2025 NHL Mock Draft Projections for Every Team in Round 1
The San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators will leave the NHL regular season as the favorites to land the No. 1 overall pick.
San Jose, Chicago and Nashville secured the three worst point totals in the league in that order with a four days left in the regular season.
All three teams will have over a 10 percent chance to land the No. 1 overall pick.
The rest of the draft lottery odds will be set by Thursday. A handful of teams are between 75 and 80 points, so one or two results could alter a squad's chances of winning the top selection.
The 2025 NHL draft prize is expected to be defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
A few forwards are in contention for the top pick as well, but Schaefer is the guy atop draft boards at the moment.
Updated 2025 NHL Mock Draft
- San Jose - Matthew Schaefer, D, Erie (OHL)
- Chicago - Michael Misa, C/LW, Saginaw (OHL)
- Nashville - Anton Frondell, C, Djurgardens
- Seattle - James Hagens, C, Boston College
- Boston - Porter Martone, RW, Brampton (OHL)
- Philadelphia - Caleb Desnoyers, C, Moncton (QMJHL)
- Buffalo - Roger McQueen, C, Brandon (WHL)
- Pittsburgh - Victor Eklund, LW, Djurgardens
- Anaheim - Jackson Smith, D, Tri-City (WHL)
- New York Islanders - Radim Mrtka, Seattle (WHL)
- Detroit - Jake O’Brien, C, Brantford (OHL)
- New York Rangers - Carter Bear, LW, Everett (WHL)
- Columbus - Brady Martin, C, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)
- Utah - Logan Hensler, D, Wisconsin
- Vancouver - Justin Carbonneau, RW, Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL)
- Montreal (from Calgary) - Lynden Lakovic, LW, Moose Jaw (WHL)
- Montreal - Kashawn Aitcheson, D, Barrie (OHL)
- Ottawa - Malcolm Spence, LW, Erie (OHL)
- Calgary (from New Jersey) - Ben Kindel, C, Calgary (WHL)
- St. Louis - Jack Nesbitt, C, Windsor (OHL)
- Columbus (from Minnesota) - Cameron Reid, D, Kitchener (OHL)
- Philadelphia (from Edmonton) - Cole Reschny, C, Victoria (WHL)
- Calgary (from Florida) - Braeden Cootes, C, Seattle (WHL)
- Philadelphia (from Colorado) - Blake Fiddler, D, Edmonton (WHL)
- Los Angeles - Cullen Potter, C, Arizona State
- Nashville (from Tampa Bay) - Cameron Schmidt, RW, Vancouver (WHL)
- Carolina - Bill Zonnon, C, Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL)
- San Jose (from Dallas) - William Moore, C, USDP
- Chicago (from Toronto) - Joshua Ravensbergen, G, Prince George (WHL)
- Nashville (from Vegas) - Jack Murtagh, LW, USDP
- Winnipeg - Ivan Ryabkin, C, Muskegon (USHL)
- Washington - Cole McKinney, C, USDP
/
San Jose Owns Best Odds to Land Top Pick
San Jose will finish with the worst record in the NHL with 51 points.
The Sharks showed some promise for the future during the 2024-25 campaign.
Macklin Celebrini is as advertised, while Will Smith and William Eklund took big steps as top-line forwards.
However, the Sharks need help on the blue line, which is why winning the lottery is so important to them.
San Jose could use Schaefer in defense immediately. His presence could round out a strong young core that is primarily made up of playmaking forwards.
Most of the Sharks' top-end prospects are forwards, so if they could add Schaefer to the defense, it would accelerate the rebuild.
One pick won't completely change the Sharks' fortunes, but if they can stabilize the defense, they will be in much better shape for next season and beyond.
Chicago Poised to Add Another Forward to Talented Core
The one reason why Schaefer would not go No. 1 is Chicago's loaded pipeline of defensemen.
The Blackhawks have seven defensemen on their roster who are 23 years old or younger.
They recently added Sam Rinzel to a roster that includes Artyom Levshunov, Wyatt Kaiser, Alex Vlasic and others.
Chicago isn't completely set on the blue line, but it could feel comfortable enough in defense to take a forward at No. 1 instead of Schaefer.
The Blackhawks don't have to worry about making that decision if they don't win the draft lottery.
In that case, Chicago would get to choose between James Hagens, Michael Misa and others to add to its Connor Bedard-led forward group.