2025 NHL Draft Thread

[stemit14]

McQueen ranked in the 2nd round. Wow. Is that an indication of how serious his injury is?

[Canada 02]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1925168614765683107

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by stemit14

McQueen ranked in the 2nd round. Wow. Is that an indication of how serious his injury is?

None of his teammates went to his birthday party is what I heard.

[gvitaly]

Craig Button's List

Here are the prospects that he's most high on compared to the consolidated rankings Bingo posted, and Bob McKenzie:

Craig's   Player      POS   Cons.   vs. Bob
13        Reschny     C     +7      +16
14        Carbonneau  RW    +3      +3
15        Spance      LW    +8      +1
16        Aitcheson   D     +3      +2
17        Schmidt     RW    N/A     +13
19        Reid        D     +3      N/A
20        Ryabkin     C     +6      -1
21        Zonnon      LW    +6      N/A
22        Gastrin     C/LW  +7      +5
23        Ivankovic   G     +12     N/A

All of Reschny, Schmidt, and Ivankovic jump out at me as players that the Flames might target. I was a little surprised he had both Kindel(27) and Brzustewicz(55) pretty low on his rankings. I was also a bit surprised to see Hensler, Lakovic and Bear in the mid 20s.

[Sandman]

Draft Thoughts (Aces Edition, Vol. 7):

RHC Brady Martin (6'0",174lbs)
Sault Ste. Marie (OHL): 57gp/ 33g/ 39a/ 72pts, +25, 68 PIM

Greyhounds' pivot Brady Martin (ranked # 11 NA Skaters, # 13 by McKenzie, # 20 by Button) was hovering at a point-per-game pace for the majority of the season, but hit a hot-steak later in the campaign, with 31 points in his final 20 games- to finish with 72 points in 57 games. Martin's surge in production coincided with the Soo's rise up the standings; they were languishing in the OHL's basement in the first-half of the year, but finished in 14th-place out of 20 teams, and actually made the playoffs- but they were dispatched in 5 games by the Windsor Spitfires. The Soo were only able to score 11 goals in that series, and Martin was tied for second in scoring on the team, with 2 goals and 4 points in 5 games. Martin wore an "A" for the Greyhounds as a 17-year-old, and was also given a letter for Team Canada at the most-recent U-18 Championships, where he won gold while piling up 11 points in 7 games- good enough to tie for 5th in scoring in the tourney, first in plus/minus (+15), first in PIM (29), and 2nd on the team behind Braeden Cootes. At times, he looked dominant, and was often the best player on the ice when hopping over the boards.

I'm pretty sure that Martin was given a shot of the super-soldier serum- he's a menacingly physical, and uncommonly strong power-forward, at only 6 feet tall and 174 pounds. He's a warrior with unrelenting compete, but also owns a good skill-set and a rock-solid 200-foot game. Playing with frenetic pace, he sprints everywhere he needs to go, putting forth tireless motor and dogged determination, with a bit of brutality- he doesn't have to run all of his opponents over, he WANTS to. Martin employs an intimidating physical presence to put his adversaries off-balance, strip them of possession, and punish them for having HIS puck- he's a force, with an ultra-competitive nature. There is no such thing as a bodycheck that he didn't finish, and many of the hits he throws are of the devastating, hard-and-heavy variety, making a huge impact on the game- he dominates down-low and along the boards, and launches himself into puck-battles. He is violent and resolute on the forecheck, hunting down puck-carriers like a heat-seeking missile to cause turnovers and uncontrolled play- opposing players look over their shoulders when he's on the ice.

Making him even more scary is his long, powerful stride that allows him to close distance on his targets quickly. Martin's stride is fluid and projectable, but he will need a bit of work on his explosiveness, and perhaps his top-gear. Still, he often looked like the fastest player at the U-18's, beating defenders wide, pushing opponents back on their heels, separating on the rush, and winning races to loose pucks all over the ice. His determination and compete have something to do with that, as his energy and unmatchable pace give him a boost. He's quite nimble on his edges, with the ability to make tight turns, quick pivots, and sharp cuts. Martin's game is pretty simple, direct, and straightforward, without much flashiness or dynamism, and he's not much of a creator; his best asset in the offensive zone is perhaps his shot, and his finishing skills- he was 23rd in goals in the OHL. With a goal-scorer's instincts and mentality, he has the propensity for sniffing out open space in the slot and around the crease; he will beat defenders wide to cut to the net, gets to the middle frequently, and sets up in front of the net to go to war with defenders, while setting up a screen, fishing for rebounds and loose pucks, and getting his stick on tips. Most of his goal-scoring success come from below the hash-marks, employing soft hands in-close, but he can unleash a bullet of a wrister while in-motion, with a lethal release from further out, and he wields a blistering one-timer. Martin displays a modicum of playmaking vision and distribution skill, but creates a ton of opportunites for teammates just by funneling pucks to the net with his volume- shooting.

Martin is a safe pick because of his physical traits, mobility, and snarl, but also because he employs a detailed and dependable backcheck throughout all 200-feet of the ice, using his high-end defensive awareness and anticipation to give him the advantage. He's a puck-retrieval specialist, a rabid dog in 50/50 battles, and a play-killing machine. He's all over the defensive-zone, winning races to loose pucks, breaking up plays, supporting teammates in possession contests, and showing up in prime positions to proactively make stops. He is more than hard to play against, can't be outworked or out-battled, and plays with urgency and intensity on the backcheck through the neutral zone. Though he'll never be compared with Pavel Datsyuk, Martin displays excellent puck-skills, showing tight control at top-speed, smooth handling while pushing pace, and the ability to beat defenders and net-minders alike one-on-one with his bevy of dekes and dangles, blended with well-honed deception tactics to manipulate. He exerts infallible protection skills, and is hard on the puck. Martin has a lot of room to add more strength and bulk to his already freakishly-sturdy frame, and he will need it if he wants to play a similar style in the pros. He needs to also keep upgrading his speed, but he looked better and better as the season wore on, with some saying that he could be picked in the top-10 of the draft.

[Sandman]

Draft Thoughts (Aces Edition, Vol. 8):

RW Justin Carbonneau (6'1",192lbs)
Blainville (QMJHL): 62gp/ 46g/ 43a/ 89pts, +3, 6 PIM

Big winger Justin Carbonneau (ranked # 16 NA Skaters, # 17 by McKenzie, # 14 by Button) was originally drafted by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, with the 20th-selection in the 2022 QMJHL Entry Draft, but has played the last two-and-a half seasons with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada- who finished 8th in the league this season. Their solid regular season was followed by a playoff exit in just 5 games, at the hands of the Sherbrooke Phoenix; over the regular-season, JC was tied for 2nd-overall in goals-scored in the Q, and was 2nd in points, but only managed 3 goals in the post-season. He may be older by draft-standards, with a Nov.25, 2006 birthday, but he is a swift-skating offensive winger, with skill and physicality, who I believe is being underrated. JC is unpredictable, wielding the ability to both make plays, or score goals with aplomb, owning advanced instincts in the offensive zone, with intelligent positioning, and play-driving capabilities. He plays with overwhelming speed and pace to keep defenders on their heels, and push them back in entries, forcing them to move in order to open space. With soft-touch passing skills, he can make plays in tight-areas, and sees his teammates through traffic with slips, saucers, and banks, to transfer the puck under sticks, over blades, through triangles, and between feet. His feeds are usually perfectly weighted, easy to catch, and right to the recipient's wheelhouse- often giving them some kind of a leg-up on their opponents, or perhaps a head-start. He understands how to open space for himself and his teammates, and how to exploit it, by drawing pressure and delaying, working give-and-go sequences, and by moving his feet to shift boxes to pry open seams to pass through.

JC uses these splinters of open space to fire off his arsenal of hard, heavy shots, and exerts a deceptive release to freeze goalies. He can score from difficult angles, get a dangerous catch-and-release wrister off while in-motion, and step into a lethal one-timer that's very hard to stop. He gets inside a lot, drives the net with the puck, sets up shop at the net-front, and works his way into high-danger areas around the net for opportunities. He is constantly moving off-puck to support the play, and to remain a consistent playable option for teammates. JC owns well-honed puck-skills, and he's dynamic in possession, with spotless control at high-speed, and near-infallible protection skills when evading pressure, and moving through traffic. He makes difficult receptions look smooth, catches across his body, knocks down saucers for full control, and can settle down wild passes while skating. When his quick hands and feet blend, he can solve most problems that come his way, and can often beat defenders one-on-one. An excellent skater, he's explosive in his first few steps, with a long and powerful stride on fluid mechanics, and smooth edges that give him an advantage in small-areas, and in tight-checking situations. He can weave through traffic, win short races to loose pucks, and cruise through complex routes in transition.

With a robust physical game, he throws hits, gets involved in puck-battles, plays through contact, and can continue forward progress with a defender practically draped all over him. He uses his size and strength to leverage his way through hard areas, and leans into defenders to cut to the net. Known as an entry machine, he consistently makes high-value plays to push the puck up-ice, and through the neutral zone, either by using dynamic passes, deft use of give-and-go's, or by rushing the puck through exit and entry on his own. Though he has greatly improved over the course of the season, JC's big weakness is his defensive awareness and engagement. There are games when he appears more dialed-in than others, but he makes some bad reads at times, and can lose his man in traffic. His positioning has improved, but he can be quick to leave the zone, and sometimes looks lost. There are some though, who believe that Carbonneau might have the highest ceiling of any player available in the draft, outside of the "big 4". He also has some of the same issues as many other highly-skilled draft-eligibles do, with the propensity to try to do too much on his own, hold on to the puck for too long, and needs work on his play-selection. Look for him in the top-15.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Yeah, if we still have two 1st rounders come draft day I could easily see Conroy taking a swing at Ryabkin at 22. He'd almost certainly have the highest upside of anyone left on the board at that point. Big warts for sure but if you have a couple of picks you can take a HR cut on one of them... I think he might go before then (Montreal looks like a likely suspect).

We’re not picking at 22. That ship has sailed.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by stemit14

McQueen ranked in the 2nd round. Wow. Is that an indication of how serious his injury is?

Maybe that person thinks so.

But it is more of an indication - and reminder - that these rankings are personal opinions only, and opinions differ. This idea that there is always a BPA is silly, and that if someone likes a player that 'the consensus' has a little lower, it isn't 'going off the board', it is simply having a different opinion about kids, and this is very far from being an exact science.

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Draft Thoughts (Aces Edition, Vol. 7):

RHC Brady Martin (6'0",174lbs)
Sault Ste. Marie (OHL): 57gp/ 33g/ 39a/ 72pts, +25, 68 PIM

(clipped for brevity)

Yup. Definitely a fourth line grinder. I guess the Flames will waste a pick on him, because that's what they do (sooooo on brand) but other teams should stay away. Take a high upside player like Lakovic instead. I hear LWs are in high demand.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Ba'alzamon

Yup. Definitely a fourth line grinder. I guess the Flames will waste a pick on him, because that's what they do (sooooo on brand) but other teams should stay away. Take a high upside player like Lakovic instead. I hear LWs are in high demand.

Yup, everyone knows that when you build a team, you have to start at left-wing and build from there…

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Yup, everyone knows that when you build a team, you have to start at left-wing and build from there…

Yup. "Build from the wings in" as they say.

It is known.

[Monahammer]

As the draft draws closer, I am getting more hopeful we can land one of McQueen or Aitcheson with our 18thOA, and that would be a great success in my books.

[Monahammer]

I think someone takes a chance on Ryabkin before our second pick, but that would be an amazing pick end of first round.

Frankly, if McQueen and Aitcheson are both off the board at 18 I'd be tempted to take him there too.

[Enoch Root]

Best C still available when we get to 18, plain and simple. (hoping that is McQueen)

[Dan403]

Originally Posted by Ba'alzamon

Yup. Definitely a fourth line grinder. I guess the Flames will waste a pick on him, because that's what they do (sooooo on brand) but other teams should stay away.

Based on Conroy's drafting history?

[circle]

I have a hard time seeing McQueen fall to us, even with the huge injury risk.

A lot of the teams ahead of us are flush with prospects already which allows them to take larger risks on higher upside players that fall due to injury concerns. I think of teams like Buffalo, Anaheim, and Montreal that fit this bill.

I am curious how many D go ahead of our 18th pick as that would allow us to choose from a larger range of centres. As well, maybe a team takes a flier on Ravensbergen if they know they can't get him in the second round.

[SuperMatt18]

Realistically the Flames could leave the draft with 2 of these 14 C's. One of the first group at 18, and one of the second group at 29-32.

Jake O'Brien C 10.20
Roger McQueen C 10.70
Carter Bear C 13.60
Brady Martin C 13.80
Braeden Cootes C 17.67
Cullen Potter C 18.89
Benjamin Kindel C 21.78
Cole Reschny C 22.63

Ivan Ryabkin C 26.67
Jack Nesbitt C 30.43
Cole McKinney C 31.38
Jack Murtagh C 31.43
William Moore C 32.33
Milton Gästrin C 33.14

Hopefully they can find some guys with true top 6 potential out of that group.

[Icon]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Realistically the Flames could leave the draft with 2 of these 14 C's. One of the first group at 18, and one of the second group at 29-32.

Agree that it's a realistic possibility.

Also feel there's a chance we draft none of them and end up going with a winger and a defenseman. Just seems like a Flames thing to do when everyone from the outside looking in (us) is pushing to target C's.

[HitterD]

Indulge me if you will, as I had been a little disappointed that the Flames' second pick in the first round has now moved to 29-32 (likely 32). I took a look at the last 10 drafts, and included 2024 as well because its so fresh in my mind still. The data, to me, does not show any correlation in value difference between 22-32, and its a pretty mixed bag in general. 2 conclusions, I think, is that there are players to be had in this range, but few superstars (as expected), but very little difference in whether they can be found at the top end of the range vs the bottom. (2015 being the best example of a "top heavy" grouping at the top of the range. The other, being that there is typically on average 1-2 top 6 forwards/top 4 d taken in this range per draft.

This is obviously a pretty surface-level analysis, and so many other factors are at play, including the often overlooked role in player development after drafting. Its one thing to scout and draft the best players, and another to develop them properly to reach full potential (this is a role that the player must embrace as well as the team being adept at it). I think the Flames have done a pretty good job showing that they may be in the upper tier in both categories, so while I think that finding a way to get into the top 8-12 in this draft is still likely a good strategy to target a more top-end potential center, I'm also more confident that the Flames have a decent likelyhood of getting at least 1 top 6 C in this draft, and the difference in their success may not be tied to the pick dropping from 22 to 32.

2014 GP PTS Last Season
1 22 Kasperi Kapanen 527 222 2024-25
1 23 Conner Bleackley
1 24 Jared McCann 668 398 2024-25
1 25 David Pastrnak 756 833 2024-25
1 26 Nikita Scherbak 37 8 2018-19
1 27 Nikolay Goldobin 125 46 2019-20
1 28 Josh Ho-Sang 53 24 2018-19
1 29 Adrian Kempe 630 401 2024-25
1 30 John Quenneville 42 5 2019-20
2 31 Brendan Lemieux 307 74 2023-24
2 32 Jayce Hawryluk 98 27 2020-21

2015
1 22 Ilya Samsonov 200 5 2024-25
1 23 Brock Boeser 554 434 2024-25
1 24 Travis Konecny 646 476 2024-25
1 25 Jack Roslovic 526 260 2024-25
1 26 Noah Juulsen 157 17 2024-25
1 27 Jacob Larsson 172 24 2022-23
1 28 Anthony Beauvillier 631 271 2024-25
1 29 Gabriel Carlsson 81 18 2022-23
1 30 Nick Merkley 41 15 2021-22
2 31 Jeremy Roy
2 32 Christian Fischer 523 137 2024-25

2016
1 22 German Rubtsov 4 0 2019-20
1 23 Henrik Borgstrom 111 26 2022-23
1 24 Max Jones 284 64 2024-25
1 25 Riley Tufte 24 3 2024-25
1 26 Tage Thompson 448 325 2024-25
1 27 Brett Howden 431 141 2024-25
1 28 Lucas Johansen 9 2 2023-24
1 29 Trent Frederic 338 109 2024-25
1 30 Sam Steel 418 142 2024-25
2 31 Egor Korshkov 1 1 2019-20
2 32 Tyler Benson 38 3 2022-23


2017
1 22 Kailer Yamamoto 315 137 2024-25
1 23 Pierre-Olivier Joseph 194 40 2024-25
1 24 Kristian Vesalainen 70 5 2021-22
1 25 Ryan Poehling 283 95 2024-25
1 26 Jake Oettinger 251 5 2024-25
1 27 Morgan Frost 310 147 2024-25
1 28 Shane Bowers 13 0 2024-25
1 29 Henri Jokiharju 407 97 2024-25
1 30 Eeli Tolvanen 345 154 2024-25
1 31 Klim Kostin 190 53 2024-25
2 32 Conor Timmins 159 46 2024-25

2018
1 22 K'Andre Miller 368 132 2024-25
1 23 Isac Lundestrom 337 84 2024-25
1 24 Filip Johansson
1 25 Dominik Bokk
1 26 J. Bernard-Docker 144 24 2024-25
1 27 Nicolas Beaudin 22 6 2021-22
1 28 Nils Lundkvist 183 44 2024-25
1 29 Rasmus Sandin 309 116 2024-25
1 30 Joe Veleno 306 81 2024-25
1 31 Alexander Alexeyev 80 8 2024-25
2 32 Mattias Samuelsson 212 43 2024-25

2019
1 22 Tobias Bjornfot 134 15 2024-25
1 23 Simon Holmstrom 200 79 2024-25
1 24 Philip Tomasino 209 94 2024-25
1 25 Connor McMichael 237 108 2024-25
1 26 Jakob Pelletier 86 29 2024-25
1 27 Nolan Foote 30 9 2024-25
1 28 Ryan Suzuki 2 0 2024-25
1 29 Brayden Tracey 1 0 2021-22
1 30 John Beecher 130 21 2024-25
1 31 Ryan Johnson 44 7 2024-25
2 32 Shane Pinto 210 107 2024-25

2020
1 22 Hendrix Lapierre 84 31 2024-25
1 23 Tyson Foerster 166 83 2024-25
1 24 Connor Zary 117 61 2024-25
1 25 Justin Barron 156 43 2024-25
1 26 Jake Neighbours 211 96 2024-25
1 27 Jacob Perreault 1 0 2021-22
1 28 Ridly Greig 170 69 2024-25
1 29 Brendan Brisson 24 8 2024-25
1 30 Mavrik Bourque 74 25 2024-25
1 31 Ozzy Wiesblatt 5 1 2024-25
2 32 William Wallinder

2021
1 22 Xavier Bourgault
1 23 Wyatt Johnston 246 177 2024-25
1 24 MatthewSamoskevich 79 31 2024-25
1 25 Corson Ceulemans
1 26 Carson Lambos
1 27 Zachary L'Heureux 62 15 2024-25
1 28 Oskar Olausson 4 0 2024-25
1 29 Chase Stillman
1 30 Zachary Dean 9 0 2023-24
1 31 Logan Mailloux 8 5 2024-25
1 32 Nolan Allan 43 8 2024-25

2022
1 22 Nathan Gaucher
1 23 Jimmy Snuggerud 7 4 2024-25
1 24 Danila Yurov
1 25 Sam Rinzel 9 5 2024-25
1 26 Filip Mesar
1 27 Filip Bystedt
1 28 Jiri Kulich 63 24 2024-25
1 29 Maveric Lamoureux 15 3 2024-25
1 30 Brad Lambert 6 2 2024-25
1 31 Isaac Howard
1 32 Reid Schaefer

2023
1 22 Oliver Bonk
1 23 Gabriel Perreault 5 0 2024-25
1 24 Tanner Molendyk
1 25 Otto Stenberg
1 26 Quentin Musty
1 27 Calum Ritchie 7 1 2024-25
1 28 Easton Cowan
1 29 Theo Lindstein
1 30 Bradly Nadeau 3 1 2024-25
1 31 Mikhail Gulyayev
1 32 David Edstrom

2024
1 22 Yegor Surin
1 23 Stian Solberg
1 24 Cole Beaudoin
1 25 Dean Letourneau
1 26 Liam Greentree
1 27 Marek Vanacker
1 28 Matvei Gridin
1 29 Emil Hemming
1 30 E.J. Emery
1 31 Ben Danford
1 32 Sam O'Reilly

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Realistically the Flames could leave the draft with 2 of these 14 C's. One of the first group at 18, and one of the second group at 29-32.

Jake O'Brien C 10.20
Roger McQueen C 10.70
Carter Bear C 13.60
Brady Martin C 13.80
Braeden Cootes C 17.67
Cullen Potter C 18.89
Benjamin Kindel C 21.78
Cole Reschny C 22.63

Ivan Ryabkin C 26.67
Jack Nesbitt C 30.43
Cole McKinney C 31.38
Jack Murtagh C 31.43
William Moore C 32.33
Milton Gästrin C 33.14

Hopefully they can find some guys with true top 6 potential out of that group.

Reschny and Ryabkin. Thank you very much.