2025 NHL DRAFT

[Bringer of Jollity]

Heard someone on XM explaining that Frondell plays in a man's league so his numbers aren't as great but that's the same league Forsberg played in and they said he went lower because of those numbers. That who I think I'd prefer

Forsberg was also hurt by a mediocre WJC, and also because d-men started getting drafted earlier than expected and teams followed suit worrying they'd lose out. He was the #1 ranked Euro skater and should never have fallen that far. Kopitar the same, being #1 ranked European skater and having come out of SEL, though that was also influenced by him being Slovenian being a total wild card for some GMs rather than any position run in the draft..

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

QMJHL finals are in Victory+. Good chance to see Desnoyers, who just made beautiful play to set up goal. Moncton is also where our former 3rd MacKinnonn plays. Molendyk and 2026 top prospect McKenna team Medicine Hat is in whl finals, which are also available to watch free on victory +.

If any of you are watching this, would love to hear reports on Desnoyers.

That Moncton team is an absolute machine, 14-1 so far in the playoffs.

Desnoyers is running away with the playoff scoring lead. Jacob Mathieu is an overager for the Rimouski team in the finals. Desnoyers is 10 pts up on the nearest guy on his own team.

Since Rimouski is host team for the Memorial Cup, both these teams in the Q finals already have their tickets punched. But all this extra viewing opportunity for Desnoyers, I think it's really raising his stock again? Which is good for us both ways - if he actually goes in the Top 4, it boosts the chances of somebody falling to us. Or, he has got to be an option for us at #5 also.

 

[Scoresberg]

If any of you are watching this, would love to hear reports on Desnoyers.

That Moncton team is an absolute machine, 14-1 so far in the playoffs.

Desnoyers is running away with the playoff scoring lead. Jacob Mathieu is an overager for the Rimouski team in the finals. Desnoyers is 10 pts up on the nearest guy on his own team.

Since Rimouski is host team for the Memorial Cup, both these teams in the Q finals already have their tickets punched. But all this extra viewing opportunity for Desnoyers, I think it's really raising his stock again? Which is good for us both ways - if he actually goes in the Top 4, it boosts the chances of somebody falling to us. Or, he has got to be an option for us at #5 also.

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For this draft class, Desnoyers is definitely one of the top prospects.

What I like most about him are his vision, his fluid skating and his ability to dictate the pace of the game when he's on the ice. Moncton's great team and it looks like they're a clear notch above other teams in their league. That is why I'm probably a bit lower on Desnoyers than many here. I'm not sure how much better the team is making him look - that's why I'm interested in seeing him play in the Memorial Cup. The things that he's doing with the puck in the Q, I'm not 100% sold on that they're transferable to the NHL. Now, that's obviously the case with other junior players, too, but with Desnoyers I think he lacks the pace to be a full-on line driver as a center in the NHL-level. I have no doubt that his playing style will be useful and his smarts allow him to be a threat offensively as well.

I have him a tier below guys like Frondell and Hagens, but assuming he's the best center available at 5, I won't be too upset if we pick him. It's just I see more of a tad better skating version of Svechkov in him rather than the elite offensive talent we desperately need right now.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

If we did draft a guy like Desnoyers at #5... one thing I absolutely love about the new prospect landscape is that it would be possible now for him to jump to the NCAA next season! He's obviously doing everything in the weaker QMJHL... so if you draft him, you don't really want to see him go back there to just keep dominating that league... you want to see him get pushed by tougher competition in the NCAA. I don't think I've heard any commitment about that yet from him, no doubt he is keeping his options open but will hopefully take input from the NHL team which drafts him.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

For this draft class, Desnoyers is definitely one of the top prospects.

What I like most about him are his vision, his fluid skating and his ability to dictate the pace of the game when he's on the ice. Moncton's great team and it looks like they're a clear notch above other teams in their league. That is why I'm probably a bit lower on Desnoyers than many here. I'm not sure how much better the team is making him look - that's why I'm interested in seeing him play in the Memorial Cup. The things that he's doing with the puck in the Q, I'm not 100% sold on that they're transferable to the NHL. Now, that's obviously the case with other junior players, too, but with Desnoyers I think he lacks the pace to be a full-on line driver as a center in the NHL-level. I have no doubt that his playing style will be useful and his smarts allow him to be a threat offensively as well.

I have him a tier below guys like Frondell and Hagens, but assuming he's the best center available at 5, I won't be too upset if we pick him. It's just I see more of a tad better skating version of Svechkov in him rather than the elite offensive talent we desperately need right now.

He is best player on Moncton. Not like they have bunch of 1st round picks inflating his stats. He is engine on that team. I have him 5th and would be happy if he is our guy (although I still prefer Martin).

 

[ShagDaddy]

Watched the first period of the Moncton game. Was the first time I’ve ever seen them play. My conclusion, I hope that they do not draft the Desnoyers kid. After listening to them say his name multiple times, I had to just turn the game off. That’s got to be a top ten most annoying name to have to hear pronounced of all time. If I had to listen to Daunic’s voice butcher that name for any length of time, I’d have to just find another team to watch.

 

[Scoresberg]

He is best player on Moncton. Not like they have bunch of 1st round picks inflating his stats. He is engine on that team. I have him 5th and would be happy if he is our guy (although I still prefer Martin).

Yeah, was just thinking if they have a lot of overagers, which usually leads to success with Junior teams.

 

[GeauxPreds1]

So let me see if I got this right. If carolina,Edmonton, Florida and Dallas win their series they will be picks 29-32 picks. Since none of those teams won their divisions in the regular season they will push all division winners down so the Tampa pick will be 23 and the Vegas pick will be 26. Is that right?

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

So let me see if I got this right. If carolina,Edmonton, Florida and Dallas win their series they will be picks 29-32 picks. Since none of those teams won their divisions in the regular season they will push all division winners down so the Tampa pick will be 23 and the Vegas pick will be 26. Is that right?

Conceptually, yes. I didn’t check your math though.

 

[GeauxPreds1]

Conceptually, yes. I didn’t check your math though.

Tampa pick is 26 right now and if the teams I listed go to the conference final 3 of those teams Florida, Edmonton and Carolina are currently behind Tampa meaning Tampa eould move down 3 spots to 23 and Vegas which I currently 30th would move down 4 spots which would be 26th pick. I think that's right. Not 100 percent though

 

[herzausstein]

Tampa pick is 26 right now and if the teams I listed go to the conference final 3 of those teams Florida, Edmonton and Carolina are currently behind Tampa meaning Tampa eould move down 3 spots to 23 and Vegas which I currently 30th would move down 4 spots which would be 26th pick. I think that's right. Not 100 percent though

I'd be 100% fine with all this happening. I hope this is correct. Gives us a much better shot at grabbing 2 of Fiddler, Boumedienne, or Reschny.

 

[BigFatCat999]

So let me see if I got this right. If carolina,Edmonton, Florida and Dallas win their series they will be picks 29-32 picks. Since none of those teams won their divisions in the regular season they will push all division winners down so the Tampa pick will be 23 and the Vegas pick will be 26. Is that right?

Yupper it gives Nashville an additional second round pick in value

 

[herzausstein]

Does that also slide up the 2nd round pick we got from Tampa?

 

[BigFatCat999]

Does that also slide up the 2nd round pick we got from Tampa?

No, just the first round pick. The second round picks are basically anchor down we know what we’re gonna get.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Does that also slide up the 2nd round pick we got from Tampa?

The default order is:

22 - FLO
23 - CAR
24 - EDM
25 - COL
26 - TB
27 - LA
28 - DAL
29 - TOR
30 - VGK
31 - WAS
32 - WPG

Our optimal outcome is indeed to get all of FLO, CAR, DAL and EDM into the Final Four. Because then we have:

22 - COL
23 - TB
24 - LA
25 - TOR
26 - VGK
27 - WAS
28 - WPG
29-30 FLO/CAR/DAL/EDM

And it does hold for all rounds of the draft. Not that a few spots later in the 2nd round likely means much. But I will definitely take the higher spots in the 1st round, 23 & 26 is a big pickup relative to 26 and 30. I mean, if you look at it like 26 holding steady, then it's like moving from 30 to 23, which is indeed something teams might pay a 2nd to do some years, so it's a meaningful move. I will be cheering for that Final Four, that's enough reason, since I otherwise don't really care THAT much who wins in the playoffs.

 

[Kat Predator]

Isn't the order already changed?

22 - COL
23 - TB
24 - LA
25 - FL/CAR/EDM/DAL/TOR/VGK/WAS/WPG

So nothing will improve the TB pick. The VGK pick falls if EDM wins that series, of course. But they can't bypass either FL or TOR and get to #25, so the result of that series is irrelevant.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Isn't the order already changed?

22 - COL
23 - TB
24 - LA
25 - FL/CAR/EDM/DAL/TOR/VGK/WAS/WPG

So nothing will improve the TB pick. The VGK pick falls if EDM wins that series, of course. But they can't bypass either FL or TOR and get to #25, so the result of that series is irrelevant.

I thought conference finals was the threshold. Any team eliminated before that that had less points on the season than Tampa (so Carolina, Florida, Edmonton) will slot in before them. Once conference finals hit, Tampa's spot (and it looks like Vegas' as well) will be settled.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I thought conference finals was the threshold. Any team eliminated before that that had less points on the season than Tampa (so Carolina, Florida, Edmonton) will slot in before them. Once conference finals hit, Tampa's spot (and it looks like Vegas' as well) will be settled.

Yeah, it's only the final 4 playoff spots that move to 29-32. We still very much need FLO/CAR/EDM to make the final 4 in order to improve that TB pick.

 

[TJAU]

Take this for what it worth... but the organization is head over heels for Roger McQueen. If he is available at 5 they will take him. They see Schaefer and Misa as the clear 1-2, but from 3-8 they don't see much of a drop off and they like McQueen the most.

 

[Kat Predator]

I thought conference finals was the threshold. Any team eliminated before that that had less points on the season than Tampa (so Carolina, Florida, Edmonton) will slot in before them. Once conference finals hit, Tampa's spot (and it looks like Vegas' as well) will be settled.

Thanks, BoJ.

 

[wmupreds]

Take this for what it worth... but the organization is head over heels for Roger McQueen. If he is available at 5 they will take him. They see Schaefer and Misa as the clear 1-2, but from 3-8 they don't see much of a drop off and they like McQueen the most.

This seems entirely believable and potentially disastrous

 

[nullednumbed]

This seems entirely believable and potentially disastrous

Could easily see this happening. It is Trotz after all.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

This seems entirely believable and potentially disastrous

Exactly. I could definitely see it. I hope some team ahead of us saves us from that fate. But anyway, until the Combine and some further update on McQueen's health, I won't get too panicked about it. If he's simply not medically cleared, I don't think even Trotz would be that silly? Would he? Oh, right.

 

[ShagDaddy]

Take this for what it worth... but the organization is head over heels for Roger McQueen. If he is available at 5 they will take him. They see Schaefer and Misa as the clear 1-2, but from 3-8 they don't see much of a drop off and they like McQueen the most.

McCarron’s replacement as 4th line center! Heck yeah!!!!

 

[Kat Predator]

And we warm up, stretch, dig our cleats in the batter's box. Here comes our pick as a pitch. We rare back and take the biggest swing we've ever taken. Exhilaration! This one is going out! It's going over the bleachers! Over the scoreboard! Over the subway! It's going through a window an avenue away for crying out loud! We can feel it!

The ball pops in the catcher's glove. Pop! The umpire cries, "You'rrrrrrrre out!"

We are so damn good at taking big swings.