2025 NHL Draft Thread

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Why would the rangers want to pay for Rasmus to play 3rd string RD for them, though? I agree, Buffalo is hard to trade with while players control elements of their destiny. But I also don't see much motivation for the rangers. Maybe Coleman would be a better rangers fit? But then, not worth 12th, certainly not alone.

Zary+ Florida pick for 9 might be pretty interesting. I like Zary fine, but we have winger depth in the org.

Zary has looked pretty good when he’s played centre.

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by Royle9

I cant see Zonnon making it out of the 1st, he's probably one of the better 2-way centers available in the later half of the 1st.

With that said, stranger things have happened (see last year) so its possible.

Personally, I think Zonnon is more likely to move up than down. He's a 6'2" C who scored over 80 points this year. People like players like that.

[Toonage]

Now that the Oilers have locked in a 29-32 pick for the flyers I wonder if the Flames eye Nashville as a trade partner to swap 18 for the Preds later picks. Guess I'm wondering Nashville would entertain that and the Flames could get 3 picks in round 1. Would it be worth it?

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Now that the Oilers have locked in a 29-32 pick for the flyers I wonder if the Flames eye Nashville as a trade partner to swap 18 for the Preds later picks. Guess I'm wondering Nashville would entertain that and the Flames could get 3 picks in round 1. Would it be worth it?

i think that's a call you make on the draft floor. If you get to 18 and there are several players that you don't rank differently, you move down. But the price you get back from that type of thing is typically an additional pick from a mid round, not another first.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Latest rankings from Cosentino
This is not a mock, but his rankings.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...s-may-edition/

[Tbull8]

Kindel
Reschny
Cootes
Nesbitt
Zonnon

Are the realistic options in the range of 18 that really excite me, MAYBE one or two falls to the florida pick.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Depending on who else is on the board at Florida's pick, Horcoff is someone I would consider. Double-points for rubbing it in the faces of Oilers' fans who could have had a pick this draft at around this slot but opted to make a bad trade last draft.

[3thirty]

Hopefully Ravensburger goes top 18 or at least before the Florida pick letting a position player slide for us.

[dustygoon]

Originally Posted by 3thirty

Hopefully Ravensburger goes top 18 or at least before the Florida pick letting a position player slide for us.

This would also be good because then we can't take Ravensburger!

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

This would also be good because then we can't take Ravensburger!

If they're as close to locking up Wolf long term as some of the rumours suggest, Calgary won't be drafting goaltenders early for the next four or five years and will just stick with late-pick goalies every year or two.

Outside the Leland Irving pick 15 years ago, they've only twice picked goalies in the top rounds (2014 and 2016), when they were really struggling to find a steady presence in net (or if you include Gillies in round 3 in 2012, when Kipper was close to retirement).

They look to have their guy for the next decade so happily they no longer need to pick another goalie early for quite a while.

[Sandman]

Draft Thoughts (Aces Edition, Vol. 3):

RHC Braeden Cootes (6'0",183lbs)
Seattle (WHL): 60gp/ 26g/ 37a/ 63pts, +5, 18 PIM

The Seattle Thunderbirds were the 2nd-worst team in the WHL in mid-January, but surged in the last few months of the season as some new faces became more acclimated to the team (Radim Mrtka for one), rising up high enough to squeak into the playoffs as the 16th-seed out of 22 teams. The excitement was short-lived however, as the T-Birds were eliminated from the post-season in the first round by the Everett Silvertips, in six games. The youngest Captain in the 'Dub this season was Seattle's Braeden Cootes (ranked # 20 NA Skaters, # 22 by McKenzie, # 38 by Button), who also wore the "C" in the most recent U-18 Tournament, leading Team Canada to a Gold Medal. He compiled 6 goals and 12 points in just 7 games at that event, good enough for 4th-overall, and 1st in scoring on a star-studded Team Canada. Cootes also led his team in scoring through the WHL playoffs, with 8 points in 6 games. A smart, gritty, two-way C, he plays in all situations as a heart-and-soul warrior, with a mature pro-style game, and is obviously a natural leader.

Cootes is a first-rate defensive center, and a superb penalty-killer, who is always highly involved and engaged in his own-zone. With good habits, immaculate positioning, and a detailed approach, he backchecks hard- disrupting breakouts, disturbing transition, and snuffing entries, with unrelenting motor and tenacity through every inch of the entire 200-ft ice-surface. Driven by elite defensive awareness and anticipation, he shuts plays down proactively with stick-lifts, pass interceptions, poke-checks, sweeps and chops, and skating into hands. He's highly disruptive, with the ability to apply extreme pressure on opponents with his insurmountable pace, his physicality, and his ability to read the play and react with aggressive foresight, taking away time and space from puck-carriers with his dog-on-a-bone mentality. As any responsible defensive center would do, he suffocates incursions to the middle, lifts sticks from behind, forces attacks to the outside, blocks shots, and supports his defensemen- both down low, as well as in front of the net. Cootes is usually the first forward back in the zone. A fearless warrior, he plies a high amount of physicality and grit all over the ice, including huge hits in open-ice and along the boards to slow down the opposing team's attack, and dislodge pucks. He is stifling to breakouts on the forecheck, challenging puck-carriers with his pace, keeping them off-balance with stick-checks, and forcing turnovers with physical pressure. He battles hard for pucks in all the greasy areas of the ice, including the net-front, and is usually the first on a loose puck. Going forward, he will need to bulk up significantly, and get much stronger, if he wishes to play the same style in the pros.

Cootes provided a very good argument with his stellar performance at the U-18's that he's much more than a potential 3rd-line checker, and though he's slightly more of a playmaker than finisher, he has a balanced offensive game. He exerts a very simple meat-and-potatoes style, and gets most of his tallies from his nose for the net; he will drive the crease to convert rebounds, and isn't afraid to plant himself in-front to clean up garbage, or tip shots. He consistently finds slivers of space in the middle to occupy off-puck, and attacks the slot with possession. He displays soft hands in-close, and can bulge twine from between the dots, but his shot is not that special, and is in need of refinement in terms of power and precision- he could also also use a sneakier release. As with the defensive-third, he owns excellent awareness in the other end of the ice, with a clear map of where his teammates are, and makes quick decisions with crisp and accurate feeds- threading the needle through traffic, as he displayed at the U-18's, and he's adept at passing from his backhand. Cootes is pretty strong on the puck, but his puck-skills are around average; he can deke through traffic at times, dangle around defenders, and exhibits tight protection ability, but he sometimes struggles to get pucks under control after receptions while in-motion, and can lose the handle at top-speed once in a while. This limits him a bit in transition, and he tends to defer to teammates to do the carrying, while playing more of a support role. An excellent skater, he wins most races, outruns defenders, and creates distance from pursuers in open-ice- but he still isn't getting the most out of stride, as he's not fully extending. He hustles extremely hard, which amplifies his speed, and wields a high-activity rate, with the ability to dictate the pace. Adding strength to his lower-body will make his acceleration more explosive, and he could use a little more fluidity in his edges. Cootes has the ceiling of a highly responsible, 2nd-line C- but he's a safe pick, with the possibility of settling in as a high-end 3C. Look for him in the second-half of the first-round.

[Tbull8]

Bryce Pickford was passed over last draft. No chance he gets passed over after the playoffs he’s having for Med Hat

[Tbull8]

Shea Van Olm, Calgary kid on Spokane had a massive year as an overager too. He’s committed to Penn State, where the flames seem to have a good connection with. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him at a flames camp sometime in the future

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Tbull8

Bryce Pickford was passed over last draft. No chance he gets passed over after the playoffs he’s having for Med Hat

I did a write-up on Pickford last year, and despite his measly stats from 2023-24, I was shocked that he wasn’t picked. I really like that kid.

A few others who were passed over were D Daniel Nieminen, D Daniil Ustinkov, D Anthony Cristoforo, and D Jack Brauti. There were others, but I forgot…

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Tbull8

Shea Van Olm, Calgary kid on Spokane had a massive year as an overager too. He’s committed to Penn State, where the flames seem to have a good connection with. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him at a flames camp sometime in the future

Our new Brandon Prust!, nicest guy in the world off the ice, on the ice not so much.

Seriously though, if he can improve his skating in college he may get a shot in a few years, I wish him luck

[Icon]

I could see the Flames taking Cootes with the Florida pick if he's still there. Pick an offensive player at 18, then your Backlund replacement in a couple years in Cootes.

[cral12]

Upside Update:

Gradually getting Sandman's great work up on Upside's Substack eNewsletter:

No real new material for CPers, just spreading the great word of the Sandman and includes prospect pics...

https://twitter.com/user/status/1923786770233295259

Home page: https://upsidehockey.substack.com/

Latest one up: Nathan Behm:
https://upsidehockey.substack.com/p/...profile-nathan

We're also getting some love on Reddit; e.g. Haoxi Wang:
https://www.reddit.com/r/fantasyhock...le_haoxi_wang/

Thanks for the support, all!

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Icon

I could see the Flames taking Cootes with the Florida pick if he's still there. Pick an offensive player at 18, then your Backlund replacement in a couple years in Cootes.

I would prefer Nilson, very underrated.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Tbull8

Bryce Pickford was passed over last draft. No chance he gets passed over after the playoffs he’s having for Med Hat

My kid did two weeks with Pickford in Florida in the summer. He's bloody good.

[Sandman]

Draft Thoughts (Aces Edition, Vol. 4):

LHC Cole Reschny (5'10.5", 187lbs)
Victoria (WHL): 62gp/ 26g/ 66a/ 92pts, +42, 44 PIM

By my count, C Cole Reschny (ranked # 25 NA Skaters, # 29 by McKenzie, # 11 by Button) piled up 46 points in the last 25 games of the regular-season with the Victoria Royals, who finished 5th-overall in the standings, and were eliminated from the post-season by Spokane in round #2. With 92 points, he was 9th in WHL scoring, but was 2nd-overall in playoff scoring in points-per-game (2.27), behind only Gavin McKenna, and ahead of Andrew Cristall, Berkly Catton, and others- posting an incredible 25 points in just 11 contests. With the Royals done for the year, Reschny (who wore an "A" for Victoria) punctuated the season by joining Team Canada in progress at the U-18 Tournament, and placed 11th-overall in scoring (7th in ppg, at 1.60), and 5th on the team (despite missing the first two games), with 5 goals and 8 points in 5 contests- en route to a gold medal. It was more of the same for him in last summer's Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, where he was tied for 5th-overall in scoring, and was tied for 1st on Team Canada, while winning another gold medal. His 3 goals and 7 points in 5 games at that event put him ahead of the aforementioned Gavin McKenna, as well as names like Caleb Desnoyers, and Brady Martin. Reschny is a well-rounded C, who may lack ideal size, but definitely doesn't lack heart, will, or compete.

First of all, Reschny is an excellent skater, with above-average speed, but he's not a burner. He has a springy first-step, but lacks overall explosiveness, and could use more strength in his lower-body to improve his power. The mechanics of his stride aren't perfect, with a bit of a knock-kneed step at times, but it appears to be otherwise smooth and projectable. He moves fluidly on his edges, changes direction smoothly, makes sharp cuts, and stays slippery, shifty, and elusive. Most importantly, he is able to push pace. Reschny owns an elite brain, and reads the play like few others at the Major Junior level can, with high-end awareness, and top-shelf IQ in all three zones. These traits shine through in his playmaking, as well as his highly intelligent off-puck game, as he shows the ability to create space for both himself and for teammates, and makes passes that always seem to put the recipients in advantageous situations. His movement with-and-without possession manipulates defenses to shift, and puts them off-balance; he employs delays, deception, and cut-backs to bait pressure, attacks up the middle to push back defenses and drag down defenders, and can expertly pry open passing seams. With top-notch vision and soft-touch passing skills, he can thread the needle through traffic with cross-ice feeds, and usually with the perfect weight, velocity, and timing to the receiver's tape- he can execute one-touch passes, saucers over sticks, slips through triangles, and precision backhands. Often using give-and-go sequences, he relocates to a more dangerous position on the ice after dishing off to open more space, and supports the play by presenting himself as a high-value, playable option. Using his strong spatial awareness, he reads gaps well and finds spaces to fill, using deception in the form of hesitations, stutter-steps, shifts of weight, fakes, and look-offs to force defenders to chase, and overcommit. Reschny's puck-skills are also exemplary, with the ability to handle in tight spaces, maintain control and catch smoothly at high-speed, settle down and corral wild passes while in-motion, and make plays while battling through contact. He protects quite well for a shorter player, and can deke goalies out of their equipment, and dangle around checkers.

While he isn't shy at all about shooting, he needs to improve the power of his wrister, and work on building a more deceptive release, as a high number of his shots get blocked or easily saved. His one-timer is difficult to stop though, and he adjusts his shot-selection well to fit the situation, with precision in his puck-placement when shooting from between the dots. Most of his tallies come from driving the inside with his stick on the ice, attacking the net from up the middle, and going to the net to pounce on rebounds. Reschny is a details-oriented defensive stalwart with good habits, who pursues the puck like a dog on a bone, and disrupts enemy plays in every inch of the ice- backchecking with purpose and urgency. He's highly involved in-zone, from pressuring the point, to supporting his D down low and in front of the net; with his high-level awareness and anticipation, he is always in proper position to make stops proactively, eliminate secondary threats, stifle attacks to the middle, and drive opponents to the perimeter. He sees plays as they are developing, poking away pucks, intercepting passes, blocking shots, and sweeping pucks off of sticks. Despite his stature, he's built like a fire-hydrant, and is farmboy strong, which enables him to adminster an effective physical game; he battles diligently in all the greasy areas, wins more than his fair share of 50/50 contests with his compete level alone, and gets inside on his adversaries a lot. He isn't afraid to take a hit to make a play, and also moves through contact, fights his way out of pins, and goes to war with defenders in front of the net. Reschny forechecks with tenacity and grit to cause nightmares for puck-carriers, immediately turning the play around into the cycle upon turnover and recovery. If there's any weaknesses in Reschny's game, they mostly lie in his lack of size; though he's uncommonly strong and resilient, he can still be pushed around by larger opponents, and he has to learn to manage contact better for the next level- as he takes a lot of hard hits. This kid REALLY knows how to hockey- look for him in the middle frame of the first-round.