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Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
OHL Heavily Represented in Craig Button's Recent Mock Draft
The 2025 NHL Draft is just around the corner, and many pundits are starting to project what the first round will look like. Craig Buttons' recent mock draft projects the OHL to be well represented in the opening round of the 2025 NHL Draft. Historically, the OHL has always featured prominently in the opening round of NHL Drafts. Last season, nine of the players picked in round one played for OHL teams, meaning the league claimed 28 percent of the players picked. That was the highest percentage for any individual league. Based on Buttons' projections, the OHL could receive an even larger share of this year's first-round picks. Picks 1-5 1. New York Islanders - Matthew Schaefer2. San Jose Sharks - Porter Martone 3. Chicago Blackhawks - Michael Misa4. Utah Mammoth - James Hagens 5. Nashville Predators - Jake O'Brien According to this mock draft four of the opening five picks could be OHL players. While Schaefer going first feels like a no brainer based on every projection seen since January, some people are asking whether the Islanders might take James Hagens instead seeing as he is a Long Island native. Porter Martone going second is a bit of a surprise given that he has slipped down prospect lists in the second half of the season. The Steelheads forward fell from fourth to sixth in NHL Central Scouting's latest rankings. Jake O'Brien has risen up draft boards in the second half of the year. He jumped up from eighth to fourth on NHL Central Scouting's rankings. Seeing him go fifth to Nashville would round out a dominant showing for the OHL in the first five picks. The London Knights Hang On To Win OHL Championship For the second time since 2010, the London Knights are the winners of back-to-back OHL Championships. The Knights took game five of the OHL Final to hoist the J. Ross Robertson Cup on home ice. Picks 6-10 6. Philadelphia Flyers - Brady Martin7. Boston Bruins - Caleb Desnoyers8. Seattle Kraken - Anton Frondell9. Buffalo Sabres - Radim Mrtka10. Anaheim Ducks - Lynden Lakovic After dominating the top five picks, Button projects just Brady Martin being taken in this segment of the first round. Martin is a riser when it comes to prospect rankings having moved from 17th to 11th on NHL Central Scouting's rankings. His dominant performance at the U-18 Men's Championship will only have served to boost his stock higher. In seven games at the tournament he scored three goals and added eight assists while looking like a man playing amongst boys. As a side note, when it comes to recent history, the Flyers have tended towards OHL players when they have a first round pick. Since 2020, they've drafted an OHL player three times in the first round. In 2021 they did not have a first-round pick and in 2022 they selected Cutter Gauthier of the USNDTP. 2025 NHL Draft Profile: Jacob Cloutier With the OHL season finished, and the London Knights crowned champions for the second consecutive season, many OHL fans are turning their attention towards the NHL Draft in June. Questions abound about where certain players will be picked and who will rise or fall on draft boards. Picks 11-16 11. Pittsburgh Penguins - Roger McQueen12. New York Rangers - Kashawn Aitcheson 13. Detroit Red Wings - Victor Englund14. Columbus Blue Jackets - Jackson Smith 15. Vancouver Canucks - Cole Reschny16. Montreal Canadiens - Justin CarbonneauAgain, the OHL becomes somewhat sparse in this segment of Buttons' mock draft, with just one pick predicted to come from the league. Kashawn Aitcheson is a hard-nosed defender who is gifted on both sides of the puck. He also rose up NHL Central Scouting's rankings, going from 15th to ninth. It is possible we could see players like Malcolm Spence, Henry Brzustewicz and Jack Nesbitt creep into these picks as well. There is a fair amount of disagreement between pundits on this segment of the draft. Based on Buttons' draft, six OHL players project to be picked in the first half of the draft. If the percentages pan out, that would mean a total of 12 OHL players get picked in the first round, which would be a 33 percent increase from last year. This does seem a bit far-fetched, though. It seems much more likely that by the end of round one, the OHL will have around 10 players taken. What is clear is that the OHL is very well represented at the top of this year's draft class, with pundits predicting a large number of OHL players being taken in the first 10 picks of the 2025 NHL Draft. As always, the draft is unpredictable, and while it is fun to look at mock drafts and projections, we will never know how the chips will fall until teams start making picks. The 2025 NHL Draft will take place on Friday, June 27th at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
New York Times
09-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Matthew Schaefer vs. top 2024 NHL Draft D, Porter Martone vs. Juraj Slavkovský and more: Mailbag
On Monday, I released my May 2025 NHL Draft ranking. On Thursday, I released my first mock draft and got more than 100 submissions for the mailbag. Today, I've answered a bunch of the big ones in depth, ranking the top 2025 forwards by potential point production, the 2025 forwards versus the 2024 and 2023 forwards, Matthew Schaefer versus last year's D, taking upside swings outside the top 15, the class' small players, Porter Martone versus Juraj Slafkovský and more. Note: Questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length, and similar questions have been grouped together. If you submitted a question and I didn't answer it below, I've been chipping away at the rest of the submissions here. In terms of point production, how would you rank the top 5-10 forwards in the draft? — Bill J. This is an interesting one. It also serves as a bit of a fantasy hockey question as well. I think I'd go something like this: 1. Michael Misa 2. James Hagens 3. Porter Martone — 4. Jake O'Brien 5. Caleb Desnoyers 6. Roger McQueen 7. Anton Frondell 8. Victor Eklund 9. Justin Carbonneau 10. Brady Martin Advertisement Relative to my actual draft ranking for those 10 players, O'Brien moves up a little. Worth noting that I thought about slotting Carbonneau one or two spots higher as well. His skill level is legit and I think he's a sneaky one. After that group, you get into players like Carter Bear, Cole Reschny, Benjamin Kindel, etc. I think Ivan Ryabkin and Ryker Lee are wild cards from a points perspective because both are skill-first guys who will be on an NHL power play if they hit. Jakob Ihs-Wozniak as well, though he's more of a shooter than the more puck-skilled type that Ryabkin and Lee represent. How would you rank this year's top centers (Misa, Hagens, Desnoyers, Frondell, etc.) to the top centers from the last couple of drafts? — Michael J. Relative to where I was at on them pre-draft, it probably looks something like this: 1. Connor Bedard 2. Macklin Celebrini — 3. Adam Fantilli 4. Michael Misa 5. Leo Carlsson 6. James Hagens 7. Will Smith — 8. Berkly Catton 9. Caleb Desnoyers 10. Anton Frondell HM. Jake O'Brien I thought about Misa ahead of Fantilli and Hagens ahead of or behind both of Carlsson and Smith, so that middle tier almost has a sub-tier of 3/4 and 5/6/7. For the purposes of this exercise, I've decided to exclude Cayden Lindstrom and Roger McQueen because I don't know where exactly they'd slot had they been healthy, but they'd both fit into that third tier for sure. A fourth tier would include Brady Martin (likely at the front of it), Dalibor Dvorsky, Konsta Helenius, Michael Hage, etc. How does Matthew Schaefer compare to last year's defenders? — Justin K. The consensus would have him No. 1 by a margin/in a tier of his own. I'd have him No. 1 too, but with the smaller sample of play, I think I'd probably have him closer to my top group of last year. As a refresher, these were my rankings of the big six D last year: 3. Artyom Levshunov 4. Zeev Buium 5. Zayne Parekh 6. Sam Dickinson 9. Anton Silayev 13. Carter Yakemchuk Advertisement I'd probably have both Buium and Parekh ahead of Levshunov today, but Silayev and Yakemchuk would remain a cut below the other four. Buium and Parekh both have higher offensive/point production ceilings than Schaefer, but Schaefer's skating is a huge separator even against the top D from last year, and he projects as the most all-around D from that group. Who are the biggest upside swings after the top 15? — Brian K. Ryabkin's a definite boom or bust selection. Ihs-Wozniak could be a scorer and power-play flank guy if he hits. Lee's got top-six skill, and I'd predict he'll be the most purely talented on-puck player available when he's selected on Day 2. Cole Reschny and Benjamin Kindel could both become second-liners, though Reschny is trending close to becoming a top-15 pick. Haoxi 'Simon' Wang represents an upside swing as a highly mobile but also raw 6-foot-5.5 defenseman. The little trio of L.J. Mooney, Cameron Schmidt and Adam Benak all have the potential to be offensive player types if they hit, but come with understood risk. William Moore has work to do, but he could have some offensive upside if he can put it all together. Alexander Zharovsky could have long-term upside and become one of those Russians who produce in the KHL in their early 20s and then come over a little later. Each of those players comes with some inherent downside as well, but that's why they're not top-15 picks. It looks like there are a lot of intriguing smallish players available in this year's class, but I get a sense that NHL teams are increasingly on the lookout for players with size again. Do you see it that way? And will it mean that the smaller, talented players will be passed over for bigger options on draft day? — Aavcocup A. L.J. Mooney looked to be the best USA player in Frisco. Is height his only issue? — Dan L. The pendulum will always swing, and counter-correct, and swing, and counter-correct, but you're on the right track in terms of scouting's current emphasis on size. I know plenty of scouts and coaches around hockey who think about size quite progressively, and who think the shape of what makes an NHL player isn't nearly as rigid as it used to, but there is still a priority on size in the NHL and that is impacting scouting and player evaluation projections of players. And while there are always mistakes made and an over-emphasis on size has led to smaller players such as Lane and Cole Hutson, Logan Stankoven, etc., lingering longer than they should, the current emphasis on size is still for good reason. It's still particularly emphasized for defensemen and goalies (though I think the goalie pendulum is beginning to swing back the other way a little as guys such as Dustin Wolf thrive and others such as Sebastian Cossa are still sorting through it) but it's present in conversations about forwards too, and it's going to result in the likes of Mooney, Schmidt and Benak going lower than they would if it were only about skating, or talent, for example. Even for 5-foot-10/11 types such as Victor Eklund, Reschny and Kindel, it'll be a factor on draft day. You need to really check the competitive box with emphasis for teams to take sub-6-foot forwards high. Eklund has that and he still may go outside the top 10 as teams prioritize centers and D with more size. This year will be a particularly illustrative one to look back on with Mooney, Schmidt and Benak being as small as they are. I'd consider all three of those players in the second or third round, but I think one or multiple will still be there in the fourth or fifth round. Advertisement To answer the second question about Mooney, it's not just a height thing but also a size thing. He's not just small. He's slight and his metabolism seems to be working against him in terms of adding weight. The good news for Mooney is that those two things don't seem to impact the fearlessness, competitiveness, drive and even physicality and middle-lane determination that he plays with. Whether he'll have to play more on the perimeter up levels is a conversation, though, and his strength does impact his shot. Teams wanted to see him put the puck in the net more himself this year and while Schmidt doesn't have the smarts that Mooney and Benak have, he does have the scoring/shooting element (often to a fault). How does Porter Martone compare to Juraj Slafkovský in his draft year? How would you compare their respective floor and ceiling? — Julien V. I think they're comparable prospects at the same age and might actually be a little higher on Martone than I was on Slafkovský. If you've followed my work, you'll know that I had Slafkovský in the same tier as Shane Wright, Logan Cooley and Simon Nemec in 2022, but I had him behind them. I was lower on Slafkovský than most and a little too low in hindsight, and I'm probably in line or maybe even a smidge higher on Martone versus the consensus. I started cooler on Martone than scouts did, but they've cooled on him more than I have from that starting point. Slafkovský was even thicker and heavier, but Martone's a big, strong kid. Both aren't fast. I think Martone has more natural puck skill and hands. It's a debate. Most scouts would have favored Slafkovský at the same age. I'd probably lean Martone. I think Martone could/will have more offense in his prime. Less of a question specifically about the 2025 class and more on your work in general. How do you define pace? Is it just a mix of compete and foot speed, or something else entirely? — Liam D. I always like to finish my mailbags with a more theoretical question, and this was a good one. Certainly, the two qualities you mention are inputs to pace, but I would still say it's something else entirely. Pace is about the way you play more than any one quality or tool. Certainly it helps to be fast and competitive, but there are a lot of players who have foot speed and don't play with pace because they don't keep their feet moving, or they don't make decisions or reads quickly enough, and there are competitive players who struggle with pace because they don't process as fast as they work. Pace is about playing quickly, not necessarily being quick. When you've got the puck, do you make decisions quickly and move it quickly, or does the game slow down? When you don't have the puck, do you keep your feet moving to get open and make sure you're ready when the puck comes back to you to make the next play, whether that's a quick dash with it to your next spot or a quick one-touch pass in a give-and-go? If you played hockey, chances are a coach told you some version of 'the puck travels faster than a player can skate.' And that doesn't mean you have to get rid of the puck whenever it lands on your stick, but you either need to be able to get going or be able to get the puck going. Think about when you repeatedly snap your fingers, or when a coach does that to signal to guys to hurry up. Pace is about hurrying the play up. (Photo of Matthew Schaefer: Dennis Pajot / Getty Images)
