2025 NHL Draft Profiles: Late Round Defensemen

Last year, it seemed like the Leafs made stocking up on defensemen a priority. I had mentioned for a couple of years that Toronto was typically taking mostly forwards, and their defensive depth in their prospect pool was suffering as a result. Well, Brad comes in and they choose four defensemen – Ben Danford with their top pick, Victor Johansson with their second pick, and then sneaking Matt Lahey and Nathan Mayes with two of their seventh round picks.

The pattern with them is that they are all pretty big, and none of them are of the "offensive defensemen" variety. They are typically considered two-way defensemen at the very least, or more purely defensive minded.

With that in mind, I wanted to go looking for some late round blueliners who seem to fit Toronto's type but that were also still interesting to me.

CARLOS HÄNDEL

• Position: Right-shot defenseman
• League(s): QMJHL
• Height: 6'1"
• Weight: 170 lbs
• Birthdate: March 31st, 2007

Händel is not a very flashy defenseman, but he's very smooth and reliable. He eats minutes, and just does a lot of things well – not great, but well. He's a good skater, he is a smart defender, he moves the puck well out of his own end and through the neutral zone, he supports the offense by activating off the point or into a rush when the situation calls for it, all that stuff and more. There are not many areas where he is below average as of now, but scouts have identified his power (skating, physical play) and defensive retrievals as areas that need the most improvement. He's still pretty light and has room to grow a bit more physically, which will help with his skating, shooting and checking power.

I really liked him on an overwhelmed Germany squad at both the Hlinka Gretzky tournament, and at the World Juniors where Händel was a 20+ minute top pairing defenseman as a 17 year old playing against the top prospects 1-2 years older than him. He clearly has the mind to be a capable two-way defenseman, so it's mostly a question of if you can develop his tools enough that he can play at higher levels. He was at it again in the QMJHL playoffs, as Halifax was the third worst team in the league and worst to make the playoffs because they have 18 teams in total and 16 make the playoffs. And yet, despite a difference of 38 points in the standings and a -76 goal differential, they pulled off a 7 game upset of the top seed in their conference in part because of how heavily Händel was used to hold down the fort. At the World U18s, he was Germany's captain and best player playing 21-24 minutes per game, with 2 goals and 4 points in 4 games. I'd take a swing on him in the later rounds if available.

JOSH MCGREGOR

• Position: Left-shot defenseman
• League(s): WHL
• Height: 6'3"
• Weight: 174 lbs
• Birthdate: June 9th, 2007

McGregor has been arguably my favourite sleeper prospect for most of this season. Part of it is that he's a nice story. He was undrafted to the WHL, earned a spot on Swift Current's roster out of pre-season this year, and has carved out a role for himself bouncing between their second and third pairings (and a couple of times on the top pair). He's tall but physically under-developed as of now, he's on the young side with a June birthday, and he has stellar tracking data despite being on a team in the bottom half of the standings. He just seems like a guy that could take a big leap next year, and I think there's some offensive skills to work with if they get nurtured and refined.

I like McGregor a lot because despite being relatively undeveloped, he's already doing a lot of things pretty well. He moves around at a high level, in my opinion, and gets good reviews for his skating technique. The explosiveness and power to his game isn't there yet, but can be as he fills out more. Most importantly, I like him as a late round swing as a guy who has size, is a good skater, has easy improvements that will come just as he gets older and adds muscle, and he's good at the things I want defensemen to be good at: defend his own end and defend his blueline, and be able to move the puck out of his own end without just firing it into the neutral zone and giving up possession. In short, I think he could be less of a Simon Benoit, and more of a Jake McCabe – not in terms of impact, more in terms of the type and style of defenseman he is.

LINUS FUNCK

• Position: Right-shot defenseman
• League(s): J20 Nationell / SHL
• Height: 6'3"
• Weight: 183 lbs
• Birthdate: May 10th, 2007

If you're tired of hearing about bigger defensive-defensemen who can't score, Funck will be a nice change of pace. He is already a good passer/playmaker, and can handle the puck well when he quarterbacks a power play or just helps facilitate an offensive zone possession at even strength. While I wouldn't call him an elite playmaker, he shows flashes of higher level passes – including longer stretch passing. When he passes, he adds some velocity to them without sacrificing accuracy. Defensively he seems okay for his level, but there's some projection there since he has some size and reach and could add some strength still. The question mark for him is if he can maintain that playmaking ability at higher difficulties, when he won't have nearly as much time or space to work with. His skating also needs to be improved, which can also help him deal better with higher paced competition. I'm not that sure he'll wind up being available in the later rounds, but I'm also not that sure I'd want to take him as early as the third round.

OWEN CONRAD

• Position: Left-shot defenseman
• League(s): QMJHL
• Height: 6'3"
• Weight: 209 lbs
• Birthdate: March 10th, 2007

Conrad entered this season with more hype than he has by now, even if as 'only' a fringe first round pick. But he was left off of Team Canada for the Hlinka Gretzky roster, and for the World U18s roster. His point production actually dropped this year compared to last, though just slightly, even though he played in more games. However, he's not completely forgotten how to play hockey. I've seen some good reviews for his ability as a shutdown defender. While his offensive production hasn't developed as much as I think scouts and teams would have liked, he likely has more capability there than other defensive defensemen I've profiled. If he does wind up falling to the later rounds, he seems like he could still be pretty toolsy that can develop into a capable defensive defenseman at the least based on his recent development, and potentially more of a two-way depth defenseman if his offense catches up at all. So another project, but that's what late round picks are.

CARSON CAMERON

• Position: Right-shot defenseman
• League(s): OHL
• Height: 6'2"
• Weight: 194 lbs
• Birthdate: June 27th, 2007

Cameron is a more offensive minded defenseman who is not necessarily spectacular at anything, but pretty solid at just about everything albeit with some holes to work on. He's pretty big already, but young enough that he could maybe grow a bit more. He projects as an above average skater, which is a good combination to have with his size. He is a good puck carrier and passer, with a good shot as well – not that you would know from just having 7 goals and 23 points in 63 games. The thing is, he played for the worst team in the OHL, and the team leader in points had just 37. Cameron was actually one of the few bright spots on the young and rebuilding team, as a former 13th overall pick in the OHL draft. Defensively he plays very aggressively, too aggressively in fact, which is something he can learn to rein in with some greater control. So really, he shows flashes in every area a defenseman can be good at, but he's young still and looks like a longer term project. But with his tools, that's an interesting late round swing in my books.

Vladislav Ukhmylov

• Position: Left-shot defenseman
• League(s): MHL
• Height: 6'4"
• Weight: 163 lbs
• Birthdate: December 22nd, 2006

Ukhmylov became a minor glitter guy for me as I watched Plesovskikh's games with JHC Spartak. He started the year on a different team, and had to fight to get any playing time at all. Then he got traded to Plesovskikh's team, the best team in the league, where he now averages 18-20 minutes per night... go figure. He has only 10 points in 50 games, then 3 points in 11 playoff games, but all but one of them are primary points and Russia is not known for having high scoring defensemen.

Ukhmylov does a few things pretty well – he skates well considering how gangly he is, and he looks to be darn effective at driving transitions. He looks to have some confidence in carrying and passing the puck, though he seems pretty conservative at when he chooses to go for it. Defensively it's more of the same, where he seems too passive and conservative at times but flashes some nice aggressive play. At 163 lbs and 6'4" he needs to put on a lot of weight and muscle, but that has a lot of positive implications for how much room he has to develop in ways that are tied to such things: explosive skating, physical defense, shot power and velocity, etc. I think I would quite like him were Toronto to use a late round pick on him.

MADDOX LABRE

• Position: Left-shot defenseman
• League(s): KHL
• Height: 6'2"
• Weight: 179 lbs
• Birthdate: June 15th, 2007

Labre had the distinct pleasure of playing for the worse team in the QMJHL, but worked his way up to their top pair. That makes Labre the French, left-handed version of Carson Cameron above. Scouts remarked on how much he improved over this season in all areas, giving a special callout to his play-driving and physical play. His defense can get exposed when he's skating backwards, and he's prone to over-committing at the first move a puck carrier makes whether it's real or a fake.

It's funny, because I didn't intentionally look for late round defensemen who played big roles on bad teams but that seems to be what I accidentally wound up doing. While Labre looked good, how much of that is because he got the big role only because they had literally no one else? How much of them being so bad is his fault? I've seen some scouts point at him for a future breakout candidate because of his good underlying metrics and an expectation that Victoriaville will be improved next season as they rebuild and their young players get older and better. I wouldn't have Labre at the forefront of my list to take even with a later round pick, but if enough of the options listed above are already gone... I'd probably do it.

ARON DAHLQVIST

• Position: Left-shot defenseman
• League(s): J20 Nationell / SHL
• Height: 6'3"
• Weight: 205 lbs
• Birthdate: February 22nd, 2007

Dahlqvist is a toolsy defensive defenseman, with a mix of size, skating ability, and at least a foundation for being able to make quick and simple (but effective) passes up the ice to keep it moving. He is one of the more physical defensive defensemen I've profiled so far, if that's your kind of thing, but also shows good gap control and footwork to help him shut down his opponents. He had 12 points in 37 games in Sweden's junior league, then dressed in 16 pro games in the SHL. He's definitely a project for the long term, which is why I think he'll wind up being a later round pick.

EDUARD BONDAR

• Position: Right-shot defenseman
• League(s): QMJHL
• Height: 6'5"
• Weight: 194 lbs
• Birthdate: January 31st, 2007

I promise, this will be the last of the "big defenseman without great offense that I think I could actually like if Toronto takes him" guy. Bondar is a Russian defenseman playing in the QMJHL, with solid defensive tracking data and decent transition data. I've seen some scouts opine that he has flashed high-end capabilities both offensively and defensively, though his execution of offensive plays are not consistent from what I've seen. The hope is that he just needs more practice to physically pull off the things his brain recognizes are useful plays to attempt.

MATUS LISY

• Position: Right-shot defenseman
• League(s): US High School / USHL / US NTDP
• Height: 6'1"
• Weight: 181 lbs
• Birthdate: June 15th, 2007

Lisy is the last guy of this bunch to get on my radar, and it's partially because I saw Will Scouch talk about him but also because of how he looked when I was watching Slovakia at the World U18s. He played all year in Slovakia, first in their U20 junior league where he by far had the best point per game rate for defensemen – of all ages – with 28 points in 19 games despite being two years younger than the others right behind him. He is also tied for defensemen in the league for playoff points. For defensemen in his age group (2007 birth year) he has by far the most games played in Slovakia's pro league, and also the most points. At the World U18s, he was on their second pair playing between 16-19 minutes per game. He had only one point, but wasn't on the ice for a single 5v5 goal against in the whole tournament.

Now, points are great and all but I've worked hard to cultivate an identity of not giving a shit about points by defensemen. The most I accept is that they can act as a proxy for general offensive skill and also Lisy being good enough to get the opportunity to produce that many points. From what I've seen and read, he's not likely to actually be an offensively dominant point producer. But he has some real ability in moving the puck, quarterbacks a power play and gets heavy usage on the penalty kill. I don't know as much about him as others on this list, but I like that some scouts I trust see some two-way potential in him if he winds up as a late round swing.

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!