Bob McKenzie Pre Season 2025 Draft Rankings

[Steve Kournianos]

To be fair he was also the best defender on his team if not top 3 in the entire u18 tournament as an underage, it would be disingenuous to say he’s only at 2 because of one Hlinka. I did not watch the u17WHC but he was apparently excellent there as well

He's definitely at No. 2 because of the Hlinka. The Hlinka was his coming out party to date. It was one of the most dominant performances by a defenseman we've seen in over a decade, if not longer. I never thought his solid U18 WC performance was enough to put him over Ryabkin, Frondell, Misa, Martone, etc. and quick look at nearly all the mainstream rankings prior to the Hlinka had him out of the top five.

What I was talking about is McKenzie's double standard. Frondell can be docked as a 2C for the (false) perception that he isn't an elite point producer and Hagens as a 2C for his size, but Schaefer is a mortal lock for a top pairing despite not delivering elite production in league play and about to miss a chunk of his draft season with mono.

 

[BKarchitect]

The write-ups send mixed messages, assuming because it is trying to recap the thoughts of multiple sources. I don’t think there is much to really get outraged over in terms of pre-season rankings go.

To me this just crystallizes that there is a top 5 tier at the starting blocks and the arrangement of 2-5 after Hagens is questionable and anybody outside that is going to have to force their way into the convo.

Frondell is still at #3. Martone is still at #4. I don’t think these are outrageous slights.

 

[rahad]

So apparently, according to Central Scouting, Hagens is officially 5'11. I suppose they could be rounding up from 5'10.5, but that is his official height.

At what point do size "concerns" go away for most GMs?

please. Before the draft combine, every prospect are always a little bit taller. I'm sure he is more around 5f10.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

please. Before the draft combine, every prospect are always a little bit taller. I'm sure he is more around 5f10.

It’s 10 months before the draft combine. A little bit of an understatement to call it before the draft combine.