The 2025 NHL draft is now complete. While No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer was no surprise, there was no shortage of shocks as the two-day event proceeded.
That included celebrity guests making picks and other unique aspects of the first “decentralized” draft, along with the usual draft-day twists and turns.
Now that all 224 selections have been made, what stands out the most? ESPN reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski serve up their takes on the best, worst and most transcendent moments from the event.
WINNERS
Making special moments even more special
Getting drafted by an NHL team is one of the biggest moments of any young player’s life to that date. But it’s those little touches that the league and its teams add that make that moment go from memorable to incredible.
When Matthew Schaefer went first overall to the New York Islanders, he already had his late mother Jennifer in his thoughts, having lost her last year to breast cancer. Schaefer had her photo and a signature stitched inside his jacket. But when he was given his first Islanders jersey, it had a purple Hockey Fights Cancer ribbon sewn on the left chest and her initials on the inside collar. Schaefer kissed the ribbon after he put the jersey on.
“This is a high-class organization,” Schaefer said. “A lot of people can say, ‘Oh, it’s just a ribbon,’ but it means a lot for me. My mom’s a big part of my life. This jersey, I’m gonna hang up for sure.”
Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks marketing department and the NHL cooked up something special for their 10th overall pick: Loading him into a helicopter, flying him across Southern California and then driving him to Disneyland. That the pick ended up being Roger McQueen — who then got to meet Lightning McQueen in Radiator Springs — is just fantastic. (We would have also accepted No. 13 overall pick Carter Bear hanging at the Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree.)
Whether it was a heartfelt moment of remembrance or a rookie in a Ducks jersey high-fiving Donald Duck, these are the moments we’ll remember from the draft. — Wyshynski
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Ducks draft pick Roger McQueen celebrates at Disneyland
Roger McQueen arrives at Disneyland to celebrate being drafted No. 10 by the Ducks.
Goaltenders are people (and first-rounders) too
It’s become a tradition unlike many others: The annual discussion about whether it’s worth the risk to draft a goaltender in the first round.
Friday became the latest chapter in that saga with the Blue Jackets drafting CSKA Jr. goalie Pyotr Andreyanov with the 20th pick, while the San Jose Sharks selected Prince George Cougars netminder Joshua Ravensbergen with the 30th pick. Discourse typically comes with every first-round pick. But what made Friday different is the fact that this was the first time in four years a goalie went in the first round — and the last time there were two of them taken in the opening round as well.
In 2021, the Detroit Red Wings drafted Sebastian Cossa with the 15th pick, and the Minnesota Wild selected Jesper Wallstedt 21st.
Then it was three straight years without a goaltender going in the first, which comes with its own significance; the last time the NHL went three draft cycles without a goaltender going in the first round was almost 40 years ago when it happened in the 1984, 1985 and 1986 drafts. The latter part of the 1980s saw more teams take first-round goalies, before the 1991 and 1992 drafts were the only ones of the 1990s that didn’t see a goalie go in the first round. It was also like that in the 2000s when there was a goalie that was taken in the first round in every class but 2007 and 2009; the following 15-year period included eight classes with no goalies in the first round.
Is 2025 the start of another new trend, or will we wait another four years for the next first-round goalie? — Clark
The Sharks add to an already promising young group
The Sharks may be going through the pain of a rebuild, but the future is astonishingly bright. Never mind that San Jose drafted Macklin Celebrini first overall last year and he’s taken to the NHL like a, well, shark to open water. But San Jose reeled in another haul of promising prospects who will take the franchise forward.
Michael Misa, taken No. 2 overall, could be a top-six center. Joshua Ravensbergen is an athletic, 6-foot-5 netminder who could be their franchise goalie down the road. Defenseman Simon Wang — the highest-drafted Chinese-born player ever at No. 33 — is 6-6, an excellent skater and boasts a massive wingspan.
And those are only some of the players entering San Jose’s system. GM Mike Grier is making smart selections for the Sharks that are, slowly but surely, setting the organization up for long-term success. And while the process may have taken some time so far, it feels like San Jose is getting to the good part quicker than expected. — Shilton
It’s good to be wanted. Hagens was the top-rated prospect by TSN before the 2024-25 season, but his great-not-elite season at Boston College combined with the rise of other prospects pushed him down the rankings, to the point where some believed Hagens would be the first-round’s biggest plummet.
But two things happened in the first round that should have Hagens feeling the love. The first is the Islanders doing whatever they could to bring the Long Island native home, according to GM Mathieu Darche, with the two first-rounders they acquired in the Noah Dobson trade. Islanders fans chanted “we want Hagens!” at their draft party in UBS Arena, and cheered every player drafted that wasn’t named James Hagens.
In the end, Hagens did sort of stay home: The Boston Bruins drafted him No. 7 overall, seeing the local college product as a part of their retool. They recruited no less than Happy Gilmore himself, Adam Sandler, to make the announcement via remote video. For every reason, it was an emotional journey for Hagens. That first game against the Islanders while wearing the Spoked-B is going to be a surreal one. — Wyshynski
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Adam Sandler announces Bruins pick at NHL draft
Adam Sandler gives a nod to his famous “Happy Gilmore” character to announce the Bruins picking Boston College’s James Hagens with the seventh pick.
The WHL’s historic Round 1
Remember what the WHL pulled off back in 2014? That’s when it set a league record for having nine first-round picks. The third pick was Edmonton Oilers center and 2020 Hart Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl. The fourth pick that year was Florida Panthers center and Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett. Others from that class such as Haydn Fleury, Julius Honka and Travis Sanheim would also go on to reach the NHL.
The WHL tied that record 11 years later when it also had nine players get taken in the first round. It started when the
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So in terms of alums who went through the program? Yes, their streak continues. But as for the players who were part of the NTDP’s setup this season? None of them were selected in the first round, and even the NTDP’s website provides something of a precedent for how they interpret who could count as a NTDP draft pick. The NTDP’s list of alums who were first-round picks has three players from the 2024 draft who went in the opening round. It’s a list that includes Zeev Buium, Cole Eiserman and E.J. Emery. But in the NTDP’s page about its 2024 draft class, it lists Eiserman and Emery as its first-rounders, with Buium having enrolled at the University of Denver.
If that’s the case, Friday marks the first time since 2008 in which the NTDP didn’t have a player get drafted in the first round. That draft class saw the NTDP have eight players who were taken in the second round and beyond, before the 2009 draft started a new streak that began with future NHL All-Star Kyle Palmieri getting drafted by the Ducks with the 26th pick.
And yet? The NTDP had 23 players who got drafted overall this year, which sets a record. The program’s previous high was 21, set in 2016. — Clark
Dress codes
While the details from the new collective bargaining agreement haven’t been officially released, as the NHL and the players are currently ratifying it, we do know that that it will no longer allow teams to mandate a dress code for players when arriving or departing games.
Hockey fashion norms took an additional hit in the final round on Saturday afternoon, when the 223rd overall pick accepted his new Edmonton Oilers jersey while wearing shorts and a hoodie.
223rd overall and the second to last pick in the #NHLDraft, but Aidan Park stuck around for it! 👏 pic.twitter.com/NwzSoDIFOz
— NHL (@NHL) June 28, 2025
In fairness, Aidan Park lives eight miles away from the Peacock Theater, the site of this year’s draft in Los Angeles. He said he showed up because he had some friends working the event. Park was a ranked prospect by NHL Central Scouting, having played for the USHL Green Bay Gamblers last season, and committed to the University of Michigan next season. But he didn’t expect to get selected until his name was announced with the second to last pick in the entire draft, to a loud round of applause by those still in attendance.
So while everyone else was dressed to the nines in newly tailored suits with custom jacket linings, the nephew of former NHL player Richard Park kept it chill — and won the fashion draft. — Wyshynski
Finland’s California mis-adventure
Look away Finnish hockey fans. The nation that has supplied the NHL with current franchise cornerstone talents such as Aleksander Barkov, Miro Heiskanen and Mikko Rantanen did not have a single player go in the first round on Friday.
But that was just the start of what was an uncharacteristic draft. Lasse Boelius was the first Finn to get drafted, 60th overall to the Ducks. Finland would not have another player selected until the fourth round. The nation finished the draft with eight players selected, and it’s the first time Finland finished in single digits since 2014 when it had nine.
QuantHockey’s metrics reveal that Finland has the fifth-most players in the NHL. But the reality that Finland didn’t have a first-round pick has become a little bit of a trend in alternating drafts as of late. Finland had a streak of multiple first-round pick between 2004 and 2020. The 2017 draft was a big one, with six players going in the first round; led by No. 3 overall pick Heiskanen, all of them have reached the NHL.
Finland’s streak ended in 2021, and the nation has since alternated years in which it has had first-round picks. The nation had two first-rounders in 2022, followed by zero first-rounders in 2023, and two first-rounders last season. — Clark
