Prospect Info: Draft 2025: Is it too late to tank? Asking for a friend

[Ryder71]

Skill wise Kindel is very high on my list. Wouldn't take him at 9OA, but if we somehow got the Rags pick I'd consider him. Although that'd be a bit of a reach at 11OA. Mid teens though, absolutely!

 

[Ryder71]

Rescnhy reminds me of a left handed Brayden Point! That kid is smooth.

 

[Ryder71]

Whatever the Pens choose to do this draft I sincerely hope they get a center early and go for skill over anything else. High end Skill is sorely needed.

 

[Jacob]

I like Reschny. Hes having a really productive playoffs too, 25 points in 9 games.

Watching this. Reschny is frequently matched against Smith so it’s kind of a 2 for 1.

 

[Pancakes]

I have a feeling some weird team wins the lottery this year. Feels like we are due for that to happen.

 

[Turin]

So much can happen still from now til draft day. I remember when Winnipeg drafted Scheifele at 7 he was ranked in the 20's for North American skaters come draft day and spent most of the season ranked way lower than that. It was only Bobby Mac that had him 12th overall in his mock draft.

 

[Turin]

I'm coming around a bit on Desnoyers just because his hockey IQ seems good. Get him with a good skills coach and see what happens. Unlikely he's available at 9 though.

 

[Andy99]

I wish we could pick some good goal scorers…I like McG and Koivunen and some other players in Wilkes but we don’t have anyone who looks like they’ll be good NHL goal scorers unfortunately…maybe they’ll develop that way but none of those guys seem to have the release or deception…

 

[Jared Grayden]

I have a feeling some weird team wins the lottery this year. Feels like we are due for that to happen.

Buffalo. For two reasons:
1. To punish the Pens for winning their last game.
2. Because no team needs a LHD like Schaefer less than Buffalo so it would add a lot of intrigue to the draft.

 

[Jacob]

I think Buffalo would talk themselves into taking Misa.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I'm still not sure I'm convinced there's a dramatic separation between Schaefer and Misa tbh. Both seem like very good prospects but I don't think either really jumps in and makes a notable difference immediately at the NHL level, or is close to a legit foundation stone prospect that a team can build around.

I do think with Dahlin and Power, Buffalo's probably more open to Misa over Schaefer though. Makes sense.

 

[Ryder71]

I think Buffalo would talk themselves into taking Misa.

That'd be a no brainer.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I find Misa really underwhelming personally but he’s one of those guys that’s universally praised so I’ll trust the experts

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I think it's less about me thinking Misa is on that top tier of Schaefer, and more so me being less blown away by Schaefer being this dude that's good enough to easily have pulled away as the no brainer #1.

But yeah, agreed. I'll leave it up to the scouts and prospect hawks.

 

[SEALBound]

I think Buffalo would talk themselves into taking Misa.

They would 100% take Misa unless there was a pre-draft deal where they send out Power for a legit young 1C.

I find Misa really underwhelming personally but he’s one of those guys that’s universally praised so I’ll trust the experts

What exactly makes you underwhelmed? Is there a specific attribute, because this kid is a pretty complete package. 2.06 PPG in the OHL is no joke. That's a season that's up there with some pretty elite company. He's got Zayne Parekh helping him on the back end but other than that, he is a driver of offense on the team. He's not being propped up by high-end wingers.

Disclaimer: This is coming from a guy who is high on Misa (for this years draft)

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

They would 100% take Misa unless there was a pre-draft deal where they send out Power for a legit young 1C.

What exactly makes you underwhelmed? Is there a specific attribute, because this kid is a pretty complete package. 2.06 PPG in the OHL is no joke. That's a season that's up there with some pretty elite company. He's got Zayne Parekh helping him on the back end but other than that, he is a driver of offense on the team. He's not being propped up by high-end wingers.

Disclaimer: This is coming from a guy who is high on Misa (for this years draft)

Yeah I mean what do you actually like about the player? That’s just surface level analysis of production.

He looks like a winger to me. Not this like puck carrying playmaking center in the o-zone. I don’t think he dictates a ton of play in the o-zone to create for others. Idk watch him. he doesn’t dominate and scores a lot of greasy net goals. Just seems like a wing in the NHL. Still a very good prospect but I think people expecting him to be a top 10 C one day are gonna be disappointed.

 

[Jacob]

I thought this was interesting data someone posted on the Prospects Forum posted:

Just throwing this out there, but only 23 percent of O’Brien’s assists were primary 5v5, which is by far the lowest rate among the top CHL draft-eligibles. For added context, Hagens was at 50% for BC, Desnoyers at 45%, Reschny at 42% and Martone at 38%.

Martone delivered 23 5v5 A1s in 57 games compared to 15 in 66 for O’Brien. Also bears mentioning that Martone was a top-line wing on an injury-depleted team while O’Brien was a 2C on a deep squad.

 

[Jared Grayden]

I thought this was interesting data someone posted on the Prospects Forum posted:

That poster is heavily motivated by a narrative. Wouldn't trust what he says.

 

[Jesse]

I think someone mentioned this already, but someone that may be rapidly rising up the draft boards at the draft could be Cole Reschny. He's absolutely destroying the WHL in the playoffs right now, he has 9 goals and 25 points in 10 games in the playoffs on Victoria. He was pretty consistently ranked in the mid to late 20s, with him being #29 on McKenzie's last list. However that production in his draft year is impossible to ignore.

Other players are producing similarly, with Catton also having 25 points in 10 games and Cristall having 24 points in 9 games on Spokane, but those two are also playing together and are older than Reschny. I wouldn't be surprised if he jumps up to the 12-17 range with how he's performing in the playoffs, closer to someone like Kindel.

Ironically enough, I just finished his mixtape this morning. He is bar-none the best passing playmaker in the draft. Without question. A good set of dangles, too. His shot release is quick, deceptive, and gets good velocity despite little movement from the hands/wrists. The problem is he does nothing for me defensively at all. Very passenger-like in his own end. Not physical at all. I'm not even sure he projects as a center moving forward. More of a playmaking winger to me.

 

[Jesse]

I thought this was interesting data someone posted on the Prospects Forum posted:

Small sample, circa 200 minutes, so take it for what it's worth

 

[Jared Grayden]

Ironically enough, I just finished his mixtape this morning. He is bar-none the best passing playmaker in the draft. Without question. A good set of dangles, too. His shot release is quick, deceptive, and gets good velocity despite little movement from the hands/wrists. The problem is he does nothing for me defensively at all. Very passenger-like in his own end. Not physical at all. I'm not even sure he projects as a center moving forward. More of a playmaking winger to me.

How do you compare/contrast him to Kindel?

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I don’t think O’Brien is about what he is today. those numbers are interesting but dont make me think very differently.

 

[The Old Master]

I like Reschny. Hes having a really productive playoffs too, 25 points in 9 games.

Watching this. Reschny is frequently matched against Smith so it’s kind of a 2 for 1.

sounds like smith is coming up short.

 

[The Old Master]

I don’t think O’Brien is about what he is today. those numbers are interesting but dont make me think very differently.

shhhhhh we need him to drop

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

shhhhhh we need him to drop

I don’t love him.