2025 NHL Draft Thread

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by HitterD

Why do you think that is? Perhaps the size and average skating combination? I do wonder if he is able to improve his skating significantly if centre would be a better fit for him long term. He’s always looked good at C when he played it with the Hitmen, but it’s the WHL not the pros

I would say it’s mostly size and skating. You want centers who can match up well against the other team’s center, and be able to get to the defensive zone quickly from deep in the other end.

[Fan69]

Honestly surprised so many people are pitching for an undersized winger with skating issues. I get his skill and tenacity are on the higher end but he projects as a winger something we have in spades who also happen to be skilled and most are average or bigger and better skaters.

Underssized wingers have to overcome a pile of obstacles to become impact players so i dont see how kindel would help us more than a guy like zonnon who has skating issues but is bigger, just as tenacious, projects as a center and was also top ten in his league for scoring. Or murtagh a big natural center who skates well and has a nasty shot?

Considering how many teams are looking at center depth this year inckuding ourselves i cant see picking an undersized winger.

[Freeway]

At his best (usually at centre), Kindel's a play-driving beast, though. That's sort of why scouts love him. He definitely has rough spots to his game, though.

[1qqaaz]

Jake OBrien is a big center with upside would be a great pick for the Flames if they somehow got #8, #9, or #10 via an Andersson+ trade.

"Smaht Scouting - March 23rd: "Jake O’Brien is a reliable, well-rounded center who brings strong two-way presence and playmaking instincts to the ice. He blends size, reach, and poise to maintain possession through pressure, often using his length and tight puck control to navigate through traffic in the neutral zone or along the perimeter."

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Fan69

Honestly surprised so many people are pitching for an undersized winger with skating issues. I get his skill and tenacity are on the higher end but he projects as a winger something we have in spades who also happen to be skilled and most are average or bigger and better skaters.

Underssized wingers have to overcome a pile of obstacles to become impact players so i dont see how kindel would help us more than a guy like zonnon who has skating issues but is bigger, just as tenacious, projects as a center and was also top ten in his league for scoring. Or murtagh a big natural center who skates well and has a nasty shot?

Considering how many teams are looking at center depth this year inckuding ourselves i cant see picking an undersized winger.

I like Murtagh a little but I suspect he'll be a winger, they tried him at center this year but it didn't last because he couldn't win a faceoff to save his life, I wouldn't touch him unless he falls to at least our 2nd

[Bingo]

Updated with another ranking and the Constintino update.

Top of the draft

M Schaefer	D	1.13
Michael Misa	C	2.00

James Hagens	C	3.63
Porter Martone	RW	4.63
Anton Frondell	C	5.38
C Desnoyers	C	6.25
Victor Eklund	LW	7.88

Jake O'Brien	C	9.75
Roger McQueen	C	10.25
Radim Mrtka	D	10.38

Jackson Smith	D	11.75

Brady Martin	C	13.13
Carter Bear	C	13.13

Lynden Lakovic	LW	16.88
Braeden Cootes	C	17.71

Flames First Round Picks

16	Cullen Potter	C	17.86
17	J Carbonneau	RW	18.29
18	Logan Hensler	D	19.00
19	K Aitcheson	D	19.86
20	Cole Reschny	C	21.33
21	Malcolm Spence	LW	21.57
22	Cameron Reid	D	22.14
23	Benjamin Kindel	RW	23.14
24	J Ravensbergen	G	26.00
25	S Boumedienne	D	26.67
26	Ivan Ryabkin	C	28.00
27	Bill Zonnon	Lw	28.57
28	Cole McKinney	C	31.14
29	Milton Gästrin	C	31.83
30	Jack Nesbitt	C	32.20
31	Jack Murtagh	C	32.40
32	William Moore	C	32.60
33	H Brzustewicz	D	36.25
34	Kurban Limatov	D	37.67
35	Jack Ivankovic	G	41.33

[Funkhouser]

The Athletic's latest mock draft, done prior to our pick dropping to 29 (at best):

CGY @ 18: Cole Reschny
(still on the board: Boumedienne, Reid, Potter, Nesbitt)

CHI @ 29: Bill Zonnon
(still on the board: Brzustewicz, Wang, Moore, Horcoff, McKinney, Ryabkin, West)

CGY @ 56: Carter Amico - looks to be a Bahl-esque RHD
(still on the board: no one I know)

[Fan69]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

The Athletic's latest mock draft, done prior to our pick dropping to 29 (at best):

CGY @ 18: Cole Reschny
(still on the board: Boumedienne, Reid, Potter, Nesbitt)

CHI @ 29: Bill Zonnon
(still on the board: Brzustewicz, Wang, Moore, Horcoff, McKinney, Ryabkin, West)

CGY @ 56: Carter Amico - looks to be a Bahl-esque RHD
(still on the board: no one I know)

I have been pitching Zonnon and Reschny for a bit. Hard to say with amico depends on who else is there i guess but i would be happy with that. I have made no bones that i think Zonnon should be in the top twenty.

[Tbull8]

Reschny and then Zonnon/Ryabkin would be a great first round imo

[Royle9]

I'd much rather prefer Reschny and then Ryabkin for sure.
Ryabkin has that franchise potential, lots of question marks for sure but his game is already far and above better than anyone you get at 29-32.

I do feel like Ryabkin goes higher in the 1st round. Wouldn't surprise me if Montreal takes a shot at him with our 1st rounder we handed to them

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Royle9

I'd much rather prefer Reschny and then Ryabkin for sure.
Ryabkin has that franchise potential, lots of question marks for sure but his game is already far and above better than anyone you get at 29-32.

I do feel like Ryabkin goes higher in the 1st round. Wouldn't surprise me if Montreal takes a shot at him with our 1st rounder we handed to them

My view is opposite - that he drops all the way into the 2nd.
If anything we should ready ourselves for the possibility that he's there when the Flames have their last 1st, and they still pass on him.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Updated with another ranking and the Constintino update.

Top of the draft

M Schaefer	D	1.13
Michael Misa	C	2.00

James Hagens	C	3.63
Porter Martone	RW	4.63
Anton Frondell	C	5.38
C Desnoyers	C	6.25
Victor Eklund	LW	7.88

Jake O'Brien	C	9.75
Roger McQueen	C	10.25
Radim Mrtka	D	10.38

Jackson Smith	D	11.75

Brady Martin	C	13.13
Carter Bear	C	13.13

Lynden Lakovic	LW	16.88
Braeden Cootes	C	17.71

Flames First Round Picks

16	Cullen Potter	C	17.86
17	J Carbonneau	RW	18.29
18	Logan Hensler	D	19.00
19	K Aitcheson	D	19.86
20	Cole Reschny	C	21.33
21	Malcolm Spence	LW	21.57
22	Cameron Reid	D	22.14
23	Benjamin Kindel	RW	23.14
24	J Ravensbergen	G	26.00
25	S Boumedienne	D	26.67
26	Ivan Ryabkin	C	28.00
27	Bill Zonnon	Lw	28.57
28	Cole McKinney	C	31.14
29	Milton Gästrin	C	31.83
30	Jack Nesbitt	C	32.20
31	Jack Murtagh	C	32.40
32	William Moore	C	32.60
33	H Brzustewicz	D	36.25
34	Kurban Limatov	D	37.67
35	Jack Ivankovic	G	41.33

Thanks for these amalgamated lists, Bingo. What's interesting is that chatter has Martin rising but it's not showing up in these combined rankings strongly. He would be an amazing grab at 18 if he hangs out that long. Only takes a couple of teams to reach or a D run to accelerate those players.

But on your ranking, I would actually take Aitcheson and Gastrin.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

My view is opposite - that he drops all the way into the 2nd.
If anything we should ready ourselves for the possibility that he's there when the Flames have their last 1st, and they still pass on him.

Intersting!
I normally share your ideas/thoughts quite often, so this is one where we're on a different page!!

[The Original FFIV]

Looks like a whole lotta meh around our pick at 18. All the talk about trading up, wonder if they trade down. And given what’s available, do we go D over F? Grab another second rounder and that allows you to take some wild swings.

[albertGQ]

Ugh. Please don't trade down

either stand pat or trade up. That's my preference

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Thanks for these amalgamated lists, Bingo. What's interesting is that chatter has Martin rising but it's not showing up in these combined rankings strongly. He would be an amazing grab at 18 if he hangs out that long. Only takes a couple of teams to reach or a D run to accelerate those players.

But on your ranking, I would actually take Aitcheson and Gastrin.

Hes 12th on that list. So would have to drop 6 spots from the 'consesus'.

[Sandman]

Sandman's Final List:

Tier 1:
1) D Matt Schafer
2) C Mike Misa

Tier 2:
3) C Caleb Desnoyers
4) RW Porter Martone
5) C Anton Frondell

Tier 3:
6) C Roger McQueen
7) C James Hagens

Tier 4:
8) C Jake O'Brien
9) C Brady Martin
10) LW Viktor Eklund
11) D Radim Mrtka

Tier 5:
12) D Jackson Smith

Tier 6:
13) RW Justin Carbonneau
14) LW Lynden Lakovic
15) D Kashawn Aitcheson
16) D Logan Hensler

Tier 7:
17) C Cole Reschny
18) C Carter Bear
19) C Braeden Cootes
20) C Bill Zonnon
21) LW Malcolm Spence

Tier 8:
22) C Jack Nesbitt
23) C Ivan Ryabkin
24) C Ben Kindel

Tier 9:
25) D Cam Reid
26) G Josh Ravensbergen
27) C Will Horcoff
28) LW Jakob Ihs-Wozniak

Tier 10:
29) D Blake Fiddler
30) C Jack Murtagh
31) D Henry Brzustewicz
32) C Milton Gastrin

ROUND TWO:

Tier 11:
33) C Cole McKinney
34) LW Eddie Genborg
35) C Will Moore
36) D Sascha Boumedienne
37) RW Shane Vansaghi

Tier 12:
38) C Mateo Nobert
39) G Jack Ivankovic
40) C Ethan Czata
41) C Cullen Potter
42) C Luca Romano
43) RW Cam Schmidt
44) G Alexei Medvedev
45) LW Nathan Behm
46) D Kurban Limatov

Tier 13:
47) D Alex Huang
48) RW Alex Zharovsky
49) D Charlie Trethewey
50) C Tyler Hopkins
51) RW Ben Kevan
52) C Eric Nilson
53) C Matthew Gard

Tier 14:
54) C Ryker Lee
55) D Haoxi Wang
56) G Semyon Frolov
57) D Lasse Boelius

Tier 15:
58) G Pyotr Andreyanov
59) D Maxim Agafonov
60) D Evan Passmore
61) C Hayden Paupanekis
62) D Maddox Labre
63) C Owen Martin
64) RW Arvid Drott

ROUND THREE:

Tier 16:
65) C Conrad Fondrk
66) D Artyom Vilchinsky
67) D Owen Conrad
68) RW Shamar Moses
69) C Tommy Lafreniere
70) RW Aiden Lane
71) D Carlos Handel
72) D Carter Amico
73) LW Kristian Epperson
74) C Jimmy Lombardi

Tier 17:
75) LW Vojtech Cihar
76) D Will Reynolds
77) G Love Haremstam
78) RW Vaclav Nestrasil
79) C Carson Cameron
80) LW Zach Morin
81) LW Tomas Poletin
82) C Mason West
83) D Max Psenicka
84) D Reese Hamilton
85) LW Emile Guite'
86) D Asher Barnett
87) C Teddy Mutryn
88) D Will Sharpe
89) D Peyton Kettles

Tier 18:
90) D Karl Annborn
91) LW Melvin Novotny
92) D Jacob Rombach
93) RW Daniil Prokhorov
94) G Lucas Beckman
95) LW David Bedkowski
96) D Mace'o Phillips

ROUND FOUR:

Tier 19:
97) RW Theo Stockselius
98) LW David Lewandowski
99) C Jan Chovan
100) LW Max Westergard
101) G Ondrej Stebetak
102) LW Mason Moe
103) C Dominik Pavlik
104) C Mikkel Eriksen
105) G Gabriel D'Aigle
106) D Quinn Beauchesne
107) G Petteri Rimpinen
108) C Gustav Hillstrom
109) D Zeb Lindgren

Tier 20:
110) G Patrik Kerkola
111) D Malte Vass
112) D Noah Laberge
113) RW Bruno Osmanis
114) D Anthony Allain-Samake
115) C Tomas Pobezal
116) D Makar Fomin
117) C Oscar Davidsson
118) LW Will Belle
119) LW Filip Ekberg
120) D Daniil Skvortsov
121) D Dakota Rheaume-Mullen

Tier 21:
122) D Sean Barnhill
123) C Charlie Cerrato
124) D Everett Baldwin
125) RW Lirim Amidovski
126) LW David Rozsival
127) LW Viktor Klingsell
128) C Lucas Karmiris

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Fan69

Honestly surprised so many people are pitching for an undersized winger with skating issues. I get his skill and tenacity are on the higher end but he projects as a winger something we have in spades who also happen to be skilled and most are average or bigger and better skaters.

Underssized wingers have to overcome a pile of obstacles to become impact players so i dont see how kindel would help us more than a guy like zonnon who has skating issues but is bigger, just as tenacious, projects as a center and was also top ten in his league for scoring. Or murtagh a big natural center who skates well and has a nasty shot?

Considering how many teams are looking at center depth this year inckuding ourselves i cant see picking an undersized winger.

The thing about Kindel is if he can play centre and it looks like he actually can and he hits you just filled that future #1 RS C spot, his shot and skill set is that good. His skating can use some work but luckily we have someone who does wonders for that. Kindel already has an NHL calibre shot and he has a high hockey IQ. I look at the 18 pick this way, if you want the safer pick who is going to play centre, has a solid 200 foot game, but doesn't have that potential high end ceiling you take Cole Reschny. If you want to swing for the fences though the Flames should take Kindel at 18 because if he hits he has very high end potential.

[Bingo]

Updated averages ... added two more rankings (including Sandman's)

Top Ten

1	M Schaefer	D	1.10
2	Michael Misa	C	2.00

3	James Hagens	C	3.70
4	Porter Martone	RW	4.40
5	Anton Frondell	C	5.90

6	Victor Eklund	LW	7.40
7	C Desnoyers	C	7.90

8	Jake O'Brien	C	10.20
9	Roger McQueen	C	10.70
10	Jackson Smith	D	10.70

The Rest of the First Round (Cgy Bold)

11	Radim Mrtka	D	11.80

12	Carter Bear	C	13.60
13	Brady Martin	C	13.80

14	Lynden Lakovic	LW	15.00

15	Braeden Cootes	C	17.67
16	J Carbonneau	RW	18.22
17	Logan Hensler	D	18.30
18	Cullen Potter	C	18.89
19	K Aitcheson	D	19.11

20	Benjamin Kindel	RW	21.78
21	Malcolm Spence	LW	22.00
22	Cole Reschny	C	22.63
23	Cameron Reid	D	23.11

24	Cam Schmidt	RW	24.75
25	J Ravensbergen	G	26.00
26	Ivan Ryabkin	C	26.67
27	Bill Zonnon	Lw	26.89

28	Blake Fiddler	D	28.50
29	S Boumedienne	D	29.38
30	Jack Nesbitt	C	30.43
31	Cole McKinney	C	31.38
32	Jack Murtagh	C	31.43
33	William Moore	C	32.33
34	Milton Gästrin	C	33.14
35	J Ihs-Wozniak	RW	33.17

36	Ryker   Lee	RW	35.00
37	H Brzustewicz	D	35.20
38	Adam Benák	C	36.25
39	Shane Vansaghi	C	37.67
40	L.J. Mooney	RW	37.67

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

The thing about Kindel is if he can play centre and it looks like he actually can and he hits you just filled that future #1 RS C spot, his shot and skill set is that good. His skating can use some work but luckily we have someone who does wonders for that. Kindel already has an NHL calibre shot and he has a high hockey IQ. I look at the 18 pick this way, if you want the safer pick who is going to play centre, has a solid 200 foot game, but doesn't have that potential high end ceiling you take Cole Reschny. If you want to swing for the fences though the Flames should take Kindel at 18 because if he hits he has very high end potential.

So hard to get excited about skilled sub 6’ forwards. We’ve had many of those over the years and hasn’t got us very far. We’ve seen players like this start at c but get shifted to wing in the nhl as their frame doesn’t translate well to the pro game.

Have to get that element of size/skill at our pick. Likely 2-3 years away at minimum, would love to get that C but if not, top 4 D will be a good consolation prize.