2025 NHL Draft Thread

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

USHL is equivalent to what? Like the US version of the BCHL?

I thought they had a US national team playing in that league.

Yeah, it’s said to be equivalent to the BCHL, but it’s still considered to be a hard league to score in. The USHL’s leading scorer only has 74 points in 62 games.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Has there ever been a draft year where the following two drafts have probable consensus #1 picks already?

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Has there ever been a draft year where the following two drafts have probable consensus #1 picks already?

04 and 05?

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Has there ever been a draft year where the following two drafts have probable consensus #1 picks already?

Hard to remember but possible candidates:
97/98 (Thornton, Lecavalier)
04/05 (AO, Crosby) - this one is for sure
08/09 (Stankos/Tavares)
15/16 (McDavid/Matthews) - this one is also for sure

[Scroopy Noopers]

That lockout messed me up and I had OV and Crosby backwards in my mind. I forgot about Tavares, but Matthews during the 2014 season? That’s cool.

[sureLoss]

NHL Central Scouting has released final rankings:
https://www.nhl.com/news/2025-nhl-draft-final-rankings

NA Skaters: https://media.d3.nhle.com/image/priv...fgqsqrdvjg.pdf

NA Goalies:
https://media.d3.nhle.com/image/priv...2fcvhvk98g.pdf

International Skaters:
https://media.d3.nhle.com/image/priv...6fsshye6u5.pdf

International Goalies:
https://media.d3.nhle.com/image/priv...tfw3zpvsuf.pdf

[dammage79]

Gastrin is interesting as the #3 ranked euro skater. That could be in the Flames wheelhouse.

Gastrin, Ryabkin, Cootes, Reschny, Horcoff. Not a terrible list to pick from with their two picks


Gastrin looks like he could top out as a 2nd line C.

[Monahammer]

Sharangovich-Ryabkin-Gridin might be interesting in the middle six. Ryabkin-Reschny would be my targets in the mid-late first.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Sharangovich-Ryabkin-Gridin might be interesting in the middle six. Ryabkin-Reschny would be my targets in the mid-late first.

Ryabkin as a homerun swing with one pick, then You take a safe bet like Reschny or Gastrin or Cootes.

[SuperMatt18]

Reschny seems like a decent target. He's a bit small but is a strong 200ft player otherwise.

I'd be pretty happy with him as one of the 2 first round picks.

And yeah if Ryabkin is there the Flames need to take that home run swing.

In his Draft-1 he had 58 points in 44 games in the MHL.

Demidov had 62 points in 41 games in his Draft-1, Michkov had 38 in 22.

Ryabkin has a lot of talent but something was just off with him all year due to bouncing between KHL, MHL, and then USHL. But I'd take that flyer any day of the week.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Reschny seems like a decent target. He's a bit small but is a strong 200ft player otherwise.

I'd be pretty happy with him as one of the 2 first round picks.

Yeah. I'm glad to see him at 25 on the NA list... Might not mean much with the playoffs he's having, but that's Calgary's wheelhouse.

[Bonded]

What’s the issue with Ryabkin, attitude?

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Bonded

What’s the issue with Ryabkin, attitude?

Allegedly. I have not seen anything substantiated. But there's rumors he's a bit of a primdonna.

But, this has been the same song and dance for the two previous Russian top prospects in Michkov and Demidov. If I was efficient at digging up the same stuff from the previous draft threads I would, but it's all there. It's almost the same story every time.

Ryabkin hasn't been as dominant as he predecessors but he also chose a different path. Just the fact he came to NA to get integrated and not committed to further KHL commitments is a good enough sign to me that he's all in on playing in the NHL.

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Gastrin is interesting as the #3 ranked euro skater. That could be in the Flames wheelhouse.

Gastrin, Ryabkin, Cootes, Reschny, Horcoff. Not a terrible list to pick from with their two picks


Gastrin looks like he could top out as a 2nd line C.

I don't know, I have a hard time taking anyone named "Milton" seriously.

[Mass_nerder]

Originally Posted by Ba'alzamon

I don't know, I have a hard time taking anyone named "Milton" seriously.

Now if they changed out the puck for a red stapler...

[SeanCharles]

What are the thoughts on biggest upside between the potentially available 'B' level guys that are in our range that seem to have high end offensive tools?

- Ryabkin
- Reschny
- Kindel
- Schmidt
- Potter

[Jiggy]

Anyone know in Kindell has been playing C or RW this year?

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by Jiggy

Anyone know in Kindell has been playing C or RW this year?

Both. It seemed like he and Tulk traded positions back and forth for most of the season.

[Ashes]

After seeing how well Demidov is being received in Montreal I'd be surprised if they didn't take Ryabkin with one of their/our firsts TBH. Maybe Aitcheson with the other.

[Fan69]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

What are the thoughts on biggest upside between the potentially available 'B' level guys that are in our range that seem to have high end offensive tools?

- Ryabkin
- Reschny
- Kindel
- Schmidt
- Potter

For myself reschny, then schmidt, potter, kindel, ryabkin is approaching dont draft territory wouldnt be surprised if he was on a lot of dont draft lists.

However guys like martin, cootes, zonnon, murtagh, gastrin, reid all are in that teens early 20’s range.

Kindel i have mixed feelings probably not a center and the last thing we need is an undersized winger. Potter other than speed im not sure he is translatable,

A lot of it comes down to how you rank prospects. Cootes probably has middle six potential, how do you compare that to a skilled but undersized winger who may be top six?

For myself, especially considering what we have in the system, the center is going to win unless its a blatant skill advantage.