2025 NHL Draft Headquarters

Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Rankings — March Edition 

VIEWING TIPS

💡 We're test-driving two formats: 1) A simplistic version of our regular mammoth spreadsheet highlighting the first round; and 2) our unique mammoth rankings spreadsheet with all the features you've come to know and love.

🔁 For optimal viewing on smartphone or tablet, turn your phone to landscape view; columns in the spreadsheet are frozen (i.e. won't move) up to and including the first column of linked videos, thus scroll through the spreadsheet rankings by swiping on the right side of this information-packed resource.

▶️ You can open up the spreadsheet rankings to a separate page by clicking the icon in the upper right-hand corner.  This should open up the spreadsheet and you can select "open with" your platform of choice (Google Sheets works well). 

Updated March 13, 2025

This is a quick updated just to get our March/Spring rankings out in the wild. 

Matthew Schaefer Maintains Number One Ranking

Outstanding blueliner Matthew Schaefer leap-frogged  exceptional centreman Michael Misa into 1st overall in our January rankings led by our Chief of Scouting Eldon MacDonald and his held his spot this Spring.

See the rankings just after the intro below.

Our mammoth quintessential rankings spreadsheet format is composed by the incomparable Chief of Scouting, Eldon MacDonald. We have already featured well over 350 prospects. Check back throughout the season as we add many tabs/sheets (subjects along the bottom) to this spreadsheet. In this edition, in the second column we have highlighted NHL Central Scouting's Midterm Rankings.  There will be too many cool features to list; explore yourself with this top of mind:

• Our exclusive rankings go well beyond the first round - over 350 prospects included in this version

  • Check out the tabs along the bottom such as Defense, Under 5'11, etc. for various unique rankings

• Quick access to Elite Prospects profile linked for each prospect for updated stats - click on the respective prospect name

• Unique prospect analyses:

We have in-depth scouting profiles from our scout Trevor Curtis embedded/linked within the rankings spreadsheet. As the prospect profiles are completed on our dedicated 2025 profiles page, they will under the third column "UH" (Upside Hockey) - simply click on that to be taken to that respective profile. For the 2024 NHL draft, we completed over 240!  

Please enjoy and, as always, we appreciate any feedback from all of you Upsiders.

Don't just go inside hockey. Don't get caught on the Dark Side. Join us on the Upside. 

Everything on Upside Hockey is free. If you enjoy and would like to support us and keep us ad-free, and/or have a downloadable version of these extensive rankings, simply buy us a cup of coffee (via KoFi - see below; or an eTransfer works as well), follow us on Twitter/X /Bluesky  @UpsideHockey, drop us your email address, and you'll become an Upside Hockey Insider.

• • Drop us a message via Bluesky/Twitter if suggestions, questions, or just to say hi.

VIEWING TIPS

💡 We're test-driving two formats: 1) A simplistic version of our regular mammoth spreadsheet highlighting the first round; and 2) our unique mammoth rankings spreadsheet with all the features you've come to know and love.

🔁 For optimal viewing on smartphone or tablet, turn your phone to landscape view; columns in the spreadsheet are frozen (i.e. won't move) up to and including the first column of linked videos, thus scroll through the spreadsheet rankings by swiping on the right side of this information-packed resource.

▶️ You can open up the spreadsheet rankings to a separate page by clicking the icon in the upper right-hand corner.  This should open up the spreadsheet and you can select "open with" your platform of choice (Google Sheets works well). 

Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Rankings — January Edition 

VIEWING TIPS

💡 We're test-driving two formats: 1) A simplistic version of our regular mammoth spreadsheet highlighting the first round; and 2) our unique mammoth rankings spreadsheet with all the features you've come to know and love.

🔁 For optimal viewing on smartphone or tablet, turn your phone to landscape view; columns in the spreadsheet are frozen (i.e. won't move) up to and including the first column of linked videos, thus scroll through the spreadsheet rankings by swiping on the right side of this information-packed resource.

▶️ You can open up the spreadsheet rankings to a separate page by clicking the icon in the upper right-hand corner.  This should open up the spreadsheet and you can select "open with" your platform of choice (Google Sheets works well). 

Updated January 26, 2025

This is a quick updated just to get our January rankings out in the wild. We have a new prospect in the pole position.

Michael Misa Displaced As Number One Ranked Prospect

While the last two draft classes saw Connor Bedard and then Macklin Celebrini go their whole respective seasons as the #1 ranked prospects in their draft class and get drafted number one, for 2025 we have a third prospect to take the pole position.

Outstanding blueliner Matthew Schaefer has leap-frogged  exceptional centreman Michael Misa into 1st overall in our latest rankings led by our Chief of Scouting Eldon MacDonald.

Everything on Upside Hockey is free. If you enjoy and would like to support us and keep us ad-free, and/or have a downloadable version of these extensive rankings, simply buy us a cup of coffee (via KoFi - see below; or an eTransfer works as well), follow us on Twitter/X /Bluesky  @UpsideHockey, drop us your email address, and you'll become an Upside Hockey Insider.

• • Drop us a message via Bluesky/Twitter if suggestions, questions, or just to say hi.

Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Rankings — December Edition 

VIEWING TIPS

💡 We're test-driving two formats: 1) A simplistic version of our regular mammoth spreadsheet highlighting the first round; and 2) our unique mammoth rankings spreadsheet with all the features you've come to know and love.

🔁 For optimal viewing on smartphone or tablet, turn your phone to landscape view; columns in the spreadsheet are frozen (i.e. won't move) up to and including the first column of linked videos, thus scroll through the spreadsheet rankings by swiping on the right side of this information-packed resource.

▶️ You can open up the spreadsheet rankings to a separate page by clicking the icon in the upper right-hand corner.  This should open up the spreadsheet and you can select "open with" your platform of choice (Google Sheets works well). 

Updated December 2024

This is a quick updated just to get our December rankings out in the wild. We have a new prospect in the pole position.

James Hagens Displaced As Number One Ranked Prospect

While the last two draft classes saw Connor Bedard and then Macklin Celebrini go their whole respective seasons as the #1 ranked prospects in their draft class and get drafted number one, before the midpoint we have a new prospect in the pole position.

While other rankings have outstanding bluelinetrMatthew Schaefer jump into 1st overall in their latest rankings, led by our Chief of Scouting Eldon MacDonald, we have exceptional centreman Michael Misa now ahead of the class.

See the rankings just after the intro below.

Updated November 2024

This is looking to be a high-end draft class mainly for Canada and Sweden. USA  is having a down year, particularly the NTDP team, with last year’s NTDP graduates, Hagens and Hensler, being the exceptions. Russia is having a particularly down year, as is Finland.

As for surprises, we have them galore:

Top 10 Roaring Fast Starts: Martone, Misa

Disappointments: The entire US NTDP Team except for maybe Murtagh; Frondell, Ryabkin

The Upstarts: Smith, Bear, Lakovic, Genborg, Behm, Schmidt – note mostly WHLers 

Our mammoth quintessential rankings spreadsheet format is composed by the incomparable Chief of Scouting, Eldon MacDonald. We have already featured nearly 350 prospects. Check back throughout the season as we add many tabs/sheets (subjects along the bottom) to this spreadsheet. In this edition, in the second column we have highlighted NHL Central Scouting's preliminary players to watch.  There will be too many cool features to list; explore yourself with this top of mind:

• Our exclusive rankings go well beyond the first round - nearly 350 prospects included in this version

  • Check out the tabs along the bottom such as Defense, Under 5'11, etc. for various unique rankings

• Quick access to Elite Prospects profile linked for each prospect for updated stats - click on the respective prospect name

• Videos! We've moved these just to the right of the prospect name, linking to video profiles (mostly Youtube)

• Unique prospect analyses:

We will also have in-depth scouting profiles from our scout Trevor Curtis embedded/linked within the rankings spreadsheet eventually. When added, they will under the second column "UH" (Upside Hockey) - simply click on that to be taken to that respective profile. For the 2024 NHL draft, we completed over 240!  Also, as time goes on, scroll over to the right to view selected video links to do your own armchair scouting. See our rankings from the 2024 NHL draft to see what's in store as the season unfolds.

For more examples of our in-depth prospect profiles and prospect tiers, check out their upside on our 2024 NHL Draft Prospect Profile page. We'll be setting up a specific page for the 2025 draft eligible prospects as well.  We'll also be adding mock drafts throughout the season.

Please enjoy and, as always, we appreciate any feedback from all of you Upsiders.

Don't just go inside hockey. Don't get caught on the Dark Side. Join us on the Upside. 

Everything on Upside Hockey is free. If you enjoy and would like to support us and keep us ad-free, and/or have a downloadable version of these extensive rankings, simply buy us a cup of coffee (via KoFi - see below; or an eTransfer works as well), follow us on Twitter/X /Bluesky  @UpsideHockey, drop us your email address, and you'll become an Upside Hockey Insider.

• • Drop us a message via Twitter/X if suggestions, questions, or just to say hi.

Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Rankings — November Edition 

VIEWING TIPS

💡 We're test-driving two formats: 1) A simplistic version of our regular mammoth spreadsheet highlighting the first round; and 2) our unique mammoth rankings spreadsheet with all the features you've come to know and love.

🔁 For optimal viewing on smartphone or tablet, turn your phone to landscape view; columns in the spreadsheet are frozen (i.e. won't move) up to and including the first column of linked videos, thus scroll through the spreadsheet rankings by swiping on the right side of this information-packed resource.

▶️ You can open up the spreadsheet rankings to a separate page by clicking the icon in the upper right-hand corner.  This should open up the spreadsheet and you can select "open with" your platform of choice (Google Sheets works well). 

Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Rankings — Preseason Edition 

VIEWING TIPS

💡 We're test-driving two formats: 1) A simplistic version of our regular mammoth spreadsheet highlighting the first round; and 2) our unique mammoth rankings spreadsheet with all the features you've come to know and love.

🔁 For optimal viewing on smartphone or tablet, turn your phone to landscape view; columns in the spreadsheet are frozen (i.e. won't move) up to and including the first column of linked videos, thus scroll through the spreadsheet rankings by swiping on the right side of this information-packed resource.

▶️ You can open up the spreadsheet rankings to a separate page by clicking the icon in the upper right-hand corner.  This should open up the spreadsheet and you can select "open with" your platform of choice (Google Sheets works well). 

Updated September 2024

With the phenomenal 2024 NHL Draft from The Sphere in Las Vegas now in the books,  it's time to shift focus to the 2025 NHL draft class.  2024 IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship points record-setter James Hagens (breaking Nikita Kucherov's previous record for points in a single tournament from 2011) appears to have the early lead in ranking the 2025 NHL class. Forwards Anton Frondell, and Porter Martone are hot on his heels, aiming not to let Hagen lead the race for number one all season as Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard have done for the last two drafts, respectively. Ivan Ryabkin, Roger McQueen, and Michael Misa are just three more forwards from this draft class that surely have NHL scouts excited for the upcoming season. Patrolling the blueline, Matthew Schaefer is getting a lot of attention and might just be another to displace Hagens; he's already moved up from 12th to 6th overall from our Early Rankings.

Our mammoth quintessential rankings spreadsheet format is composed by the incomparable Chief of Scouting, E-Mac. We have already featured nearly 300 prospects. Check back throughout the season as we add many tabs/sheets (subjects along the bottom) to this spreadsheet. There will be too many cool features to list; explore yourself with this top of mind:

• Our exclusive rankings go well beyond the first round - nearly 300 prospects included in this version

  • Check out the tabs along the bottom such as Defense, Under 5'11, etc. for various unique rankings

• Quick access to Elite Prospects profile linked for each prospect for updated stats - click on the respective prospect name

• Videos! We've moved these just to the right of the prospect name, linking to video profiles (mostly Youtube)

• Unique prospect analyses:

We will also have in-depth scouting profiles from our scout Sandman embedded/linked within the rankings spreadsheet eventually. When added, they will under the second column "UH" (Upside Hockey) - simply click on that to be taken to that respective profile. For the 2024 NHL draft, we completed over 240!  Also, as time goes on, scroll over to the right to view selected video links to do your own armchair scouting. See our rankings from the 2024 NHL draft to see what's in store as the season unfolds.

For more examples of our in-depth prospect profiles and prospect tiers, check out their upside on our 2024 NHL Draft Prospect Profile page. We'll be setting up a specific page for the 2025 draft eligible prospects as well.  We'll also be adding mock drafts throughout the season.

Please enjoy and, as always, we appreciate any feedback from all of you Upsiders.

Quick link to this page to bookmark and/or share: bit.ly/2025nhldraftguide

Don't just go inside hockey. Don't get caught on the Dark Side. Join us on the Upside. 

Everything on Upside Hockey is free. If you enjoy and would like to support us and keep us ad-free, and/or have a downloadable version of these extensive rankings, simply buy us a cup of coffee (via KoFi - see below; or an eTransfer works as well), follow us on Twitter/X   @UpsideHockey, drop us your email address, and you'll become an Upside Hockey Insider.

• • Drop us a message via Twitter/X if suggestions, questions, or just to say hi.

Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profiles

Under Construction - coming soon; in the mean time, catch up or review our 2024 in-depth profiles:

Link: https://bit.ly/2024nhldraftprofiles 

Upside Hockey's 2025 NHL Draft Early Rankings: The Top 96 - July 2024