Prospect Info: Draft 2025 - Everyone is trading up, but no one seems to be trading down edition

[plaidchuck]

I dunno, how did we do against the Rags, a very winnable series that we dropped in part because Crosby took an elbow? Riddle me that.

Sure, toughness is something the team has needed as far back as the 90s when they were bullied by the likes of the Islanders, Flyers and Panthers. They at least had Samuelson for a while.

It also didn’t help that the league and media hates Lemieux and wrote hit pieces every day about Matt Cooke while today they sing the praises of players like Marchand and Bennett. Or when a congressional inquiry was called for because Giroux hurt his wrists in 2012.

I get everyone wants to be the Panthers now, but that will require a culture that didnt exist under Lemieux and certainly not with the current ownership or players.

Dont forget you also dont want to be the Flyers who have been chasing the grit dragon since 1975 with zero success.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Yes, and no.

For one, I'm not entirely sure this year is actually all that weak, at least not compared to any other year. Scouts are dumb as bricks and nobody remembers when they wiff (which is like 90% of the time) and only when they hit.

Secondly, I think taking a 6'6" positional-and-nothing-else guy if he's BPA is okay, but at 11OA there should be better choices. We don't need likely-to-be-NHLers, we need actual either trade bait or pieces for a rebuild. We can draft all the Maattas and Petterssons we want when we have a more developed prospect system. Hell, I'd even go as far as to argue that's pretty much the only kind of defenseman we actually have at the moment.

I also think that it's quite likely that having a guy like Maatta or Pettersson isn't going to be as necessary as we're looking at a wholesale coaching change(s) and likely won't be aiming to play the same kind of play when Sid and Geno are gone (which is soon and likely sooner than a blueliner making the team).

I think pundits are starting to talk up this year's draft because of all of the players with imposing size there is, which runs parallel to what the narrative is in the Cup Final.

More and more, I hope we go against the grain and just swing for the fences for players with the most upside. Period.

I really believe this is the "moneyball" draft.

 

[deakka]

I really hope we go C or F with the 1st round pick. Not liking any of Mrtka, Aitcheson or Smith tbh.

 

[Andy99]

I really hope we go C or F with the 1st round pick. Not liking any of Mrtka, Aitcheson or Smith tbh.

Yeah, not at #11…trade down if there’s no forward there they like if they want to take one of them…I don’t think their upside is great enough that I’d be taking any of those three at #11…

 

[Ryder71]

I really hope we go C or F with the 1st round pick. Not liking any of Mrtka, Aitcheson or Smith tbh.

100%! Taking a defensemen there, the ones you cited would be an absolute failure. If possible get a center, That should be made a priority. But at a minimum and if there is a disparity or drop off in talent, draft a highly skilled forward.

Yeah, not at #11…trade down if there’s no forward there they like if they want to take one of them…I don’t think their upside is great enough that I’d be taking any of those three at #11…

We should trade up with Seattle, problem solved. They almost certainly could get the defensemen they want at 11TH OA if so. Plus get a nice sweetener for their troubles. If say we draft 8TH OA we could most assuredly get one of the forwards we covet. Do it Kyle, make me proud!

I think pundits are starting to talk up this year's draft because of all of the players with imposing size there is, which runs parallel to what the narrative is in the Cup Final.

More and more, I hope we go against the grain and just swing for the fences for players with the most upside. Period.

I really believe this is the "moneyball" draft.

Reschny maybe.

 

[JackFr]

Picking a guy with #4D upside at 11 or 12 would be a big disappointment.

 

[chethejet]

Pounding the table for O'brien who is probably gone and Martin. I think Dubas will be active or at least swinging for deals especially if Rangers give up the pick. RH center is my preferred pick but hopefully one of O'Brien, Martin or McQueen is there.

 

[Andy99]

Picking a guy with #4D upside at 11 or 12 would be a big disappointment.

I guess I think those three D after Schaefer are more Ceci or something similar…just either not enough offensive upside or players with limited hockey IQ…I think you’re more likely to get a third pairing D with any of them…Smith imo has the highest upside but even so, decision making is questionable

 

[SEALBound]

Sure, toughness is something the team has needed as far back as the 90s when they were bullied by the likes of the Islanders, Flyers and Panthers. They at least had Samuelson for a while.

It also didn’t help that the league and media hates Lemieux and wrote hit pieces every day about Matt Cooke while today they sing the praises of players like Marchand and Bennett. Or when a congressional inquiry was called for because Giroux hurt his wrists in 2012.

I get everyone wants to be the Panthers now, but that will require a culture that didnt exist under Lemieux and certainly not with the current ownership or players.

Dont forget you also dont want to be the Flyers who have been chasing the grit dragon since 1975 with zero success.

It's all about balance. 16 and 17 had gritty guys like Florida has - Horny, Kunitz, Hagelin, Bonino, Fehr to an extent.

We had great balance and depth just like Florida has now.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Picking a guy with #4D upside at 11 or 12 would be a big disappointment.

Yeah, that's my whole beef with a Mrtka selection. It just feels like we can do better at 11. Hell, if that's the best we're likely to get at 11, trade down.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Sure, toughness is something the team has needed as far back as the 90s when they were bullied by the likes of the Islanders, Flyers and Panthers. They at least had Samuelson for a while.

It also didn’t help that the league and media hates Lemieux and wrote hit pieces every day about Matt Cooke while today they sing the praises of players like Marchand and Bennett. Or when a congressional inquiry was called for because Giroux hurt his wrists in 2012.

I get everyone wants to be the Panthers now, but that will require a culture that didnt exist under Lemieux and certainly not with the current ownership or players.

Dont forget you also dont want to be the Flyers who have been chasing the grit dragon since 1975 with zero success.

Yeah, it's a fine line between getting results there and ending up creating the Isles or Flyers. But where teams like the Flyers go wrong is not thinking strategically about grit but thinking itself is the sole component.

I'd like to see a mix of bangers and skill guys, of positional guys paired with neanderthals who hit. That's what always is the most exciting to watch and what teams have had a lot of success with. But I'm also curious to see what kind of hockey we're going to play under Muse and whoever his eventual successor is. We can't really play the kind of hockey we've been playing for a decade anymore even if we want to.

Yeah, it's a fine line between getting results there and ending up creating the Isles or Flyers. But where teams like the Flyers go wrong is not thinking strategically about grit but thinking itself is the sole component.

The problem with the Flyers over the last decade has to do with not committing one way to a full rebuild (sound familiar?). Appears they are doing this again by attempting to improve rapidly this offseason without a core to compete with. Their fans would tell you the same.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

So I guess NYR media people are saying NYR has decided to keep next year's pick and give us 12. No surprise there, really. Disappointment but they are not dumb enough to give us their unprotected first next year. I assume they want to offer sheet someone so they need the ammo.

Let's just take Eklund and Reschny and move on.

 

[Andy99]

So I guess NYR media people are saying NYR has decided to keep next year's pick and give us 12. No surprise there, really. Disappointment but they are not dumb enough to give us their unprotected first next year. I assume they want to offer sheet someone so they need the ammo.

Let's just take Eklund and Reschny and move on.

I always thought this btw despite people saying they wouldn’t want to look like they didn’t have confidence in the new coach lol…if you think you’re a playoff contender, makes more sense to use your first next year at the draft or for a player trade in a better draft

 

[HandshakeLine]

The problem with the Flyers over the last decade has to do with not committing one way to a full rebuild (sound familiar?). Appears they are doing this again by attempting to improve rapidly this offseason without a core to compete with. Their fans would tell you the same.

That’s a second part of it too. They never get enough high end talent to truly compete but they’ve never committed to a firesale in recent memory.

My argument for drafting physicality is that those kinds of players hold on their value even if they never fully develop into what they could be, so they make good trading chips too. You just need to learn when to cut bait.

 

[Jacob]

Mrtka looks to me like he has some other attributes besides size. He’s just not as physical as Aitcheson or as O-minded as Smith. I don’t really like his skating though.

 

[Lust for Life]

Is there a source for NYR giving us #12 this year?

 

[Malkinstheman]

Is there a source for NYR giving us #12 this year?

I think Friedman was saying that the Rangers might be try to offer sheet guys like Peterka this summer. They'll need their 2026 1st to do that

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

The Rangers are gonna dump Kreider and Zibanejad and replace their cap hit with like $9.5M AAV to Peterka and like $7M AAV to Giroux or something.

 

[plaidchuck]

Darn, thought NYR would play the optics game and not keep the 2026 pick. Smart move for them if they don't even though it puts an even higher onus on the Pens to draft high and often

 

[Jag68Sid87]

SO it was a Rangers podcast that I was listening to this morning. I wanna say The Hockey Writers but I could be wrong. They were doing a Rangers mock draft and they were talking about the players available in the middle rounds, and whether they had the ability to trade back into the first round.

I suppose nothing is official yet but it sure seems like this is the expectation.

 

[Turin]

Would go so hard to use 11 and a player to go up to 4th to draft Martone, and then use the Rangers pick to draft any one of Martin, McQueen, O'Brien or Eklund.

 

[The Old Master]

Would go so hard to use 12 and a player to go up to 4th to draft Martone,

dream big

 

[Turin]

dream big

I like your style

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I think Mrtka could be a really valuable 2/3D.

 

[Turin]

I think Mrtka could be a really valuable 2/3D.

Martone, Mrtka, and then Paupanekis in the 2nd round. Let's go huge