2025 NHL Draft

S. Samek

The 2025 NHL Draft was this past weekend.

The New York Islanders had the first overall pick. They selected Matthew Schaefer a defenseman from the Erie Otters with the top pick.

The San Jose Sharks then selected Michael Misa, a center with the second pick. The Chicago Blackhawks then selected Anton Frondell, a center with the third pick. Utah picked fourth and selected center Caleb Desnoyers. The top five picks were then rounded out with Nashville selecting another center in Brady Martin.

The first round finished with Cullen Potter being drafted number 32 over all by the Calgary Flames.

The draft then concluded on Saturday with the other six rounds of the draft.

ESPN gave 11 teams A grades for their drafts. The Islanders got the top grade with an A plus. 14 more teams were given B grades. Four teams had average drafts in the C grade range. Three teams had D graded drafts. This included the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, who tied with Colorado for the lowest draft grade with a D.

Seems to me like they granted a bit on the higher side with 25 teams in the A-B range. Yet it could just be good drafting by a lot of the teams. I guess we will have to wait and see when they hit the ice this season as to how good the picks are.