he Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup! You know what that means? That’s right team-building enthusiasts, it’s finally time to talk about the 2025 NHL Draft.
Last year, the Montreal Canadiens selected Ivan Demidov with the fifth overall pick. This year, the Habs hold both the 16th (Calgary) and 17th (Montreal’s own) picks of the first round.
As much hype as free agency gets with the big names moving and the big money being spent, over the years I’ve always found the NHL Draft to be the most exciting and most interesting event to cover in the Offseason. After all, every GM in the NHL not hired by the Golden Knights will tell you that drafting well is the key to building a successful NHL franchise. It’s also a time where suddenly, your 27th overall pick magically becomes extremely valuable to someone else because the player they had ranked 10th on their list is somehow still available!
Draft Day movement
Despite them not happening every year, it’s also an event that is ripe for signficant trades to happen. The Canadiens have been quite active in that regard these past few seasons as they made trade at every draft since Kent Hughes took over as General Manager in 2022, either by acquiring young, promising players (Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook) or moving up in the draft to make sure they get the player they wanted (Michael Hage).
While it’s not secret Montreal will be very active trying to make a trade to take another step in their rebuild, dangling their two first rounders as potential currency to fill out a need, it’s also a fact that many other teams are currently offering the same things, which might make it a tough market to crack for Habs management.
Since Kent Hughes trades are usually unpredictable anyway, let’s try and focus exclusively on who the 17 best players available at the draft are considering Montreal currently holds the 16th and 17th overall picks.
I’ll share with you my own personal list. It is based on watching some of these players in action at different moments this past year and reading a ridiculous amount of reports and opinions on each of them. As always, I’ll either look like a genius or a fool in a few years but hey, isn’t that the whole fun of the draft anyway?
Brossoit’s Top 17 NHL Draft Rankings
- Matthew Shaefer, LHD: Best defenseman in the draft, potential to become a number one defenseman on a competitive team but won’t lead defensemen in points.
- Michael Misa, C: Total package to become a number one high scoring centre in the NHL.
- Caleb Desnoyers, C: Complete centre that plays well on both sides of the ice. Makes all the smart, good plays that makes his linemates better.
- Anton Frondell, C: High end skillset that can blow you away but consistency has been an issue.
- Porter Martone, RW: A package of skill and size that is difficult to resist. Martone could become a 30+ goal powerforward in the NHL but his lack of speed remains a concern.
- James Hagens, C: Somewhat disappointing draft year for Hagens who could have produced more with quality linemates in the NCAA. Remains an extremely skilled forward but might be moved to the wing because of his size and lack of a physical game.
- Jake O’Brien, C: Projects as a potential very good 2nd line/ borderline 1st centre in the NHL. His best attribute remains his quick hands and puck handling that allows him to create scoring chances. Pure playmaker. Great passer.
- Victor Eklund, RW: High scoring Swedish winger may be the best pure winger in the Draft after Martone.
- Roger McQueen, C: Ideal center size and skill. Has shown flashes of dominance when healthy. Injuries are a concern.
- Jackson Smith, LHD: Size, mobility, puck skills. Must work on consistency and decison making. Overhandles the puck at times.
- Brady Martin, C/W: Grit, physicality, two-way awareness. Offensive ceiling a question but he gets more out of less. Future captain material.
- Radim Mrtka, RHD: Franchise defenseman tools, but very raw. A risk-reward decision for the team that drafts him.
- Justin Carbonneau, RW: Great physical tools (6-1, 205 pounds) and goal-scorer hands and setup ability. Needs to get his emotions in check a little better and show resilience if thing don’t go his way early in a game.
- Carter Bear, LW: Injury concerns but a competitive, smart and very skilled scorer. May go top 10 in the actual Draft but a concensus top 15.
- Joshua Ravensbergen, G: Top goalie prospect this year by far. He’ll go in the first round. Where? That remains to be seen.
- Lynden Lakovic, LW: Strong, big, skilled, makes plays.Consistency at the junior level is a concern. Goes AWOL at times, and results are sometimes less than the sum of the parts. High ceiling but perhaps not elite because of concerns over his motor.
- Malcolm Spence, LW: Headed to University of Michigan. Another high-skill winger with some motor and consistency question marks. Not as big or physically mature as Lakovic but may have comparable or higher ceiling.
