Round 1
Victor Eklund, RW — New York Islanders, 16th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 8th Overall
You'd be hard-pressed to find a single NHL scout who isn't a big fan of Eklund and what he brings, so it's through no fault of his own that he wasn't picked until 16th overall, as teams went in other directions beforehand to fill certain needs or select prospects who play more desirable positions. The Islanders surely aren't complaining, though, as they got to leave Los Angeles with the consensus top prize of the draft (Matthew Schaefer), a blue-chip young forward in Eklund, and a big bag of other goodies. From the moment they won the 2025 draft lottery a couple of months ago until now, they have completely rebuilt the foundation of the organization's future. That's tidy business.
Cullen Potter, C — Calgary Flames, 32nd Overall
Mckeen's Final Ranking: 14th Overall
Not only did the Flames get to select a player at 32nd overall who was much higher on our final board, they also landed someone who is a hand-to-glove fit for what they needed in their prospect pipeline coming into the weekend. Potter is a center with electrifying speed and has enough skill to single-handedly open things up offensively, so those are three big boxes that Calgary can check off at once. Mix in 18th overall pick Cole Reschny, who is a different flavor of talented center, and Craig Conroy must be thrilled with how the first round worked out for him and his club.
Honorable Mention: Lynden Lakovic — Washington Capitals, 27th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 13th Overall
Round 2
Blake Fiddler, D — Seattle Kraken, 36th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 22nd Overall
Seattle's drafting has been forward-heavy ever since the franchise came into existence, and that trend continued into the opening round this year when they chose center Jake O'Brien at 8th overall. Their need to add a high-end defenseman remained glaring, so it made all kinds of sense that they picked Fiddler at 36th, since he was arguably the best one still available at the time. Even better for the Kraken, he's a well-rounded blueliner who can play a big role and handle different kinds of responsibilities, so that's helpful for the team considering their overall shortage of options.
Jakob Ihs-Wozniak, RW— Vegas Golden Knights, 55th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 24th Overall
Nobody doubts the talents that Ihs-Wozniak possesses or the desirability of what's in his toolbox, and his production over the past two seasons is undeniably pretty impressive. So then why did he almost slide entirely out of the draft's first two rounds? It's because his actual usage of those talents and tools wavers quite a bit, with questions that arose about his intensity, work rate and hockey sense. The reason why I really like this pick by Vegas, however, is because the Golden Knights have such a strong and established team culture, led by players like Jack Eichel and Mark Stone (Alex Pietrangelo did a great job with this as well, but his NHL future currently looks uncertain). In other words, I believe that they're the kind of organization that is capable of getting the most out of Ihs-Wozniak and maximizing his potential. Of course, only time will tell if they actually succeed.
Honorable Mention: Will Moore — Boston Bruins, 51st Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 35th Overall
Round 3
Kurban Limatov, D — Carolina Hurricanes, 67th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 31st Overall
No other team in the NHL has drafted Russian prospects as much as Carolina has in recent years. In fact, the numbers aren't even remotely close between them and the next-closest franchise. Do the Hurricanes consider this to be some kind of market inefficiency, where prospects from that nation are undervalued or under-scouted because of various challenges stemming from the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War? The effectiveness of this strategy won't be fully known for a while, but there are some early signs that are encouraging, like their selection of Limatov this year. In terms of raw talent and upside, Limatov probably should have gone a lot higher, as a defender with an impressive package of size, skating ability, athleticism and puck skills. It's not hard to imagine him getting picked a full round earlier if he had spent his entire season somewhere in the CHL or USHL, which is a thought that Carolina likely had as well.
Cameron Schmidt, RW — Dallas Stars, 94th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 38th Overall
It's safe to say at this point that the Florida Panthers have rewritten, or at least revised, the book on how to construct a successful NHL roster after just winning back-to-back championships. That was evident at this year's draft, as teams prioritized size even more than they normally do. However, Florida's success this spring was also due in large part to a revitalized Brad Marchand, who has been one of the shortest players in the NHL throughout his entire career. He is evidence that smaller guys can still thrive when they're skilled and tenacious enough. For Schmidt, there are elements of his game that he shares with Marchand, even though that's not an apples-to-apples comparison between them. And while it's understandable how he slipped out of the first two rounds, the Stars look like they made quite a value pick by landing him at 94th. After all, they took a similar kind of risk a few years ago on a different short forward by the name of Logan Stankoven, and that turned out to be a homerun for the organization.
Honorable Mention: Hayden Paupanekis — Montreal Canadiens, 69th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 56th Overall
Round 4
Adam Benak, C — Minnesota Wild, 102nd Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 52nd Overall
Like Schmidt above, Benak is a prospect who possesses traits that are definitely appealing, yet they're tied up in a small frame that raises questions and concerns. But the early 100s is an ideal spot to take a chance on a prospect like this, and the Wild were the right kind of team to do it, considering they were only able to make one selection (late in the second, defenseman Theodor Hallquisth) throughout the first three rounds. If they wanted to come out of this draft with a prospect who could turn into a top six forward for them one day after a successful development process, they probably couldn't have done better at 102nd overall than Benak.
Gustav Hillstrom, C — New Jersey Devils, 114th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 58th Overall
Hillström checks off some boxes that teams are frequently looking for in players these days: size, mobility, versatility, two-way effectiveness. There were even times this season where he looked like one of the best options for that type of player in the entire draft, though they were fleeting. Still, this is a quietly clever pickup for New Jersey in this spot. Their NHL roster already sports a couple of fantastic pivots in Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, and it's not difficult to imagine Hillström potentially slotting in behind them in the not-too-distant future to give them a different kind of element down the middle of the ice.
Honorable Mention: Jimmy Lombardi — Los Angeles Kings, 125th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 59th Overall
Round 5
Atte Joki, C — Dallas Stars, 146th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 116th Overall
In today's salary cap NHL, every single dollar matters for the league's top contenders. Those teams need players who can take on depth jobs on their rosters and provide as much positive value as possible. This kind of logic is why I love this pick so much for the Stars. Joki is a good prospect, and at times was even Finland’s best forward at international tournaments throughout the season. He’ll become a professional level in player in Finland soon, and if everything goes according to plan he’ll sign his entry-level contract in a few years next, then make the jump to North America, and shortly after that slide affordably into a Bottom 6 support role in Dallas, where he’ll get to play to his strengths behind the team’s big-ticket forwards. An incredible opportunity lies in front of him, he’ll just need to seize it
Everett Baldwin, D — Tampa Bay Lightning, 151st Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 63rd Overall
Trying to separate the wheat from the chaff with American prep school and high school prospects is no easy task, given the massive geography involved, the variety of different leagues and circuits, and the wildly inconsistent distribution of talent. Some of the players drafted under these circumstances go on to become superstars, while others simply flop as disappointing busts. That being said, Baldwin is someone that we found and liked at McKeen’s Hockey this season, so we were thrilled to see him eventually get selected, even though it was nearly 100 spots later than where we had him ranked. One of the smallest defenseman drafted this year, he plays with a ton of speed and loves to press the attack offensively.
Honorable Mention: Petteri Rimpinen — Los Angeles Kings, 152nd Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 79th Overall
Round 6
Burke Hood, G — New York Islanders, 170th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 53rd Overall
I scouted Hood pretty heavily this season, and there were multiple times when I was watching him where I thought to myself “This guy really reminds me of how Ilya Sorokin looks and plays.” And wouldn’t you know it, now he is a member of the Islanders as well, where he will slowly be groomed to be a potential understudy for Sorokin before the Russian netminder’s big NHL contract expires. Hood unexpectedly won the starter’s net with the Vancouver Giants this season and became one of the best goalies in all of Canadian junior hockey from February until his 18th birthday in April, even after accounting for a brief and disappointing playoffs.
Carlos Händel, D — Montreal Canadiens, 177th overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 67th Overall
Händel is a very interesting case study. At his best, the young German defender is a highly dynamic offensive threat who can make highlight-reel plays with the puck. The problem is that those kinds of outbursts don’t happen consistently, while his defending without the puck needs some serious work. Luckily for him, however, the Canadiens seem like the perfect organization for appreciating his upside and getting the most out of his development, which they will be able to pursue steadily and carefully.
Honorable Mention: Jan Chovan — Los Angeles Kings, 184th overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 66th Overall
Round 7
Jeremy Loranger, C — Columbus Blue Jackets, 198th Overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 129th Overall
Once considered a reliable source for finding draft-eligible talent, the BCHL has fallen on hard times in recent years and just saw a major exodus of players midseason when the changes to the CHL-NCAA transfer rules were formalized. Loranger was the cream of that crop this season, and even led the entire league in scoring as a 17-year-old, but his success rang a bit hollow considering he played on one of the few teams that actually manage to recruit and retain serious talent, and many of their opponents were so hollowed out that they barely put up a fight. Nevertheless, he’s a slick, slippery winger who owns a deep bag of puck tricks, and he’s heading off to face better competition in the fall in the NCAA ranks.
Filip Ekberg, RW — Carolina Hurricanes, 221st overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 84th Overall
Ekberg was the breakout star of this spring’s IIHF U18 tournament, leading it in scoring with 18 points in just seven games. All scouts know that you shouldn’t put too much weight into a player’s performance in a single tournament, but his play there also sparked the idea among our scouts that maybe he had a lot more to offer than what was seen with Ottawa in the OHL this season, where he never seemed totally comfortable and the team as a whole struggled. In contrast, NHL scouts remained skeptical about his overall upside, and he nearly slid all the way out of the draft. His hands are good, his shot is good, and he has quick-strike ability in dangerous ice, and that’s more than a lot of other prospects taken around him can boast.
Honorable Mention: Grayden Robertson-Palmer — Detroit Red Wings, 204th overall
McKeen's Hockey Final Ranking: 126th Overall