The NHL Entry Draft takes place this weekend in Los Angeles and to get prepared for the draft, be sure to grab a copy of the 2025 Dobber Fantasy Hockey Prospects Report! It has a breakdown of this year's crop of draftees, an in-depth look at each NHL team's prospect pool, and a whole lot more. Help support what the Dobber Prospects team works on year-round by heading to the Dobber Shop and buying a copy of the Prospects Report. 

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JJ Peterka was traded from Buffalo to Utah overnight Thursday in exchange for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan. I had a full breakdown of that trade here.

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Jamie Benn was extended by the Dallas Stars on a one-year deal at $1M AAV with a lot of bonuses, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. Benn had 16 goals and 33 assists in 2024-25, his lowest marks for any season where he’s played at least 70 games. Even with Dallas currently having just 10 forwards signed, Benn is no higher than a third-liner, which means around 15 minutes a game. Turning 36 years old in July, Benn shouldn't be expected for more than 20 goals or 50 points at this stage of his career.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets traded goalie Daniil Tarasov to the Florida Panthers for a fifth-round pick in 2025. Tarasov is a 26-year-old netminder with 61 starts in the NHL and an .898 career save percentage. Vitek Vanecek was Florida's backup goalie down the stretch in 2024-25 but is an unrestricted free agent. Tarasov is a restricted free agent and Evolving Hockey has contract projections for both goalies being for one year, and Tarasov being $300K cheaper.

Tarasov looks like he'll be Sergei Bobrovsky's backup but Bob has just one year left on his deal, turns 37 years old in September, and with playoffs included has the second-most starts in the NHL over the last three years (226). If Tarasov can be a competent backup, he may be looking at a career-high in starts (he had 23 in 2023-24). They are clearly hoping that Bobrovsky can mentor Tarasov as the latter becomes the next franchise goalie. There are a lot of bridges to cross before we get to that point, but Tarasov is in a better situation now than he's ever been in.

This trade clearly makes Jet Greaves, at worst, the 1B to Elvis Merzlikins' 1A in Columbus, and he may even just be the outright starter for October.

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The time has arrived for the 2025 NHL Draft so today is a good day to get some draft thoughts out there. For anyone new to my writing over the last year, some caveats to this:

1. I am not a scout, nor am I someone who does prospect scouting as a hobby. I analyze and write about the NHL, and that takes up the vast majority of my time. I do not finish the NHL regular season and go watch 60 hours of second-tier Swedish men's league tape.
2. I do watch the big tournaments like the World Juniors, parts of the Memorial Cup (as long as they don't overlap with NHL playoffs), the Frozen Four, and so on. That constitutes the majority of my viewings of top prospects.
3. Because of points 1 and 2, I rely on people I trust for evaluations on top of my scant recollections. That means reading the Prospects Report linked above, that means perusing the Hockey Prospecting model, and other spots like The Athletic or Elite Prospects.

Over in my newsletter this week, I already covered a few names like Matthew Schaefer, Anton Frondell, and Caleb Desnoyers, so I will skip them today. Good to go? Great.

Michael Misa

Some people might quibble, but the consensus does point to Misa being the top forward available in the draft, standing over 6'0 and possessing all the tools teams want in a centre: good skating, good hockey sense, good shot, and plays physical. While there may not be a single aspect of his game that stands out as elite, everything sticks out as very good and being very good across-the-board can make for a special type of player. While I think Misa will be a better player than Marco Kasper, it reminds me of reading about Kasper as a prospect where he was pretty good at everything but not elite at anything. Being stellar in every area is already paying off for Kasper and the Detroit Red Wings.

Maybe we see a surprise, but it sure seems as if Misa is on his way to becoming a San Jose Shark. While Misa might project as a top-line centre, he is going to be playing behind Macklin Celebrini for years to come. That is great for the Sharks, and doesn't crush Misa's fantasy value. It will give him easier matchups while eventually getting talented wingers and top power-play time. There have been plenty of teams with a second-line centre that is incredibly productive fantasy-wise (Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, Elias Pettersson in Vancouver, Nico Hischier in New Jersey, Steven Stamkos in Tampa Bay). Adding Misa to a core of Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, and Sam Dickinson gives the Sharks an excellent, but very young, group to build around.

Porter Martone

Where Martone goes remains to be seen. It seems Schaefer and Misa are locks to go 1^st and 2^nd, there has been talk about Frondell moving to third overall, and that leaves Martone outside the top-3. What hurts Martone is being a winger in a draft with Misa, Frondell, and Desnoyers all being potential top-line centres. All things equal, teams will usually take the centre over the winger, so while Martone has the skill to be a top-3 draft pick, it seems likely he falls somewhere in the 4-7 range. 

And Martone has the skill to be a top-3 pick. He is listed at nearly 6'3, so he's a big body who can get to the net and does have a physical edge, but he's not a bruising winger. In terms of that physicality, he'd be closer to Alex Tuch, who uses his size to get to the net and make plays rather than punish the opposition. Martone's judicious use of physical play meshes well with his ability to make plays for his teammates and get to spaces for his excellent shot. The Dobber Prospect Report has Martone's fantasy upside comparable as Jason Robertson, or a guy who can be a 40-goal, 40-assist player if all goes right.

It will be interesting to see where Martone goes. Assuming he isn't taken in the top-3, Utah sits fourth. They also have Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther, and now JJ Peterka on the wing. Fifth overall is Nashville, and they need help everywhere, so Martone landing with the Predators makes a lot of sense. We shall see, but he can be a team's top right winger in five years.

Brady Martin

There is a gap in how scouts are viewing Martin. He is clearly a very physical player who can put the puck in the net, evidenced by his 33 goals in 57 games in the OHL this year, a higher total than fellow 2025 prospect Jake O'Brien (32 goals in 66 games) in fewer games. He also has a good playmaking dimension to go with that goal scoring, making him a physical, dual-threat centre. Teams love that.

The physicality is what makes Martin a bit divisive. Is he the next Sam Bennett or is he the next Ty Dellandrea? One guy can be a key piece of a future Stanley Cup contender while the other will be in tough to be an NHL regular. Martin just turned 18 years old in March, so he's on the young side of the draft, and that works in his favour. The big question is whether his skating – the clear deficiency in his game – is good enough to hang at the NHL level, and how much (if at all) that improves. That skating ability will likely decide whether he's a bottom-of-the-roster or top-of-the-roster player in five years.

Given the NHL's shift to focusing on heavy forechecking over the last couple of seasons, my guess is there will be a team in the 6-10 range that see Martin as a future Bennett-type player. With Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, and Buffalo having picks six through nine, and all these teams looking to add to their centre depth, it seems as if Martin may not make it to 10^th. There is risk here, but a team looking to add that physical edge to their offence is going to look at Martin.

Carter Bear

Though he suffered an Achilles injury, and that always puts a question mark around a player's future, the one thing that stands out about Bear's scouting reports is that, pretty much across the board, the first thing mentioned is how hard he competes. He always digs for pucks, he always backchecks, and he doesn't give up on plays. That makes him a good two-way winger, but what puts him over-the-top as a potential top-10 pick is his playmaking; his physical play deep in the offensive zone creates lanes for him to dish to his line mates. That physicality also creates lanes for him to get in place for close shots, deflections, or rebounds. With Pittsburgh having back-to-back picks at 11^th and 12^th overall, that seems a good spot for Bear, if not to Vancouver at 15 or Montreal with their back-to-back picks at 16 and 17.

Radim Mrtka

After Schaefer at the top, there aren't many top-rated prospects on defence and that's why Mrtka's name keeps popping up. Well, that and the fact that he just turned 18 years old a few weeks ago and is already 6'6 and over 200 lbs. Mrtka isn't just a lumbering blue liner, though, as he has the mobility to keep up with the opposing forecheck and the skill to move the puck and make plays for his teammates. That combination of size with good mobility and puck skills is what makes him a highly considered defenceman.

The question is whether Mrtka's mobility and puck skills improve to a place where they become assets at the NHL level, rather than just passable attributes. That will be the difference between being a second- or third-pair guy in the NHL or whether he can be a pillar of a franchise (both physically and metaphorically). It seems unlikely Mrtka makes it past Columbus at 14^th overall with Buffalo picking 9^th, Anaheim picking 10^th and Pittsburgh with the back-to-back picks at 11 and 12.

Benjamin Kindel

Among undrafted players in the WHL this season, Gavin McKenna led the way with 129 points in 56 games (lol) and Kindel was second with 35 goals and 99 points in 65 games. Kindel's 1.52 points per game isn't far behind what Seth Jarvis (1.69) and Zach Benson (1.63) managed as 17-year-olds in the league. It is a pretty good comparison to make because Kindel, Jarvis, and Benson are all listed at 5'10. None are big players, but Jarvis has already turned into a top-line winger in the NHL, Benson is well on his way to doing just that, and Kindel is looking to follow in their footsteps.

That is why it's curious to see Kindel ranked so low in most places. Very few spots have Kindel inside the top-20 picks and most have him somewhere in the 20-30 range. Both Jarvis and Benson went 13^th overall and it seems as if teams will be able to get the next player in this lineage somewhere around 10 picks later. That seems to be a good opportunity for teams looking a few years down the line to get a top-6 winger they need (Calgary at 18 or Nashville at 23).

ICYMI, here’s Dobber with 60 seconds on Zach Werenski