2025 NHL Entry Draft Thread

[Mr. Allen]

29 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Feel like I am the only one not concerned with drafting 4,5,6. It is almost the same in this draft. 

Ah.  But is there a difference between 3 and 4? 

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

Ah.  But is there a difference between 3 and 4? 

Depends on if 3 is Hagens or Martone. But yes. There's also a difference between 4 and 5 if we think that Schaefer, Misa, Hagens, and Martone are a true top 4 with a tier after pick 4. 

That said... we hit 5 and those 4 are gone, it is a bit of a "pick your poison" sort of thing where there's probably 6 guys you can convince me should go next. 

Personally I like Carter Bear a lot but no one ranks him that high. 

[Thorner]

Game changer gap between 2 and 3 

Doesn’t matter where we finish, will need some luck to grab a top 2 spot 

just win the games you can and make a good pick if you can’t trade it. You are going to get someone “good”, and so are a whole bunch of other teams, too. A top 2 could represent a little bit of quicker gained ground if we are lucky, both to get the pick and after

Edited Wednesday at 06:07 PM by Thorner

[Flashsabre]

You could pick number 5 and have Martone or Hagens sitting there. Really depends what the teams in spots 3 and 4 think.

I think you can lock Schaefer and Misa in the top 2 spots after that it will be interesting.

Desnoyers, Frondell and McQueen are all bigger centres that might appeal to teams in that range.

[Flashsabre]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/scouts-analysis-ranking-the-top-64-prospects-for-the-2025-nhl-draft/
 

Very good read. Frondell 3rd, Martone 6th

Desnoyers sounds like a ROR type player. Someone you want on the ice in every single situation.

Edited Wednesday at 06:56 PM by Flashsabre

[LGR4GM]

41 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/scouts-analysis-ranking-the-top-64-prospects-for-the-2025-nhl-draft/
 

Very good read. Frondell 3rd, Martone 6th

Desnoyers sounds like a ROR type player. Someone you want on the ice in every single situation.

Frondell plays with Eklund and my understanding is that Eklund drives that line. 

[LGR4GM]

Henry Brzustewicz, 6'1" RHD would be my target for their 2nd round pick. He plays on a London team that has: Sam Dickinson (11th), Cam Allen (136th), and Oliver Bonk (22nd) so he has been surrounded by good defense partners and still managed to come in 2nd in pts for them. Also, I have a bit of faith in London developing defenders so I think once Dickinson leaves for SJ that Brzustewicz might see a big jump. 

[DarthEbriate]

PHI and BOS are cooked and purposefully mailing it in; the Sabres have 2 games in hand on Seattle who have a vicious schedule of playoff teams looking to get home-ice in their opening round (DAL, EDM, LAK). There's a good chance the Sabres drop all the way to 8th in the overall selection.

[Mr. Allen]

1 hour ago, DarthEbriate said:

PHI and BOS are cooked and purposefully mailing it in; the Sabres have 2 games in hand on Seattle who have a vicious schedule of playoff teams looking to get home-ice in their opening round (DAL, EDM, LAK). There's a good chance the Sabres drop all the way to 8th in the overall selection.

That’s what I’m thinking too.  That’s why I’m so torn.  I’m not sure how to feel when we win.  
But then again, maybe another Benson will fall to us (and I don’t mean a small forward, I mean a player that shouldn’t have been available) 

[LGR4GM]

17 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

That’s what I’m thinking too.  That’s why I’m so torn.  I’m not sure how to feel when we win.  
But then again, maybe another Benson will fall to us (and I don’t mean a small forward, I mean a player that shouldn’t have been available) 

The reason Benson was available was because he was small. 

[Mr. Allen]

53 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

The reason Benson was available was because he was small. 

I know.  My point was only that he was a player that was much better than his draft position. 

[LGR4GM]

11 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

I know.  My point was only that he was a player that was much better than his draft position. 

Eklund and probably Bear will go later than they should. Always hard to tell in a draft like this. 

[Thorner]

9 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

PHI and BOS are cooked and purposefully mailing it in; the Sabres have 2 games in hand on Seattle who have a vicious schedule of playoff teams looking to get home-ice in their opening round (DAL, EDM, LAK). There's a good chance the Sabres drop all the way to 8th in the overall selection.

How apropos 

[LGR4GM]

Scott Wheeler on Schaefer and why he's ranked #1 just about everywhere: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6232549/2025/03/27/2025-nhl-draft-schaefer-misa-hagens-mailbag/

Quote

Schaefer was the best player on the ice at the Hlinka. He was going end-to-end when he got back from mono in the OHL. He was head and shoulders above everyone on the ice at the two CHL-USA Prospects Challenge games in November, on ice he shared with Misa — and Misa was great in those games, and it still wasn’t close! He stood out at Canada’s World Junior selection camp playing with first-round picks from 2023 and 2024 just a few months after his 17th birthday. He was arguably Canada’s best defenseman through four periods during the actual tournament before the injury...

...But when you start to add all of them up for Schaefer, it’s really not as small a sample as fans seem to have in their head. And when you add the world-class skating (I can count on one hand the number of defensemen I’ve watched who can fly like he can), that September birthday, who he is as a person (an awesome kid) and his smarts on the ice, it’s not everyday that a D prospect of his caliber comes around and teams still value top D above all else.

 

[Flashsabre]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Scott Wheeler on Schaefer and why he's ranked #1 just about everywhere: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6232549/2025/03/27/2025-nhl-draft-schaefer-misa-hagens-mailbag/

 

This is why I said if the Sabres get the first pick you take him. Forget position. Take the player who is the best. The kid has electric skating, engages physically, defends and puts up points.

[Thorner]

 

 

[Flashsabre]

1 minute ago, Thorner said:

 

 

I see both sides. Misa is having a terrific season and has already won a Memorial Cup. If Buffalo got the first pick and took Misa I wouldn’t be mad.

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, Flashsabre said:

I see both sides. Misa is having a terrific season and has already won a Memorial Cup. If Buffalo got the first pick and took Misa I wouldn’t be mad.

I see both as well. The fact it’s so close in my perception and it’s difficult to honestly say who ends up better is why it makes sense to me to select the player who makes it much less likely we need to swing a trade for balance. A trade under the domain of Terry Pegula 

[LGR4GM]

Schaefer is better than Misa in my book but it won't matter at all without a lottery win, which is unlikely. The real question will be more along the lines of McQueen, Desnoyers, or option 3. 

[Mr. Allen]

You guys ever go to that site called Tankathon?  It allows you to sim the lottery and then gives you a mock draft depending on how the sim goes. 
I simmed the lottery like 20 times and not once did the Sabres win.  I’ve resigned to the Sabres missing out on the top 4 and getting one of the next tier.  
At this point I want the upside of McQueen.  

[LGR4GM]

I am not sure there is a top 4 anymore. I feel like there's a top 2 and then another 4 players behind that right now. Martone, Hagens, Desnoyers, Frondell, with McQueen a possible late addition. Desnoyers and Frondell are climbing up while Hagens and Martone have slid a touch. 

Note, when I say this I mean in the general rankings, I don't necessarily agree. 

[shrader]

1 hour ago, Mr. Allen said:

You guys ever go to that site called Tankathon?  It allows you to sim the lottery and then gives you a mock draft depending on how the sim goes. 
I simmed the lottery like 20 times and not once did the Sabres win.  I’ve resigned to the Sabres missing out on the top 4 and getting one of the next tier.  
At this point I want the upside of McQueen.  

20 losses just means that they’re due.

Seriously though, these simulations mean absolutely nothing. Hell, we don’t even know where they’ll finish in the standings. At this point, it looks like they can go anywhere from 3rd all the way to 8th. All those games in hand and the fact that they’ve been winning more than a few of the teams they’re chasing, they’re probably going to jump a few teams. I’ll go right down the middle and say 6th. 

[Flashsabre]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

I am not sure there is a top 4 anymore. I feel like there's a top 2 and then another 4 players behind that right now. Martone, Hagens, Desnoyers, Frondell, with McQueen a possible late addition. Desnoyers and Frondell are climbing up while Hagens and Martone have slid a touch. 

Note, when I say this I mean in the general rankings, I don't necessarily agree. 

I think you’re right. The top 2 is set and then the next group depends on how the rest of the playoffs play out for these kids and then the combine and what teams are looking for. Big centres always take precedence over small centre and wingers when it comes to NHL front offices. 

[Thorner]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I am not sure there is a top 4 anymore. I feel like there's a top 2 and then another 4 players behind that right now. Martone, Hagens, Desnoyers, Frondell, with McQueen a possible late addition. Desnoyers and Frondell are climbing up while Hagens and Martone have slid a touch. 

Note, when I say this I mean in the general rankings, I don't necessarily agree. 

Agree. Top 2 for sure 

[Mr. Allen]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I am not sure there is a top 4 anymore. I feel like there's a top 2 and then another 4 players behind that right now. Martone, Hagens, Desnoyers, Frondell, with McQueen a possible late addition. Desnoyers and Frondell are climbing up while Hagens and Martone have slid a touch. 

Note, when I say this I mean in the general rankings, I don't necessarily agree. 

With Hagens and Martone fading a little I can see them in their own tier below the top 2.  But I still see those guys ahead of the next group.  
I don’t know why, but Frondell does nothing for me.  I kind of like how Desnoyers plays.  Eklund could be fun. But still like the upside of McQueen.  

Just win the lottery.