There was no drama at the top of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles as the New York Islanders selected potential franchise defenseman Matthew Schaefer of the Erie Otters (OHL) with the first overall pick.
After signing Sam Bennett to a new 8-year contract worth $64 million, the Florida Panthers took the night off as its first-round pick (32nd overall) was traded to the Calgary Flames on July 22, 2022 for some guy named Matthew Tkachuk. The Flames selected Cullen Potter with the pick to close Friday night’s festivities.
Here’s how the first round went down:
- Matthew Schaefer (New York Islanders)
- Michael Misa (San Jose Sharks)
- Anton Frondell (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Caleb Desnoyers (Utah Mammoth)
- Brady Martin (Nashville Predators)
- Porter Martone (Philadelphia Flyers)
- James Hagens (Boston Bruins)
- Jake O’Brien (Seattle Kraken)
- Radim Mrtka (Buffalo Sabres)
- Roger McQueen (Anaheim Ducks)
- Benjamin Kindel (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Jack Nesbitt (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Carter Bear (Detroit Red Wings)
- Jackson Smith (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Braeden Cootes (Vancouver Canucks)
- Victor Eklund (New York Islanders)
- Kashawn Aitcheson (New York Islanders)
- Cole Reschny (Calgary Flames)
- Justin Carbonneau (St. Louis Blues)
- Pyotr Andreyanov (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Cameron Reid (Ottawa Senators)
- Bill Zonnon (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Logan Hensler (Ottawa Senators)
- Will Horcoff (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Vaclav Nestrasil (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Ryker Lee (Nashville Predators)
- Lynden Lakovic (Washington Capitals)
- Sascha Boumedienne (Winnipeg Jets)
- Mason West (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Joshua Ravensbergen (San Jose Sharks)
- Henry Brzustewicz (Los Angeles Kings)
- Cullen Potter (Calgary Flames)
General manager Bill Zito and crew will get down to brass tacks today as the Cats are armed with a total of five second-day picks.
Barring any trades, the Panthers won’t make a selection until midway through the fourth round (112th overall) as they dealt their second-round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs and their third-round pick to the Ottawa Senators. Florida’s also has its own picks in the fourth round (128th overall), sixth round (192nd overall) and seventh round (224th overall). The Cats will make the first choice of the fifth round (129th overall). That pick originally belonged to the San Jose Sharks. On Thursday, the Panthers traded its own fifth-rounder (160th overall) to the Columbus Blue Jackets for restricted free agent goaltender Daniil Tarasov.
NHL Draft Day 2
- Coverage starts at 12 p.m. on NHL Network
Florida picks
- Mads Kongsbak Klyvo F (112th overall)
- Shea Busch F (128th overall)
- Shamar Moses F (129th overall)
- Arvid Drott F (192nd overall)
- Brendan Dunphy D (197th overall)
- Yegor Midlak G (224th overall)