2025 NHL Draft Thread

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Every scouting thing I have read has Schaefer as the only player with a chance to be a franchise player, he is on his own tier. If they take Hagen's it's because they traded back and got a haul.

Hagens probably won’t be the best player from this draft but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the highest point producer

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Hagens probably won’t be the best player from this draft but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the highest point producer

That could be. I am just going by what guys like Pronman, Wheeler, and the ilk are saying.

[CliffFletcher]

Any talk about the Isles trading down is just click-bait. Schaefer is pretty much a consensus #1 OA guy. Teams can go decades without having an elite #1 d-man (as the Isles have). There’s zero reason for the Isles not to take him.

[TheScorpion]

Wrote a thing on four re-entry prospects I like for the Flames:

https://flamesnation.ca/news/four-in...2025-nhl-draft

(Edit — total coincidence that this is coming out so soon after Sandman's posts from yesterday, which I just read now. Started working on this a while ago and it only came out today. One mind!)

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I don't agree.
It's boring if everyone has the same list. I like reading different POVs.
In the case of Bader, he doesn't claim to be a scout. He applies the statistics into the model he's built, and that defines his ranking. It's a completely different approach, and I think it still remains to be seen how good the model is, as he hasn't been doing it long enough to really know.

There is no loss of credibility because he's not a scout.

Originally Posted by AustinL_NHL

I always love your takes and inputs on anything regarding prospects, but that's a pretty out-of-line comment for you to make imo.

Bader has never shied away or hid his ranking criteria from anyone. It's simply a gathering of statistics.

His model also says last year's Flames draft class was among the best its seen in a 34-year span, and this fanbase has been salivating about last year's draft class all season long, so I think his model has some validity to it.

Bader's model is certainly worth the follow and not a simple throwaway

I must not be understanding his "criteria", or his "model", because he has two late-round picks (at best, they might not even be drafted) in the first-round. I apologize for my harsh comments though, I understand what's it's like to be mocked for opinions, while not claiming to be a scout.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Wrote a thing on four re-entry prospects I like for the Flames:

https://flamesnation.ca/news/four-in...2025-nhl-draft

(Edit — total coincidence that this is coming out so soon after Sandman's posts from yesterday, which I just read now. Started working on this a while ago and it only came out today. One mind!)

Excellent work, Scorp!

[TheScorpion]

Thanks. Didn't even intend to create a throughline that all four of them played with Flames prospects this past season.

I really like Epperson if he falls to the third round. Seems like a great value play. Hopefully he mellows out a bit at school.

Very curious to see where Pickford ends up, too.

[Sandman]

Big fan of both players here.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Big fan of both players here.

Who do you hope we get if we got 4th overall

[dammage79]

Frondell 10 times out of 10 for me. If not then Misa or Hagens as they'll only be available if Frondell was coveted over the other two.

He's like my #2 favorite prospect in this draft behind Misa. And if I'm honest, he plays exactly like a Flame should.

[Sandman]

I LOVE Martone, but I would go Frondell or Desnoyers.

[dammage79]

I'd be a happy cat if the Flames ended up with Cootes.
He skates like...actually a bit better than Sam Bennett. Has that same wind up speed to carry the puck up the rink into the offensive zone.

RHS, fast, has a quick shot and makes some slick plays. Safe pick be damned, that's the kind of thing you hunt for in a center.

At 32 I think I like William Moore over Jack Nesbitt if those were options.


Gimme one of Moore or Nilson at 32. Cootes and one of those two would be a really nice draft for the Flames.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Sandman

I LOVE Martone, but I would go Frondell or Desnoyers.

All day and if it were for the Flames twice on Sunday

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I'd be a happy cat if the Flames ended up with Cootes.
He skates like...actually a bit better than Sam Bennett. Has that same wind up speed to carry the puck up the rink into the offensive zone.

RHS, fast, has a quick shot and makes some slick plays. Safe pick be damned, that's the kind of thing you hunt for in a center.

At 32 I think I like William Moore over Jack Nesbitt if those were options.


Gimme one of Moore or Nilson at 32. Cootes and one of those two would be a really nice draft for the Flames.

This draft is weird after the top 15 but Eric is my pick for the steal of the draft after that. He's so smart and solid I wouldn't be shocked to see him go anywhere between 15-32

[sch19lks]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I don't agree.
It's boring if everyone has the same list. I like reading different POVs.
In the case of Bader, he doesn't claim to be a scout. He applies the statistics into the model he's built, and that defines his ranking. It's a completely different approach, and I think it still remains to be seen how good the model is, as he hasn't been doing it long enough to really know.

There is no loss of credibility because he's not a scout.

Numbers aren’t everything.

Hockey isn’t baseball

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by sch19lks

Numbers aren’t everything.

Hockey isn’t baseball

Never claimed they were
Again I simply enjoy reading a variety of opinions.
He offers a compete different perspective which is interesting to me
I think his model has flaws including not factoring in other attributes like size so you see smaller skilled players higher
But that also means he was right about guys like Hutson and Stankoven

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Sandman

I must not be understanding his "criteria", or his "model", because he has two late-round picks (at best, they might not even be drafted) in the first-round. I apologize for my harsh comments though, I understand what's it's like to be mocked for opinions, while not claiming to be a scout.

I don’t think he’s ever outlined his model in detail probably because that would reveal his “secret sauce”
But as I understand it he built a model, using historic player info, to be able to then predict the probability a prospect succeeds, and to what extent, based how close statistically they resemble players from the past
It’s basically a predictive model based on stats alone
At least I think that’s how it works.
He also watches a lot of hockey clearly but I think his rankings are based entirely on his stat based model

[fotze2]

Not really draft related for this year. McKenna is choosing between Penn State and Michigan State for next year. He was at Edge this week practicing and Dupont and Dylan Holloway.

[Bingo]

Updated rankings list.

17 rankings
7 needed to get an "average"

Flames ranges in red

1	M Schaefer	D	1.18

2	Michael Misa	C	2.00

3	James Hagens	C	4.12
4	Porter Martone	RW	4.47
5	Anton Frondell	C	5.18

6	C Desnoyers	C	6.76

7	Victor Eklund	LW	8.35
8	Jake O’Brien	C	9.53

9	Jackson Smith	D	11.06
10	Radim Mrtka	D	11.53
11	Roger McQueen	C	11.82
12	Brady Martin	C	12.12

13	Carter Bear	C	14.18

14	K Aitcheson	D	17.50
15	Braeden Cootes	C	17.80
16	J Carbonneau	RW	17.81
17	Lynden Lakovic	LW	18.35

18	Cole Reschny	C	19.53
19	Logan Hensler	D	20.47
20	Cameron Reid	D	20.63

21	Benjamin Kindel	RW	21.13
22	Malcolm Spence	LW	21.38

23	Cullen Potter	C	23.00
24	J Ravensbergen	G	24.92

25	Ivan Ryabkin	C	26.38
26	Cam Schmidt	RW	26.80
27	Jack Nesbitt	C	27.21
28	Bill Zonnon	Lw	27.63

29	Blake Fiddler	D	29.07
30	S Boumedienne	D	30.07
31	Milton Gästrin	C	30.46
32	Jack Murtagh	C	32.07
33	William Moore	C	33.42
34	J Ihs-Wozniak	RW	34.67
35	Cole McKinney	C	35.00
36	H Brzustewicz	D	36.55
37	Shane Vansaghi	C	37.50
38	Eric  Nilson	C	37.73
39	Adam Benák	C	39.33
40	Ryker   Lee	RW	41.00
41	William Horcoff	C	41.82
42	Kurban Limatov	D	42.57
43	Eddie Genborg	LW	42.70
44	Jack Ivankovic	G	43.00
45	Alex Zharovsky	RW	47.20
46	Haoxi Wang	D	50.00
47	Ethan Czata	C	50.25
48	Nathan Behm	LW	50.89
49	Luca Romano	C	52.89
50	Vaclav Nestrasil	RW	54.80
51	Vojtech Cihar	LW	55.43
52	C Trethewey	D	55.50
53	Owen Conrad	D	56.57
54	Benjamin Kevan	RW	57.73
55	Conrad Fondrk	C	58.33
56	L.J. Mooney	RW	59.88
57	K Epperson	LW	60.00
58	P Andreyanov	G	60.86
59	Matthew Gard	C	61.00
60	Alex Huang	D	64.63

[Jiri Hrdina]

Gotta believe they will go centre
So Cootes, Reschny, Potter or Nesbitt
Perhaps Bear drops if there is a run on d