2025 NHL Draft: Final Watch List

We're at the finish line in a weird season when it comes to a set of prospects for the annual draft. Overall, the impression I've gotten from other scouts and my own feelings is that this draft is all over the place. It doesn't necessarily have any huge, generational prospect at the top... but it does have 4-5 very, very good players. After that, it falls off pretty quickly but then maintains a pretty large tier of players who have potential but lots of work to develop them into something real.

So all of that said, this will be my final update to my watch list with some newer players I've followed down the stretch. After this, I'll finalize my watch list for the players I'll profile in full ahead of the 2025 NHL draft.

FORWARDS

Cole McKinney

McKinney is a 6'0" centre playing for the US National Development Team. His profile is as a strong two-way centre. He plays a physical, hard working play style with aggressive forechecking and intelligent play reading. This is a kind of player I have come to really like and appreciate, since they seem like the best way to find an impact player outside of the first round – since Toronto trades those away so often. He doesn't have the high end skill of most first rounders, but he has enough to just make good plays on a consistent basis. He has very good habits and could be considered "pro-ready" in that sense.

This year's NTDP group is not nearly as good as it had been for the previous few seasons, but McKinney did eventually emerge as one of the guys I like the most. While he could be an interesting second round pick, he is ranked as an early second round pick on Bob McKenzie's mid-season ranking. I believe he will be participating in the World U18s as one of America's top players, albeit on a weaker team than usual for them, so he will be cementing his draft ranking for many scouts.

Ryker Lee

An older player for this draft, with a November 2006 birthday, Lee is none the less one of the most fun players in this draft. He's a 6'0" winger playing in the USHL, and committed to Michigan State next year who could be a top NCAA team again next year. As a draft year player, he led his team in goals (29) and points (63) by healthy margins. He finished tied for 4th in the entire USHL in points, with all the players tied or ahead of him being older. That's a good sign, considering he's only a couple of months away from having been draft eligible last year – he's producing at the same level of other top D+1 or even D+2 players in that league.

Lee is a highly skilled offensive creator. He is a dynamic puck handler, passer, and shot creator for himself making him a pretty high level dual-threat offensively. He has tons of tools in his bag of tricks – going between the legs for shots/passes, trying the Michigan, and so on. His issue is that he is an average skater overall, with some mechanical issues to iron out. It's not an issue for him in junior, but will be at the pro level. That's likely the main reason why, in McKenzie's mid-season ranking, Lee was a late round 2nd rounder at 58. We'll see if that stays the same on his final ranking, since he has been very good down the stretch.

Michal Svrcek

I'll end with a trio of players in Sweden's U20 junior league, having seen them while watching Toronto's Victor Johansson. Svrcek is a 5'10" Slovakian centre/winger playing in Sweden, who was completely unranked on Bob's mid-season ranking. But there's a reason why Svrcek played in 17 games in the SHL in the regular season, where he earned 3 points. It's the same reason why he was called up from the U20 junior team in the middle of their playoff run to rejoin the SHL squad for theirs. He's played in five SHL playoff games, getting small but real minutes – between 6 and 8 per game.

I like him a lot, because he seems like he was built from a similar mold as Easton Cowan. In junior, he was a point per game guy with 14 goals and 30 points in 30 games. If he played the full season at that level, he'd have narrowly been the team leader in points but not anywhere near the top of the league – not even for his age group. He is an extremely hard worker and a very good skater. He hounds opponents with his speed, forechecking aggressively and beating opponents to loose pucks. He has a decent amount of skill, especially carrying the puck at speed. His issue is that he's a bit small for that play style, and he'll definitely have to bulk up to make his forechecking and puck protection better against fully mature, pro-level opponents. He could likely wind up being a third round, or later, pick but that's fine by me. He is such a great play facilitator, and outside of the top two rounds I would love to make the bet that he grows another inch or two and fills out more to unlock more of his existing strengths and playstyle.

Here's a great example of his hard work, in spite of his size, leading to his first assist in the SHL – he's #17 (it looks like 11 with their lettering) doing most of the board work as the play develops.

Gustav Hillström

Hillström is a 6'2" centre, and Svrcek's teammate in Sweden. He had 16 goals and 38 points for their junior team, and added 1 goal and 1 assist in 18 games for the SHL team. Unlike Svrcek, he has not played in any playoff games for the pro team. Like Svrcek, he is an intelligent, hard working two-way forward, but Hillström is more of a natural centre. He is not as quick or explosive as Svrcek, but makes up for it with greater size and physical projection. To me, Hillström is basically Swedish Minten but maybe a tier below for now. He doesn't have the shot Minten does, but has the same kind of positional awareness, good physical play, pro-like habits that helps connect the defense to the offense rather than being more of a play driver or point producer.

Hillström was also left off of McKenzie's mid-season rankings, so (in theory) he is very likely to be available with a third round pick and maybe even into the fifth round – where Toronto picks twice. Toronto seems to like players of this type of player. They liked Minten, they've signed two NCAA centres in Quillan and Haymes, they drafted Holinka with a fifth round pick too. I could see Toronto viewing Hillström as fitting that prototype.

Tinus Luc Koblar

Kobler is a 6'3" Norwegian centre who is actually Victor Johansson's teammate, so I've seen a bunch more of him this season than the others playing in Sweden. He's also a good chunk younger, with a July 21st birthday. I had heard some scouts talk about him through the year, but never really noticed him all that much while watching Johansson. That changed down the stretch, and especially changed during their playoff run. He very quickly became a very bright glitter guy who I kept noticing for making good plays, wondering who it was, and seeing his #94 again and again.

Unlike the other two, Koblar has not been a top producer in Sweden's junior league (21 points in 43 games) and he has gotten zero call ups to the SHL. Leksands finished as the top team, by record, in the junior level and have been very deep. In that sense, Koblar has been pretty insulated from bigger opportunities, especially top powerplay time, and has usually been their 3C for all of this season. He still has been in the playoffs now, but what's changed is how much impact he is able to have despite the more limited role. He is big, and uses his size well even if he isn't the most aggressive physically, and he looks like a really good skater – not an elite one, mind you, but more than good enough. He isn't really the most skilled, but just makes good, simple plays. He has three goals in their four playoff games so far, and at times I thought he looked like the best/most noticeable forward on the team in their last two games. I can definitely see him being a later round pick, but I'd absolutely swing on him in the 5th to 7th rounds.

DEFENSE

Maxim Agafonov

Agafonov is a 6'2" right shot defenseman playing in Russia for Tolpar Ufa in the MHL, though he's also gotten a 12 game stint in the VHL. His 14 points in 35 games is 9th in junior for U18 defensemen, but he's also played a lot fewer games at that level. So by points per game, he was in the top 5 and only narrowly behind the leader. For U18 defensemen in the VHL, he is tied for the most points and third for total games played. The thing is, Agafonov is not necessarily an "offensive defenseman". He is more of a two-way guy who has an enticing mix of size, physicality, mobility, defense, and puck movement.

It's not really clear to me if Agafonov is holding himself back offensively to play safe or follow directions from his coaches, or because he is not confident in his ability to make plays with the puck. I'd guess it is a mix of the two, honestly. Defensively, he uses his reach and mobility to contain puck carriers and smother their movement, and he defends transitions pretty well but can struggle against higher speed coming at him. So far he seems to overcome it with good reads and aggressive close outs to prevent opponents to be able to build up to top speed and get to open ice where they have options to evade him. He can also be a pretty intimidating checker. He was ranked 79th by Bob McKenzie in his mid-season rankings, so he seems like he will definitely be available in the 2nd/3rd rounds if Toronto is interested in him.

Linus Funck

Funck is a 6'3" right shot defenseman from Sweden with an A+ name. He finished third in Sweden's junior league for points by U18 defensemen, and was best on his team, with 28 in 48 games. He added another 2 points in 3 playoff games. Offense is definitely more his strength, and I'll be more specific and say he is best at passing and moving the puck. He is good at making passes on the breakout, including stretch passes. He's also good at quarter backing offensive possessions, at even strength and on the powerplay, by moving the puck from the blueline. He isn't necessarily the most activation-heavy guy, but he will do it from time to time. He's just a solid passer, adept at finding passing lanes at a higher than average difficulty.

Funck is a good enough skater, but that's something that could be improved as he fills out more and adds some explosiveness to his first strides. But he's already pretty nimble and agile, which is noteworthy for his size. Defensively he's kind of the same, it's okay – not great, not terrible. He has enough size and reach and mobility that it could be better if he learns to make better and quicker decisions, and again filling out and adding muscle will help too. As of now, very few scouting outlets have ranked him, but I've heard his name come up a lot more lately so he definitely feels like a late riser. I doubt he'll go from not ranked to out of Toronto's range, but given his size I can see him winding up as a mid-round guy, maybe as high as a second.

Sean Barnhill

Barnhill is a 6'5" right shot defenseman from Scottsdale Arizona, playing in the USHL with a commitment to Northeastern in the NCAA. Honestly, given his size and profile I'm surprised he hasn't had more hype. He's definitely more of a defensive defenseman, and does play a physical style though he's not one of those guys who is just big and just tries to murder everything that moves. He has very good mobility for his size too, and with his reach he has a lot of potential at being a suffocating, shutdown defender. He has some more physical projection too, at 205 lbs he definitely has more room to fill out and pack on some muscle.

Offensively and with the puck he's more of a work in progress, but not to a greater extent more than others of a similar profile this year (Bedkowski, Amico, Wang, Skvortsov, Kettles, etc). He shows flashes of being able to carry the puck and evade the first wave of pressure so he can get it out safely, whether by carrying it himself or making some good passes. But like some of those others like him, the passing can be inconsistent. Given how much Toronto seemed to love that kind of defenseman last year (Mayes, Lahey) with late round picks, I can definitely see them swinging on him if he winds up being a mid to late round guy.

Edison Engle

Engle is a 6'2" left shot defenseman playing in the USHL – in fact, he's a teammate of Sean Barnhill. To be honest I think I like Engle more, even if Barnhill fits Toronto's type more. Despite that, Engle may not be as big but he still has good size and is also an even better skater. He has a lot better offensive ability and instincts, in terms of carrying the puck, jumping into the play to support the offense, and making good passes to create scoring chances. His point production may not be a great signal for that (2 goals and 15 points in 50 games), but there are two things I want to point out for context.

First, the USHL is a lower scoring league and especially for defensemen – the league leader for points by defenseman was a good chunk below a point per game, and for U18 defenseman had only 26. For his age group, his point per game pace was tied for 5th best. Second, Engle wasn't even given that much of an opportunity. He and Barnhill were both almost always on the third pair, sometimes getting bumped up, since they're blocked by one of the deeper teams in the league this year. He got a bit of powerplay time, but most of his production there came on Des Moines before he was traded to Dubuque halfway through the year.

His combination of skating and passing makes him pretty adept at driving transitions and zone exits, and his mix of size and mobility have made him one of the better defensive defensemen among defensemen in his age group this year. He isn't that physical, using his stick and smarts more to break up plays. His problems seem to be that he can be too passive at times, on both sides of the puck, and he could stand to be more physical than he is. He may look small compared to Barnhill but he's not 5'9". He is a bit slight, but if he learns to be more assertive and aggressive and adds some muscle to back that up, he has the foundation of a pretty enticing two-way defender. Like Barnhill, he also is ranked by pretty much nobody, and doesn't have the points or high usage profile to generate that much hype. I'd be interested in him starting in the third round, and most certainly in the fifth round if he's still available by then.

Eduard Bondar

Bondar is the last new guy I've started following a bit. He's of the Sean Barnhill mold – 6'5", right shot defenseman, Russian-born but playing as an import in the QMJHL. He has 12 points in 54 games, so not an offensive focused guy, but has the kind of promise as a defensive-defenseman that I don't mind. Namely, there are also signs he can at least be good at moving the puck out of his own end and through the neutral zone with some reliability.

Defensively, he does the things well you would expect for a defensive defenseman with his size. He uses his reach and good skating, though not that high end, and shuts down zone entries at the blueline. He uses the same size plus some physical play in his own end to snuff out possessions, especially against the cycle along the boards. With the puck he can be counted on to make simple but effective passes to keep it moving in the right direction, but more dynamic playmaking is not a strength. He actually tries, at times, but can't execute them with enough consistency yet. Like Barnhill, he's pretty skinny considering his height, and when he has time to fill out that frame the added strength and explosiveness will help him improve in all those areas. He's another guy who isn't getting much hype but I find interesting, and may be the kind of defenseman Toronto likes in the later rounds if he is still available by then.