2025 NHL Draft Thread

[mile]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1929672098269553098

https://twitter.com/user/status/1929671185324769640

[FBI]

That highlight package shows Ryabkin has some good patience.. Sandman who's the David Deputy guy who is in on a lot of Ryabkin's goals? That would be a pretty sweet hockey name lol

[Royle9]

Scouching's mock has Flames taking Kashawn Aitcheson
Cootes and Reschney on the board still.

William Moore with our 2nd pick in the 1st.

[dammage79]

I'm so sold on Ryabkin at 18. hes got all the things I hope for in a center prospect. A good bit of grit. Some silky mitts and a quick shot and works hard below the dots.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Scouching's mock has Flames taking Kashawn Aitcheson
Cootes and Reschney on the board still.

William Moore with our 2nd pick in the 1st.

This ain't bad at all. But I'd be tempted to take ryabkin there.

[Tbull8]

If we somehow had Aitcheson there at 32 I’d be ecstatic. Had that happen a few times in the FC simulator but I can’t see it happening

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Scouching's mock has Flames taking Kashawn Aitcheson
Cootes and Reschney on the board still.

William Moore with our 2nd pick in the 1st.

I'm 99.9% sure that wont happen

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by FBI

That highlight package shows Ryabkin has some good patience.. Sandman who's the David Deputy guy who is in on a lot of Ryabkin's goals? That would be a pretty sweet hockey name lol

Don’t know a whole lot about him, aside from what I’ve seen in highlights, but he seems like a David Ling-type (remember him?), in that he’s small (5’9”), but absolutely fearless. He’s been an excellent offensive contributor, but he’s also tough and mean, and will drop the gloves.

[Nelson]

Craig Conroy seems to have a good working relationship with Dan Milstein based on number of contracts, the way they were able to work things out with Zadorov, etc. And I observe Milstein represents Ivan Ryabkin, as he does many Russian players. Sometimes things like this matter.

I personally would love Reschny at 18 and Ryabkin at 32. Listening to Scott Wheeler’s interview with Pat Steinberg kind of cemented those players as the ones I want for the Flames. Wheeler also made Cootes seem pretty appealing.

[Jiggy]

What's with the love for Ryankin? Supposedly his shot is ok, he isn't a great skater, and his vision on the ice is just ok.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by Jiggy

What's with the love for Ryankin? Supposedly his shot is ok, he isn't a great skater, and his vision on the ice is just ok.

According to who?

It wasn’t long ago Ivan Ryabkin was being talked about with the same reverence as Matvei Michkov and Ivan Demidov. His ability to create offence was unmatched; as a 16-year-old, he set a record with 58 points in 44 games in the MHL, beating Michkov by two points. He moved the puck like it was on a string, moving it in and around traffic, and showed incredible awareness, finding passing lanes through several bodies to put it neatly on the stick of a teammate. Add in his ability to play a more physical game than either of his predecessors, and his draft season looked like it would be one for the record books.

However, two things are immediately clear after his first couple of months in North America. There’s no questioning his ability to move the puck. Ryabkin is a master of the slow game. He waits for the perfect opportunity to draw a player in, then uses a flourish of dekes and deception to get around the attacker. When protecting the puck, he uses his size and strength well to create space and maintain possession. He also has a great selection of shots, from a hard accurate wrister to a dangerous backhand. Few players in the 2025 Draft class have as much offensive skill as Ryabkin.

The rest of Ryabkin’s game is far less refined. While playing in Russia, he had all the time and space to get up to speed and dart around opponents, but the USHL is a far more defensive league and he hasn’t been able to reach his top speed as often. It doesn’t help that he isn’t the strongest skater and has a choppy stride, which leaves him relying on his edges to shift positions. The same issue showed up in the KHL, where he was frequently outpaced by everyone else on the ice.

SOURCE: https://thehockeywriters.com/ivan-ry...spect-profile/

I think this is why posters (myself included) find him very intriguing. If a team buys low (for example, late in the first round) and invests the time to develop him, maybe he improves his skating (hello, Danielle Fujita!) and his engagement, and all of a sudden you have a 1C.

[devo22]

yeah I don't get the Ryabkin love either. It's probably that people just like to swing for the fences.

[dustygoon]

Originally Posted by devo22

yeah I don't get the Ryabkin love either. It's probably that people just like to swing for the fences.

It's funny what you see in that video. I was hot for him based on stats and a video of him skating. It's different for everyone. I see a guy that does a lot of damage from circles and in front of the net, but didn't see a guy that was that dynamic. Could be just those clips. But I didn't see a centreman. I saw a winger with a great shot and hands in close.

[Royle9]

Ryabkin produced better than both Demidov and Michkov in the same league at the same age (16).

I'd argue that if he's done that, then there's definitely a high amount of skill to his game.

[Toonage]

I thought they'd take him at 31/32 if he was still there but I do genuinely wonder if the Flames "reach" at 18 for Ryabkin. Or trade down possibly to get him a few picks later.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I really like Ryabkin:
- Vision
- Shot
- Plays with a bit of nastiness
- Is a play-driver rather than a passenger


I dislike Ryabkin:
- Questions about commitment to fitness - was apparently gassing out

- Apparently lazy at times, with brief moments of high level of exertion
- Rumoured issues of being a bit of a 'headcase'


I think that as long as the Flames do their due-diligence with him and make sure that he isn't a headcase, then all the other attributes can be fixed. We know he was having a bad time in Russia and felt he wasn't getting an opportunity. Maybe this is when he stopped working hard, let himself go a bit, and had trouble keeping up. Maybe it was an off-season issue that he didn't manage properly, ballooned-up a bit, and it affected the rest of his year. Flames will need to find out what went wrong, and decide if they can fix them.


I think if you get Ryabkin on a good off-season training program, and put him in positions to succeed, he will reward you. Kid does have a really nice combination of offensive skills, and he loves contact. He competes hard (when he is not gassed). As long as he isn't a headcase, I think he is worth the risk at 18. I think most other centers around this spot will end up as wingers anyway, so unless there is a better winger/defencemen available (like Aitcheson), I would be happy with Ryabkin at 18. I definitely understand if you have someone like Reschny as a top line center (or reasonable potential of ending up as such). I think he ends up on the wing due to his size/speed instead, and i don't think he has the offensive skill level that Ryabkin has. I do think that Reschny is a much better overall player, however - all 3 zones. I can understand the preference, but I guess it comes down to how you view the two players. I see Ryabkin as a kid who could become a top-line center, and I don't quite see that in Reschny, though I would welcome Reschny as I think he will be a player in the NHL at some point, and a kid who will play tough minutes regularly.


That's just me though. Many other guys on this thread have a much better eye for talent than I do obviously.

[cral12]

flashback to Sandman's Ryabkin profile:
https://www.upsidehockey.com/prospec...h.wqmr75f0o797

***
Upside Update:
194 profiles posted!
(top of home page which also features Sandman's Top 128 and Prospect Tiers as a reminder: https://www.upsidehockey.com/prospec...spect-profiles )

I've got a lot of the profiles up on our substack (which I have to say look pretty great on their website and app) - we did get a recent modest bump in subscribers so grateful to any of you how subscribed (it's free) - and even if yah don't subscribe and check in there from time to time, another thank you!

https://upsidehockey.substack.com/

More to come!

(Oh, we also added Instagram exposure but just getting started on that - prob won't be a ton of focus there, but we'll see: https://www.instagram.com/upside.hockey/ )

[FanSince'01]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I really like Ryabkin:
- Vision
- Shot
- Plays with a bit of nastiness
- Is a play-driver rather than a passenger


I dislike Ryabkin:
- Questions about commitment to fitness - was apparently gassing out

- Apparently lazy at times, with brief moments of high level of exertion
- Rumoured issues of being a bit of a 'headcase'


I think that as long as the Flames do their due-diligence with him and make sure that he isn't a headcase, then all the other attributes can be fixed. We know he was having a bad time in Russia and felt he wasn't getting an opportunity. Maybe this is when he stopped working hard, let himself go a bit, and had trouble keeping up. Maybe it was an off-season issue that he didn't manage properly, ballooned-up a bit, and it affected the rest of his year. Flames will need to find out what went wrong, and decide if they can fix them.


I think if you get Ryabkin on a good off-season training program, and put him in positions to succeed, he will reward you. Kid does have a really nice combination of offensive skills, and he loves contact. He competes hard (when he is not gassed). As long as he isn't a headcase, I think he is worth the risk at 18. I think most other centers around this spot will end up as wingers anyway, so unless there is a better winger/defencemen available (like Aitcheson), I would be happy with Ryabkin at 18. I definitely understand if you have someone like Reschny as a top line center (or reasonable potential of ending up as such). I think he ends up on the wing due to his size/speed instead, and i don't think he has the offensive skill level that Ryabkin has. I do think that Reschny is a much better overall player, however - all 3 zones. I can understand the preference, but I guess it comes down to how you view the two players. I see Ryabkin as a kid who could become a top-line center, and I don't quite see that in Reschny, though I would welcome Reschny as I think he will be a player in the NHL at some point, and a kid who will play tough minutes regularly.


That's just me though. Many other guys on this thread have a much better eye for talent than I do obviously.

Along the same lines of what you said, the bolded two to me are easily fixable (see: Andersson, Rasmus) and his skating as well could easily be fixed by time with Fujita. I fully agree with you that if you put him in a position to succeed, he'll very likely reward you.

The headcase thing... I guess we'll see what that actually amounts to and if it's been overblown or not. I think we're hearing a lot of chatter about it but no-one has brought forth any 'real' evidence of it, to my knowledge, apart from he's apparently "difficult to coach".

I mentioned this in another thread, but kids these days are much, much different compared to when you or I were kids and they don't respond well to the same tactics that kids of previous generations would respond to. I teach university students on the occasion and my wife is a high school teacher and the strategies you need to teach and coach the majority of the current generation of kids is totally different than it used to be. So I'm not putting a ton of stock in that until someone can actually provide real evidence of him having personality issues.

Considering it's likely that we're not bottoming out enough to get a top draft pick any time soon (barring unforeseen circumstances or a lucky lottery draw), we really need to take a swing for the fences with at least one of our early picks and Ryabkin might be the one with the highest ceiling in the latter half of the first round.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Fan69

I dont get this at all.

Kindel is 5 10 ? And a winger? I dont see how he has more runway than cootes possibly being a top six not to mention at 5 10 he would be hardpressed just to make the nhl because he is probably top six or bust. Misa is an equal or better prospect i dont see him being a center either at 5 10.

Ryabkin other than his previous year what has he done to warrant first round selection? He isnt even the best player on his team?

Moore has high end skill but massive attitude problems and riker lee has a top ten skillset but skates like a toddler would be a far smarter choice because we know we can improve skating, attitude not so much.

Kindel played this year at centre. He can play all three forward positions.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

How are you already going to label Cootes as a ceiling of 3C? Yes, Kindel may have a slightly higher ceiling, but Cootes has a better floor and imo would be a great center to eventually replace Backlund as a responsible 2-way player. You win cups with 2-way players.

I am just going by what the pro scouts are projecting him as.