NHL Draft 2025 Updated Order, Top Prospects and 1st-Round Mock

The future of professional hockey will take center stage June 27-28 with the 2025 NHL Draft.

This year's crop of potential league stars features a handful of stellar centers, a star defenseman in the making, and countless other players with college and international playing experience ready to make the jump to the bright lights and big stage of the NHL.

Which teams will have the first shot at selecting them and in what order, and who are two of the more prominent stars to keep an eye on?

Find out with this draft preview.

The updated draft order and mock picks for the 2025 NHL Draft are:

1. San Jose Sharks - James Hagens, C, Boston College
2. Chicago Blackhawks - Matthew Schaefer, D, Erie
3. Nashville Predators - Michael Misa, C, Saginaw
4. Philadelphia Flyers - Roger McQueen, C, Brandon
5. Boston Bruins - Anton Frondell, C, Djurgardens IF
6. Seattle Kraken - Victor Eklund, LW, Djurgardens IF
7. Buffalo Sabres - Porter Martone, RW, Mississauga
8. Pittsburgh Penguins - Jake O'Brien, C, Brantford
9. Anaheim Ducks - Jackson Smith, D, Tri-City
10. New York Islanders - Radim Mrtka, D, Seattle
11. Columbus Blue Jackets - Caleb Desnoyers, C, Moncton
12. Detroit Red Wings - Carter Bear, C/W, Everett
13. New York Rangers - Lynden Lakovic, F, Moose Jaw
14. Utah Hockey Club - Cameron Reid, D, Kitchener
15. Vancouver Canucks - Cameron Schmidt, RW, Vancouver
16. Montreal Canadiens (via Calgary Flames) - Justin Carbonneau, RW, Blainville-Boisbriand
17. Montreal Canadiens - Malcolm Spence, LW, Erie
18. Calgary Flames (via New Jersey Devils) - Brady Martin, C, Soo
19. Ottawa Senators - Kashawn Aitcheson, D, Barrie
20. Columbus Blue Jackets (via Minnesota Wild) - Logan Hensler, D, Wisconsin
21. St. Louis Blues - Joshua Ravensbergen, C, Prince George
22. Calgary Flames (via Florida Panthers) - Braeden Cootes, C, Seattle
23. Philadelphia Flyers (via Edmonton Oilers) - Cullen Porter, LW, Arizona State
24. Nashville Predators (via Tampa Bay Lightning) - Bill Zonnon, LW, Rouyn-Noranda
25. Philadelphia Flyers (via Colorado Avalanche) - Benjamin Kindel, RW, Calgary
26. Carolina Hurricanes - Jack Murtagh, C/W, USDP
27. Los Angeles Kings - Sascha Boumedienne, D, Boston University
28. San Jose Sharks (via Dallas Stars) - Cole Reschny, F, Victoria
29. Chicago Blackhawks (via Toronto Maple Leafs) - Milton Gästrin, C/W, MoDo Hockey
30. Nashville Predators (via Vegas Golden Knights) - Jack Nesbitt, C, Windsor
31. Washington Capitals - Ivan Ryabkin, C, Muskegon
32. Winnipeg Jets - Blake Fiddler, D, Edmonton

Matthew Schaefer is the consensus No. 1 pick in this year's draft, a 17-year-old who has professional experience with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League and has played international for home country Canada, including as captain in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

He is also coming off a broken collarbone suffered in the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. Prior to the injury that forced him to the sidelines, he was red-hot for Erie, tallying seven goals and 15 assists.

A superb defenseman whose greatest asset is his skating. Corey Pronman of The Athletic wrote, "He creates a lot of chances due to his skating, but he can also break down opponents one-on-one with his hands, and finds a lot of seams to make plays."

A young player who already excels at various elements of the game, he feels like a certainty to succeed as a top-tier defender in the NHL.

One of the best prospects at center in this year's draft, Hagens is one of the premier players on an elite Boston College team. A great skater whose elusiveness is one of his greatest weapons, he is one of three centers who could conceivably be selected at the top of the NHL Draft and in the top five at the least.

A playmaker with the puck in his possession, he has the potential to be a game-changer for any team that takes him, even if he has not quite lived up to the potential flashed in the United States National Team Developmental Program. Hagens did break the IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship scoring record, accumulating nine goals and 13 assists during the United States' silver medal-winning performance.

Pronman wrote of him, "Hagens isn’t that big or physical, and can stay on the outside too much, but he gives a decent nightly effort and coaches tend to lean on him."

If he can work on crashing the net more instead of staying on the periphery, he has the potential to be an elite center.