The NHL’s 2025 draft season has officially begun with the Cup finale at the Hlinka Gretz Stadium, and that was likely a major event on the calendar.
That preseason top 32 (plus 38 fair mentions, for a total of 70 players to watch) was my second of seven rankings in the 2025 class. That was then followed by my much-earlier Cap 28, and after that would be my preliminary top 64 (released in November), then a midseason top 64 (released in January), a March top 64, a post-U18 world top 32 (released in May), and then my final top 100 (released in June).
2025 NHL Draft ranking: James Hagens leads Scott Wheeler’s Preseason Top 32 list#nhldraftranking#nhldrfathttps://t.co/DsejNXm3yP pic.twitter.com/pHaygSpXyr
— NHLDRAFT (@nhl_draft_) August 15, 2024
Nhl drfat ranking Top 32 list -2025
Formed in the late 2006 and 2007 seasons, this age group will be led by American center James Hagen, big Canadian forwards Porter Martone and Roger McQueen, Swedish center Anton Frondel, OHL standout forward Michael Misa, and defensemen Matthew Schaefer and Logan Hensler. And it should look like a bounce-back year for Sweden and the QMJHL as a whole.
The nhl draft rankings were then also divided into levels, and packaged in a sortable and customizable user interface. The precision list was then divided into four levels: 1, 2-8, 9-12, 13-32+I
There were about a dozen players among the honorable mentions, who were B’s in the fourth tier at that point, and then were factoring into the first-round conversation at this point. That group was joined by six players from my first list (forwards Filip Ekberg, Jack Murtagh, Jordan Gavin, and D’Donato Bracco, Carter Amico and, Owen Conrad), all of whom I still like a lot, as well as high-profile D Artem Vilchinskiy (I want to see how he performs in the fall), CHL Ds Reese Hamilton and Cameron Reed (both of whom are considered first-round players by some in their leagues), USHL forward Ben Keown, OHL forward Jake O’Brien (he just want to see score more and then there’s the quiet, albeit snakebite, Joe Hlinka), and QMJHL forward Bill Zonen.
This draft also featured two high-level Canadian goalkeeper prospects, and again one I would have thought highly of in the rankings:
Prince George’s Joshua Ravensbergen (who many consider a first-rounder at this point, and although he didn’t perform all that well in Plymouth at the World Junior Summer Showcase) and Jack Ivankovich (who was small for a goalkeeper, again, but I believed was just as talented as Ravensbergen and had a great showing at Hlinka). And again, note that while I did consult with scouts, coaches, general managers, and team staff, the following evaluations and rankings are entirely my own.
Here’s the full report on the Cap 32 (honorable mentions sorted alphabetically)
