2025 NHL Draft Thread

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

If Conroy knocks this draft out of the park like he just did last year, the Flames will be in a very good position to start coming out of this rebuild quickly in a couple of years.

While early returns are good on last years draft, we actually have no idea how these players will actually play in the pros.

We'll be lucky to have a couple of these players taking a regular turn in a few years.

[Naitix]

Top 5-7 seems incredibly good this year. Need to get into it

[Funkhouser]

We may not beat you on the scoreboard, but we will beat you on the draft board

[Tkachukwagon]

Way too early enthusiasm for Misa, but I’d love to get both brothers together in Calgary

https://twitter.com/user/status/1852056797449793885

[cral12]

UPDATE: As the Flames settle back down to probably what we were more expecting, Upside Hockey's latest rankings have just made their way into my inbox. Will try and get edited and published on the weekend.
(Moved into the new cancer this week, so a wee bit hectic!)

I'll be posting in here once up; another way to keep up-to-date is our Substack eNewsletter (if you're not all tired of me mentioning it by now lol)
https://upsidehockey.substack.com/

^We plan to roll out Sandman profiles via this route as well if all goes as planned.

[Roof-Daddy]

I hope we can get Reschny with a later round 1st after getting one of Hagens/Frondell/Ryabkin/McQueen/Misa with the earlier 1st

[dammage79]

If Misa even comes close to 80 goals he's going 1st overall. Won't even be close.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by Naitix

Top 5-7 seems incredibly good this year. Need to get into it

Team is definitely heading the right direction now.

I bet we get top 3

[Samonadreau]

It looks like Sanjo and Chicago will be in the battle of the tanks again.

[1qqaaz]

For whatever reason, it seems like 6'3" and 6'4" are better heights for goalies than 6'5"+. Out of the top 10 goalies in the NHL, I think Oettinger is the only one taller than 6'4"

NHL.com Top 10 Goalies:

10. Linus Ullmark - 6'4"
9. Juuse Saros - 5'11"
8. Jake Oettinger - 6'6"
7. Sergei Bobrovsky - 6'2"
6. Thatcher Demko - 6'4"
5. Ilya Sorokin - 6'4"
4. Jeremy Swayman - 6'3"
3. Andrei Vasilevskiy - 6'4"
2. Connor Hellebuyck - 6'4"
1. Igor Shesterkin - 6'1"

Big goalies are great, but huge goalies, maybe not so much. You can argue that 6'5"+ goalies are a bit rarer in general due to the fact that it's simply a less common height in the general population.

Joshua Ravensbergen is an interesting draft eligible prospect. He's 6'6" and has a career 34-5-5 record in the NHL. But his save percentage is just fine, as is his GAA. For very large goalies, I think health/durability is a factor that has to be taken into consideration.

And in case you're wondering, Flames prospects Arseni Sergeev, Yegor Yegorov, Kirill Zarubin, Daniil Chechelev, and Waltteri Ignatjew are all either 6'3" or 6"4.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

For whatever reason, it seems like 6'3" and 6'4" are better heights for goalies than 6'5"+. Out of the top 10 goalies in the NHL, I think Oettinger is the only one taller than 6'4"

NHL.com Top 10 Goalies:

10. Linus Ullmark - 6'4"
9. Juuse Saros - 5'11"
8. Jake Oettinger - 6'6"
7. Sergei Bobrovsky - 6'2"
6. Thatcher Demko - 6'4"
5. Ilya Sorokin - 6'4"
4. Jeremy Swayman - 6'3"
3. Andrei Vasilevskiy - 6'4"
2. Connor Hellebuyck - 6'4"
1. Igor Shesterkin - 6'1"

Big goalies are great, but huge goalies, maybe not so much. You can argue that 6'5"+ goalies are a bit rarer in general due to the fact that it's simply a less common height in the general population.

Joshua Ravensbergen is an interesting draft eligible prospect. He's 6'6" and has a career 34-5-5 record in the NHL. But his save percentage is just fine, as is his GAA. For very large goalies, I think health/durability is a factor that has to be taken into consideration.

And in case you're wondering, Flames prospects Arseni Sergeev, Yegor Yegorov, Kirill Zarubin, Daniil Chechelev, and Waltteri Ignatjew are all either 6'3" or 6"4.

Can't remember who I had this discussion with, but the same can be said for forwards- as much as there is not many successful NHL forwards under 5'10", there aren't many over 6'3", or even 6'2" for that matter. Many of the larger ones seem more injury prone, too. Seems like the sweet spot is between 6'0" and 6'3", IMO.

[FacePaint]

Wouldn't the main reason be due to more men being a height between 5'10-6'2 and thus a bigger pool of skilled players as a result?

[Sandman]

Porter Martone had a 4-point night (3g, 1a) to take over first spot in the OHL scoring race, with 12gp/15g/14a/29pts,+13, 21 PIM.

Michael Misa is third overall (first in goals) with 13gp/17g/9a/26pts,+8, 6 PIM.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by FacePaint

Wouldn't the main reason be due to more men being a height between 5'10-6'2 and thus a bigger pool of skilled players as a result?

There's some logic there (although the average American male is 5'9"), but it just illustrates that in a sport that values size, not many top players are seen to be of an "extreme" size.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Sandman

There's some logic there (although the average American male is 5'9"), but it just illustrates that in a sport that values size, not many top players are seen to be of an "extreme" size.

For context:

The average Canadian male aged 20-39 is a little over 5'10", which is more relevant for hockey. Swedish men average 5'11 1/2", Russians in their twenties a little over 5'10", Finns, Czechs, and Slovaks about the same as Russians. (The U.S. averages shorter partly because of the large Hispanic population: Mexican men average 5'7 1/2", and some Latin American countries average less than that. But those ethnic groups have never taken a widespread interest in hockey, as compared to béisbol or fútbol.)

It makes sense that most hockey players would be taller and heavier than the general population, as that is a big advantage in a contact sport. It also makes sense that few of them would be found at heights of, say, 6'4" or more, because such men are pretty rare in any country and not necessarily any more athletic than the general population.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

For context:

The average Canadian male aged 20-39 is a little over 5'10", which is more relevant for hockey. Swedish men average 5'11 1/2", Russians in their twenties a little over 5'10", Finns, Czechs, and Slovaks about the same as Russians. (The U.S. averages shorter partly because of the large Hispanic population: Mexican men average 5'7 1/2", and some Latin American countries average less than that. But those ethnic groups have never taken a widespread interest in hockey, as compared to béisbol or fútbol.)

It makes sense that most hockey players would be taller and heavier than the general population, as that is a big advantage in a contact sport. It also makes sense that few of them would be found at heights of, say, 6'4" or more, because such men are pretty rare in any country and not necessarily any more athletic than the general population.

Excellent post.

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Porter Martone had a 4-point night (3g, 1a) to take over first spot in the OHL scoring race, with 12gp/15g/14a/29pts,+13, 21 PIM.

Michael Misa is third overall (first in goals) with 13gp/17g/9a/26pts,+8, 6 PIM.

all three goals from just above the goal crease. Great hands in tight

https://twitter.com/user/status/1852525848265388369

[CliffFletcher]

Glowing profile of Martone in yesterday’s Athletic:

His junior head coach and general manager, his skills coach and his minor hockey coach all use the same three names.

Corey Perry. Brady Tkachuk. Matthew Tkachuk.

That’s what you’re getting, they’ll tell you — and are telling NHL teams — in Porter Martone...

His commitment off the ice has shown in his constant improvement on it, too.

“When I first saw him the first summer, you knew that there were so many unique skills and talents that he possesses with his unbelievable shot. He uses his frame really well. And for me he has just developed an overall maturity and understanding of how good he is and the potential and ceiling that’s there for him,” De Langley said. “You don’t expect it from a guy with that big frame to have the nice soft touch that he does and control things in tight to make things happen. The sky really is the limit.”

De Langley said he wouldn’t even be surprised if Martone wears an ‘A’ in the NHL within 3-5 years because of the combination of his work ethic, personality and game…

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/588...hl-draft-2025/

[Redrum]

Originally Posted by Tkachukwagon

Way too early enthusiasm for Misa, but I’d love to get both brothers together in Calgary

https://twitter.com/user/status/1852056797449793885

C'mon Luke, don't let "little" bro show you up.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by dammage79

If Misa even comes close to 80 goals he's going 1st overall. Won't even be close.

Even at 60 he probably does, his biggest strengths are skating, vision and passing so adding adding goal scoring is the icing on the cake. The reverse could be said for Hagens, as good as he is his somewhat muffin shot will hurt his chances for 1st OA.