The Ottawa Senators are set to pick 21st overall in the first round of the NHL Draft this Friday in Los Angeles. After a 2024 draft class where they leaned into size and physicality, many expect them to stick with that approach, especially with the Florida Panthers winning back-to-back Stanley Cups the way they just did. The Panthers have a skilled roster, uniquely bolstered by size and toughness.

It's literally a copy cats league right now.

But true skill is a lot harder to find than size, and one player who might be available when the Senators step up to the podium is Cullen Potter, a skilled forward who’s one of the best skaters available in the draft.

After putting up 46 points in 54 games with the U.S. National Team Development Program’s U17 squad, he jumped to the NCAA a year early last season. Playing as a 17-year-old freshman, Potter scored 13 goals in 35 games, which is almost unheard of for a player his age.

Potter has serious wheels with and without the puck. He has the kind of speed that tends to get opposing defensemen on their heels, backing up faster and deeper than they’d like so they don’t get burned wide. That often gives Potter the room he needs to claim the blue line and make them pay with his puck skill and quick release.

However, at 5-foot-10, 172 pounds, Potter isn’t the biggest guy, which can affect his ability to win or engage in puck battles. So the league’s be-more-like-the-Florida-Panthers trend may be working against him in the rankings, as it may with Calgary Hitmen forward Ben Kindel, whom we profiled earlier.

Potential First-Round Draft Targets For The Ottawa Senators: Maybe Another Calgary Hitman? Leading up to the 2025 NHL Draft, we’ll examine some of the young players that the draft experts think might be available to the Ottawa Senators when they step up to the podium to make the evening’s 21st overall selection.

Scouts have also suggested that Potter’s two-way game needs some work, but that’s true of most 18-year-olds. What you got away with in your draft year won’t fly in the NHL. But adding a little more emphasis on defence is a hell of a lot more teachable than speed and skill.

So TSN’s Craig Button has him ranked at #50, though his opinion on the player is a major outlier. Almost everyone has him going in the top 30. The Hockey News’ Tony Ferrari even has him going as high as #10.

Ferrari: “Potter is a superb transition presence, moving the puck up ice with excellent crossovers and puck handling as he weaves through traffic. His processing of what is happening on the ice when the puck is on his stick is ahead of most players at his age, and he can exploit passing and shooting lanes with precision. There may not be a player in this draft class who has been more snake-bitten by his teammates than Cullen Potter. From pucks bouncing off their sticks or being shot wide when they have an awning cage, these kinds of things won’t happen forever, and Potter will be the beneficiary.”

His linemates didn't finish enough? Now that’s the kind of info that can turn a player into a fine sleeper pick. From a consensus standpoint, there’s a good chance he’s still on the board when Steve Staios announces Ottawa’s pick.

Speed and skill are the rarest of commodities and will always be intriguing, no matter what the frame looks like. Ask the Montreal Canadiens if they’re interested in trading Cole Caufield or Lane Hutson right now. Even with all the bigs around him, five-foot-nine Brad Marchand was unreal for the Panthers in the playoffs. Those players are all smaller than Potter.

Potter had 8 points in 7 games at the World-U18 Championships. He had 8 points in 9 games for the US-NTDP U18s and then 13 goals and 22 points in 35 games for Arizona State.

He also has excellent hockey bloodlines. His mom is Jenny Schmidgall-Potter, former Team USA captain who played in 10 World Championships and four Olympic Games over her international career. 

If Cullen is still on the board when the Senators make their pick at 21, he could give Ottawa something they’re missing in their prospect pipeline: a fast, creative forward who can make plays at high speed. Big players are nice, but if their skill isn’t elite at the amateur level, it’s not likely to improve in the NHL. If they are highly skilled, then they’re a unicorn and almost always taken before the 21st selection.

There’s always an element of hope and luck at 21, but if you play your cards right, skill and speed are always worth betting on. It may run contrary to the Senators' draft philosophy, but sometimes good things do come in smaller packages.

Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa
(Banner image credit: Michael Augello, The Hockey News)

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In his latest mailbag article for The Athletic, Corey Pronman was asked to rank the top five prospects of the last three drafts, and he answered: Macklin Celebrini, Conor Bedard, Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli, and Matvei Michkov.

For some, this is an inexplicable snub of Montreal Canadiens’ prospect Ivan Demidov, but those five players have one thing in common: they’ve had much more time to show what they can do at the NHL level.

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With the San Jose Sharks, Celebrini has played 70 games and picked up 63 points, earning himself a Calder Trophy nomination, finishing third in voting with 1,104 points, behind Canadiens’ standout rookie Lane Hutson and Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf.

With the Chicago Blackhawks, first overall pick at the 2023 draft, Bedard has played 150 games and has gathered 128 points. He won the Calder Trophy by an overwhelming majority with 152 first-place votes and a total of 1,808 voting points (just short of Hutson’s 165 first-place votes and 1,832 voting points).

With the Anaheim Ducks, Carlsson has played 131 games and put up 74 points. He didn’t pierce the top five in Calder Trophy voting for the 2023-24 season, but the fact that he only played 55 games in his rookie year probably didn’t help matters.

With the Columbus Blue Jackets, Fantili has skated in 131 games and put up 81 points, not entering the Calder Trophy conversation in 2023-24 either. However, like Carlsson, he only played part of the season, specifically 49 games. Furthermore, this past season wasn’t easy for the Jackets players who had to face the season without the All-Star contribution of Johnny Gaudreau, who tragically died last Summer. In his rookie season, he skated alongside Gaudreau in his most productive quarter, scoring 15 points in those 20 games.

Finally, with the Philadelphia Flyers, Matvei Michkov completed his rookie season with 63 points in 80 games, finishing fourth in voting for the Calder Trophy with 645 points. The Russian finished strong with multiple multi-point games towards the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Demidov spent the season in the KHL, meaning most people didn’t see him play. I don’t count sporadic highlights on social media as watching him play; it’s not enough to get a real feel of what a player can and can’t do. He joined the Canadiens at the end of the season and played in two games, scoring two points in the process, but that’s not a substantial sample.

There are still many unknowns about Demidov; how will he cope with an 82-game grind of a season? What will happen once the other teams have had a chance to study his game in detail and watch a lot of video? If the opponents adapt to him, how will he react?

I’m not saying it won't go well for him, but what I'm saying is that there is no certainty yet, and I can understand Pronman not having him in his top five. Give it time. If Demidov has a rookie season that’s on par with Hutson’s one, I’d be willing to bet good money that he would be on Pronman’s list come next season.

The Canadiens’ rookie is doing everything he can this Summer to ensure he’ll have a smooth transition to the NHL. He chose to spend his offseason in Montreal, working under the close supervision of the Canadiens’ staff, hitting the ice with skills coach Adam Nicholas and also signing up to play three-on-three hockey with the LSHL. He has even committed to taking part in a skills showdown on July 12, where he’ll perform in a shootout contest in Boisbriand on the north shore.

I would even add that “the snub” isn’t a bad thing; there’s enough pressure to perform on the youngster in the giant magnifying glass that is the Montreal market. I get a feeling Demidov is just fine with proving people who don’t necessarily believe in him wrong.

Much will also depend on who the young Russian gets to play for. To start with, it seems evident that the Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky line is not going anywhere, but who does that leave Demidov to play with? Patrik Laine? He’s an elite sniper, but his defensive deficiencies have resulted in reduced ice time towards the end of the season, and that’s not what Demidov will need. Could he ride shotgun with Kirby Dach? The big center had a bad season last year, and he will be playing with the added pressure of proving what he can do in a contract year.

Kent Hughes is reportedly trying to improve his top-six, which could benefit Demidov, but the Canadiens’ GM is far from being the only GM who’s in the market for that kind of help. Wanting to do something doesn’t mean you’ll be able to pull it off.

Photo credit:  David Kirouac-Imagn Images

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From stars to busts, a look at how Detroit’s last 11 first-round picks have shaped the rebuild.

The NHL Draft is just around the corner, taking place next Friday, and the Detroit Red Wings are once again in a pivotal position as they prepare to make their next first-round selection. Holding the 13th overall pick, the Red Wings have been linked to several intriguing prospects, including Carter Bear, Lynden Lakovic, and Radim Mrtka. 

Not long ago, during their run as perennial Stanley Cup contenders, the Detroit Red Wings approached the draft with a win-now mindset. Rather than using their first-round picks to build for the future, they frequently traded them away in exchange for proven veterans who could immediately contribute to their championship pursuits. 

This strategy helped extend their reign as one of the league's most consistent powerhouses but came at the cost of long-term prospect development. Over the past decade, however, the Red Wings have undergone a major philosophical shift with the team mired in a nine-year playoff drought, the draft has become the cornerstone of their rebuild. 

Every first-round pick now represents a potential turning point for the franchise’s future. Some of Detroit’s recent selections have shown promise as foundational pieces, while others have fallen short of expectations, struggling to break into the lineup or make a meaningful impact. 

More Red Wings:Breaking Down the Red Wings’ Best Line Combos from 2024–25

As the team gears up to make another crucial selection in this year’s draft, it is the perfect time to look back at their last 11 first-round picks from the past decade and evaluate which players have helped advance the rebuild and which have fallen short of expectations.

2015 - Evgeny Svechnikov (19th overall)

Drafted with the expectation of developing into a power forward and top-line winger like his brother Andrei, Evgeny Svechnikov was unable to secure a lasting role. He appeared in only 41 games for Detroit, as injuries and inconsistency stalled his development and led to his exit from the team.

Svechnikov went on to spend two more seasons in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets and San Jose Sharks before continuing his career in the minors and European leagues. Once a high-upside junior star, Svechnikov unfortunately fits the label as a bust. 

2016 - Dennis Cholowski (20th overall)

Cholowski entered Detroit as a one of the most promising offensive defenceman in junior play but while he showed some potential in his rookie NHL season with 40 points over a 50-game season in the BCHL, yet that promise began to fade. 

He never secured a full-time role, was left unprotected in the 2021 expansion draft and was picked up by the Seattle Kraken but struggled at the NHL level and has bounced between AHL squads since. Cholowski played for the Islanders and Devils last season but enters this summer as a free agent.

2017 - Michael Rasmussen (9th overall)

At six-foot-six and hard-hitting, Rasmussen evolved into a reliable two-way forward rather than the dominant scorer experts expected. He consistently finds a way to record 15-20 points while also killing penalties and still has plenty of room to grow and mature his game as a 26-year-old. He's entering his second year of a four-year,  $12.8 million deal with an annual cap hit of $3.2 million per season. 

More NHL: Should Detroit Go All-In For Canucks' Brock Boeser?

2018 - Filip Zadina (6th overall)

Zadina was highly regarded as a dynamic winger that would be a future superstar and staple of Detroit’s lineup. However, teams took notice when he dropped in the draft from a projected top three pick to the Red Wings at sixth overall. 

Things started to trend downwards from there with his production never meeting expectations. After two lacklustre seasons, he was eventually shipped off to the Sharks. Despite flashes of skill, inconsistency defined his tenure, and the Wings greatly regreted passing on defensemen like Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar in that draft.

2019 - Moritz Seider (6th overall)

The Red Wings hit their first true first-round home run in years by landing the German defenceman, who has quickly become a cornerstone on their blue line for the future.

As the 2019 pick, he quickly became Detroit’s top-pair defenceman, earning SHL Rookie of the Year and finding immediate NHL success with 50 points in his debut season. He's not missed a game for the Red Wings since with appearances in 328 straight games. 

2020 - Lucas Raymond (4th overall)

Another swing and another hit for the organization as Raymond has transformed into Detroit’s offensive engine as a top-end NHL talent.

He finished with a career-best 80 points this past season and has lead the Red Wings in points in each of the last two seasons. Through 320 career games, he’s amassed 254 points firmly positioning himself as a budding star and one of the most impactful recent first-round selections.

2021 - Simon Edvinsson (6th overall)

Tagged as one of Europe’s top blueliners, Edvinsson impressed in the SHL with 19 points in 44 games and earned a call-up to Detroit in March 2023. After logging 31 points and significant minutes alongside Seider through 78 games this past season, he is expected to take on a regular role in the Red Wings' top defensive pairing moving forward.

2021 - Sebastian Cossa (15th overall)

Cossa made history when making his NHL debut in early December 2024 when he made 12 saves to snap a Red Wings five-game losing skid, and he became the first NHL goalie to earn a shootout win in relief.

The 22-year-old Hamilton native is one of the most elite prospects at the position and should make an impact when making the eventual jump to the main roster. His AHL numbers have fans anxiously waiting his arrival after securing a 21-15-6 record with a 2.45 goals against average this past season. 

More Red Wings: Red Wings Could Be Circling Islanders’ Noah Dobson in Trade Talks

2022 - Marco Kasper (8th overall)

Drafted as an intelligent two-way centerman, Kasper spent time in Sweden's SHL before transitioning to North America. He debuted in April 2023 and quickly stood out, highlighted by a clutch performance against Tampa Bay where he scored the game-tying and overtime goals to keep Detroit’s playoff hopes alive.

One of the most desired positions in hockey is a second-line centre and Kasper looks like he'll fulfil the role for years to come with the Red Wings. 

2023 - Nate Danielson (9th overall)

A WHL standout (150 points in 145 games), Danielson signed an entry-level deal July 2023 and quickly joined the AHL Griffins by May 2024, becoming one of the few to debut in the playoffs within a year of being drafted, just like Dylan Larkin. His road-mapping suggests NHL readiness in 1–2 years, and his leadership profile hints at a strong future.

2024 - Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (15th overall)

Detroit selected Brandsegg-Nygård as the best player available, but did make history with the pick as he was the first Norwegian ever taken in the first round. 

A strong, two-way winger with a heavy shot and physical edge, who impressed Steve Yzerman and company with Sweden’s Allsvenskan, totalling 18 points through 41 games. Brandsegg-Nygård added to his success at this year's IIHF World Championships when he recorded four points in five games against some countries with top tier NHL talent.