Yesterday, the NHL released the official draft pick lists:

NHL.com Media Site

This is not news, but the Leafs picks are officially:

  • 64th
  • 86th
  • 137th
  • 153rd
  • 185th
  • 217th

So far, that is. There's a lot of time left for the Leafs to add some picks as they rearrange the forward lineup.

Flames actively engaged in Andersson trade talks — The Fourth Period
The Calgary Flames are believed to be engaged in trade talks with several teams involving RD Rasmus Andersson.
The Fourth PeriodRumours

The above article mentions 32 Thoughts and my take on that part of the most recent podcast was that Andersson has been asking for an amount he doesn't expect Calgary to want to give him. He is in the final year of a deal at $4.55 million, and he played 24 minutes a game in 81 games this year.

I sort of get where the Flames are coming from. He's 29 this fall, so a new contract starts when he's about to turn 30. They just drafted Zayne Parekh with the 9th overall pick and any deal Andersson is on will overlap Parekh's first big contract (assuming all goes well there).

But at the same time, where are they whistling up 24 minutes of right-shooting defence? This feels a lot like the thing teams do over and over where they dump good players to spend their cap hits on other roles within the team and then suddenly realize they need Zach Hyman. Er... that defenceman.

On the other hand, maybe they're going to get a return for Andersson and spend exactly what he'd cost on Aaron Ekblad. Who knows?

The PWHL draft is tonight at 7 pm Eastern Time. TSN has the first three rounds, and full coverage is on the PWHL YouTube channel. Toronto drafts third overall and third in each subsequent round.

The draft is six rounds, with 48 players selected from the eligibility list:

PWHL RELEASES 2025 DRAFT ELIGIBILITY LIST FEATURING 199 PLAYERS REPRESENTING 15 COUNTRIES
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (May 15, 2025) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) today announced the 199 eligible players who have declared for the 2025 PWHL Draft Presented by Upper Deck. The draft will take place on Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00 p.m. E…
Professional Women's Hockey League

The Ice Garden has a good list of the top prospects:

2025 PWHL Draft: Top prospects overall
Get ready for the 2025 PWHL draft with this look at top prospects.
The Ice GardenGiselle Velazquez

And if you want to go deep into this draft, they have articles on lesser known players and also individual prospects of note.

The big (for a Monday) trade:

And the Abbotsford Canucks won the Calder Cup.

That's all for right now. Have a great Tuesday.

From The Branches