It’s time for the McKeen’s scouting staff to produce their first draft ranking for the 2025 NHL Draft.

Currently, Boston College center James Hagens tops our list, which would have been the case had we constructed a list heading into this season. However, while extremely talented, Hagens has had only a lukewarm start to his freshman year and his hold on the first position is slipping a bit in our eyes. Porter Martone, Michael Misa, and Roger McQueen (until getting injured) have had tremendous starts to the year and may have upsides that match Hagens’. Misa and Martone find themselves in the top three of OHL scoring currently and have been flat out dominant for Saginaw and Brampton, respectively.

Erie Otters defender Matthew Schaefer is a player that we are extremely high on too, however he’s only recently returned to action following a bout with mononucleosis. Ranking him fifth feels safe based on his international resume until we see how his game has progressed in his sophomore OHL campaign. It may take a few weeks for him to find his legs again.

The real story of this preliminary list is the dominant presence of North America. Of the 32 players listed, only six play outside of North America! And of those six, one is confirmed to be coming to the WHL in Radim Mrtka, while another, Ivan Ryabkin, is rumoured to be considering playing in the USHL. Simply put, it’s not a strong crop of prospects out of Europe.

Additionally, we’ve been extremely disappointed with the start of the U.S. NTDP. We have two U18 development program players listed in our first round (William Moore and Jack Murtagh), and a handful listed as HM’s, however, unless improvement is shown, those players risk falling in our future updates. The team has really struggled defensively, and admittedly with injuries. They have struggled in their annual NCAA exhibition tour thus far, and even find themselves in dead last in the entire USHL. The loss of star forward Cullen Potter (our 13th ranked player) to Arizona State has really hurt this team.

Our next update will see us expand our list to a top 64 prior to the World Junior Championships at the end of the calendar year.

RANK
PLAYER
POS
TEAM
HT/WT
DOB
GP
G
A
PTS
PIM

1
James Hagens
C
Boston College (NCAA)
5-10/170
3-Nov-06
4
1
5
6
0

2
Porter Martone
RW
Brampton (OHL)
6-3/195
26-Oct-06
7
5
12
17
6

3
Michael Misa
C
Saginaw (OHL)
5-11/160
16-Feb-07
13
17
9
26
6

4
Roger McQueen
C
Brandon (WHL)
6-5/190
2-Oct-06
8
8
3
11
18

5
Matthew Schaefer
D
Erie (OHL)
6-1/165
5-Sep-07
3
1
2
3
2

6
Anton Frondell
C
Djurgardens (Swe J20)
6-0/180
7-May-07
6
3
1
4
4

7
Ivan Ryabkin
C
MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL)
6-0/170
25-Apr-07
9
0
8
8
20

8
Victor Eklund
LW
Djurgardens (HockeyAllsvenskan)
5-11/160
3-Oct-06
12
7
4
11
2

9
Logan Hensler
D
Wisconsin (NCAA)
6-2/185
14-Oct-06
6
0
1
1
2

10
Lynden Lakovic
LW
Moose Jaw (WHL)
6-4/185
12-Dec-06
14
7
12
19
2

11
Justin Carbonneau
RW
Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL)
6-0/180
25-Nov-06
13
8
11
19
10

12
Caleb Desnoyers
C
Moncton (QMJHL)
6-2/190
11-Apr-07
10
6
8
14
4

13
Cullen Potter
C
Arizona State (NCAA)
5-9/160
10-Jan-07
8
2
2
4
6

14
Jackson Smith
D
Tri-City (WHL)
6-3/190
13-May-07
12
1
11
12
14

15
Brady Martin
C
Soo Greyhounds (OHL)
6-0/175
16-Mar-07
12
5
7
12
12

16
Malcolm Spence
LW
Erie (OHL)
6-2/190
22-Sep-06
12
5
9
14
6

17
Radim Mrtka
D
Ocelari Trinec (Czechia)
6-6/200
9-Jun-07
10
0
1
1
0

18
Cameron Schmidt
C
Vancouver (WHL)
5-8/150
19-Jan-07
13
12
9
21
6

19
Blake Fiddler
D
Edmonton (WHL)
6-3/195
9-Jul-07
12
2
4
6
8

20
Joshua Ravensbergen
G
Prince George (WHL)
6-4/180
27-Nov-06
11
3.13
0.901

21
Cole Reschny
C
Victoria (WHL)
5-9/160
6-Apr-07
13
4
15
19
10

22
Jake O’Brien
C
Brantford (OHL)
6-0/150
16-Jun-07
11
5
5
10
4

23
Cameron Reid
D
Kitchener (OHL)
5-11/160
8-Apr-07
13
2
10
12
14

24
Adam Benak
C
Youngstown (USHL)
5-7/155
10-Apr-07
10
2
6
8
6

25
Kurban Limatov
D
MHK Dynamo Moskva (MHL)
6-4/185
20-Mar-07
16
4
8
12
10

26
Will Moore
C
USN U18 (USDP)
6-2/160
24-Mar-07
14
4
6
10
0

27
Milton Gastrin
C
MoDo Hockey (Swe J20)
6-2/180
2-Jun-07
17
6
12
18
10

28
Jack Murtagh
C
USN U18 (USDP)
6-0/180
22-Aug-07
5
4
3
7
0

29
Emile Guite
LW
Chicoutimi (QMJHL)
6-1/165
31-May-07
13
4
4
8
4

30
Sascha Boumedienne
D
Boston University (NCAA)
6-1/170
17-Jan-07
5
0
1
1
0

31
Luca Romano
C
Kitchener (OHL)
5-11/170
25-Jun-07
13
4
7
11
4

32
Jack Nesbitt
C
Windsor (OHL)
6-4/175
12-Jan-07
12
9
6
15
9

HM
Carter Amico
D
USN U18 (USDP)
6-5/205
15-Mar-07
11
0
2
2
10

HM
Carter Bear
C
Everett (WHL)
6-0/170
4-Nov-06
14
12
9
21
12

HM
Henry Brzustewicz
D
London (OHL)
6-1/195
9-Feb-07
11
0
10
10
8

HM
Braeden Cootes
C
Seattle (WHL)
5-11/170
9-Feb-07
15
4
10
14
4

HM
Conrad Fondrk
C
USN U18 (USDP)
5-11/175
1-Jun-07
14
2
3
5
0

HM
Jakob Ihs Wozniak
LW
Lulea (Swe J20)
6-3/180
1-Feb-07
13
5
11
16
2

HM
Viktor Klingsell
LW
Skelleftea (Swe J20)
5-10/170
10-Feb-07
16
6
6
12
0

HM
Cole McKinney
C
USN U18 (USDP)
6-0/190
16-Mar-07
11
2
4
6
15

HM
L.J. Mooney
C
USN U18 (USDP)
5-7/150
8-Mar-07
7
1
5
6
2

HM
Eric Nilson
C
Djurgardens (Swe J20)
5-11/155
11-May-07
17
7
13
20
12

HM
Tomas Pobezal
C
HK Nitra (Svk)
5-10/170
18-Sep-06
15
6
3
9
8

HM
Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen
D
Michigan (NCAA)
6-0/170
18-Dec-06
6
0
1
1
0

HM
Charlie Trethewey
D
USN U18 (USDP)
6-1/190
2-Aug-07
14
2
2
4
6

HM
Haoxi (Simon) Wang
D
King Rebellion (OJHL)
6-6/210
27-Jul-07
16
3
9
12
32