The 2025 NHL draft has been an anomaly for me throughout the year. Normally, I find myself excited to watch players who are projected to go in the top two rounds and struggle to identify players who I like in the later rounds. This year, the polar opposite occurred. I found myself feeling like there was not enough talent to make a legitimate second-round tier this year, and that most of the players that I’d slot into that spot were being driven to “I like them, but I have a lot of concerns.”

I found myself finding a lot of players that I’d love to take a swing on in the later rounds. Players that may be smaller, or have a longer road to develop into the players they could be, but there is enough through qualitative scouting and through tracking their micro statistics to warrant ending up in this ranking.

There is a severe lack of offensive defensemen in this draft. I’d argue that there is only one defenseman who will play on a power play in the NHL, and after that, it’s a lot of players who might play on the power play one day. Some defensemen have a trait or a playing style that might develop into something, but there are a lot of contingent factors with this draft class.

The Sabres must come away with a few quality NHL players down the road from this draft. They have a lot of draft capital invested in this draft, and most of it is allocated to the late rounds, which they have been inefficient in the past 5 years. Hitting the right players in the first three rounds is important, but this is an important draft to hit on at least one NHL rostered player in rounds 4-7.

About the draft guide and me

I currently work as the North American crossover scout at Smaht Scouting and scout for a junior team. I’ve been scouting since 2010 and have been doing public rankings and scouting since 2017, starting at Die By the Blade. Over the years, I’ve changed philosophies, have done 180s on archetypes of players that I like and dislike, and have tweaked my microstat tracking system every year since Will Scouch brought the hand-tracked microstat data model to my attention in 2018.

I lean more toward qualitative than quantitative still, but microstat data has been a big tool for me to get over my biases. Sometimes I walk away from a game not very impressed with a player, only to go back and track the game and find that they were a lot more effective than I had thought.

Starting in 2019, I started faux drafting for the Sabres as if I were the GM or Director of Scouting, making the picks. I have taken one defenseman (Seamus Casey) in the first round in 5 years, and I haven’t taken any defensemen in the second round. This year, I will be shocked if I end up with defensemen before the fourth round.

Before we get into the draft rankings, a couple of disclaimers:

1. Pay attention to tiers and not ranks

Truthfully, I’ve thought about getting rid of the numbered ranks next to the players altogether for the past three years. The players are grouped in a manner that if you put the tiers in a blender, I could make a logical argument about the order they would come out in. While I am placing the players in how I would select them, the tiers system is meant to show the small gaps between players in case the Sabres select within the tier.

2. I have predominantly focused on the North American prospects this year

My role at Smaht has led me to hyper-focus on the players playing in Canada and the United States this year. I lean on our European scouts to tell me who to watch for rankings, and then watch those players to determine where they fit within the large number of North American players I have data on. I may be blind to players overseas who may be ranked by other scouting agencies based on the evaluation of our scouts, but I do believe we have some of the best scouts when looking across the pond.

3. I’m going to be wrong

Probably on a lot of prospects. With the vast majority of a draft class not making a case for NHL consideration until at least 3 years after they are drafted, there’s a lot of nuance to the process. Disagree with me. It’s A-Okay! I’ve been working on scouting since 2010, and I still have much to learn.

4. Understand my biases

I value players who keep control of the puck in transition. I like players who pass and shoot from dangerous parts of the ice. I value rush lane differentiation, small area skill/agility, and how players respond in pressure situations. I care about how a player dictates their opposition defensively using anticipation and puck separation techniques. I use a 9-category data tracking system to evaluate players offensively, and 3 categories defensively. I place less emphasis on skating mechanics, size, and physicality. I care more about how you operate when time/space is condensed and the plays that generate out of those situations. I deemphasize special teams and place a lot of time and notetaking at even strength. You may lean heavily into pNHLe or point production models, favor one league or another, or value size, physicality, and/or skating ability to a higher level than I do. It’s okay. We can differ. Just know the lens I’m coming from when I make these evaluations.

5. These are rankings specific for the Sabres

My rankings are slightly different, but this is a Sabres community, so I’ve made the rankings specific to the team. My rankings still have the same players in the same tiers, but there are a couple of players I’ve moved around. For example, I would be shocked if we took an LHD in the first round this year, given the glut of LHDs that have a term on the NHL roster. While this didn’t impact Matthew Schaefer’s ranking, it did impact some of the other LHDs I have in the first round.

6. There is no consensus in the public sphere about team building for the NHL draft

This is what makes the NHL draft so much fun in my eyes, but also turns off casual fans to the NHL draft. Imagine if the NFL draft were conducted after high school. Go look at the ESPN Top 300 or the 247 college football rankings for this year. Then compare them to the NFL draft order 3 years later. That’s essentially the disadvantage NHL scouts are working with when projecting three to five years out from a draft.

There are also very few universal rules to the NHL draft compared to the NFL draft. We know which positions in football you draft high, which ones you can extract value from, and have a general idea of how to grade drafts using somewhat universal team-building philosophical arguments. Outside of the consensus that no one can predict which goalies are going to be great, there are no such team-building philosophies in the NHL.

Over the last fifteen years, I have established my own set of cardinal rules. There are always exceptions to these rules, but they are as follows:

• Never trade up.
• The early 2nd round usually has 5-10 players whom I love. It’s a great place to live in the draft.
• Don’t draft a defenseman who doesn’t have power-play potential in the first round.
• When debating players who you view similarly, always go with the one with the elite trait (if applicable).
• After round 1, the forwards who usually hit big are either undersized, wingers, or European. They are usually some combination of the three.
• Late-round defensemen who hit are usually overagers who have played in a men’s league or the NCAA.
• Consistent, high-end save percentages work out better than size for goalies.

Let’s get started: Who’s not on my board?

Three players are almost universally ranked, but you won’t find them among my top 96 players for the 2025 NHL Draft. While there is certainly a point in the draft, I’d take all three of these players: I rank just 96 players, and taking up three spots on my draft board just to rank them way below consensus rankings put them seemed like a waste. Instead, I’ll just briefly explain why those three players are off my board here.

Ivan Ryabkin, LW/C, USHL

It’s pretty simple with Ryabkin: I just don’t like the way he plays hockey. He’s a jerk on the ice. Normally, this type of player is a player that I’d love to have on our team and hate to play against. However, the late hits, retaliating minor penalties, and after-the-whistle antics are the only times that Ryabkin seems to get engaged in the game. He lags in the backcheck and isn’t involved in the transition game. He sits out front looking for tip-ins and passes out front for his offense, and rarely moves in the cycle game.

There are moments he flashes the high-end skill. He can make a play or two every game that makes me question whether or not I should leave him off the board. However, there just isn’t enough effort, and there is a stubbornness on the ice to do what he wants and not what is needed that I wouldn’t take on the risk.

Jack Murtagh, LW/C, USNTDP

Murtagh has the opposite problem of Ryabkin. While there is no questioning his effort and compete level, Murtagh lacks the skill and execution ability to be able to project to the top six in an NHL lineup. He was the lowest among all forwards tracked in North America in passing completion percentage after completing just 47% of his passes. He’s a low-volume passer as well, and he lacked puck touches on the NTDP team. He was among the bottom 10 players in offensive transition involvement percentage and was not efficient in his attempts.

He’ll go somewhere in the second round, and I wouldn’t think about him until the sixth.

Haoxi Wang, LHD, OJHL

Some scouts see a 6’6, mobile defenseman who is late in his start to hockey and see a potential homerun. I see a player who looks the part with his mobility, but lacks the other areas of the game to translate to anything more than a bottom-pairing defenseman. He may play in the NHL one day, but I don’t see the puck skill, smarts, or lateral agility to be an offensive player. His defensive game needs a lot of work, from the way he gaps players in transition to his off-puck scanning and reading play, and he needs to become more physical with his size.

It’s a long road for Wang, and I don’t think that long of a development curve and that much variance is worth a second or third round pick. Perhaps in the late rounds, I’d gamble on a player with his traits and size without the ability to see and make plays or play off-puck.

Now…let’s get into the 2025 NHL Draft Board.

Tier I: Who should be the first overall pick?

If this were my rankings, I’d put Schaefer at first overall and Misa at second. However, given that we have three offensive left-handed defensemen, it makes this decision very easy for the Sabres’ draft board.

Michael Misa

There are no holes in Michael Misa’s game. He’s one of the best shot generators, dangerous shot generators, passers, and play creators in this draft. While he doesn’t run away in any statistical category in the micro-stat data, he is one of the top forwards in each of these categories.

Saginaw had Joey Willis run transition for the team before deferring to Misa in the offensive zone to begin the year, but the trade of Willis and the addition of Chernyshov opened up Misa’s transition game as Chernyshov’s game is best in the offensive zone and lags in transition. The only nitpick of Misa’s game is that he’s very good at everything but doesn’t excel at any one qualitative trait, however, his dataset puts him in the top 5 in nearly every microstat and top 10 in all offensive ones. I see him as a top-six center on San Jose or a top-line center on the Islanders.

Matthew Schaefer

Matthew Schaefer may be the best transition players my dataset has ever seen. He was involved in nearly 49% of all of Erie’s successful offensive transitions at an 81% success rate. He did most of this through carrying the puck on his stick for exits and was as involved as most forwards for entries as well!

He activates non-stop from the backend, using his great north/south speed to get going up the ice and using quick fakes with his head and hips to move around defensive players in transition. He was the best at generating dangerous pass attempts in the dataset by a lot as well. He had a few bad defensive plays caused by his over-aggressive nature, and there are times when his feet aren’t moving that he can get beat too easily, but overall, he’s a dominant offensive defenseman who will excel at five-on-five and activate to be dangerous on the power play.

Tier II: The Dream Pick for the Sabres at #9

What makes these three players the dream picks is simply because they do two things at elite levels: they can be the engine of the line to move play through the neutral zone, and they are playmakers in the offensive zone to generate chances for themselves and for each other.

James Hagens

Hagens was the consensus number one pick coming into the year, and his fall down the board comes from an adjustment period he had transitioning to the NCAA. Part of the adjustment was figuring out how to be a playmaker at his size despite not having elite north/south pace, and the other aspect was learning to create plays for others when the time/space has been condensed.

He finished the year as the third most prolific passer per 60 minutes in the dataset behind Desnoyers and Gavin Cornforth, and in the top six in total pass attempts to dangerous areas. He ended the year at a very impressive 49% offensive transition involvement at 67% efficiency (over 75% if you take out his first tracked game, where he was at 52%). I believe he’s best at center, but his pace of play may drive him to the wing.

Porter Martone

Porter Martone is a player who, at first glance, you expect to play a power forward, bruising style of hockey. However, Martone is one of the best playmakers in the entire class. His ability to pre-scan and hit players all over the ice with precision passes is among the best in the class. He’s a slightly less prolific passer than Hagens and less go to dangerous areas, but he’s involved more in transition at a more efficient rate despite lacking the pace of play to be a prolific carry-in/out transition player. He flashes a bit of nastiness and physicality that could make him into a truly scary offensive weapon. If his skating comes along and he picks up his physicality, he could be a force in the NHL.

Victor Eklund

Spoiler alert: Victor Eklund is my realistic dream for the Sabres.

Playing alongside Anton Frondell in the Allsvenskan this year, it was Eklund who was the engine of the line. He was the primary transition player, was great at play creation, and showed above-average puck skill. His counting stats weren’t as high as Frondell’s, but he was a better transition player and showed a tenacity playing hard on pucks defensively all year. Ignore the frame: Eklund is the type of player the Sabres need to build their team around.

Tier III: The Elite Passengers

The term “passenger” isn’t meant to be derogatory to Desnoyers and Frondell, but rather a description of their transition game. Both players benefited from having linemates who carried the puck through the neutral zone, and both showed great offensive ability in different ways throughout the season.

Caleb Desnoyers

Desnoyers’ micro-stat profile is hilarious in the offensive zone. He has a ten shot lead on the second place forward in shots per 60 in the data set (30 compared to Misa’s 20), four shot lead in dangerous shots per 60, the most prolific passer in the entire dataset and completing 76% of them, and averaging 19% of his passes going to dangerous areas. He was an offensive zone monster for Moncton in the QMJHL this year.

There are two reservations I have about Desnoyers. The first is that he lacks pace in his skating, and this hinders his transition game. He’s good on his edges and creates space in tight areas, but he was not good in his carry-in/out transitions. The second is that Moncton was a wagon of a team in a bad QMJHL league. Some of his statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt, but there’s no denying the effectiveness and translatable off-puck and passing game to the NHL. He has a good stick defensively, but I didn’t find it to be overly impressive, but it’s passable to project to NHL effectiveness.

Anton Frondell

I always struggle to like players like Frondell in the NHL draft. He’s a big, strong forward who doesn’t excel with the puck on his stick, but rather can play through his teammates to create his offense. He has the best one-timer in the draft and will make a living on the right circle of the power play. His physicality and one-touch passing will make him versatile in the NHL, and I thought he played best in the Allsvenskan when he was playing wing than he did at the U18s playing center. I draft Frondell with the hopes of putting him on the wing with McLeod at center and watch him flourish long-term as he’s not asked to carry the transition game.

Tier IV: The Sabres Tier

Cullen Potter

Cullen Potter has been my favorite player in this draft since he was 16 years old, playing with the 2006 Dallas Stars AAA team. His skating isn’t just the best in the class, but competes with some of the best skaters recently in any draft class. You cannot catch him in transition, and the best part is that his brain and hands can keep up with his feet. When play runs through him, he’s able to be a transition monster who can drive play to the inside both with the puck on his stick and through his passing.

Sometimes he will look off teammates who he could play through for better scoring opportunities to try to beat defenders himself, and his size is going to cause teams to question whether he is a center or a wing, but I’d bet on Potter all day to be a top-six NHL forward.

Ben Kindel

Ben Kindel and Potter have flip-flopped between 8 and 9 just about every week for the past two months. Potter ends up winning out because I think his skating makes him more projectable, but Kindel plays the game as if he has eyes in the back of his head. He was, by far, the most fun playmaker in this entire draft.

His skating to size ratio is good and isn’t a concern, but even if I doubted it, he makes up for it with just how smart he is moving the puck. He’s one of the best shot generators for himself and shot creators for others in the entire dataset. Whether or not he’s big enough or can play a defensive game down the middle is the only question mark. Even if he’s moved to the wing, I think he has the chance to be one of the best point producers in this entire class.

Lynden Lakovic

Lynden Lakovic plays like he’s 5’10, yet he stands at 6’4, 190 pounds. He was the only bright spot offensively on a very bad Moose Jaw team in the WHL. He was the second most involved player in transition in the entire dataset and did so at an outrageous 86% success rate. There are questions about his offensive game moving forward, but I found that when he was able to dictate play in the offensive zone, he had great skill and vision creating plays.

Oftentimes, once he passed the puck in the offensive zone, the puck never found him again due to the lack of talent of his teammates. He needs to use his frame more to his advantage, and I look forward to seeing him get an upgrade in linemates to see what he does when play doesn’t have to always go through him.

Jake O’Brien

Jake O’Brien is one of the best pure passers in the draft. He just lacks north/south speed to be able to be a transition player or separate from defenders. In six games I watched, he had 14 points, but 11 of them came on the power play. He was tremendous on the man-advantage, but was too reliant on getting space at even strength to be a dominant force.

His micro-stat profile backs this up as he was a top passer in the dataset, one of the lowest in terms of shot attempts off his stick, and in the bottom 15 in offensive transition involvement. If he gets faster, then he could become a special player in this draft.

Carter Bear

Carter Bear is every fan’s dream player. He has an incredible compete level offensively and defensively, skates very well, is physical and not afraid to throw his body around, and complements his linemates well as a passenger on a top-six line. He was never asked to do much in terms of transition, and play never ran through him, but he put up impressive micro-stats regardless. The Achilles injury seems to be less severe than originally thought, and Bear fits the type of player the Sabres could use more of.

Tier V: Personal Favorites and LHD, we don’t need

Eric Nilson

Eric Nilson’s ranking may shock most of you. Truthfully, he sat in the next tier for the majority of the season, and he’s always been pegged as my ideal second-round pick. He is my ideal player, and a player who plays hockey exactly how I would want my kid to play. Cerebral in everything he does; Nilson is always two steps ahead of where the play is going and makes plays that have made me audibly gasp.

After the U18s, I couldn’t help but move him up to this spot as I thought he was the best forward not named Stenberg on the Swedish roster throughout the tournament. Great in transition, in the offensive zone, in the defensive zone, and makes all the little plays that separate good from great prospects. He’s slight in his frame and his offensive production in the J20 isn’t going to wow anyone, but the Michigan State commit has my vote as the player scouts look back on and say, “how did he fall out of the first round?”

Cole Reschny

I’ve been alone on Cole Reschny Island for the majority of this year. I know his skating isn’t ideal for his size, but my goodness, does Reschny win you over within the first few shifts of every game. Victoria wasn’t loaded with talent in the WHL, yet he drove them to be a great team.

He doesn’t give opponents any space defensively, can get pucks to the dangerous areas of the ice despite his skating limitation, and does his scoring both through his off-puck movement and through his skill to get to the inside. His WHL playoff point total has finally given him the respect he deserves, and he’s a player I wouldn’t bet against.

Braeden Cootes

Cootes has the skating ability that Reschny wishes he had. His skating is so effortless and quick that he catches your eye during every viewing. He struggled a bit to start the year to find consistency in his effectiveness in his play-creating and transition ability, but his doggedness in the defensive zone and motor always stood out.

As the year progressed, he saw his offensive game take off, culminating in a very good U18 performance for the Canadians. His micro-stat profile wasn’t impressive in total, but when looking at how he ended the year, he was a very good offensive player in transition and through his passing. He needs to get on the inside more for his shot, but there are a lot of tools he already possesses that I don’t think it will take long for him to excel in the WHL as a point producer.

Justin Carbonneau

Justin Carbonneau might have been the most frustrating player that I want to like in this entire draft. He is one of the most skilled players with the puck on his stick in this draft. There is no questioning that. However, what he does with that puck and the decisions he makes caused me to utter more than a few curse words at my computer throughout the year. He is simply wonderful on the power play. His shot is so hard and so precise, he can thread passes wherever he wants, and looks like a top 5 talent on the man advantage. At even strength?

There’s a lot to work on. He was the lowest in the data set at completing dangerous passes. He loves to try to create plays, but he is not connecting on his passes to the dangerous areas. He flies the zone constantly in transition and thus is not the primary puck transporter on his line, even though he has all the skill to do so. He’s in the top 10 in shot attempts and the second-lowest in pass attempts per 60. He plays physical, but his hits don’t separate players from the puck and are often just finishing a check. There’s so much potential, and I’m hoping moving to Boston College next year will unlock it.

Tier VI: The Big Boys

This tier is primarily power forwards who are good passengers and project to the middle-six, defensemen who I question their offensive upside, and Roger McQueen.

I like all of Spence, Martin, and Zonnon. They aren’t all of the same archetype, but all three will make their living playing a passenger role in the NHL and using their compete level and varying degrees of physicality to their advantage.

Spence has the most tactiful skill of the group, Martin lacks the pace of play to pull off his flashy moves but has very good offensive zone ability and is the best hitter in the draft, and Zonnon is the ideal third line center who will give you defensive responsibility, the ability to play through teammates offensively, but lacks the edgework or hands to create chances reliably in the pros.

Mrtka is a giant who doesn’t play physically. He is a good skater at his size but doesn’t have the puck skill to be a carry-in/out transition defender, and struggles to make passes under pressure. There are flashes, but I don’t think I’d bet on him until this late in the first round.

I like the way Blake Fiddler gaps in transition, and he is physical and tough to get around or through in the defensive zone. He has a good first pass in transition, so I would take him in the first round, but I don’t see a point producer in Fiddler.

I just don’t think Aicheson’s offensive is projectable. His goal scoring comes from point shots and not from moving up into the medium dangerous areas or from puck-handling to high-danger areas. His skating isn’t high-end, and I think he can get clunky in his pivots and beat too easily going out wide.

However, he makes some good passes in the offensive zone, and he plays on the edge physically. He’ll cross the line too often for my taste with his cross checks or slashes to feet, but if his skating improves and he activates more of his offense could project more than I’m betting on.

Tier VIII: The Ideal Second Round Pick

This is an anomaly for me this year. Normally, there are a plethora of players that I think could fall to the second round that I’d jump on. This year, that list is four players that I’d be truly excited (plus Eric Nilson) who I think could be available to us at pick number 39.

Vensaghi, realistically, is in the tier above for me. However, he is the one player who I think could slip into the second round. The main reason is that he averaged just over seven minutes of even-strength ice time and didn’t have the opportunity to put up a large sample size of production metrics.

His per 60 metrics are really good, though, especially at shot generation and in transition. He’s a super-physical winger and a player that I think, long term, could be a better Jordan Greenway-esque role for the Sabres.

Ryker Lee has so much skill and was the engine for a mediocre Madison team in the USHL. He was the primary offensive transition driver at a 48% offensive transition involvement rate, and he flashed great skill at creating offense through his skill and passing. Madison struggled to get out of their zone, so his micro-stats are a bit lower than most, but I believe, in the viewings I had, that Lee has the makings of an offensive winger in the NHL.

Ihs-Wozniak has all the skills to be a lot higher than this ranking, but his inability to drive play at the J20 level always frustrated me. He is great in the offensive zone and was a menace on the power play, but I thought his even-strength ability and skillset never showed their true potential until the later viewings before my final rankings. He jumped up from the tier below to this tier due to the last 2 viewings I had of him.

Boumedienne has always been a player who screamed more offensive production than what he was providing. His passing can look like an offensive defenseman, or it can be erratic and look like he won’t project to a steady NHL role. He has all the skill and ability to be a PP2 quarterback, but he has to become more consistent in his passing decisions for me to feel comfortable with the projection.

Tier IV: Realistic Second Round Picks

The 5’7 boys are going to be the most fun part of the 2025 draft. I have just thrown caution to the wind when it comes to LJ Mooney. I love the way this kid plays hockey. He’s one of the best skaters in the draft, is one of the most creative players with the puck on his stick, can see and create passing lanes out of thin air, and plays like he’s Matthew Tkachuk physically. His U18s were the summation of his season: amazing skill and play creation, absolutely destroying Frondell and Stenberg with body checks, and then he gets hurt in the Bronze medal game, throwing a hit. If he can find a way to tone down the reckless physicality to stay healthy, I’m betting on Mooney all day to overcome the odds to be an NHL player.

Benak lacks the skating acumen of Mooney, but his underlying data looks better than his. Benak was the best in the dataset in passes to dangerous areas and above 48% in offensive transition involvement. He was a high-volume shooter but almost exclusively from the perimeter. If he can get a step faster and get to the inside, he could find himself as an offensive NHL player.

McKinney is a great two-way center for the NTDP, especially in the U18s. He showed flashes of offensive upside in transition, but I found that his offensive game is where he struggled the most, and also where he showed flashes of being a middle-six, two-way player.

I liked Behm throughout the season, and as his confidence in his skating improved, I thought he showed a side of offensive upside that wasn’t there at the beginning of the year. He was successful in transition and generated above average shot attempts, dangerous shot attempts, while sending 20% of his passes to dangerous areas. I think he has the potential to outperform his current projection in the draft.

Svrcek is going to be on my Faux Sabres team. He’s a 200-foot player who is hard on pucks, is very good in transition, has a plus shot, and can create for his teammates. His size and lack of production in the J20 and the SHL have probably hurt his draft stock, but the way he plays the game translates very well to the middle-six in the NHL.

Nesbitt gets to dangerous areas of the ice to get his shot off, but other than that, he’s a massive project. He’s a clunky skater who struggles to complete passes and is a low-volume transition player. His size and shot make him interesting, but there’s a lot to develop for him to get to the lofty projections being put on him.

Tier X: Round 3 Picks

Cam Schmidt has the skating to overcome his size and has one of the best shots in this class as well. However, outside of his shooting prowess, he struggles in the other areas of the game offensively, and his size limits his defensive effectiveness. A fun swing to make in the mid-rounds, but not a player who projects to playing in a traditional bottom-six role. A true boom-or-bust pick.

Zharovsky flashes the talent to be a top 64 pick in the 2025 NHL draft, but the competition was putrid compared to many of his peers, and he isn’t afforded the luxury of international competitions to balance out that fear. He played well in the KHL playoffs in a limited role, so he may be worth a swing earlier in the draft.

I value how defensemen pass the puck under pressure as an indicator of how effective they will be in the NHL, and Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen was one of the best in the class at completing passes under duress in the defensive zone. He wasn’t given much of an opportunity to play up in the lineup at Michigan this year, and I think he’s a sleeper candidate in a draft that lacks depth at the position.

Fondrk was one of the most effective players offensively for the NTDP throughout their season. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to benefit from the lower competition that the U18s provided some of his teammates. Kevan has flashed for two years now, and there were times he put together a string of shifts that were dominant in the USHL. If he can consistently put together the highs of his game, he could be a good player in the 2nd-3rd round.

Charlie Cerrato is the player I will pound the table for in this draft. He was not dependent on Aiden Fink to generate his offense at Penn State and was a true playmaker and 200-foot center for the Nittany Lions. His vision is very good, he skates very well, and competes on every shift. As a D+2, he hits the point-per-game mark I look for from NCAA prospects as well. He’ll be on my Faux Sabres team.

Matthew Gard is a player I’d take if I wanted a Brady Martin archetype of player, but I missed out in the first round. He doesn’t have the skill level of Martin, but plays a smart game and is a better skater.

Sean Barnhill is a defensive, physical force with a good first pass as well. If I’m shooting for a bottom-four defensemen without having to pay early draft capital, that’s who I’m looking at.

Tier XI: Ideal Mid-Round Picks

I love Gavin Cornforth. Every time I put on a USHL game and the opponent was Dubuque, Cornforth popped off the screen as a player who was always doing effective and fun things. He was sixth in the dataset in individual shot attempts per 60 and dangerous shots per 60, second in passing attempts per 60, completed 71% of his passes, 18% went to dangerous areas of the ice, was top 10 in transition defense, and was effective in offensive transitions. He skates well and has skill as well.

The size might be the only limiting factor in his draft profile, but players that are that effective who aren’t being projected inside the top 96 in most rankings are a bet I’ll make all day.

Mason Moe was a very defensively responsible center who played between Ryker Lee and Finn Brink for the majority of the year. Brink and Lee handled the heavy lifting offensively, but I thought Moe showed effectiveness and skill on the line. He has a heavy wrist shot as well. He’s a player I’d take a flyer on that could project to a third-line center.

Klingsell has all the dynamic skills that I look for from an offensive player. He’s quick, has amazing puck-handling skill, and looks to make plays to dangerous areas. He wasn’t nearly as efficient in my viewings as I had hoped, but the skill is there. Hillstrom is a player who won’t wow you like Klingsell will, but he makes such smart and effective plays that I could see him sticking down the middle in the NHL if his development continues.

Hallquisth plays a physical brand of defensive hockey with a good first pass. I thought he was a good shut-down defenseman in the J20 and did well internationally against top competition.

Mason West is a player that I screamed about to my fellow junior scouts during Hlinka camp this summer. So much raw talent within that big frame, and I thought he looked good in his USHL stint to close the year. There’s a lot of off-puck development that has to happen, but he has all the tools.

Amico had a brief season, but he’s super physical with good mobility and a decent first pass. Radivojevic is a wildcard as an offensive defenseman. He can make some great plays and then follow them up with some really poor decisions with his passing.

Ekberg was the first player on the tier below until the U18s. I thought played well to close out his OHL campaign, and then he went on a goal-scoring tear in the U18s. Horcoff has some interesting skills for a power forward of his size, but he has to develop his play driving, as too often, chain-linked plays died on his stick in the NCAA and the U18s.

Tier XII: The Fun Late Round Picks

Tanner Lam’s January 3rd game against Erie was the most fun I had watching a prospect all year. Just an insane game of skill, play driving, and jaw-dropping highlights. He has some of the flashiest skills in the entire draft class and is a wizard at slipping past defenders as a carry-in transition player.

He is physically underdeveloped for the draft, but in a couple of years could take off, especially if he ends up going the NCAA route.

Cooper Simpson is, at first glance, a wiry skater without a ton of pace. However, he is super effective with his stick defensively and was always able to get where he wanted in the USHL stint he had to close out the year. He has a strong wrist shot, and I can see him becoming an NHL player down the line.

Will Sharpe overcompensated after being traded to a very bad Kelowna team. He tried to do way too much offensively and sacrificed defense, and it showed with the puck ending up in his net way too much for my liking. However, he’s a great passer, and I like his offensive instincts.

Nestrasil is big and has skill, but needs to process the game better for me to take him higher. There’s a player that could develop, though. Kvasnicka and Gallant were two of my favorites on the NTDP, but their size limits their NHL potential. They have the skill sets and compete level to do so, though.

Leo Sundqvist is one of my favorite players to watch in this draft class, but his size is going to drive him to the late rounds. He’s a player I’d take as a boom-or-bust type of pick with one of our many late-round draft selections.

Cole Temple centered Carter Bear after being traded mid-season, and was the engine of their line. I thought the point totals didn’t reflect the effectiveness of his skill and vision.

Patryk Zubec makes the list after just two viewings at the U18s. Against the United States, I was really impressed with his mobility, gap control, and that he always kept possession with his passes. It was odd to me that he was then benched during the third period of that game. Then, in the bronze medal game, he ended up being on their first pairing and looking like he belonged. With that size and ability, I’d bet on him in the late rounds.

Tier XIII: Trey Fix-Wolansky Award Nominees

The Trey Fix-Wolansky Award Winner for 2025: Vincent Dejardins. Dejardins centered Justin Carbonneau in the QMJHL and was the transition engine of the line. He had a good pace and great vision to get Carbonneau the puck and to help dictate the offensive cycle game. He’s off to Omaha next year in the NCAA, and I look forward to seeing how he develops as the years go on.

Harry Nansi was a close second. He’s a super impactful player who always catches your eye when you’re watching him play, but the counting stats never materialized.

Hayden Harsanyi was a player that I kept noting whenever I saw Saskatoon play. They were a young team in the WHL, and against better competition, he could get buried, but Harsanyi is a player that I think could make waves in his D+1 year.