2025 NHL Draft: December Watch List

It's been a few months since my first post about the 2025 draft. By now, all of the major scouting outlets have had their first rankings come out – including Bob McKenzie. That means I have a good idea of where the scouting community are on numerous prospects and their rankings, and by extension a rough idea of what NHL teams are thinking.

So, for my first real watch list I'm looking at prospects that I have watched and/or read about that caught my interest, who have NOT been ranked in the top round by Bob McKenzie or a couple of other outlets that I've noticed are more predictive of actual draft results.

Remember – Toronto has no first round pick, so I am looking at prospects who seem more likely to be available in the second round or later.

It's hard to pick out prospects that have some early draft hype at this point of the year, but who will not wind up being second rounders. There are some usual characteristics that seem to be more common in players that typically "fall" out of the first round. Things like... if a player is smaller, is in more obscure leagues, doesn't have gaudy point totals (especially for forwards), and so on. That's the kind of player I'm looking for, combined with whoever also seems to fit the type that Toronto seems to be looking for.

Of course, one of the big things Toronto had been looking for are 'late bloomers' or risers, and it's not nearly at the point of the season when that can be a thing. On the other hand, now that Wes Clarke has left the organization and we have a brand new head of scouting in Mark Leach. Mind you, the GM often gives rough direction for the type of players they want – just look at how Toronto's drafting under Clarke changed between the Dubas to Treliving years.

FORWARDS

There's an interesting crop of forwards so far in this draft. There are a couple that were not included on the first rankings from McKenzie and other NHL-relevant scouts that I would like to dream on, but I know given their profile and explosive production so far there is a 0% chance they aren't solidly first rounders in their next draft rankings. Those would be Ethan Bear and Lynden Lakovic. I've loved watching them both this season but until I see some final draft rankings where they're somehow not in the first round, I'm not going to bother daring to dream.

So, with that in mind... here are some guys I've liked so far that have yet to get mainstream hype as first rounders. But they do have some hype already.

Eric Nilson

If you like Swedish forwards who are sons of former NHLers that were actually born in Alberta, Canada, then Eric Nilson is for you! He is not nearly as skilled as Willy is, but Nilson is building a reputation for being an excellent two-way center. He gets rave reviews for being the defensive conscience on his teams while still contributing offensively – he has 28 points in 23 games in Sweden's U20 junior league, and one point in two games for their Allsvenskan team (the second tier pro league in Sweden). He's played for Sweden internationally as well, with 15 points in 13 total international games between the Hlinka Gretzky, WJAC and other exhibition games.

Nilson is just a guy that you love to watch. He doesn't make mistakes very often, he is a very smart player in terms of his positioning and anticipating how the play will develop, he uses physicality, is a capable puck thief, all those little things that helps him make an impact on the ice even if he isn't scoring. The question marks for him are around his high end offensive ability, with handling the puck and lacking elite quickness. He may be someone that just doesn't quite have the elite hype to make him a first rounder, depending on how the rest of this season goes for him, but I love players like him and he could make for a perfect second round swing.

Here are some highlights of Nilson at the Hlinka (he's #26).

Jack Murtagh

A 6'1" center/winger playing on the US NTDP, he has a late birthday (Aug 22) and is ranked across the board as a borderline first round guy. The NTDP this year has been weaker than in the recent past, and the American squad at the top prospects challenge vs the CHL players got pumped in both games. Murtagh was one of the few guys who stood out, with two goals between the two contests. He has 12 goals and 23 points in 24 total games for the NTDP, and is one of those guys who seems good to very good at almost everything but lacking a true, standout elite skill. He has a good one timer, is a strong skater, flashes some nifty mittens pretty frequently, and has solid playmaking.

He's another guy who doesn't quite seem to have solid first round hype as of now, but a lot can change either way between now and the end of the season.

Bill Zonnon

He's had some hype as a prospect for a couple of years now, but never really in the upper echelons for this draft class. He's an older prospect with an October birthday, but has a 6'2" and 190 lb frame to go with a power game, a high work ethic, and rave reviews for his smarts and two-way potential. He is third in the QMJHL in points with 44 in 29 games, only one back of the team lead and two back for the league lead. Zonnon also started playing center this year, and making that transition as your team's 1C and being a top offensive producer is not nothing.

The concern with Zonnon is mainly with his skating, even if he is smart and able to anticipate play enough that it isn't an issue for him in junior. My other concern is where he plays – the quality of competition in the QMJHL has been declining pretty sharply compared to the OHL and WHL over the past few years. So excelling there is not as meaningful to me. He has only played in one international tournament for Canada, as an example, and that was in one where Canada had two teams. But that's why he seems likely to wind up falling out of the first round.

Nathan Behm

Behm is very interesting mix of power and skill. He's a 6'2" and 198 lb right shot winger that has 16 goals and 32 points in 28 games so far. He is second on the team in points, on a bottom feeding Kamloops squad that doesn't have a lot of support or quality around him. He profiles as a dual-threat offensive guy that can be a high end passer, deke past a defender and has a good/quick release on his shot.

Behm's issues so far is a combination of things. While he flashes some really intriguing offensive tools, he's at a stage in his development where he is trying a lot. The consistency of him executing on some of those attempts has not always been there, and his production has had some real hot streaks but also some cold streaks. He could also stand to be a better skater, specifically in becoming more explosive and quick because when he gets up to speed he can blow by most defenders.

Ben Kevan

Kevan is a 6'0" and 183 lb right winger playing in the USHL this year, after leaving the NTDP program. He has maintained a point per game pace with 16 points in 16 games, which is noteworthy for a draft year prospect in that league. He has played for Team USA at the Hlinka Gretzky and WJAC tournaments so far this year, with 4 goals and 7 points in 7 combined games.

He is a dynamic skater, not just in terms of speed but also his cuts, crossovers, and shifty feet that makes him very hard to defend. He is a high end play driver in the USHL this year, using his speed and skills not just offensively to create plays and opportunities, but he also makes an impact on defense as well. He's another guy with interesting skills, but nothing at such an elite level that he is (yet) considered a first rounder.

Benjamin Kindel

On the other end of the spectrum is Kindel, a 5'10" and 176 lb winger in the WHL who leads his team with 42 points in 26 games, which is also good for 10th in the entire WHL, as a 17 year old. The only other teammate within 15 points of him is a guy that's 2 years older and only 5'8". Kindel has become the focal point for his team's offense thanks to his scoring and playmaking combination.

His issue is a mix of not being that big, and not seeming like an elite, high end offensive force. He will not be another Logan Stankoven, for example. He doesn't have the same extent of size issues since Kindel is two inches taller, so it kind of balances out. If he does develop more dynamic offensive skill he could put himself into a second or third round territory.

Cullen Potter

Potter is a 5'9" and 168 pound two-way workhorse despite his size. He plays as the 1C despite being a 17 year old freshman for Arizona in the NCAA, where he has 8 points in 16 games. He has an advanced checking and defensive game already, considering his age and size, to go with very good skating and transitions. His offense has been slower to come along in the NCAA, but he has a good shot rate and is playing around 20 minutes per game.

The size and lack of elite offensive skill will keep him out of the first round, but he will be another that could make sense later in the draft. Like Kindel, as of now I'd consider him later than the second, but I see a strong foundation and my consideration of him is ready to change if he makes some improvements between now and the end of the season.

DEFENSE

Maybe it's just how it always is with defensemen, but I don't have nearly as good a feel about the blueliners in this year's draft who aren't among the 'first round locks' already.

Carter Amico

Amico is a 6'5" and 205 lb right shot defenseman playing on the US NTDP. He profiles more as a defensive-defenseman than an offensive one, but he was flashing two-way potential this year – at least when it comes to moving the puck out of his own zone, less so when it comes to generating points. He perfectly fits the archetype of a high end defenseman who can shut things down, skates well, has a lot of reach and size, and get handle the puck well enough to at least get it out of his own end reliably and not be a liability with it. Last year, that guy was a Stian Solberg, Dominik Badinka and EJ Emery (and Danford, but I didn't profile him).

Amico was building a lot of hype early this season before suffering a season-ending injury, which may be the main reason why he doesn't wind up a first rounder. He was not mentioned on Bob McKenzie's initial ranking at all, nor on Pronman's. Since he didn't have first round hype to start the year, and got hurt for the whole season before he could really cement himself as a first rounder, he's a guy I will likely dream on to fall to Toronto in the second.

Henry Brzustewicz

One guy that doesn't have a ton of hype so far, but who I've liked and seen quite a lot of because he plays for the London Knights, is Brzustewicz. He's the younger brother of Hunter, another defensive prospect who was drafted in the third round and became a near 100 point producer in the OHL. Henry profiles less of a pure offensive guy, but more of a two-way defenseman. My main worries about him lie in the consistency of his execution and decision making.

Brzustewicz been playing a lot this year with top defense prospect Sam Dickinson, acting as a safety blanket for his more roaming/free style despite being a year younger. He has some good size (6'2", 203 lbs), he shoots right, he has 17 points in 27 games and gets used a good amount in all situations despite being on a very good team with a deep roster of older guys (Dickinson, Bonk, Woolley). He's been playing for London regularly since last season when he was 16, which is a mark in his favour given how conservatively they bring up their prospects. He's just a solid all-around player, more in ways that I like compared to the next guy.

Cameron Reid

An average sized (6'0", 193 lbs) left-shot defenseman playing for Kitchener in the OHL, Reid gets strong marks as an all-around defender with top four potential. I would say he skews more to the offensively strong side than defensive, with 25 points in 29 games. He profiles as a strong puck mover, can create offense from the point and off the rush/transitions. I've seen some scouts say he is a capable defender too, especially off the rush using his strong mobility to maintain good gaps and kill zone entries.

I've seen guys that profile similarly though, and I'm not as much into defensemen who are average sized or smaller, don't have elite skating even if they're very good, have good but not elite offense, and "defensive" impacts that are mostly tied to rush defense in junior. I think he may be one of the better versions of that archetype that I've seen, however, which is why I'd likely still be interested in him if he falls to the second round.

Haoxi Wang

A 6'6" left-shot defenseman from Beijing, China who's been playing in Canada the past few years, he's been making a name for himself with his size and skating combination. He's a bit more raw than just about anyone else in this year's draft, since he only started playing competitive hockey since coming to Canada a few years ago.

But Wang has a lot of very interesting tools, such as a good shot, a willingness to play physical and use his size, and overall offensive instincts. But his decision making needs refinement, as you may expect for a guy with as little experience as he does. I think he'll probably sneak into the first round, especially since he just joined the OHL ever since CHL players were allowed to maintain their NCAA commitments – in his case to a top school in Boston University. If he shows well in a top junior league, he'll likely land there. If not, he may slip to the second.

Kurban Limatov

He's shown some steady improvement over the season. He is big and skates well (you'll notice a common theme about that combo). A bit unlike some of the other big, skatey boys I've mentioned here, Limatov profiles more as an offensive defenseman than a defensive specialist. He is confident handling the puck, he is a good passer both in pushing it up the ice and while in the offensive zone, and he has that instinct to jump into the play offensively.

Limatov has 13 points in 24 games in the MHL, which doesn't seem like a lot for an offensive defenseman but Russia in general put much less emphasis on involving defensemen offensively. While Limatov is more raw defensively and has inconsistency there, he has the size/skating/reach combo that is enticing, and I've seen him lay some big hits if that's your cup of tea. The other issue is that his offensive skill is good but not elite, from what I've seen. From his tools, I do still see some two-way potential depending on how he develops. He's #55 in the clips below.

Will Sharpe

I've seen a fair bit of Sharpe, more than some others on this list except Brzustewicz, because he plays on Lethbridge with Toronto's own Noah Chadwick. He's a 6'1" left shot defenseman who, like Chadwick, has more of an offensive and puck-moving game. Honestly, I've thought he's looked at least as good as Chadwick at this, if not better considering he's two years younger.

Sharpe is second on the team in points by a defenseman with 21, only one behind Chadwick's 22. Sharpe doesn't have the benefit of being on the top powerplay unit like Chadwick, however, and plays on the second pair at even strength compared to Chadwick's top pair. He may not have Chadwick's size and reach, but he is a much better skater. Defensively he is not elite but has the tools that could help him develop into an above average defensive guy.

Jacob Rombach

Another big defenseman (6'6" and 200 lbs), Rombach is that type that Toronto's drafting has seemed to like the past two years in terms of his combination for size and skating, plus a defensive-lean to his game. He's in the USHL playing for Lincoln, where he has 5 points in 22 games. It's a lower scoring junior league, but suffice to say that offense is not his biggest strength. He plays physical, he has a big reach and good skating to cover a lot of ground defensively.

While he may not be a point producer, I've seen some scouts laud his ability to retrieve dump ins cleanly, activate and join the play offensively to support it, and so on. He'll always have a stronger defensive element to his game, but having a foundation of offensive support built around getting the puck out and up the ice with control would make him quite valuable as a pro. He's a Minnesota commit in the NCAA, which is one of the very top programs in the college circuit, so he's got some real hype to him even if he doesn't wind up as a first rounder.