Kristen ShiltonJun 10, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
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Kristen Shilton is a nationwide NHL reporter for ESPN.
Count on the sudden.
That was the chorus at this yr’s NHL scouting mix in regards to the upcoming draft. Whereas a gaggle of 90 potential NHLers have been put by their paces with interviews, dinners and health testing, scouts and executives alike marveled at what may very well be an unpredictable first spherical when it comes down to creating picks on June 27 and 28.
“There are maybe 16 or 18 players I could see going in the top 10,” one scout mentioned. “It’s one of those classes. Deep. Great character guys. Lots of these players have unique skill sets. Teams will have tough decisions to make.”
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One other govt identified that there’s an “embarrassment of riches” on the ahead positions for golf equipment with excessive picks. So, whereas Erie Otters defenseman Matthew Schaefer could seem like a consensus No. 1 total choice for the New York Islanders, what occurs from there?
Intrigue!
“The internal conversations have been heated,” the chief joked.
One title that got here up loads as a possible wild card? Carter Bear.
The Everett Silvertips ahead didn’t take part within the mix’s health testing after struggling an Achilles tendon damage in March, however he expects to be totally wholesome when NHL coaching camps start within the fall. Bear was tied for seventh in WHL scoring with 40 targets and 82 factors by 65 video games final season, and ranks tenth on the NHL Central Scouting closing checklist of North American skaters and thirteenth total on ESPN analyst Rachel Doerrie’s newest large board.
If there have been to be a jumper, although, Bear may be the man. Regardless of not with the ability to undergo all the mix course of, his physique of labor to this point on the ice has clearly drawn severe consideration from a number of golf equipment.
Eklund, Frondell the most effective of (aggressive) mates
Victor Eklund wouldn’t be denied.
He was going to play on a line with teammate Anton Frondell. And their coach, Robert Kimby, at Djurgardens IF wouldn’t get a second’s peace till it occurred.
“I think I told him like 10 times,” Eklund mentioned. “He was like, ‘yeah, yeah, yeah.’ But then finally, we did get to [play together].”
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The alignment of two high prospects within the upcoming NHL draft had been years within the making, actually. Eklund — who had 19 targets and 31 factors in 42 video games final season — and Frondell — 11 targets and 25 factors in 29 video games — began enjoying in opposition to one another as youngsters of their native Sweden, which is when Eklund first skilled simply how gifted Frondell was with the puck.
“When we were 10 years old, I remember playing him, and he actually made a move on me,” Eklund recalled. “Like, [he put] the puck between my legs, and I just can’t forget that. He says he doesn’t remember that, but I kind of know. But we’ve been playing against each other, but we really got to know each other when both of us started playing for [our team].”
Frondell confessed that he did really bear in mind deking Eklund again within the day (“it was really good,” he laughed) and shared what he appreciated probably the most about attending to share a line.
“Victor is easy to play with. I don’t think I’ve played with someone with so much energy,” Frondell mentioned. “He wins every battle, even when we play against men. Victor wins all the puck battles, and it’s just easy for me finding him in an open spot, and most of the times I get the puck right on the tape. So it’s easy for me too, and we like playing with each other.”
Eklund was effusive in his reward of Frondell to clarify why he dogged their coach so incessantly about lastly pairing them up in January.
“Anton, he’s a tank on the ice,” Eklund mentioned. “He has a shot like a missile. He’s only a actually nice, nice participant. I simply knew from the start that if we get the chance, we’ll take it and we’ll be the most effective and I believe we did fairly good.
And, yeah, the coach in all probability received sick of me asking in order that they [had to] lastly put us collectively.”
Michael Misa staying put
Michael Misa discovered the arduous manner how persistence is a advantage.
The Saginaw Spirit ahead anticipated to be a middle within the OHL. However the Spirit have been so deep down the center when he entered the league two years in the past that Misa was thrust onto the wing as an alternative. He excelled there, and it helped construct a basis for the place he’s at now — with the potential to be a top-two choice within the draft.
However Misa was actually simply biding his time till the prospect to slip again into a middle spot introduced itself.
It lastly did for Misa’s draft yr — and he pumped in 62 targets and 134 factors in 65 video games to steer the OHL in scoring.
Suffice to say, Misa isn’t keen to alter positions once more anytime quickly.
“Growing up in minor hockey, I was always primarily a center,” Misa mentioned. “My first two years [in the OHL], we had a number of good centers who were a lot older. So I had to make that jump to wing. But coming back to this year, it’s what I planned to do for my draft year was go back to center and ultimately, I just feel a lot more confident down the middle. That’s primarily where my roots are at.”
Saginaw’s Michael Misa is assured he will help an NHL workforce as quickly because the 2025-26 season. Michael Miller/ISI Images/Getty Pictures
Having the ability to dominate on the middle spot has given Misa a lift going into the draft, the place he’s projected to be among the many first gamers taken off the board. And whoever selects Misa is getting a skater who is ready to swimsuit up instantly within the NHL.
“I feel like I am ready to make that jump next year,” Misa mentioned. “That’s ultimately my goal, to make the NHL next year. I think gaining that center experience that I had this year definitely helped my game. And I’m just trying to become that more reliable 200-foot player defensively as well. So overall, I am ready.”
Misa mentioned being at middle permits him to be extra “involved” within the play. ‘It’s not simply offensively, however defensively, being dependable,” he mentioned. “It’s been good for me … got a lot more puck touches, just carrying the play on my stick.”
Will Horcoff units scouting mix document
When an NHL workforce requested Michigan ahead Will Horcoff which animal he can be off the ice, he answered a silverback gorilla.
Primarily based on his horizontal bounce on the mix, Horcoff may be higher related to the impala. As a result of similar to an antelope, Horcoff can clear unimaginable distances in a single certain — his 124.75-inch mark set a brand new mix document, a feat he educated arduous to attain.
“I knew I had a chance to do it coming in,” mentioned Horcoff, whose earlier finest bounce was 122 inches. “It was just whether I executed it. And I did. I’m happy about it.”
William Horcoff set a brand new mix document within the horizontal bounce. Joe Hrycych/NHLI through Getty Pictures
Horcoff — the son of former NHLer Shawn Horcoff — was targeted on his horizontal strikes but in addition wished to point out properly within the vertical class. However his technique needed to change.
“It was a little weird; I jumped higher with my hands on my hips than I did with my arms,” Horcoff mentioned. “I don’t know, at U-18 Worlds, I jumped 4½ inches higher than I did here. So I don’t know what happened there.”
The 6-foot-4, 181-pound middle added — maybe unnecessarily — that “I’m a competitive guy” so the discrepancy in his figures was perplexing. Nonetheless, Horcoff was happy total with how his work paid off in entrance of NHL scouts and executives from the 31 groups he met with all through the mix week.
“I think I could be a skilled power forward in the NHL,” Horcoff mentioned. “I’d love to play like [Ottawa Senators forward] Brady Tkachuk. That [mean streak] is something I’ve added this season, and I think I’m going to continue doing it more consistently next season.”
Oh, and why the gorilla choose?
“He’s a leader,” Horcoff mentioned. “And he protects his family.”
Gamers compelled to confront their errors
The aim of a mix is to place your finest foot ahead.
However that doesn’t preclude some missteps from the previous from reappearing.
Such was the case in sure workforce interviews, the place execs requested prospects to interrupt down footage of themselves from the season. And the movies weren’t precisely optimistic.
“Pittsburgh did that,” Moose Jaw Warriors ahead Lynden Lakovic mentioned. “They didn’t show my highlights; they probably showed my lowlights, but asked me to break that down. It was good. I thought I handled it well. They weren’t my greatest clips, but I’m aware of that, and I thought I broke it down pretty well.”
Prospects like Moose Jaw’s Lynden Lakovic have been proven some not-so-great sport tape, and requested to interrupt it down for NHL workforce execs. Michael Miller/ISI Images/Getty Pictures
Carlos Handel was equally caught off guard by seeing his poor performs return entrance and middle in the course of the meet and greets.
“Carolina did that,” the Halifax Mooseheads defenseman mentioned. “They showed me some bad clips, and wanted, for example, how I react [to it], but also they wanted to know how my coach, for example, wants me to attack there and what my opinion about that [play] was.”
If nothing else, these interviews stored prospects on their toes all through the week.
“Most of the [talks] were fun,” Lakovic mentioned. “But there were a couple ones that were a little bit more intimidating.”
Can Nashville do all of it?
The Nashville Predators didn’t anticipate being a lottery workforce. However the best-laid plans generally go awry.
Nashville ended up ending the season 30-44-8 — however the lottery delivered the No. 5 total choose, simply one of many three picks they’ve within the first spherical. And there may be expertise to select from that would probably instantly assist the Predators.
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Boston Faculty’s James Hagens, Frondell or Brantford’s Jake O’Brien may all be there on the fifth slot to bolster Nashville down the center, and every has the potential crack an NHL lineup before later. Brampton winger Porter Martone would even be a stable match for Nashville.
The Predators signed Steven Stamkos in free company final summer time, and he can be a superb mentor to any younger participant coming into the league as properly.
Talking of Stamkos, the Predators didn’t convey him on board for a rebuild. They’ll wish to be again within the playoff combine subsequent season. How they finally use the twenty third total choose (acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning) and the twenty sixth choose (from the Vegas Golden Knights) will inform us loads about what’s to return this season from the Predators.
