The world’s best teams to watch for 2025 NHL draft prospects

The 2024-25 NHL season is only a month old, but a few front offices might be more focused on how to prepare for the future, with Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz dropping the “rebuild” hint on local radio.

In other words, let the watch begin for the 2025 NHL draft class.

Draft-eligible players are in leagues all over the world, so we’ve created a guide of which teams or areas to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

United States National Team Development Program

This was the easiest pick of the bunch. On any given night, you will see various NHL GMs, front office employees and 20-plus scouts at the NTDP games. It is the most highly concentrated pool of top prospects in the world. The team stays together for the duration of the season and plays in international tournaments.

The program has pumped out prospects at a good clip over the past decade, and this season should be no different.

Of this current group, William Moore, Charlie Trethewey, Jack Murtagh and L.J. Mooney are drawing significant attention as possible first-round picks.

Beyond those top four, Cole McKinney, Conrad Fondrk and Mason Moe are drawing interest at forward. Donato Bracco, Asher Barnett, Carter Amico and Drew Shock have drawn significant interest from scouts on defense.

The Boston schools

Watching Boston schools play one another is some of the best and most entertaining amateur hockey in the world. Each of the four teams — Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern — are loaded with NHL prospects drafted in previous years.

In terms of the 2025 class, James Hagens is lighting it up at Boston College and is the consensus top prospect. He’s playing against the best in the NCAA on any given night, and has consistently performed.

At BU, Sascha Boumedienne is off to a good start. The Finnish-born, Swedish national has looked steady on the blue line, paired with Tom Willander (a Vancouver Canucks draft pick). He’s likely to play a major role over the next few seasons, a perfect development path for him. Teammate Alexander Zetterberg is drawing interest as a diminutive, skilled player, and is worth keeping an eye on as a middle-round pick.

The Beanpot is one of the best tournaments in hockey and it is also an opportunity for scouts to evaluate how players perform under the bright lights. Expect all eyes to be on Hagens and Boumedienne as the Beanpot approaches.

Best of the Big 10

Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota have produced a ton of NHL talent, and this season a few draft-eligible players are drawing attention.

Wisconsin’s Logan Hensler is expected to be a lottery pick and Michigan’s Dakota Rheaume-Mullen is an early second-round candidate. Michigan State’s Shane Vansaghi is drawing interest as a middle-round pick.

The Big 10 is home to some of the best rivalries in college sports and that extends to hockey. Teams are loaded with talent, high-octane offense and skill and the highlights come fast and furious. All three players should play quality minutes and contribute to the entertainment of the conference.

Erie Otters and Brampton Steelheads

Two teams in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) are sure to be scouting hotbeds in particular this season.

The Otters are home to Matthew Schaefer and Malcolm Spence, who are contenders to be top-10 picks. The last time Erie had two players drafted in the top 10, it was Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome, who went first and third respectively. (They turned out to be pretty good.) Spence and Schaefer could be difference-makers at the NHL level, so expect a lot of fireworks out of Erie this season.

Brampton has quite a few players who have piqued the interest of scouts, and it starts with Porter Martone, who has an outside chance at being the No. 1 pick over Hagens. Martone is leading the OHL in scoring, and should get a long look for Canada’s World Junior team.

After Martone, Lucas Karmiris is scoring nearly a point per game and is worth keeping an eye on as a middle-round pick. More intriguing are the two goaltenders: Jack Ivankovic and Jacob Gibbons. Ivankovic is drawing first-round interest, a rarity for goaltenders in recent years. The Steelheads are loaded with talent from top to bottom, and will play in a lot of entertaining games this season.

Djurgarden, Lulea and Skelleftea

Sweden has become a true development hotbed over the past decade, and these three clubs are worth keeping an eye on this season. Each club has a few prospects expected to be taken in the early rounds next June.

Within the Djurgarden organization, there are two forwards expected to be taken in the top 15. Anton Frondell should be a lottery pick and Victor Eklund could slide into the top 10. Arvid Drott, Eric Nilson and Theo Stockselius are middle-round candidates who are also drawing interest at forward.

Lulea has three players worth monitoring. Jakob Ihs Wozniak, a right-handed center, is expected to be a first-round pick and could slide into the top 15. He’s likely to feature prominently for Sweden at a few international tournaments as a draft-eligible player. Linus Funck and Oliwer Sjostrom are two defensemen drawing interest for different reasons. Both are puck-moving, two-way players; Funck has some more excited because he’s right-handed and 6-foot-3. Both players probably will be selected in the third or fourth rounds.

Skelleftea has four players who are likely to be drafted in 2025, and two of them are candidates to be risers. Love Harenstam, a 6-foot-1 goaltender, has been at the top of his age group for a few seasons. He has potential to slide into the late first round if he continues to perform well at international tournaments and hold his own in the J20. Viktor Klingsell is a smaller forward who played well against his peers, and is off to a good start in the J20 as a 17-year-old. Viggo Nordlund is another small forward with excellent hands and flashy skill. Both players possess highlight-reel ability and could surprise scouts.

Zeb Lindgren, a left-handed defenseman could find himself rising in the rankings as the season progresses. He’s primarily with the J20 team but is getting looks at the SHL level, a rarity for a draft-eligible defenseman. He’s not flashy, but he’s effective, and scouts love that.