Category: Sports News

The Philadelphia Flyers still hold the sixth pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, but this expert's latest mock draft says that's not such a bad thing after all.

Much of the dialogue to this point has centered around which players the Flyers are interested in, where those players will fall in the draft, and which teams are jockeying for their services.

Philadelphia figures to be one of the teams most locked onto a center, even despite their public comments regarding their willingness to take a winger or a defender.

Fortunately for the Flyers, momentum is starting to pick up around the fall of one of the very best centers in the draft class in James Hagens.

In his latest mock draft for The Athletic, prospects expert Scott Wheeler predicts Hagens will fall right into the Flyers' laps at No. 6, with Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, Anton Frondell, Caleb Desnoyers, and Porter Martone getting drafted ahead of him.

"If Hagens gets here, I think the Flyers like him and would consider taking him. Same goes for Desnoyers, whose well-rounded game and smarts could really support and complement Matvei Michkov. But Desnoyers isn't going to be there," Wheeler wrote. "If Hagens isn't, I think they lean [Brady Martin] over Jake O'Brien here in terms of the other centers (though they did take O'Brien to dinner in Buffalo). The pull of a center, and a player like Martin, is real in this range."

The Utah Mammoth, who pick fourth, are said to be high on Martin as well and could consider taking him inside the top five. Perhaps Utah and Philadelphia are playing a game of chicken with the draft's most violent forward prospect.

NHL Scouting Combine: Flyers Draft Board, Targets Taking ShapeThe Philadelphia Flyers, as expected, had a hectic week meeting with various top prospects at the NHL Scouting Combine. Such is life as a team with three first-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.

That said, Hagens is an undeniable talent who continues to draw comparisons to New Jersey Devils superstar Jack Hughes, who's already come within one point of a 100-point season early in his NHL career.

Pairing the 18-year-old Boston College talisman with Matvei Michkov will set the Flyers up for offensive success for two decades, and the remainder of the grueling rebuild would then center on adding cornerstone pieces around those two.

Defenseman Jackson Smith, a potential top-10 pick, could be a trade-up candidate for the Flyers if management and scouts think he can be one of those pieces. On the right side of the defense, the Flyers have Jamie Drysdale, Oliver Bonk, Spencer Gill, and Helge Grans, so they have no need to force an early pick at this position.

Plus, who knows what the future holds for Rasmus Ristolainen?

Wheeler had other surprises in store for the Flyers in his latest mock draft (be sure to check those out), but landing Hagens would assuredly be the best-case scenario for the Flyers, who finished higher in the standings than many fans would have liked on the heels of that dreary ending to the 2024-25 season.

And that dream scenario seems to be gaining real momentum with the 2025 NHL Draft less than three weeks away.

For more Flyers news and up-to-date coverage, visit The Hockey News and like our Facebook page. Follow us on 𝕏: @ByJonBailey,  @TheHockeyNews

For 15 years, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane formed one of the most lethal duos in the NHL. 

As part of the Chicago Blackhawks’ modern-day dynasty, Toews and Kane won three Stanley Cup championships, assuring them of an eventual place in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Although time and health have separated them in recent years, Kane and Toews might just decide to end their careers with the same team.

Toews has been out of the NHL since 2022-23, dealing with long-term health issues that limited him to only 53 games that season. But now, at age 37, Toews is intent on making a comeback. 

The 36-year-old Kane moved on from the Hawks around the 2023 trade deadline to play with the New York Rangers and the next two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. 

Toews and Kane are now UFAs looking to continue their on-ice careers. Wouldn’t it be something if they picked the same team to sign with this summer?

Maybe that possibility comes in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs are looking for a third-line center like Toews and a veteran scoring winger like Kane. 

Maybe it comes with the Red Wings, which are desperate to make the playoffs and could get Kane and fellow former Blackhawks player Alex DeBrincat to help recruit his former Chicago teammate to the Motor City. 

Maybe it comes with the Dallas Stars, which are close to being a Cup front-runner and could use the championship pedigree the duo could provide. Or maybe it comes with the Rangers, which intend on having a bounce-back season and could re-recruit Kane while adding Toews to give the Blueshirts first-rate depth.

The possibilities are many, and that’s what’s so intriguing about them right now.

The exciting part – the part that makes them a distinct possibility to be brought in together – is that Toews and Kane many not break the bank on what could be their final NHL contract. 

Kane did have a solid season this year with Detroit, posting 21 goals and 59 points while earning $4 million, while Toews’ most recent salary was $10.5 million, when he posted 15 goals and 31 points for Chicago. They’ve become very rich men very early in their lives, and so their main motivation now is likely more about the chance to win another Cup than anything else. So while there may be a bidding war for their services this summer, a team could probably pick them up together for something in the area of a combined $6 million or $7 million.

Adding one of Kane or Toews would certainly help any team, but two of them as a package deal? Well, that could prove to be the piece that elevates a team from a fringe playoff team to a legitimate Cup contender. The line that separates elite teams is thinner than ever, after all.

Who knows – perhaps Kane and Toews go their separate ways. But maybe there’s a GM out there who recognizes an exciting opportunity when they see one and sells both veterans on the value of playing together once again. 

You don’t often get the chance to acquire potential Hall of Famers in hockey’s top league, but the chance to acquire two of them in one fell swoop has to be exceedingly tempting.

Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.

As the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers get ready to face off in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Canadiens fans can reminisce about what happened 32 years ago today. On June 9, 1993, the most storied franchise in the NHL won its 24th Stanley Cup.

The Habs posted a 4-1 win in the fifth and final game of the series. Paul DiPietro stole the show with two goals on a pair of assists from John LeClair, while Kirk Muller and Stephane Lebeau also beat Kelly Hrudey to seal the deal for Montreal.

McKeen’s Hockey Ranks Canadiens’ Prospect Pool First In The NHL
Should The Canadiens Enter The Nikolaj Ehlers Derby?
Canadiens: Potential First-Round Pick – Logan Hensler

Goaltender Patrick Roy was nearly flawless, surrendering a single goal on the 19 shots he faced, giving him a .947 save percentage. For the second time in his career, the netminder was also awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoffs MVP, having signed 16 wins on 20 games with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .929 SV.

What was even more impressive was that 10 of the 16 wins were achieved in overtime. The only extra time game Montreal lost that year was against the Quebec Nordiques in the first round of the playoffs. From that point on, the Canadiens and Roy became invincible in overtime.

The Habs dispatched the Nordiques in six games, swept the Buffalo Sabres in four tilts, vanquished the New York Islanders in five meetings before finishing the job against the Los Angeles Kings in the Cup final. It was the last time Montreal would get to win the biggest prize of them all, but it wasn’t for its star goaltender.

Three years later, after a mid-season trade to the Colorado Avalanche, Roy would raise the Cup as a member of the newly established Denver franchise. At that time, he didn’t win the MVP trophy. He would make history in 2001, winning his fourth Cup and his third Conn Smythe Trophy. To this day, he remains the only player to have won that honour three times, with two different teams.

Photo credit:  Jean-Yves Ahern-Imagn Images

Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story.  

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.

The NHL Combine in Buffalo last weekend did not do much to clear up the draft order of the 2025 draft in Los Angeles later this month.

Aside from the New York Islanderslikely selecting defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the first pick, top prospects, such as Michael Misa, Porter Martone, Caleb Desnoyers and James Hagens could all go anywhere from second to sixth overall, but the name shooting up the draft board in recent weeks has been Swedish center Anton Frondell.

The 18-year-old scored nearly 25 points in 29 games in the second-level Allsvenskan last season and enjoyed much of his success with fellow 2025 draft prospect Victor Eklund. The younger brother of San Jose Sharks left winger William Eklund hounded Djurgarden coach Robert Kimby to put the two friends together on the same line. 

"It's been pretty easy to play with Anton," Eklund said on Friday. "We didn't get to do it in the start of the season, but then we had to tell the coach that we needed to play (together), and I think we did pretty well. I just knew from the beginning that if we get the opportunity, we'll be the best (duo). We did pretty good, and the coach probably got sick of me asking, so they finally put us together."

When most of the Swedish prospects were asked to name the best player in this draft class they faced this season, they said the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Frondell, who compares his game to Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.

"We actually played against each other when we were young, and he played for Farjestad, Eklund said. "I remember playing him, and he actually made a move on me, like the puck between my legs. I just can't forget that. He says he doesn't remember that (to which Frondell later said he did). We've played against each other, but we really got to know each other when both of us started and played for Djurgarden."

Eklund is an exciting prospect in his own right, known for his speed, energy, and offensive creativity, and he is expected to go in the top 10. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound forward had 19 goals in 42 games this season and scored six points for Sweden in the 2025 world juniors.

"I don't think I've played with a player with so much energy," Frondell said about Eklund. "He wins every battle, even when we play against men... It's just easy for me to find the open spot."

Final 2025 NHL Draft Rankings: Ryan Kennedy's Top 100The 2025 NHL draft is fast approaching, and with that, it's time to drop some final rankings.

Both players indicated that they intend to return to Sweden next season and play for Djurgarden, which earned a promotion from Allsvenskan to the Swedish League, and are looking forward to playing together for at least one more season before going their separate ways in North America.

Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.