NHL Mock Draft 2025: Pronman, Wheeler and Bultman play GM and pick Round 1

New York Times

7 days ago

By Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler and Max Bultman
Two years ago, we tested out a new idea and called it our 'if I were GM' mock draft. The idea was simple: In place of the mock drafts our prospects writers Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler do individually where they predict what will happen on draft day, we wanted to give them a chance to draft the first round making their own selections for each team.
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Today, for a third year running, it's back by popular demand. Once again, Max Bultman has joined Pronman and Wheeler in making the selections as a way to limit their ability to read off each other's lists.
The order for the first round was drawn at random, with Wheeler going first, Bultman second and Pronman third. Here's how they'd pick if they were in charge of each team's draft board.
Schaefer, Michael Misa and James Hagens are my top three prospects in the class, so I can understand the desire to at least consider the hometown player. I'd certainly consider Misa long and hard too (I've debated ranking him atop by board at various points). The Islanders could use a top-of-the-lineup center, to be sure. I even understand the hesitancy some have in taking a D with a No. 1 pick. But I still think the right place to land is probably on Schaefer, who has the makings of a franchise defenseman. He's a world class skater who projects as a two-way stud and he would be my pick. — Wheeler
The Sharks certainly would have loved to have gotten Schaefer, with defense more of a long-term need in their system, but Misa is an excellent alternative and adds to the impressive firepower they're amassing. Misa could become an outstanding second-line center behind Macklin Celebrini, or bump to the wing to form a dynamic future top line. In either case, the Sharks are building quite the foundation. — Bultman
I get the first big decision of this mock. That's fine, it's why they pay me to be the (mock) GM, to handle the pressure. I think Brampton winger Porter Martone is the best player available right now. Looking in the playoffs, he has the potential, if he hits, to do things that Sam Reinhart and Mikko Rantanen (in best, best case) are doing. I also am not in love with the idea of Connor Bedard as the 1C of the future, and think on a winning team he's likely best suited for the wing. Desnoyers is my top ranked center available, and I think he's a slight nudge behind Martone as an overall player.
I don't love taking a slightly worse player at 3. But my team has had high picks three years in a row, taking defensemen with two of them and a center who is probably a winger with the other. This is where you find potential first-line centers. Reinhart, Rantanen are nice, but you can trade for wingers as those teams did in both cases. I'm getting my two-way play driving center. — Pronman
Conventional wisdom will say that a 1-2 down the middle of Logan Cooley and Hagens is too small to win in May and June. For that reason, I think the Mammoth, who've prioritized size in their drafting and also have 5-11/6-foot players like Clayton Keller and Tij Iginla up front, probably go a different direction than I do here. But precisely because they have prioritized size, particularly on their blue line (where it matters most) but also up front (they still have it with guys like Jack McBain and Lawson Crouse, with Daniil But and the heavy strength of Cole Beaudoin on the way), I think you can take Hagens. Not only would he add skating and skill to a center depth chart that needs more of both, but also the Mammoth should like him for many of the reasons they liked Cooley.
I think you can win with Cooley and Hagens, too.
I'd also consider Porter Martone here, though, despite Utah's relatively stronger depth on the wings because the Mammoth are actually a little thin in right-shot wingers. I'd strongly consider Desnoyers here if he were available as well. And I'm taking all three of those players over Anton Frondell. — Wheeler
Thanks to the new decentralized draft format, no one could see me grimace on camera as Scott called that last name. The Predators could certainly use an injection of Hagens' pace and skill in their system.
Martone is tempting here too, and he certainly feels like a Nashville type. But it's just too hard to pass on the chance to take a two-way center with dangerous goal-scoring ability, so I'm going to take Frondell. He didn't finish on a high note, with a so-so showing at the U18 World Championship, but his body of work on the season is still very impressive, as is the toolkit. He'll slot perfectly into a Nashville system crying out for high-end centers. — Bultman
This is going to be a challenging and potentially unpopular pick with our fans. The organization is dying for a premier center talent. Jake O'Brien is staring us in the face. He's a great player. I just did a similar analysis at 3 with Chicago where I opted for Desnoyers. The difference now is centers went off the board three picks in a row, we're now at the fourth option, and the difference between O'Brien and Martone is larger than the analysis was at 3. I feel I'm going substantially off my list if I take O'Brien over Martone for positional reasons. I think O'Brien is probably a second-line center on a good team. The Flyers rebuild is probably years away from completion, you have to imagine they will be back picking high again, even if next year's draft early on doesn't seem overflowing with premium center talent. We elect for the big, powerful winger with star upside even if his skating is a flaw. I hope this doesn't bite us in the ass. — Pronman
Those top six are my top six and this is where the draft starts to open up for me and I'd start to consider Roger McQueen or a D like Radim Mrtka. But with McQueen's injury history, I don't think there's enough of a gap between him and O'Brien to justify taking him here. The Bruins are better off starting this bit of a reset they're in with a premium prospect down the middle rather than on D, too. O'Brien's combination of skill, skating, two-way commitment and hockey IQ make him the right choice. I'd bet that with his lean frame and summer birthday that he still has steep development in front of him, too. — Wheeler
This one all comes down the medical, but the Kraken — with a stocked system of young centers — are in a great position to take this swing on a player who would go higher than this on pure talent. McQueen's combination of size, skill and skating is rare, and if he hits, he could give the Kraken the kind of cornerstone they sorely need. I considered a defenseman here, which Seattle has yet to take in the first round, but felt the talent with McQueen was just too much to ignore. — Bultman
Victor Eklund is the BPA here, but in the background is the plethora of smaller, skilled forwards Buffalo has drafted over the past five years. It would be hard to justify Eklund into the mix the Sabres have already picked, even if he's a great and highly competitive player. We opt for Aitcheson here. He's our second ranked-defenseman in this class. He brings a combination of tenacity, skill and athleticism to the blue line and will help us at both ends of the ice on top of making our team harder to play against. — Pronman
I'm only thinking about three names here: Mrtka, Eklund and Brady Martin. Coincidentally, they all play different positions and are all good fits for the Ducks for different reasons. Martin would give them an ultra-competitive center who fits the identity they want to play. Eklund, another competitor, would give them a right-shot winger to bolster the depth they began prioritizing with the Beckett Sennecke pick last year. And despite having a good, young group of defensemen to work with, all of Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger and Stian Solberg are lefties, and none of them look like Mrtka. Mrtka's combination of handedness, size and skating would make him unique for the Ducks, even if this would be a real debate for me. — Wheeler
I thought long and hard about Eklund, but this is still the early stages of what could be a long rebuild, and I'm taking every chance I can to build down the middle. Martin brings so many likable elements as a thick-bodied center with skill and an edge to his game. I don't think he'll be the first-line center of the future in Pittsburgh, but he projects to play a huge role, and should be a great culture-setter for the next era. — Bultman
Really, really, really super not thrilled with this outcome because the last thing my organization needs is another first-round winger, but Eklund is the clear best player left on our board. We have to take him. He projects to be better than our recent first-round picks. This potential outcome, though, may be why the Rangers could lean to letting go of the pick to the Penguins because it's very possible there is a run on the premium centers and defensemen right in front of them. — Pronman
Once the 12 names we just saw get picked, there's a case to be made that the next best players are wingers. I think Carbonneau has more puck skill than Carter Bear or Lynden Lakovic, and that gives him the edge for my Red Wings (take that, Bultman!). He has several of the elements the Red Wings have targeted (a 6-foot-1, pro-built forward who can play through contact), but he's got better hands than Michael Brandsegg-Nygård or Nate Danielson as well. He's my BPA and I think he makes sense for Detroit, checking some boxes while also adding offense and a talent grade that we need. Don't let the familiar profile fool you, he has legit offensive skill. — Wheeler
The perfect scenario would have been if Mrtka had fallen here, giving us a right-shot D to replace David Jiricek, but even though Smith is a left shot, he still brings plenty of upside to the system. He's a great skater at 6 feet 3, and has the potential to become a big-minute blueliner who shuts down transition offense as a defender and helps spark it on the breakout. — Bultman
Reschny's strong second half put him squarely in the conversation to go in this range. Whether or not he's an NHL center is to be determined due to his size, but he could be. He's a good enough skater and competes hard, but his skill and hockey sense are excellent. He provides an offensive element that Vancouver's organization needs post J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. — Pronman
Teams can get too cute when they have back-to-back picks like this. I'm not going to. Bear is the best player available on my board and could fit as an excellent up-and-down the lineup winger in bleu, blanc et rouge. His Achilles rehab appears to be trending in the right direction, and with the premium centers capable of filling our 2C hole off the board, Bear's our guy. — Wheeler
Back-to-back wingers here makes me a little itchy, but without a slam dunk center fit (though I did consider Braeden Cootes), I'm going with the premium athlete in Lakovic. He can skate, shoot and handle the puck, and brings a needed size factor to our young forward group at 6 feet 4. Cameron Reid was another consideration, as a great skating blueliner, but with that part of our system in pretty good shape, we'll take the rare athletic traits with Lakovic. — Bultman
We're very excited to see Cootes still there at 18 and we will take advantage of his slide. Cootes is a skilled center who plays with pace and a high compete level and projects as a middle-six center in the NHL. The Flames need young center depth and he's the clear best center left. We didn't sprint up to the virtual podium but it was a light jog. — Pronman
Wingers Jimmy Snuggerud and Zach Bolduc have arrived, center Dalibor Dvorsky will follow them, and there's a case to be made that the two top prospects available are defensemen Logan Hensler and Cameron Reid, which suits us well. We've taken four defensemen in the first two rounds of the last two drafts but only one of them (Adam Jiricek) is a righty and none of them are true top-end prospects (though Jiricek and Theo Lindstein are legit prospects). We're happy to get Hensler — a 6-foot-2 righty who can skate, has two-way potential and is a comparable prospect to Jiricek and Lindstein. — Wheeler
We got our D earlier this round, now we're taking a versatile forward we can deploy anywhere in the lineup. Nesbitt has a lot going for him with size, physicality and slick hands. He can use those qualities to complement offensive players, or he can use them to check. He does have one big question mark with his skating, but if he can iron that out as he adds muscle, there's a lot to like in Nesbitt's projection. — Bultman
Ottawa acquires a hopeful goalie of the future that it hasn't had since Robin Lehner. The system needs a lot of things, but it does need a goalie. He's the best player available, has starting goalie level tools and makes sense as the pick here. Yes, goalies take forever to develop. But Ottawa just committed to Linus Ullmark for years so ideally he can be a bridge to Ravensbergen. — Pronman
I strongly considered Reid here but we need to take some swings and Potter, the best skater in the draft, represents that in this range for me. I project him as a more likely winger than center at the next level, but once the top group in the draft is gone — and in my estimation it now is — his blend of elite skating and plus-level puck skill is worth the bet. We added speed with the Jett Luchanko selection last year and we're adding even more to a pool that could still use it here. Patience will be important for both him and us as he learns how to best deploy his skating and talent, but there's upside with proper development. Matvei Michkov, Martone, Luchanko and Potter gives us a diverse mix of players to work with and suddenly a lot more skill after our first two selections of 2025. — Wheeler
I'm not going to watch Reid tumble any longer. It's true that we already have a smaller puck-moving left D in Tanner Molendyk as our top defense prospect, which made me consider big-bodied righty Blake Fiddler here instead. There aren't many playoff teams with two smaller D (at least ones who aren't dynamic-offense-types) in their top four. But Reid is an excellent skater, a smart defender and the kind of player I want in my lineup. We'll figure out the rest later. — Bultman
Boumedienne's season ended on a high note after a lot of ups and downs. I have some reservations on him this high, but I also think there's potential for this pick to age well. He's an excellent skater, a defenseman with size, and although his hockey sense can worry you at times, he's had a history of showing legit offense as well. The tools are just to good to pass up at 24. — Pronman
The two most-talented players left on the board are Ben Kindel and Ryker Lee, but we have a lot of the skilled 5-10/11 variety up front in Chicago, and Spence represents a better fit as a competitive and driven 6-1, 200-pound winger who can skate with our speed and projects to be able to play up and down our lineup. — Wheeler
Turns out we're going to get both of the defensemen I considered at No. 23 — now adding a 6-foot-4 mobile righty in Fiddler to the future defense corps. He projects to take on tough matchups, and could form a great second pair of the future with Reid. — Bultman
Washington has drafted a lot of wingers in recent years, and we use the 27th pick to add one of the most competitive centers in the age group. Gastrin isn't a flashy player, but he's a steady two-way player who could be a potential third-line center for the Capitals. — Pronman
We were hoping a D would be available here but in the absence of one who fits this range, we're excited by Kindel's smarts and skill. We have good size up front in our pool already and Kindel gives us more of a thinking offensive game and a potential point producer (99-point CHL players aren't typically available in this range). He's the best player available at this slot. — Wheeler
After getting Cootes earlier in the round, we'll take a tooled-up winger here in Ihs-Wozniak, who skates quite well at 6 feet 3 with slick hands and playmaking feel. That offense in a bigger body has the potential to be a valuable, versatile piece in our future top nine. — Bultman
Prokhorov is an ideal gamble with the Flyers' third pick. He's a big, fast, physical winger who could provide secondary offense in the NHL. He will become adored by Flyers fans for the way he plays. — Pronman
We're going to swing on skill here and Lee's a dynamic on-puck talent with one of the best sets of hands in the draft. He has to get quicker but we believe he's not done developing or growing and his skill level is hard for us in Carolina to find when we're always drafting so late. We can also afford to give him the time he needs at Michigan State, where he'll be in good hands (pun intended) under a great coaching staff. They don't call him The Wizard for nothing. — Wheeler
We didn't get our D at No. 2, so we're getting one here in Brzustewicz. And our guy just so happens to be a teammate (and sometimes defense partner) of our 2024 first-rounder Sam Dickinson. Brzustewicz can make defensive stops thanks to his skating and compete level, and shows poise with the puck to help chip in offense as well. — Bultman
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos of Anton Frondell, Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa: Michael Miller / ISI Photos / Getty Images)