The Athletic Hockey Show's top NHL Draft picks from Day 2

New York Times

30-06-2025

The 2025 NHL Draft is officially in the books, and for the 224 prospects selected at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, the real work starts now as they chase their dreams of playing in the NHL.
As always, most of the spotlight was on the top of the draft and the players expected to make an immediate impact for their new teams. But that doesn't mean there weren't valuable picks made on Day 2 who could eventually break through and thrive in the NHL.
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On the latest episode of The Athletic Hockey Show, Max Bultman, Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler broke down the Day 2 picks that stood out the most.
A partial transcript has been edited for clarity and length. The full episode is available on the 'The Athletic Hockey Show' feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Max: We're going to play a little game here. I want each of you to tell me the pick you loved the most on Day 2 of the draft. Corey, we'll start with you.
Corey: Mine would probably be Blake Fiddler, who Seattle took in the first 10 picks of the second round (No. 36). He was a guy we thought could have gone in the late first but he didn't end up going that high, and I think teams were pretty concerned about his hockey sense. But I still see a 6-foot-4 — and at the combine he actually measured closer to 6-foot-5 — mobile defenseman who I thought was one of the USA's better players at the World U18 Championships. He's not super physical but he competes well enough, and there's enough skill there that I see a path for him to become a four or five defenseman in the league.
I think Seattle made the right decision taking Jake O'Brien at eight and not going to a Radim Mrtka or a Jackson Smith, because that would have been a significant drop-off in talent. But after that when you look at the system, there is a desperate need for a top defense prospect. And I'm not saying he's a premier defense prospect, but he's something they really needed. So they got a fit on need, and on talent for me it was a really good spot to get him because I think he's going to play in the NHL.
Scott: There were two picks that I really liked on Day 2. The first was Milton Gästrin to the Washington Capitals at 37. The Capitals had drafted a lot of very unique and almost different prospects over the last couple of years, whether it was Andrew Cristall, Cole Hutson or even Terik Parascak. They've taken some cuts at the draft, and as a result of that they've drafted a number of wingers that they felt had slipped at the draft. So I liked the decision to go after a more projectable and 'safe' player in Gästrin, who I think has a real opportunity to be a 3C of the future for that organization. So I liked the Gästrin pick at 37. He was an early second-rounder for me through the first part of the season, but he sold me as the year went on as a late-first guy on my list. And I felt like if he was going to linger into the 30s someone was going to get a future NHL player, which I think is important in this draft.
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The other one for similar reasons, just in terms of getting a future NHL player, was Malcolm Spence, who I thought lingered a little bit longer than he should have. I know people are a little concerned about the late birthday, and the fact that he's 6-feet, 200 pounds and doesn't have that sort of dynamic quality in his game offensively. But he's a plus skater, he's a plus competitor, and he's probably going to play at around 210 or 215 pounds. Everybody credits him for his work ethic and the way that he gets after it, and I think he's an up-and-down the lineup, top-nine forward all day in the NHL. If not, certainly a third-line winger in the NHL. So I liked where he was in the second round.
I must say the one thing I really had my eye on in this draft class — not that they were necessarily my favorite picks — but I really had my eye on the three little guys. We talked about the size off the top, and lo and behold those little guys all lingered as we anticipated they would. And yet I think in each case there might be some value there someday. I'm not even counting out L.J. Mooney, who of the three was the player who I thought showed us the least this year. In large part it was due to injury, but he really finished strong at the U18 Worlds. With L.J., because of his skating, his smarts, the way that he gets after it and his competitiveness, I would not be surprised if he plays NHL games someday.
I certainly think Cameron Schmidt and Adam Benak have that chance. I know Adam's coming up to play in the CHL next year, and I think that will be really good for him. … Even if all of the kids in that four-to-six-round range are long shots to play in the NHL, perhaps even at 5-foot-7, I think these guys are lesser long shots than many of the players who were taken around them. You get to a point in the draft where you're rolling the dice on all of these kids, and those were kids that specifically in that four-to-six range I thought were interesting dice rolls.
You can listen to full episodes of The Athletic Hockey Show for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
(Top Photo: Jeff Vinnick / NHLI via Getty Images)