The 2025 NHL Draft is mere days away, and the Anaheim Ducks hold nine total picks in the seven rounds of the draft, including the tenth overall selection after dropping two spots at the NHL Draft Lottery, where they had the eighth-best odds of winning.

The number ten pick will be their seventh straight top ten pick and hopefully their last, as they intend to push for a playoff spot in the 2025-26 season.

The 2025 draft class is a fascinating one for the Ducks (and every team), as there isn’t an obvious franchise-changing forward or two (or three, or four) at the top like there was in 2023, and there isn’t a plethora of highly-touted defensemen projected to go inside the top ten like there was in 2024.

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The Ducks have one of the deepest and most complete prospect/young roster player pools in the NHL, so any top ten talent would be a luxury addition.

On a nightly basis, the Ducks ice young core pieces like Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras, Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger, and Lukas Dostal.

In the pipeline and hoping to break through and join the aforementioned group in the next year or two are pieces like Beckett Sennecke, Stian Solberg, and Tristan Luneau.

Looking ahead to the 2025 Draft, where there are a lot of excellent and translatable players that will likely be available for the Ducks at ten, which among them represent the best fits for the Ducks’ future core?

Defenseman Matthew Schaefer appears to have pulled ahead as the projected first overall pick to be selected by the New York Islanders on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles. Immediately following Shaefer is a sizable list of talented forwards that includes Michael Misa, James Hagens, Porter Martone, Caleb Desnoyers, and Anton Frondell. Should any of those players be available to the Ducks at number ten, they’d likely be the easy, slam-dunk, home run pick.

Two players who are a little less certain, but will likely fall somewhere in the middle of the top ten, are centers Brady Martin and Jake O’Brien. Again, they aren’t expected to be available at ten, but if they are, they’d be excellent fits with high upside for the Ducks: Martin being a potential emotional and physical driver of an entire team, and O’Brien being a crafty and cerebral play-creator.

If those eight players are selected within the top nine, as can be expected, that will leave a handful of talented players with varying skillsets for the Ducks to potentially choose between.

Roger McQueen

Were it not for a back injury, specifically a fracture in the L4/L5 vertebrae, there’s a high likelihood McQueen would have been selected well within the top five of this draft, based on talent and prior production alone.

As it stands, however, McQueen was only able to suit up for a total of 17 regular season games for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, where he scored 20 points (10-10=20). He was able to briefly return to action in the WHL playoffs, notching one goal in three games before he suffered a muscle strain reportedly caused by overcompensation from his recovering back.

He is said to be 100%, but his situation is eerily similar to that of 2024 fourth overall selection Cayden Lindstrom, who suffered a disc injury early in his draft season and missed the entirety of his first post-draft season.

On the ice, McQueen is a truly unique blend of size and skill who even compares his game to that of Ducks legend Ryan Getzlaf. He’s not quite as physically engaged as Getzlaf was throughout his career, but the puck skills and usage of space on the ice are similar.

What McQueen brings that Getzlaf only flashed in his career is a willingness to unleash his above-average shot. McQueen is as good at finding open ice off-puck as he is at finding teammates for looks when on-puck. He can create off the cycle and the rush with equal potency and has a willingness to provide a 200-foot impact.

McQueen is one of the highest-risk/highest-reward draft-eligible prospects in recent memory, but if he hits, a potential 1-2-3 punch down the middle in Anaheim featuring Carlsson, McTavish, and McQueen is as physically and skillfully imposing as any center trio could hope to be and McQueen could fit seamlessly between wingers of any skillset.

Radim Mrtka

Of the six recent top ten picks in the Ducks organization (Zegras, McTavish, Gauthier, Mintyukov, Carlsson, Sennecke), there sits only one defenseman.

Among young defensemen in the organization, LaCombe had a breakout season in 2024-25, Zellweger is a former CHL defenseman of the year, Solberg continues to impress at every level in which he plays, and Luneau made the 2024-25 AHL All-Rookie team, but a reasonable question could be raised about the ceilings of the individuals in that stable of blueliners. Is there a true elite number-one defenseman among them?

It’s highly unlikely Mrtka is that truly elite number-one defenseman, but his skillset would round out any future defensive core in the NHL.

At a towering 6-foot-5.75 and 218 pounds, Mrtka has rare elite shutdown capabilities given his stride, four-way mobility, and angling intellect. He’s excellent on retrievals, quickly finding optimal outlets to ignite clean exits, and he patrols the offensive blueline with deftness and poise.

Drawbacks to his game are few, but a lack of physical assertion and questionable compete levels may be cause for him to drop outside the top ten of this draft.

After a tough 21-game start to his 2024-25 campaign in his native Czechia, Mrtka made the transition to North America to play in the WHL for the Seattle Thunderbirds. The fit was impactful and immediate, as he finished the season with 35 points (3-32=35) in 43 games while logging an astounding amount of minutes in all situations. He added three assists in six playoff games and notched four points (1-3=4) in five games at the U18 World Championship, playing for Czechia.

If some of the intangible aspects of his game can be ironed out, Mrtka has top pair potential. If the Ducks were to select him with the tenth overall pick, he could one day be a perfect complementary piece to one of the supreme offensive talents like LaCombe, Mintyukov, or Zellweger on the left side of the Anaheim blueline.

Victor Eklund

There seems to be an ever-increasing belief that Eklund won’t hear his name called in the first ten picks on Friday evening, despite his talent perhaps dictating his deservedness. When it comes to the top of the draft, general managers and front offices are more risk-averse and tend to select players with desirable size and who play premium positions.

Of his five first-round selections in his first three drafts as general manager of the Ducks, the slightest player Pat Verbeek has selected has been Pavel Mintyukov, who measured in at 6-foot-1.5 and 194 pounds at his draft combine.

Aside from his 5-foot-11, 169-pound frame, Eklund has every tool necessary to be a high-end producer at the NHL level. His skating is explosive, shifty, and slippery. He’s a puck hound, he gets pucks to the dangerous areas of the ice seemingly at will, and he possesses a high hockey IQ. He simply impacts play over all 200 feet of ice surface on every shift and is dangerous whether the puck is on his stick or not, and if it’s not, it soon will be.

In 2024-25, Eklund scored 31 points (19-12=31) in 42 games for Djurgardens IF of HockeyAllsvenskan. He represented Sweden at the World Junior Championships, where he notched six points (2-4=6) in seven games en route to a loss in the bronze medal game. Djurgardens won the league and were promoted to the SHL for the 2025-26 season. Eklund scored seven points (2-5=7) in 16 qualification games.

Should the Ducks consider drafting him with the tenth pick, Eklund’s brand of pace, skill, and tenacity would pair well with any combination of linemates the Ducks currently have on the roster or in the organization. He can make high-speed reads off of dynamic transition players like Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier, or he can dominate a cycle game alongside Mason McTavish.

Looking back on the 2020 and 2021 drafts, players with similar profiles to Eklund were Lucas Raymond and Victor’s brother, William Eklund. They both weighed in at 5-foot-10 or 5-foot-11 and roughly 170 pounds. Raymond was selected with he fourth overall pick in 2020, and William Eklund was selected with the seventh in ’21. Both were able to add necessary strength to compete at the NHL level, and both would have strong cases to be selected in the top two in a redraft of their respective draft classes.

If Victor Eklund is selected outside the top nine of the 2025 NHL Draft, he will likely have fallen farther than he should have. There’s little doubt his selection will be seen as a remarkable value pick, wherever that may be.

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According to an interview conducted by HockeySverige, the most reputable hockey news site in Sweden, New York Islanders goaltending prospect Marcus Gidlöf shared that he will be attending the team's development camp. 

"They haven't had a development camp in previous years, but now they're going to have one, and then I'll go over there," Gidlof told HockeySverige (Swedish to English translation). 

Here's the original article:

Gidlöfs besked - inför NHL-campenLeksands Marcus Gidlöf berättar om sina planer inför sommaren, och säsongen då SHL-klubben ser ut att inleda med tre målvakter.

Development camp will begin Monday, June 30 and will consist of three on-ice days before their Blue & White Scrimmage on July 2. 

Gidlof, a 6'6, 223-pound goaltender, was selected in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Draft and had a very strong 2024-25 campaign. After a strong season with Leksands IF -- he posted a 1.73 GAA with a .924 SV% for the junior team before posting a 2.33 GAA with a .908 SV% for the main team -- he was loaned to Djurgardens IF for their playoff run.

He posted a 0.53 GAA with a .980 SV% in two playoff games, helping Djurgardens win the championship and get back to the SHL after being relegated in 2022. 

Gidlof also represented his country at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. 

Serving as Sweden's backup,  Gidlöf appeared in two WJC games, owning a 1.38 GAA with a .938 SV%. 

The 19-year-old will not be joining the Islanders organization yet, as he has committed to returning to Leksands IF for the 2025-26 season. 

With Jakub Skarek leaving the Islanders organization to go play in Liiga, the Islanders' goaltending prospect pool is a little thinner than it was a year ago.

At the NHL level, the Islanders have Ilya Sorokin and, if healthy, Semyon Varlamov. Then, it's Marcus Hogberg, Tristan Lennox, and Henrik Tikkanen.

Where Gidlof fits into the depth charts is yet to be determined. However, he has looked like a really talented prospect, possessing great size and athleticism. 

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Why Mason Lohrei's new contract with Bruins is a win for both sides originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Bruins entered the 2025 NHL offseason with a bunch of restricted free agents, and one of them just signed a new contract.

The B’s announced Monday they have signed defenseman Mason Lohrei to a two-year contract that carries a $3.2 million salary cap hit.

This is a reasonable number for both the player and team.

Lohrei gets a nice raise from his entry-level contract ($925,000 cap hit) and a chance to prove himself over the next two years. If he becomes the top-four defenseman and offensive-driving player many people expect, he’ll have a chance to really cash in not too long from now. And in two years, the league’s salary cap should be significantly higher.

The Bruins also did well to sign a key young player at a low salary cap hit for two seasons. They now have more time before having to decide whether to commit to Lohrei long term.

Lohrei is one of Boston’s best draft-and-develop stories in recent years. They selected him in the second round (pick No. 58) in the 2020 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut in 2023-24, and his first full campaign was 2024-25. Lohrei tallied 33 points (five goals, 28 assists) in 77 games this past season, along with 19:31 of ice time per game.

Lohrei’s offensive instincts, playmaking ability, shot and hockey IQ are all impressive. He needs to improve defensively, but there’s a lot to like about his skill set.

Now that Lohrei is signed, the Bruins can turn their focus to some other RFAs, including forwards Morgan Geekie, John Beecher, Jakub Lauko and Marat Khusnutdinov, among others.

Pierre LeBrun recently revealed that the Toronto Maple Leafs and the John Tavares family had contract extension talks, and that the parties are far apart. According to reports, the pending UFA received an offer for a three-year contract with a $4 million average annual value (AAV). The soon-to-be 35-year-old center just played the last year of the seven-year contract with an $11 million cap hit he signed as a free agent back in 2018, when his presence on the free agent market had caused quite a stir.

Back then, Tavares had refused to meet with the Montreal Canadiens to hear their offer, but things might just be different this time around. When the Leafs were eliminated, Tavares was very clear about his desire to come back to Toronto, but this new development might have soured his enthusiasm.

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On Sunday, we discussed the fact that the Canadiens were one of the interested teams in signing free agent Jonathan Toews. Still, they ultimately lost that battle, as the former Chicago Blackhawks captain opted for the Winnipeg Jets instead. If talks break down between Tavares and Toronto, he could be an interesting option to explore for the Canadiens.

He’s two years younger than Toews and just came off a 74-point season. Just like Toews, he was also a captain, although he was stripped of the captaincy in Toronto to give it to Auston Matthews. That was in no way an indictment of his leadership skills, but rather a way to place the team squarely in the franchise’s cornerstone’s hands. Of course, he doesn't have the same winning track record as Toews does however. 

The question is, however, what kind of cap hit would Tavares be after, and would he be willing to play for the Leafs’ oldest rivals, the Canadiens? We’ve seen Josh George block a trade from the Canadiens to the Leafs because he was too used to hating the Ontario outfit.

Like Toews would have been, Tavares would be nothing more than a temporary fix to the Canadiens’ center woes, but he would be an excellent placeholder until Michael Hage has had the time to develop and turn pro. In his last four seasons, the Mississauga, Ontario native posted 76, 80, 65, and 74 points, and it’s not hard to imagine him clicking with Ivan Demidov in Montreal.

One can also wonder if the veteran might decide to head south of the border after the salary dispute he had with the Canadian Tax Authorities. However, the case has recently been adjourned. When that happens, such cases often remain dormant. Still, it could have soured Tavares on the already higher taxes in Canada.

Photo credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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With the 2025 NHL Draft now less than a week away, the Philadelphia Flyers are continuing their due diligence down at the Gold Star Hockey Development Camp in Florida, which runs until June 26.

As reported by Hockey News Hub, the Flyers, led by GM Danny Briere himself, are watching the camp, which is being held at the Florida Panthers' practice facility in Fort Lauderdale, keeping a close eye on some of the top attending Russian prospects.

Some names at the camp include top goalie prospect Semyon Frolov, defenseman Maxim Agafonov, and winger Alex Zharovsky.

Frolov is beginning to gain some steam as a potential first-round selection, rivaling top North American goalie Joshua Ravensbergen in that regard.

Confirmed in attendance:#LetsGoFlyers GM Daniel Brière, #TimeToHunt Roberto Luongo, #ALLCAPS scout Maxim Mayorov.

Each team has at least one representative at this event. https://t.co/FA5OIcxJ2F

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) June 20, 2025

Both Frolov and Zharovsky, an uber-skilled inverted right winger with a prototypical 6-foot-1 frame, were on my list of Russian prospects who could complement star Flyers sophomore Matvei Michkov (and potentially Maxim Shabanov, too).

All 32 NHL teams are said to be taking in Gold Star's camp ahead of the draft, though other notable names in league with Briere include the Panthers' Roberto Luongo and Washington Capitals scout Maxim Mayorov.

This camp, led by former NHLer Sergei Samsonov (a former teammate of Brad Shaw's), will put the potential Flyers draft picks through some drills and skills training in front of the attending teams in addition to some gym work at BARWIS Sports Performance Academy.

Of note: agent Dan Milstein, the leader of the Gold Star Hockey operation, represents Flyers prospects Nikita Grebenkin and Aleksei Kolosov, as well as former Flyers forward Andrei Kuzmenko.