We are now just five days away from the 2025 NHL entry draft, and the excitement is mounting around the hockey world. While many have deemed this to be a ‘weaker’ draft class, there remain lots of really good players that could one day emerge as a star on your favorite team.
Draft day is one of the best dates on the offseason calendar for hockey fans. Top prospects who we’ve all heard about for years are finally getting the moment to find out where their future lies.
There may not be a Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, or even a Connor Bedard or Macklin Celebrini in this draft class. But there aren’t many like them to ever come around, and that doesn’t mean none of these prospects won’t turn out to be high-end players or even stars at the NHL level. Development is a fickle process in sports, and it often comes down to the situation a player is put in that determines how successful their career will be.
Of course, that must be combined with the necessary skill set and tools to stand out from the rest, and the 2025 draft class has plenty of guys with the potential to become household names for the next 15-plus years. So, let’s dive into our favorites heading into June 27th’s NHL draft.
Let me preface this all by saying: We are no draft scouts or prospect gurus. We do, however, try to keep up to date with as many of the top prospects in hockey, so these aren’t just guesses. Also, there are several others who we like as players and believe will be great at the pro level, but we wanted to narrow it down. Some honorable mentions would include the likes of Michael Misa, Anton Frondell (who looks like he could make an Aleksander Barkov-type impact in the NHL), Roger McQueen (if he can stay healthy), and Cullen Porter.
Now onto our favorites.
Matthew Schaefer
It’s hard not to like the projected number one overall pick in Matthew Schaefer. The sample size has been small, but the left-shot defenseman looks like a shoo-in to go first overall. After a quiet first season in the OHL, Schaefer was poised to be drafted in the upper half of the first round in 2025; however, the way he popped in 2024 saw him leap to the top.
The 17-year-old produced at over a point per game from the back end with 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 17 games for the Erie Otters. He also flashed in a massive way at this year’s World Juniors before the unfortunate injury as a result of Schaefer crashing into the post. The play where he got hurt was actually a great display of his dynamic skill set, wheeling his way up the ice and almost burying a nifty goal.
The skating and stamina to just get up and down the ice with ease make Matthew Schaefer so tantalizing. Combine that with his hockey IQ, ability with the puck, and a very good shot, and it’s easy to see why he’s going to go first overall. There is no reason to believe he won’t become a bona fide number one defenseman in the NHL.
Schaefer is also mature beyond his years. Every interview I’ve seen from the kid has been super impressive. Loved what he had to say when recently talking with Jeff Marek on The Sheet.
Music to the ears of New York Islanders’ fans.
After drafting Cole Eiserman and Danny Nelson in recent years, acquiring Cal Ritchie via trade, and now adding Matthew Schaefer on the blue line, the Islanders have all of a sudden reshaped what was one of the league’s worst prospect pools.
James Hagens
James Hagens has been a bit of a polarizing prospect over the last year or so. One year ago, many had penciled Hagens in as the heavy favorite to be the first overall pick in the 2025 draft. Fast forward to now, and a lot of people are down on the Long Island native. Much of that has to do with his somewhat underwhelming season at Boston College, where he posted 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games. Good production, but more was expected of a projected first pick playing alongside the likes of Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault.
Prior to that, Hagens was racking up numbers playing for the US National Development team. His hands, vision, smarts, speed, and all-around skill have drawn comparisons to Jack Hughes, particularly due to their similar statures. However, Hughes is 5’11, and 175 pounds right now at 24. Hagens is basically the exact same height and weight at 18 years old. You have to imagine there is still a bit of room for him to grow and fill out as he becomes a man.
We project him to be an elite second-line center with the ability to put up lofty point totals thanks to his tremendous quickness and playmaking abilities. While it wouldn’t be ideal for Hagens to find himself in a situation where he is the 1C, there is no doubt he has the talent to become one if all the right buttons are pushed.
Because of the way the lottery shook out, James Hagens will likely end up sliding in this draft, which means one team could land an absolute steal. The Nashville Predators (5th overall), Philadelphia Flyers (6th overall), and Boston Bruins (7th overall) all need help down the middle and should be all over the possibility of snatching Hagens.
We shouldn’t count out his hometown Islanders either…
The Long Island native has clearly expressed his desire to play for the Islanders. We’ve heard that Utah is willing to move the fourth-overall pick… could New York slide in to come away with both Matthew Schaefer and James Hagens? What a draft that would be.
Porter Martone
Porter Martone might be our favorite forward prospect in this draft class. The 6’3, 208-pound winger is the most NHL-ready of anyone that will be drafted in 2025. That’s not only because of his size but also his experience having played three full OHL seasons and the short time he spent with Team Canada at this year’s World Hockey Championships.
The skill set is undeniable. Size, shot, hands, and sneaky great vision. Skating may not be a strong suit, but with the way he plays the game, it shouldn’t be an issue. Most of the elite power forwards in the NHL aren’t known for being the best skaters anyway. Think of prime Corey Perry or Matthew Tkachuk… who just so happen to be the two players he models his game after. And if we’re being honest, Martone has the upper hand on those two in terms of skating.
The great thing about Martone is that his floor is very high. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where he’s not a top-six, point-producing power forward who is also a major asset on the power play. He possesses a lot of the same traits as Matthew Knies but has a higher hockey IQ and more skill, a dangerous proposition for the rest of the NHL.
There’s been a lot of speculation around who the Chicago Blackhawks will take at third overall in the draft. However, we don’t believe it should be a difficult decision. Porter Martone would be a perfect complement to their franchise centerpiece, Connor Bedard. Chicago has several undersized young forwards, including the likes of Bedard, Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, and Nick Lardis, who would greatly benefit from a big body like Martone to help free them up more time and space.
Recent rumors have also surfaced about the Pittsburgh Penguins attempting to move up in the draft and take Martone, which would be another great fit for a team lacking a high-end prospect.
Jackson Smith
Jackson Smith is our number two defenseman in this class, behind only Matthew Schaefer. He possesses a lot of the same athleticism and elite skating abilities as Schaefer. Smith moves around the ice so smoothly with elite edgework to always keep up with the play and maneuver around the offensive zone.
He doesn’t have the same offensive prowess and potential as Schaefer, but we see Smith as a very good top-four blueliner at worst. And that’s not to diminish his skills; Smith has an uncanny knack for getting shots through lanes and creating chances out of nothing. If he were to round out his game and take even more steps offensively, then we could have a number-one pairing defenseman on our hands.
Smith’s 6’3, 190-pound frame is also very intriguing for teams, as he has a physical element to his game that you love to see. It’s rare to find this kind of size and skating ability in one player, but Jackson Smith has just that.
Mock drafts have Smith scattered around the early-to-mid teens, and if that’s the case, whatever team gets him is going to be really happy. The Pittsburgh Penguins (11th overall), New York Rangers (12th overall), and Detroit Red Wings (13th overall) should all be hoping that the 18-year-old is available when they’re on the clock. If Smith goes any later than Detroit at 13, then teams are making a big mistake.
Kashawn Aitcheson
Right behind Jackson Smith on the defensive spectrum comes Kashawn Aitcheson. There is no question in our minds that this kid is going to become a fan favorite wherever he lands next week. The 6’2, 196-pound left-shot defenseman uses every bit of his size and frame to deliver pulverizing hits. He plays an old-school style of game that we don’t see too often nowadays.
Aitcheson’s skill and offensive abilities are several steps below Schaefer’s and a step or two behind Smith’s, but that’s nothing to be ashamed of. We project him to be best suited as a really good middle-pairing top-4 defenseman that provides a little bit of everything. His game is built for playoff hockey; he’s the type of defenseman you win with.
After a solid eight-goal, 39-point 2023-24 season with the Barrie Colts, he exploded for 26 goals and 59 points in his draft year. Not many are scoring that many goals from the blue line; he clearly can produce at a high-end level. Only Zayne Parekh and Sam Dickinson scored more goals as a defenseman in the OHL in 2024-25.
Whoever misses out on Jackson Smith has a very good backup option in Kashawn Aitcheson. As with Smith, Pittsburgh, New York, and Detroit should be all over him, and if he somehow falls past these three, then one team is going to be cheering in their draft room for the opportunity to land Aitcheson.
Ivan Ryabkin
Last but not least, we’ve got Russian Ivan Ryabkin. This is a sneaky one, as he could go anywhere from the mid-to-late first round or somewhere in the second round. Ryabkin has so much raw ability and talent, but there are questions about whether he’ll put it all together.
Ryabkin was once viewed as a top 5-10 prospect in the 2025 class, particularly after a dominant 58-point (24 goals, 34 assists) 2023-24 campaign with Moscow Dynamo Jr. This past season didn’t go as well, including some time playing in the USHL. Because of that, the 18-year-old is a bit of a wild card heading into the draft.
He has some boom-or-bust in him, but we feel that’s a risk worth taking late in Round 1 or even in Round 2. His hands and playmaking are elite, and he has some jam to his game, an attribute you love to see already at this age.
We’ve seen plenty of skilled Russian forwards go later in the draft and turn out to be studs… Nikita Kucherov (58th overall, 2011), Kirill Kaprizov (135th overall, 2015), Pavel Buchnevich (75th overall, 2013), and Pavel Datsyuk (171st overall, 1998). The reward could very well outweigh the risk with Ivan Ryabkin.
The Sports Outsider 
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