. I remember thinking worst case scenario we would get Barkov or Drouin with the 4th pick in 2013 and we all know how that went...

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

So assuming SJ wins the draft lottery, what do you think it would take to get them to trade that pick so we can draft Misa? They are pretty well stocked with young C depth, so I'm guessing they'd be more interested in Schaefer anyway. So if we get the #3 pick, maybe they'd be willing to swap if we give the #3 and another first round pick+?

Schaefer is likely going first. He is best player in draft. Key for me is to pick top 3, because both Misa and Frondell have high end talent. I like Desnoyers and Hagens, but they are step down.

 

[herzausstein]

San Jose gets Schaefer if he is on the board when they pick. They need that dman and have a lot of upcoming forward and center talent. Question becomes what if they arent the #1 pick and Schaefer isnt available? They might be willing to move then. I personally see them being more interested in Martone looking at their depth charts. They already have Celebrini and smith as high end 1st round picks for the center position. They could use another high end winger

So assuming SJ wins the draft lottery, what do you think it would take to get them to trade that pick so we can draft Misa? They are pretty well stocked with young C depth, so I'm guessing they'd be more interested in Schaefer anyway. So if we get the #3 pick, maybe they'd be willing to swap if we give the #3 and another first round pick+?

 

[wmupreds]

Frankly this team needs everything. I know most people would rather have a hopefully future 1C, myself included, but getting Schaefer wouldn't be the worst thing in the world either.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Frankly this team needs everything. I know most people would rather have a hopefully future 1C, myself included, but getting Schaefer wouldn't be the worst thing in the world either.

Well, obviously getting the consensus #1 player in the draft is not going to be the worst thing in the world... but the catch is that the only way could get Schaefer is by winning the lottery and picking #1 OA. So then it's just down to the question of whether we would actively pick him #1 OA if we had that pick.

To me this would be a Poile vs. Trotz moment... Poile would take Schaefer. Trotz has spent some time shopping for that 1C pick and has come to appreciate the rarity of that asset, so I think he may just take the center.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Well, obviously getting the consensus #1 player in the draft is not going to be the worst thing in the world... but the catch is that the only way could get Schaefer is by winning the lottery and picking #1 OA. So then it's just down to the question of whether we would actively pick him #1 OA if we had that pick.

To me this would be a Poile vs. Trotz moment... Poile would take Schaefer. Trotz has spent some time shopping for that 1C pick and has come to appreciate the rarity of that asset, so I think he may just take the center.

If you think they are close, I can see taking the center. But if you think Schaeffer is clearly superior you have to take him.

Comps I've seen for Schaeffer include Niedermayer, Makar, and Heiskanen. Best comp I've seen for Misa has been Seguin. If that is how we view them- and it may well not be- you gotta take Schaeffer.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

If you think they are close, I can see taking the center. But if you think Schaeffer is clearly superior you have to take him.

Comps I've seen for Schaeffer include Niedermayer, Makar, and Heiskanen. Best comp I've seen for Misa has been Seguin. If that is how we view them- and it may well not be- you gotta take Schaeffer.

It has been suggested by some that Poile was a better GM than Trotz, sooooo...

I honestly have no input whatsoever on who is better. Schaefer hasn't played a lot of hockey this year to really make it so obvious either. Misa's 134 pts is pretty exceptional relative to historical draft year production rates, and was top for all players all ages in the entire CHL this season, so that's pretty impressive. Granted Seguin's 106 was a lower total, but was also top in the OHL his year, and Kozun at 107 in the W was barely ahead of him, so it's certainly a meaningful comp, in a relative sense to their respective league years. Of course nobody is ultimately going to make the pick just by looking at these kinds of numbers.

... and since we're picking #6, after all, we might as well not even be talking about EITHER of these guys!

 

[Scoresberg]

Hey, as much as I would love to get a center at this draft, I wouldn't be too upset if we ended up with Schaefer. I mean we need all the ELITE talent we can get our hands to and if he's the top guy it's hard to say that WOULDN'T be the right pick.

That being said, one of Misa/Frondell/Hagens would do wonders for this organization. Would be a rather tough pill to swallow should we drop out of the top-4/5 during the stretch run. Not very high on Martone and while McQueen's an interesting case he does have some question marks on him. Desnoyers' offensive upside is a bit questionable as well.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Hey, as much as I would love to get a center at this draft, I wouldn't be too upset if we ended up with Schaefer. I mean we need all the ELITE talent we can get our hands to and if he's the top guy it's hard to say that WOULDN'T be the right pick.

That being said, one of Misa/Frondell/Hagens would do wonders for this organization. Would be a rather tough pill to swallow should we drop out of the top-4/5 during the stretch run. Not very high on Martone and while McQueen's an interesting case he does have some question marks on him. Desnoyers' offensive upside is a bit questionable as well.

So you're telling me we're going to get to choose between Martone, McQueen, and Desnoyers, sounds like.

No, but I really can see it. I have run the Tankathon lottery simulator a dozen times now and we almost always pick 5th. And that's without even losing spots in the input rankings yet. So Schaefer, Misa, Hagens, and Frondell will go 1-4. And we'll get to pick somebody from the next tier. I'm totally expecting that. And since that tier is not "can't miss", we will indeed probably find a way to Upshall that pick. Cherry on top of the most brutal year in Preds history.

 

[Scoresberg]

So you're telling me we're going to get to choose between Martone, McQueen, and Desnoyers, sounds like.

No, but I really can see it. I have run the Tankathon lottery simulator a dozen times now and we almost always pick 5th. And that's without even losing spots in the input rankings yet. So Schaefer, Misa, Hagens, and Frondell will go 1-4. And we'll get to pick somebody from the next tier. I'm totally expecting that. And since that tier is not "can't miss", we will indeed probably find a way to Upshall that pick. Cherry on top of the most brutal year in Preds history.

If we end up 3rd last, isn't at least the 4th pick pretty much guaranteed for us unless TWO teams jump ahead of us? To be honest, I'm not completely sure of how it all works, lol.