2025 T25U25: Unranked and Honourable Mentions

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The Unranked

Only three prospects/players received no votes this year. Last year their were four, so this is fairly similar.

Braeden Kressler

Unranked last year, he got no votes this year. He's only 22, and was signed as a free agent out of the OHL, but his first year in pro hockey saw him in the ECHL most of the time.

Matthew Hlacar

Just drafted in the 7th round this summer, Hlacar is 19 and takes a lot of penalties. He is 6'3" and 200 lbs, and no one bit on this "throwback to the bad old days" draft choice.

Matthew Lahey

Drafted last year in the seventh round, Lahey is a defender about to play his first NCAA season. I don't think a whole lot is known about him, but even some cautiously optimistic takes like this one don't really overcome his draft position at vote time:

The Honourable Mentions

Some players got some votes, just not enough to get to 25th or higher. I'm going to list the weighted average ranking for each of these players. The ranking process counts a no vote as if it were ranked 26, and then averages those in with the votes in the 25 and up range.

To set your context for this, the player to be named later who landed at spot 25 had a weighted average ranking of 23.4.

Nathan Mayes

Drafted last summer in the seventh round, Mayes, a defender, went unranked last year and got an average ranking this year of 23.7. He had four votes, one at 18th, one at 19th, one a 21st and one at 23rd.

Blake Smith

With an average of 23.9, Smith also nearly made the cut. Signed as a free agent out of the OHL, Smith is now 20. He got three votes at 17, 18 and 22.

William Belle

Just drafted, Belle has an unusual story of early play in China followed by a move to the US for better opportunities. He is considered a long-term project based largely on his big build. He hit an average ranking of 24.1, and had five votes all between 20 and 24.

Roni Hirvonen

Hirvonen fell dramatically on the list after leaving to play in Europe after a year on the Marlies that didn't show a lot of growth. His average ranking was 24.2, and he got two votes, a 16th and an 18th.

Joe Miller

Miller ranked at 24.9 with six votes, all between 23 and 25. So like with Belle, he was the guy at the end of the list for several voters. A few high votes gets you a better average than many at barely over the no-vote value.

Ryan Tverberg

Ranked 16rh last year, he fell as hard as Hirvonen. His average tied Miller's at 24.9 and he had three votes a 20th, a 22nd and a 25th.

Hudson Malinoski

Ranked 25th last year, Malinoski landed at 25.1 in average ranking with three votes between 21 and 25.

Ryan Fellinger

Just drafted, Fellinger hit 25.5 in average ranking on the strength of one vote at 21st.

Timofei Obvintsev

A goalie prospect still in Russia, Obvintsev was 23rd last year and he fell to 25.5 this year with two votes, one at 22nd and one at 25th.

Vyacheslav Peksa

Ranked 24th last year, the Leafs other, other goalie prospect in North America fell down the list this year to almost unranked status. Peksa played in the ECHL last year and was 39th by Sv% for goalies with at least 10 games. His average ranking was 25.8 with one vote at 24th.

And that's who didn't make it this year. When you see the first five revealed players, you'll be able to see they're arguably the same level as most of the honourable mentions.

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