2025 NHL Draft Thread

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Stutzle was the only center that was a consensus top 5

Um. Byfield?

[Robbob]

I am hopeful the Flames manage to grab some high skilled players in this and the next draft. I think things are kind of falling into place. By time the Flames go through 2025 and 2026, those 1st rounders will be joining a group of prospects that have been marinating for a few years. Kind of like the Chicago build where by time Towes and Kane joined, they had a bunch of players in their early to mid 20s taking that next step.

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

No, but if I go to Swiss Chalet, I don't order a hamburger even if it is my favourite meal.

The BMA is often the best best in a restaurant, although this analogy is terrible, and not relevant to hockey.

Since the vast majority of draft picks take years to develop, picking for needs today is often useless as needs can change from year to year.

That’s where projections come in. Figured that went without saying…..

Also, the analogy was excellent. If I have sushi today, I’m not likely to go get more sushi tomorrow unless, of course, I’m some sort of reprobate.

It doesn’t take much to see the Flames are relatively in a better position as it relates to wing, defence, and goalie for the foreseeable future. This doesn’t mean they are set and don’t need to continue to add resources here, especially if the opportunity is there to acquire elite talent. This being the case the obvious need appears to be at C. This years draft looks to have several C’s in the top 7-8 players. The two exceptions, at this point, look to be Martone and Schafer. Should the Flames pass on McQueen or Frondell or Ryabkin and take Martone or Schafer because they ranked higher?

I lean towards the C. It addresses an organizational need, not necessarily today but tomorrow. Again, projections matter.

[D as in David]

Just don't always pick the largest meals.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by TOfan

The two exceptions, at this point, look to be Martone and Schafer. Should the Flames pass on McQueen or Frondell or Ryabkin and take Martone or Schafer because they ranked higher?

I lean towards the C. It addresses an organizational need, not necessarily today but tomorrow. Again, projections matter.

If the Flames believe that Martone and Schafer are better bets to achieve long term success than the centres, they absolutely should take them.

Now, if everything is more or less equal, defaulting to the centres is fine.

When you say "ranked higher", I assume you mean ranked higher by the Flames.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by TOfan

Also, the analogy was excellent. If I have sushi today, I’m not likely to go get more sushi tomorrow unless, of course, I’m some sort of reprobate.

What does not wanting to eat sushi two days in a row have to do with drafting a hockey team?

[PepsiFree]

BPA is fine if there is a significant gap. Like, if you badly need a centre and the next centre available on your list is 5-10 spots behind anyone else on your list, BPA. But if you have that player ranked 4th and you’re picking 3rd, there’s nothing wrong with picking for position.

Kind of a cow’s point anyway, as team lists are probably already taking position into account, so a team probably has certain guys ranked a little higher based on their position.

[PepsiFree]

To add: it’s easy to point out picking Joulevi over Tkachuk (a winger that was ranked higher than the D basically by consensus).

But you can also look at taking Zadina over Hughes (another winger ranked higher than the D basically by consensus).

I feel like Detroit probably would’ve rather picked the more important position and ended up with a Norris winner rather than a winger whose contract they terminated and is now out of the NHL.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Are you making this up? No one was close to Lafreniere for #1, Stutzle was the only center that was a consensus top 5 but was never a real threat to go in the 1 spot.

Byfield was a C, and was close to being #1.

When its that close I would go with the C. Worst case scenario they move to wing like Byfield has, but I would rather take a shot at getting a star C.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Byfield was a C, and was close to being #1.

When its that close I would go with the C. Worst case scenario they move to wing like Byfield has, but I would rather take a shot at getting a star C.

He wasn't that close. In fact, McKenzie had him 3rd behind Stutzle.

Lafreniere was the consensus #1.

[cral12]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

He was on fire in the 2nd half of the season and nearly hit 30 goals. He's still only 22 and coming along nicely. Fans just have to be a little patient as the path for these kids can vary.

Plus, LafreNYR has put up most of his numbers 5-on-5, i.e. only 10.5% of his pts came on the PP.

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by cral12

Plus, LafreNYR has put up most of his numbers 5-on-5, i.e. only 10.5% of his pts came on the PP.

Yup,

He was also one of their best players in the playoffs last year.

He's only 22. He still has a couple years till he hits his prime.

[Sandman]

I was a huge Byfield booster in that draft, and I wasn’t a huge fan of Laf. I can honestly say that Laf was the consensus #1 by a fair margin all year- much to my chagrin.

[cral12]

Originally Posted by Sandman

I was a huge Byfield booster in that draft, and I wasn’t a huge fan of Laf. I can honestly say that Laf was the consensus #1 by a fair margin all year- much to my chagrin.

I recall Cam Robinson, now of Elite Prospects, being a big Byfield backer as well - he was one of the few who rated Quinton #1 over Laf.

[cral12]

Been doing a few tweets highlighting the features of Upside's mammoth spreadsheet...

- links to a ton of videos highlighting the respective prospects
- prospect names linked to their Elite Prospects profile
- tabs/sheets sorting the prospects in various ways

E.g.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1843829008599003623

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by cral12

Been doing a few tweets highlighting the features of Upside's mammoth spreadsheet...

- links to a ton of videos highlighting the respective prospects
- prospect names linked to their Elite Prospects profile
- tabs/sheets sorting the prospects in various ways

E.g.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1843829008599003623

The link appears to be broken for whatever reason. Unless I'm doing somethign wrong.

Nathan Behm is getting off to a good start. 8 points in 4 WHL games. A 6'2 Center from Calgary.

[FlamesAddiction]

I see Vernon Fiddler's son Blake is a projected 1st rounder.

[1qqaaz]

If McQueen somehow goes #1 overall, there might be 5 consecutive 1st overall picks from the west (Bedard, Celebrini, McQueen, McKenna and DuPont).

[cral12]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

The link appears to be broken for whatever reason. Unless I'm doing somethign wrong.

Nathan Behm is getting off to a good start. 8 points in 4 WHL games. A 6'2 Center from Calgary.

Dang it - thanks for the heads up - got some trouble shooting to do with domain host Bluehost.

(Old URL shortener link https://bit.ly/upsidehockey should still work if anyone needs alt link in meantime)

UPDATE:
Site is up; appears to be a problem with Elron's Twitter/X and the URL shorteners it uses while embedded here. Shrugs.
(actually doesn't work via Twitter directly either - maybe Leon doesn't like that I don't for a blue check mark)

Link: https://www.upsidehockey.com/nhl-dra...draft-rankings
should work!

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

Nathan Behm is getting off to a good start. 8 points in 4 WHL games. A 6'2 Center from Calgary.

Isn't Behm a winger?