2025 NHL Draft Profiles: Bob McKenzie Final Rankings

I've spent all of June publishing all of the draft profiles for players that I think could be of interest for the Toronto Maple Leafs in this year's NHL draft – after months of researching and writing them all beforehand.

Something I always remarked was that I'm making a guess on who might be available where Toronto picks based on what I'm reading from various scouts, mostly those that are the most accurate for actual draft day results. More than anyone else, that means Bob McKenzie.

However, the tricky part for me is that it takes me, as I said, literally months to research and write all these profiles, but he doesn't release his final rankings until right before the draft. In this case, he published his final rankings on Monday. So, this article will talk about all of the players I've profiled and see how his new final rankings affect my guess for each player's draft range. For reference, here is his latest ranking from Monday:

I'll keep it short and just mention each player, with Bob's previous ranking in his mid-season edition back in January and his updated ranking from this week. I'll also link to the profile in case you haven't read them before, or want a quick refresher. I'll also throw in Corey Pronman's most recent ranking/mock draft, but without his previous ranking since he barely covered the first round before. But since he's the other guy who seems to get close to the actual draft day results, I wanted to include it.

Second and Third Round Forwards

Bill Zonnon

Bob's Mid-season rank: 34th
Bob's Final rank: 29th
Pronman final/mock ranking: 30th
My guess: Seems like Zonnon will not fall into Toronto's range like I may have hoped.

Cole McKinney

Bob's Mid-season rank: 49th
Bob's Final rank: 37th
Pronman final/mock ranking: 35th
My guess: Another guy who played himself out of Toronto's range. Oh well.

Václav Nestrašil

Bob's Mid-season rank: 60th
Bob's Final rank: 39th
Pronman final/mock ranking: 36th

My guess: I'm the most annoyed by this than the above two. Zonnon was already out of Toronto's range so I hadn't been giving my hopes up too much, but I loved Nestrašil and thought he'd be available. Sigh...

Ben Kevan

Bob's Mid-season rank: 49th
Bob's Final rank: 73rd
Pronman final/mock ranking: 95th
My guess: I was right to think his stock would fall and he seems like he could be a third round guy, much less a second rounder.

Cameron Schmidt

Bob's Mid-season rank: 30th
Bob's Final rank: 47th
Pronman final/mock ranking: 54th
My guess: I think he'll almost certainly be available in the second round, and maybe the third as well.

Alexander Zharovsky

Bob's Mid-season rank: Not ranked in top 80
Bob's Final rank: 35th
Pronman final/mock ranking: 50th
My guess: I've read some scouts say they think he could sneak into the first round, so never mind being a third rounder I doubt he'll even be available when Toronto's second round pick comes up. Another annoying one like Nestrašil.

Ryker Lee

Bob's Mid-season rank: 58th
Bob's Final rank: 31st
Pronman final/mock ranking: 43rd
My guess: Similar to Zharovsky, it seems he'll be off the board before Toronto picks.

Hayden Paupanekis

Bob's Mid-season rank: 70th
Bob's Final rank: 72nd
Pronman final/mock ranking: 83rd
My guess: My initial guess was right, he seems like he'll be a third round guy but if Toronto wants him they may need to take him with their late second round pick.

Gustav Hillström

Bob's Mid-season rank: Not ranked in top 80
Bob's Final rank: Not ranked in top 80
Pronman final/mock ranking: 66th
My guess: I thought for sure he'd be available in the third round, maybe even with one of their fifth round picks, but now it seems like he could be taken before Toronto's third rounder based on Pronman's most recent mock draft. We'll have to see.

Michal Svrcek

Mid-season rank: Not ranked in top 80
Final rank: Not ranked in top 80
Pronman final/mock ranking: 145th
My guess: Well I went 1/2 on my guess for third round availability for Hillström and Svrcek.

Second and Third Round Defensemen

Carter Amico

Bob's Mid-season rank: 47th
Bob's Final rank: 51st
Pronman final/mock ranking: 64th
My guess: As I figured, Amico just kept dropping all year as guys who were healthy all year built more hype than the risk Amico has for the injury, missed time, and development he still needs. He may still be off the board before Toronto picks, but based on all these rankings I'd still have him in Toronto's range.

Henry Brzustewicz

Bob's Mid-season rank: 41st
Bob's Final rank: 32nd
Pronman final/mock ranking: 28th
My guess: I very much doubt he'll be available when Toronto's pick comes up.

Haoxi (Simon) Wang

Bob's Mid-season rank: 31st
Bob's Final rank: 42nd
Pronman final/mock ranking: 33rd
My guess: Seems to have slipped a bit, but I wouldn't hold my breath on him slipping enough to Toronto.

Max Psenicka

Bob's Mid-season rank: 55th
Bob's Final rank: 44th
Pronman final/mock ranking: 51st
My guess: His draft range seems like it may be right when Toronto's pick comes up, but could be taken a bit earlier.

Quinn Beauchesne

Bob's Mid-season rank: 73rd
Bob's Final rank: Honourable mention just outside of his top 80.
Pronman final/mock ranking: 134th
My guess: Seems like he could easily be a third round pick, maybe even a fifth.

Edison Engle

Bob's Mid-season rank: Not ranked in top 80
Bob's Final rank: Not ranked in top 80
Pronman final/mock ranking: 189th
My guess: In the same boat as Beauchesne, actually even more so.

Sean Barnhill

Bob's Mid-season rank: Honourable mention (outside of top 80)
Bob's Final rank: Honourable mention (outside of top 80)
Pronman final/mock ranking: 79th
My guess: A second rounder for sure, maybe a third rounder.

Kurban Limatov

Bob's Mid-season rank: 69th
Bob's Final rank: 55th
Pronman final/mock ranking: 57th
My guess: Seems like he'll have to be a second rounder if Toronto wants to take him.

Karl Annborn

Bob's Mid-season rank: Honourable mention (outside of top 80)
Bob's Final rank:
Pronman final/mock ranking: 101st
My guess: Should be available in the third round.

Maxim Agafonov

Bob's Mid-season rank: 79th
Bob's Final rank: Not ranked in the top 80
Pronman final/mock ranking: 68th
My guess: Another guy who seems like he's more likely to be a third rounder, but Toronto would have to take him in the second.

Newly Available Players

Hey, sometimes a player I really liked that appeared to be beyond Toronto's draft range turn out to be available after all! After all, if there are late risers who move up into the first and second rounds, then there needs to be guys who were there originally who fall. Here are some that fell from Bob's mid-season ranking that I think could be falling some more on draft day, and could be available for the Leafs. These will just be quick and dirty profiles so you know they're on my radar:

Blake Fiddler (28th) - this one is more of a pipedream still, but his rankings by Bob slipped from 21st in January to 28th now and I've seen some other outlets (like NHL Central Scouting) with him even lower. He's a solid all-around defender at a high end, I'd love if for some insane reason he falls to the late second but I still wouldn't hold my breath. I'm pretty much just mentally doing the "so you're telling me there's a chance..." meme.

Mason West (46th) - A fascinating prospect, he's 6'6" and a pure, natural athlete. He didn't get a lot of hype for most of this season because he was assumed to have planned to dedicate full time to football, where he's a quarterback in his Minnesota high school. However, at the draft combine, he verbally stated his plans to dedicate to NCAA hockey after playing in the USHL next year. He's got an intriguing mix of size and physical tools thanks to his athleticism (his skating is very good already), but needs to refine his skill so the flashes turn to consistency.

Shane Vansaghi (48th) - A big power forward who played this season in the NCAA as a freshman. His skating needs work, but he does a lot of the little things really well and could be a consolation prize if you liked the kinds of things that Nestrašil does. I almost chose him to do a full profile but he missed the final cut, so seeing that Bob has him ranked at 48 does put him in a more realistic range for Toronto.

Nathan Behm (54th) - Previously ranked 40th by Bob, he's got a good mix of size (6'2") and power forward elements. He started this season off hot as hell, but cooled down the stretch. He had solid production and tracking data despite playing on a very bad Kamloops team that was one of the few to miss the playoffs. He is more refined than other, bigger power forward types I've talked about, but also doesn't have as much obvious areas for bigger leaps in development.

Peyton Kettles (56th) - I've already seen some Toronto writers talk about him for Toronto's second rounder. I talked about him on my watch list this year before, and I do like him more than most other "big, shutdown" type defensemen, just not as much as guys like Amico, Wang, or even Barnhill and Agafonov. He is definitely someone I can see Toronto taking though, and I wouldn't hate it for the spot.

Malte Vass (68th) - He's basically Swedish Kettles, and one of the biggest fallers from Bob's mid-season ranking (46th).

Brady Peddle (Honourable mention) - A very late riser thanks to a great USHL playoff run where he was playing 25+ minutes in the biggest games on the finals runner ups in Waterloo. Peddle is a 6'3", 191 lb left shot defenseman who had as many points in his 15 playoff games (10) as he had in 62 regular season games. He's a good mover but needs to work on his quickness, plays a physical style of defense and is a simple but capable puck mover, with flashes for more.

Goalies

The following goalies have been ranked in Bob's final ranking:

Jake Ravensbergen - 34th

Jack Ivankovic - 45th

Semyon Frolov - 57th

Pyotr Andreyanov - 58th

Aleksei Medvedev - 59th

Michael Pradel - 71st

The rest of the goalies I profiled are not ranked.

Late Round/Re-Entry Forwards

Of the late round and re-entry forwards I listed this week, the following have been ranked by Bob in his final edition:

Tommy Lafreniere has become an honourable mention on Bob's list, and was at 78 on Pronman's latest mock. I'd take him out of the late round range, but could be had with their third rounder.

Mads Kongsbak Klyvo was not ranked in Bob's top 80 or in his honourable mentions, but was 89th in Pronman's most recent mock draft. He may be another guy that you need to take with the third rounder, instead of waiting for the fifth.

Late Round/Re-Entry Defensemen

Of the late round and re-entry defensemen I listed this week, the following have been ranked by Bob in his final edition:

Owen Conrad was not ranked or honourably mentioned by Bob, but was taken 88th in Pronman's latest mock draft. So put him in the same boat as Lafreniere and Klyvo.

Biggest Risers and Fallers

Completely separate from any of the players I profiled or have personal interest in, here are the biggest risers and fallers from Bob's rankings - January to June.

Risers:

Daniil Prokhorov (F) – Unranked to 36th
William Horcoff (F) – 50th to 27th
Theodor Hallquith (D) – Unranked to 61st
Theo Stockselius (F) – Honourable mention to 63rd
Cameron Reid (D) – 37th to 24th

I have some mild interest in all five of these, though Reid and Horcoff is obviously now well out of Toronto's range, and Prokhorov likely is too. The two Swedish Theo's are mildly interesting to me but probably not at their second round pick, both have similar issues as far as skating and projection.

Fallers:

Charlie Trethewey (D) – 32nd to 62nd
Adam Benak (F) – 39th to 69th
Luca Romano (F) – 44th to 67th
Ivan Ryabkin (F) – 19th to 41st
Alex Huang (D) – 63rd to honourable mention

Trethewey is someone I'm seeing being linked to Toronto by some local writers, but while I agree his rankings should have fallen I just don't like him as a defense prospect as much as others who will likely be available. Benak is very small, like Schmidt, and more of a perimeter playmaker than a goal scorer. I'm meh on Romano. Vass is a semi-interesting defensive defenseman from Sweden.

Ryabkin is a... question mark. He had top 10 hype going into this season, but his play in Russia was disappointing and then he made the jump to the USHL. His performance there is still not top 10 worthy, but pretty darn good production wise (26 goals and 46 points in 41 games between the regular season and playoffs). His problem is not skill, though he isn't without flaws as a player (pace, consistent effort, discipline), but his rankings falling so much is more about all those negative stigma things that are stereotypical of Russian skill forwards, but for him they seem to be mostly true.

If Ryabkin keeps slipping to Toronto's second rounder, you're taking a gamble that you will get a much higher level of skill than is typical available with a late second. He has the pure talent and potential to be easily worth a first round pick, it's all the other stuff that's making teams sour on him and his rankings slip. You're taking a gamble that you have the coaches to develop him as a person as much if not more than as a player. I will note that this isn't a moral or ethical thing like that defenseman Arizona drafted who had a monstrous history as a bully, this is more of a bad work ethic and habits that drive scouts and coaches crazy. Mind you, he did just help win the USHL championship.

Thanks for reading!

I put a lot of work into my prospect articles here, both for the draft and Toronto's prospects. I do it as a fun hobby for me, and I'd probably do it in some capacity even if PPP completely ceased to exist. But if you like reading my work, some support would go a long way! I pay for a few streaming services (CHL, NCAA, USHL, the occasional TSN options for international tournaments that are broadcast) to be able to reliably watch these prospects in good quality streams. I also pay for some prospect-specific resources, such as tracking data and scouting reports from outlets like Elite Prospects, Future Considerations, McKeen's Hockey, The Athletic, and more.

Being able to get paid for this helps me dedicate more time and resources to it, rather than to second/third jobs. And whatever money I make here, a lot of I reinvest back into my prospect work through in those streaming and scouting services. Like I said, I'd be doing whatever I can afford for this anyway, so any financial help I get through this is greatly appreciated!

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