I don’t put much stock into whether a class is strong or weak at this point. At this stage last year Eiserman was considered a lock for a top three pick and Tig Iginla was a second round pick. Way too early in my opinion to make snap judgments on the depth of a class. I just reread a few 2024 draft previews written around this time in 2023 and the consensus was 2024 was noticeably weaker than 2023 and lacking top end talent at forward outside of Celebrini and Eiserman.Hagens vs. Celebrini, Schaefer vs. top 2024 D, 2025 NHL Draft sleepers and more: Mailbag
It's time for Scott Wheeler's first mailbag of the 2025 NHL Draft season.www.nytimes.com
Wheeler considers the '25 class below average at the moment. But that's the key qualifier. Ample time for that to improve...or not. If Desnoyers is available outside the top ten it may be a good draft for centers. Or if Benak sticks, continues to progress and someone like Moore puts it together. We'll see. It's also hard to tell whether guys like Reschny and Mooney will stick there. Gastrin has the look of a sturdy two-way middle six type and if he can up his production could rise up. Overall, though, up front it does seem like a rather small class. That's increasingly common but does introduce more doubt as to future versatility and risk/reward.