Official 2025 NHL DRAFT Thread

[Appleyard]

I am averse to his prospect profile: Old for the draft, tall poor skater, makes plays at a slow pace. Lot of risk in his game not translating. The alternative picks just seem much more attractive to me. No offense to Michkov, but can you imagine Martone/Michkov on a line and being the guys on the forecheck or trying to get the puck up ice? What a slog. That center would have to be amazing to get the puck moving down the ice.

I dont think he is a bad skater tbh. Speed wise pretty average but he is 6'3 so often stride length means he gets there before guys. He just does not play at a high pace.

He would be basically the only player in history who has done what he has from age 14-18 who did not end up a very good NHLer. I dont really see the risk tbh. He has always dominated despite being an average skater... that usually continues at higher levels.

Mark Stone, Jason Robertson and Matthew Tkachuk are all slower than Martone for sure right this second as a similar "archetype" and it does not stop them being elite.

Heck, Vegas won a cup with two of the slowest guys in the league in their top six together! Stone and Marchessault... Martone and Michkov are far faster than those two right now. They were on the same line together at times too over their tenure.

Flyers best line this year had Couturier and Michkov...

 

[FLYguy3911]

The alternative picks just seem much more attractive to me.

Who?

 

[FlyguyOX]

Who?

Hagens, Desnoyers, Frundell, O'Brien.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

I know centers are desperately needed but Michkov and Martone could become one of the best 1-2 punches on the wing in the top 6. I do think if Martone is the pick you have to start shopping Brink, Foerster, Tippett, or TK for C or D help

 

[FlyguyOX]

I know centers are desperately needed but Michkov and Martone could become one of the best 1-2 punches on the wing in the top 6. I do think if Martone is the pick you have to start shopping Brink, Foerster, Tippett, or TK for C or D help

Without a doubt.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Hagens, Desnoyers, Frundell, O'Brien.

So draft for need?

Hagens isn’t exactly what I would call a reasonable alternative at 6, but yes sure.

Martone and Desnoyers were on the same team last year and Martone tripled him up in points fwiw. If that hints at the talent gap.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

I think Martone is going to be a moot point anyway. He’ll be gone by the time Flyers pick

 

[Rebels57]

I know centers are desperately needed but Michkov and Martone could become one of the best 1-2 punches on the wing in the top 6. I do think if Martone is the pick you have to start shopping Brink, Foerster, Tippett, or TK for C or D help

We should be trying to flip Tippett for Rossi.

 

[FlyguyOX]

So draft for need?

Hagens isn’t exactly what I would call a reasonable alternative at 6, but yes sure.

Martone and Desnoyers were on the same team last year and Martone tripled him up in points fwiw. If that hints at the talent gap.

Progression/development isn't linear. Or else Lafreniere would be one of the best players in the league. I recall similar statements of his no-doubt-about-it status due to his scoring profile/history.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

We should be trying to flip Tippett for Rossi.

That would be nice. Someone is going to think they can fix Tippett. He’s one of the guys I’m most interested in seeing under a new coach next year.

Young centers aren’t often on the table so we would need to capitalize on a Rossi situation or gamble on a C prospect

 

[FlyguyOX]

Some winger needs to be sent for Rossi

 

[Larry44]

I think I underestimated how much this would impact the CHL. If all of the best 19 year olds are leaving, that’s going to make projecting CHL draft talent much more difficult.

I wonder how soon the CHL will allow 15 year olds to play more regularly.

We'll see. It depends how many top guys jump to college. I'm sure a lot of the CHL guys won't have the academic qualifications/levels to pass the standards of college.

I think some guys (like Powell?) go from USHL to college, then leave for the CHL in mid year. You have to pass your courses to play varsity and keep your scholarship, don't you?

 

[Larry44]

I dont think he is a bad skater tbh. Speed wise pretty average but he is 6'3 so often stride length means he gets there before guys. He just does not play at a high pace.

He would be basically the only player in history who has done what he has from age 14-18 who did not end up a very good NHLer. I dont really see the risk tbh. He has always dominated despite being an average skater... that usually continues at higher levels.

Mark Stone, Jason Robertson and Matthew Tkachuk are all slower than Martone for sure right this second as a similar "archetype" and it does not stop them being elite.

Heck, Vegas won a cup with two of the slowest guys in the league in their top six together! Stone and Marchessault... Martone and Michkov are far faster than those two right now. They were on the same line together at times too over their tenure.

Flyers best line this year had Couturier and Michkov...

Thank you, great perspective. We need to take BPA, even if it is a RW. The Flyers are building a team for the 2030-31 season, not 2025-26.

 

[Appleyard]

Progression/development isn't linear. Or else Lafreniere would be one of the best players in the league. I recall similar statements of his no-doubt-about-it status due to his scoring profile/history.

I mean... he was cant miss! He is a ~50-60 point forward at age 23. That was probably his 20th centile and, most likely he still gets better. 90% of forwards have their best raw point seasons between age 26-29.

BUT QMJHL, that is a scary league these days. OHL, WHL and USHL are far superior. Heck, the Western divisions of the MHL are a lot better.

Put it this way, the transferability data I have says that the Q? Well... the Finnish u-20 league is currently probably better.

the ~10th best Dman in the Q currently? Between guys like Golicic, Handel, Brunet etc... IE 4th-6th round picks. Probably only about 20-25% of the D currently in the Q ever play pro hockey...

 

[FlyguyOX]

I mean... he was cant miss! He is a ~50-60 point forward at age 23. That was probably his 20th centile and, most likely he still gets better. 90% of forwards have their best raw point seasons between age 26-29.

BUT QMJHL, that is a scary league these days. OHL, WHL and USHL are far superior. Heck, the Western divisions of the MHL are a lot better.

Put it this way, the transferability data I have says that the Q? Well... the Finnish u-20 league is currently probably better.

the ~10th best Dman in the Q currently? Between guys like Golicic, Handel, Brunet etc... IE 4th-6th round picks. Probably only about 20-25% of the D currently in the Q ever play pro hockey...

OHL scoring is starting to look a bit like the QMJHL, tbh... getting out of hand.

 

[Appleyard]

OHL scoring is starting to look a bit like the QMJHL, tbh... getting out of hand.

Tbf amount of scoring never really reflects the quality of a league.

The Q has been kind of low scoring for a while now and is a worse league than it was when it was higher scoring!

This season (best 7 jr leagues in the world):

OHL: 7.33 G/GP
WHL: 7.00 G/GP
QMJHL: 6.70 G/GP
USHL: 6.71 G/GP
MHL: 5.97 G/GP
J20: 6.56 G/GP
SM-Saarja: 6.38 G/GP

 

[FLYguy3911]

Q scoring is down. We can let go of old narratives.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Progression/development isn't linear. Or else Lafreniere would be one of the best players in the league. I recall similar statements of his no-doubt-about-it status due to his scoring profile/history.

This can be said about literally every prospect ever. It’s all the more likely in lesser leagues *cough*Desnoyers*cough*.

We'll see. It depends how many top guys jump to college. I'm sure a lot of the CHL guys won't have the academic qualifications/levels to pass the standards of college.

I think some guys (like Powell?) go from USHL to college, then leave for the CHL in mid year. You have to pass your courses to play varsity and keep your scholarship, don't you?

College admissions work differently for athletes ( Ivy League says hello).

I just see good/not-great prospects like Mews commit to NCAA and to me that signals the floodgates are ahead. On a side note I do wonder how NHL teams feel about this since I’m pretty sure their rights expire after one season of college hockey since they were drafted out of the CHL which as far as I know the agreement is still two years of rights.

I don’t think the OHL will allow 15 year olds regularly since the GTHL is such a money maker, but something will have to give to backfill these players going the NCAA route.

 

[Magua]

the ~10th best Dman in the Q currently? Between guys like Golicic, Handel, Brunet etc... IE 4th-6th round picks. Probably only about 20-25% of the D currently in the Q ever play pro hockey...

So, you’re saying there’s not a market inefficiency in poor skating 2nd round Q defensemen?

 

[BernieParent]

FWIW, interesting read.

Top 5 picks are Schaefer, Misa, Frondell, Desnoyers, and Hagens.

They have the Flyers taking Martone at 6.

Then picking Cootes with the Colorado pick.

Then trading the Edmonton pick and a 2nd for Marco Rossi.

They also mock the rest of 2nd round Flyers picks.

Flyers Mock Draft 1.0: How to Spend Seven Top-50 Picks — The Hockey Writers

The Philadelphia Flyers stocked up heavily for the 2025 NHL Draft. In addition to picking sixth overall, they’ll have two other selections in the first round (location to be determined) and four in the second (officially 36th, 40th, 45th, and 48th).

apple.news

That was a good read and I appreciated the detailed rationale.

 

[Appleyard]

This can be said about literally every prospect ever. It’s all the more likely in lesser leagues *cough*Desnoyers*cough*.


College admissions work differently for athletes ( Ivy League says hello).

I just see good/not-great prospects like Mews commit to NCAA and to me that signals the floodgates are ahead. On a side note I do wonder how NHL teams feel about this since I’m pretty sure their rights expire after one season of college hockey since they were drafted out of the CHL which as far as I know the agreement is still two years of rights.

I don’t think the OHL will allow 15 year olds regularly since the GTHL is such a money maker, but something will have to give to backfill these players going the NCAA route.

Basically you have to reach the NCAA clearing house requirements. Which is, broadly speaking, a 2.3 GPA. That is across the board for div 1.

BUT quite a decent percentage of kids will struggle with that still. Basically any kid who is not a C grade student will struggle to get in... and ofc quite a few CHL kids pretty much dont go to school after age 16. So that is an interesting one.

And yeh, the NHL-CHL agreement will have to change right away. Sure it will this summer.


TBH I think what will happen is that the BCHL, AJHL, MJHL, SJHL, OJHL, CCHL and NAHL get raided.

 

[FlyguyOX]

I think the NCAA is fantastic for NHL prospects. More time to work on improving their body and strength and get to play against older players.

 

[Larry44]

Basically you have to reach the NCAA clearing house requirements. Which is, broadly speaking, a 2.3 GPA. That is across the board for div 1.

BUT quite a decent percentage of kids will struggle with that still. Basically any kid who is not a C grade student will struggle to get in... and ofc quite a few CHL kids pretty much dont go to school after age 16. So that is an interesting one.

And yeh, the NHL-CHL agreement will have to change right away. Sure it will this summer.


TBH I think what will happen is that the BCHL, AJHL, MJHL, SJHL, OJHL, CCHL and NAHL get raided.

Good point on the Tier 2 Jr leagues. The only reason guys like Makar stayed in Tier 2 is to be NCAA eligible. There will be no excuse for top players to stay in those leagues if they can just play in the CHL and still be eligible to jump to college when they are ready.

I'd like to think all the powers that be thought this through, on both sides of the border and keeping Europe in mind, but, it IS hockey after all....

 

[Magua]

It’s really hard for me to see Martone not being at least a 60 point complementary guy next to a plus transition player. Let him feast on the cycle + PP. That feels realistically slightly pessimistic. His small space skill is just too high, and it’ll translate. His physical pace needs to improve to talk high end outcomes — his skating seems fixable because the stride is fine — but that’s not his mental pace. He’s very good at manipulating pucks to extend windows too.

Meanwhile, it’s hard for me to see Desnoyers or Frondell’s ceilings being higher than that. Again, I like both players. There are far worse players they could take.

I feel like O’Brien is a popular name because he’s a 6’2 point producing center who feels like less of a known commodity. Which means imagined upside. But I don’t see that high upside. The more I watch the more his lack of urgency + lack of escapability bugs me. He almost has deceptively slow feet, the skill breaks down under tight checking, I see as much waiting/floating as anticipation. Some of his quality passes just don’t feel like NHL windows. His drastic PP/ES performance makes for positives and negatives. He honestly has the lowest floor of the popular names, but I don’t think his ceiling is any higher.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

I don’t remember any whispers about Briere liking Michkov, Bonk, or Luchanko when they were drafted. Were there any rumors?