2025 NHL Entry Draft Thread

[Kuz]

NYI seems to be in no-man’s land roster construction-wise. This could be a golden ticket to kickstart a semi-rebuild.
They have:

Palmieri, 34
Lee, 34
Pageau, 32
Horvat, 30
Barzal, 27
Tsyplakov, 26
Holmstrom, 23

Pulock, 30
Pelech, 30
Dobson, 25
Romanov, 25

Sorokin, 29

They have Cal Ritchie, Cole Eiserman, and now probably Matthew Schaefer as top prospect.

They were bit by the injury-bug this year, but are they good enough short term to not lock intro trading away some pieces that would bring back some nice prospects or picks? Dobson, Romanov and Barzal would bring back a lot. Barzal might even fetch TVR, Milano, Lapierre, Cristall and the 31st OA

And then to build around Schaefer and McKenna

Would think NYI keep Dobson, Romanov and Barzal through a rebuild. They are still young enough to play with the younger guys coming up. Holmstom also had a decent season and are quite young. They should be better next year as Barzal only played 30 games this year. Pageau and Lee are UFAs that might get traded for some value if NYI are out of the playoff race.

Signing Horvat for that long will probably not age well, but with the cap rising it wont be that bad.

They have some weird contracts aswell. Why sign Duclair for that many years. Hes a decent point producer if you need one for a short time, but there is a reason why he is on his 9th NHL team as a 29 year old. Engvall aswell who is a depth piece. Got a 7 year 3 mill contract. Same with Mayfield who is a 3rd pairing D and is 32 years old is signed for 5 more seasons at 3,5 millions. A good GM would be able to use less on those. You fill those roles with players like that for 1-3 seasons when you miss bodies. If not you risk blocking other younger players to make the team or you cant sign a better player that are cheaper when available. You dont commit long term to them.

Engvall are more like Duhaime, Raddysh or Beauvillier in level. For all three we pay 4,1 mill while they have Engvall at 3,5 mill.

 

[Langway]

2025 NHL Mock Draft 1.0: Scott Wheeler predicts the entire first round

With the first-round order taking shape following Monday night's lottery, Wheeler makes the first 32 picks of the draft.

www.nytimes.com

Ryabkin predictably to the Caps here but I doubt he's a center. Boumedienne/Fiddler going only a few picks earlier would be tough. No Zonnon in Wheeler's first. He should go before Horcoff IMO and should be in play for the Caps. He's quite arguably a better fit than Ryabkin.

I agree with the assessment that after Boumedienne & Fiddler there's likely not another strong first round D candidate. Whereas the forward group is far deeper.

 

[Kazer]

I wouldn't mind a halfway decent goalie prospect out of this draft.

Our goalie prospect depth is probably the worst in the Ovechkin era right now. Bjorklund is the most promising prospect right now, but he has only played 2 career AHL games at this stage. Clark played for American International College which is transferring to Division II hockey this year. Kempf is super far away though somewhat promising as a rising Sophomore at Notre Dame. Finally, Keller had a not great year over in Europe.

Stevenson & Gibson are both 25+, so I don't really consider them prospects. They could definitely play NHL games (particularly Stevenson), but they're more journeymen at this point.

We need to dedicate more draft talent to the position. I would not use our first on a goalie for reasons that others have already outlined effectively, but there are multiple guys I would target with our early 2nd or 3rd round pick (not our own 3rd but we hold Carolina's from the Kuzy trade). We haven't used a draft pick higher than the 4th round on a goalie since 2015. Wheeler has four goalies in his top 60 (Ravensbergen, Andreyanov, Ivankovic, and Medvedev) with 3 more honorable mentions (Bresson, Frolov, Rimpinen).

 

[Random schmoe]

If a guy in the Boumedienne/Fiddler tier drops to 20 I'd support moving up with the Boston 2nd (and or a little more) to try to grab them.

If not I wouldn't argue with moving out first for additional 2nds/3rds to target goalies that inevitably drop.

But would also be totally A-OK with just BPA at wherever our picks end up.

Hopefully our 1st is #32 which affects the potential value in the above.

 

[Silky mitts]

NYI seems to be in no-man’s land roster construction-wise. This could be a golden ticket to kickstart a semi-rebuild.
They have:

Palmieri, 34
Lee, 34
Pageau, 32
Horvat, 30
Barzal, 27
Tsyplakov, 26
Holmstrom, 23

Pulock, 30
Pelech, 30
Dobson, 25
Romanov, 25

Sorokin, 29

They have Cal Ritchie, Cole Eiserman, and now probably Matthew Schaefer as top prospect.

They were bit by the injury-bug this year, but are they good enough short term to not lock intro trading away some pieces that would bring back some nice prospects or picks? Dobson, Romanov and Barzal would bring back a lot. Barzal might even fetch TVR, Milano, Lapierre, Cristall and the 31st OA

And then to build around Schaefer and McKenna

Don't hate Pageau as an Eller replacement

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Don't hate Pageau as an Eller replacement

Same…..$5 mil cap hit for one more year….can actually win a faceoff.

 

[Cush]

NHL Mock Draft 2025: Frondell to Chicago, Martone to Utah? Pronman projects Round 1

The order in which the top forwards in the 2025 class go is the most interesting thing about this draft.

www.nytimes.com

31. Washington Capitals: Cullen Potter, C, Arizona State (NCHC)​

Potter’s great skating and puck skill give Washington a dynamic, high-upside forward, but his size and perimeter play does worry teams too.

 

[Holtbyisms]

NHL Mock Draft 2025: Frondell to Chicago, Martone to Utah? Pronman projects Round 1

The order in which the top forwards in the 2025 class go is the most interesting thing about this draft.

www.nytimes.com

31. Washington Capitals: Cullen Potter, C, Arizona State (NCHC)​

Potter’s great skating and puck skill give Washington a dynamic, high-upside forward, but his size and perimeter play does worry teams too.

Looks like we'll be drafting a little higher than 31!

 

[usiel]

I won't ask

Looks like we'll be drafting a little higher than 31!

I assume this would be 28th but my math is bad.

 

[Langway]

I won't ask

I assume this would be 28th but my math is bad.

27th if we assume Winnipeg also gets bounced this round.

 

[Kazer]

I won't ask

I assume this would be 28th but my math is bad.

I am pretty sure if Winnipeg and Washington are both eliminated, then we would be 27. If Winnipeg comes back, we would be 28 since we would be behind Dallas. 32-29 will go to the conference finalists.

 

[pman25]

Who are our guys this year?

 

[Langway]

I think the upside question basically has to start with Ryabkin if still there at 27 (assuming WPG doesn't pull off the comeback). Doing the homework as far as how he is as a teammate and all that. Because otherwise I'm not sure there will be a higher-end talent available. And he's pretty physical as well...borderline dirty even. Not a franchise guy probably but he reminds me a bit of another Ivan...Barbashev. If his head is on straight he may have more offensive upside.

At 27 and 37 I think you're looking at a fourth-tier prospect and then a fifth-tier in this draft. If they could, say, package the two for a third-tier type (the right third-tier type) then I think I would. They need quality over quantity. Reschny is that target for me but I suspect he'll rise further as teams hammer out final lists. But at his size maybe there's a chance he doesn't. Cootes & Kindel are another couple WHLers that could be good and worth moving up for depending on if they slide.

Outside of those guys and Ryabkin...Gastrin might fit best at 27. Not a home run type swing maybe but about as strong of an Eller replacement (prime Eller) one is likely to find. I wasn't completely blown away at the U18s--only some of the Canadian players managed that--but Gastrin is more polished than most and a pretty safe bet to play as a likely bottom six, responsible two-way center. Not a very flashy, sexy class overall so...shrug. 37 should be about who slides...be it Potter, Moore, Murtagh, Ihs Wozniak or Nestrasil. Someone like that. Overall a couple of likely middle six types. If it's a couple of wingers added one wonders how that eventually sorts itself out structurally but value is value I guess.

Big picture they now need to probably start obsessing about how they're going to secure a foundational talent over the next 12-36 months. Everything likely needs to revolve around that reality, including putting picks/prospects in play to land it.

 

[pman25]

I think maybe an upside swing for one pick and a reasonably good bet to be a bottom-6 guy with the other pick sounds safe.

I’ve not looked at this class as closely until recently but upside plays I like Kindel or Zharovsky or Potter. For the “safer” picks I think Murtagh, Gastrin, Zonnon and those guys may have more upside too but seem safer to slot in somewhere in an nhl lineup

I wonder about a goalie too. We haven’t taken one in the 1st or 2nd in quite some time. Might be due, especially if this is a weak draft where we aren’t real blown away by the skaters. I’d be okay spending a pick on a goalie and let him cook, perhaps with the Boston pick