2025 NHL Draft Thread

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Tacoman

Ummmm. King???!!!

Not trying to blow smoke up you here, but Taco Jr might actually be our best Center prospect at the moment.

[D as in David]

Honzek's probably got a better shot at the centre position than Kerins! does. And that's not all that high of a shot.

[Fan69]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Not trying to blow smoke up you here, but Taco Jr might actually be our best Center prospect at the moment.

Don’t disagree. Was hoping he is our first injury call up.

[Monahammer]

Also, I feel obligated to point out that you had legit "TacoKING" as an option but wound up with Tacoman? Missed opportunity lol.

[cral12]

Originally Posted by cral12

Alright, alright, alright.

Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Guide is now live for sale (using Gumroad for it's simplicity and ease of offering discounts).

CP exclusive discount code: CP34 for 34% off in honour of a certain former Flame.

It's been a wee bit of a labour love and not sure if it wasn't for the rainy weekend if would have ever completed it...

326 pages
224 prospects ranked
200+ profiles
32+ NHL Player Comps
15 Top 10 Prospect Categories (Shot, Playmaker, IQ etc)
Top 32 - 2026 NHL Draft Rankings Early Edition
+ Mock Draft, Sleepers, Overagers, etc

Here's the Draft Guide link on our website:
https://www.upsidehockey.com/draft-guide

Thanks again for all the support, CPers/Upsiders, from Sandman, Eldon MacD, and I, and certainly no problemo if you don't actually purchase ; )

Woah - we had an NHL Goalie Coach purchase a copy of our guide today.

back to your regularly scheduled programming...

[Fan69]

Originally Posted by cral12

Woah - we had an NHL Goalie Coach purchase a copy of our guide today.

back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Noice!

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by cral12

Woah - we had an NHL Goalie Coach purchase a copy of our guide today.

back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Nice to hear the Oilers are expanding their scouting beyond THN's draft preview.

[Tkachukwagon]

Originally Posted by Tacoman

Ummmm. King???!!!

If Calgary drafts McQueen, conceivably they can ice a King and McQueen line.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Tkachukwagon

Good sign if the Flames are trying to pick up another first this year

https://twitter.com/user/status/1937234984164872320

Listened to Scott Wheeler on 650. Highlights as follows:

- can list 18 names and 17 of those will move in the top 18
- if Canucks keep pick, they like Cootes, Reschny, Cam Reid
- too many teams trying to trade picks due to weakness of draft. Will result in teams making picks that they would otherwise want to move for immediate help
- Brady Martin big riser. Mentioned that teams might be looking at the 2 Russians Prokohorov and Zharovsky as people who might go in the first round after the 'consensus' 17-18 names go. Ryker Lee also mentioned as a player to watch in late first
- expect Habs to go with size in the picks prior to us given that they have Demidov and Caufield as small skilled guys
- will still find players in an average/below average draft. Believes that teams should buy low on 2025 picks as prices are reasonable/picks are undervalued

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I don't know if he ends up a centre but I think if not for his injury he's a top 10 talent in this draft. So I would take the chance that he's healthy, and go for him on talent and skill set.

Based on scouting reports....

Pros:

- Non-stop motor. He is always playing with energy and works as hard away from the puck as he does without it. 200 foot player.

- High hockey IQ. He finds the open areas and gets into the dirty spots.

- Plays with a bit of a mean streak. Likes to hit and seems to excel when games get physical. He gets more intense when things are getting physical.

- Can be a bit of an agitator.

- Can skate through traffic while being impeded.

Cons:

- Not the best skater. He gets to where he needs to be because of his motor, but his skating style isn't efficient and lacks separation speed. But hey, that's what Fujitas are for. He does get occasional breakaways but more because of his HIQ than having separation speed.

- A bit of a north-south kind of player. It's not necessarily bad thing, but won't excite people either. His strategy is more to motor his way into the zone, then dish the puck off to a team mate, while he finds an opening

- Average shot. It's not bad, but not a strength either. He relies more on positioning to produce offense.

I have heard comparables to Hagel and that while Bear might not be the fastest or have the best puck skills, his style is very translatable to the NHL and playoff hockey.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Here's Jiri's mock, designed to get Bear to Calgary.

1. NYI: Schaefer
2. SJ: Misa
3. Chicago: Frondell (could see Martone here)
4. Utah: Martin
5. Nashville: Hagens
6. Philly: Desnoyers
7. Boston: Marton
8. Seattle: Jake O'Brien
9. Buffalo: Martka
10. Anaheim: Jackson Smith
11. Pittsburgh: McQueen
12. NYR: Aicheson
13. Detroit: Eklund
14. CBJ: Lakovic
15. Vancouver: Cameron Reid
16. Montreal: Carbonneau
17. Montreal: Hensler
18. Calgary: Bear

That's how Bear gets to Calgary. (I doubt it happens)

Out of thanks, but nice work Jiri! I like Bear a lot, and wouldn’t mind seeing him in a Flames jersey at all. I have Bear at # 18 myself.

[sureLoss]

Kings looking to move down. Would you trade 32 + 54 for 24?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1937308783619051799

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Listened to Scott Wheeler on 650. Highlights as follows:

- can list 18 names and 17 of those will move in the top 18
- if Canucks keep pick, they like Cootes, Reschny, Cam Reid
- too many teams trying to trade picks due to weakness of draft. Will result in teams making picks that they would otherwise want to move for immediate help
- Brady Martin big riser. Mentioned that teams might be looking at the 2 Russians Prokohorov and Zharovsky as people who might go in the first round after the 'consensus' 17-18 names go. Ryker Evans also mentioned as a player to watch in late first
- expect Habs to go with size in the picks prior to us given that they have Demidov and Caufield as small skilled guys
- will still find players in an average/below average draft. Believes that teams should buy low on 2025 picks as prices are reasonable/picks are undervalued

Oh man! I really hope Conroy finds a way to get our scouts a few more at bats.

It just seems that good teams always find guys in these weaker drafts, or later in good drafts, and I have a lot of faith in our scouts aftwr last year.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Kings looking to move down. Would you trade 32 + 54 for 24?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1937308783619051799

Absolutely.

Though, I do think they're going to try and acquire Robertson if they can.

[AC]

Originally Posted by The Original FFIV

Listened to Scott Wheeler on 650. Highlights as follows:

- Brady Martin big riser. Mentioned that teams might be looking at the 2 Russians Prokohorov and Zharovsky as people who might go in the first round after the 'consensus' 17-18 names go. Ryker Evans also mentioned as a player to watch in late first

Drafted in 2021, is there another Ryker Evans?

[RedHawk12]

Originally Posted by AC

Drafted in 2021, is there another Ryker Evans?

Ryker Lee. Probably a typo

[Tkachukwagon]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1937312970570362934

[dammage79]

Well earned honestly. I'd kill to have Frondell on the Flames. Sadly, life doesn't work this way.

[JTech780]

If it goes Schaefer, Frondell, Misa, I would think the Desnoyers would go to Utah. Just seems like a great fit for Utah.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by JTech780

If it goes Schaefer, Frondell, Misa, I would think the Desnoyers would go to Utah. Just seems like a great fit for Utah.

Armstrong's a wild man in the draft. That year they took Daniil But and the other big Russian was akin to Anaheim taking Senneke 3rd overall last year.