The Buffalo Sabres were slated to select near the top of the second round on day two of the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles, but they pulled off a trade sending the 39th overall pick and defenseman Connor Clifton to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Conor Timmins and minor leaguer Isaac Belliveau. 

The 30-year-old was a free agent signing of the Sabres in 2023 after spending his first five seasons with the Boston Bruins. The New Jersey native signed with Buffalo in part because of former head coach Don Granato, who coached him as part of the US National Development Program and potentially as a right-handed compliment to either Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power. In 152 games, Clifton had 34 points (5 goals, 29 assists) and played mostly on the bottom pairing.   

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Timmins, 26, was originally a second-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche who was traded to Arizona in a 2021 deal for goalie Darcy Kuemper. He was dealt the following year to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he played for nearly three seasons. At the 2025 trade deadline, the right-handed defenseman was sent to Pittsburgh. Belliveau, 22, was a 2021 fifth-round pick of the Penguins who has split time between the ECHL and AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the last two seasons.

The reason for the deal appears to be mostly financial, as Clifton was slated to earn $3.33 million in the final year of his three-year contract. Timmins is a larger right-handed defenseman, an arbitration-eligible RFA, coming off a 15-point season and in arbitration will undoubtedly make less than what Clifton is making.   

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Blake Fiddler Brings Size and Skill to Seattle Kraken.

June 28, 2025 - Blake Fiddler, an 18-year-old defenseman from the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings, was selected 37th overall by the Seattle Kraken in the 2025 NHL Draft. He was the 10th WHL player chosen and the first of the second round.

Standing at 6'5" and weighing 220 pounds, Fiddler is known for his size, mobility, and two-way game. Originally a forward, he transitioned to defense at age 10 and developed into a standout blue-liner. In his draft year, he led all Oil Kings defensemen with 33 points in 64 games and was ranked 26th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.

Internationally, Fiddler captained Team USA at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and played a key role at the 2025 U18 World Championship in his hometown of Frisco, Texas. The son of former NHLer Vernon Fiddler, Blake plays with physicality and poise but is still refining his consistency under pressure.

Related

Kraken Select Center Jake O'Brien with the Eighth Overall Selection in the 2025 NHL DraftLos Angeles - With the 8th overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Seattle Kraken have selected Jake O’Brien from the Brantford Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League. This marks the second year in a row that the Kraken have selected 8th overall, taking center Berkly Catton of the Spokane Chiefs in 2024.

Cover Photo by : CHL

EDMONTON – The cat’s out of the bag.

The Edmonton Oilers are in a pickle – and not the kind you slap on a burger.

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Stan Bowman has identified goaltending as one of the areas where improvement is needed. That’s easier said than done, especially when 31 other GMs know about.

But there is no question that the Oilers need an upgrade to either Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard.

For the sake of this article, we’ll focus on the NHL Edge data surrounding High Danger Save Percentage (HDSV%) and Mid-Range Save Percentage (MRSV%). We’ll look at what the league average is, what Skinner and Pickard have provided, and five different options that offer an upgrade for one of the two.

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Skinner, Pickard, And League Average Goaltending

According to the NHL Edge Data, the league average HDSV% was .803 while the average for MRSV% was .887. In the very least, one of their goaltenders should hit these benchmarks. If they had two goalies close to it (with at least one exceeding it) that should be the bare minimum.

Skinner had a HDSV% of .791 while Pickard’s was .794. Skinner had a MRSV% of .902 while Pickard’s was .866. Only Skinner’s MRSV% was higher than league average. For the Oilers to have more reliable goaltending in the regular season and playoffs, they need more consistent performers in these metrics.

Three Back-Up Goalie Upgrades

One strategy the Oilers could employ is to replace Pickard. The likliest way this happens is acquiring another low-cost goaltender who will either push Pickard to perform better, or out-perform him and force him down the depth chart.

Ideally, this is also a goaltender who could play up to 40 games, serving as a potential 1B to Skinner’s 1A, should history repeat itself.

Casey DeSmith

Casey DeSmith is currently serving backup to the Dallas Stars starting phenom netminder, Jake Oettinger. He’s made a career of this, with 33 starts being his career-high from the 2022-23 season. 

In 2024-25, he recorded an .834 HDSV% and a .933 MRSV%. Both of these numbers look fantastic on paper. He had similar numbers two years ago despite having a significantly worse Goals Against Average and overall save percentage.

Alex Lyon

At the time of this writing, the Detroit Red Wings have not re-signed goalie Alex Lyon. It’s entirely possible that they won’t, especially with Petr Mrazek and Cam Talbot already the more experienced veterans under contract.

If Lyon is a free agent, he could be a low-cost addition that can push to work in tandem with Skinner. Lyon started 26 games this past season and 43 games the year prior. He finished the most recent season with a HDSV% of .807 and a MRSV% of .910.

Jake Allen

Jake Allen had a great season serving as backup to Jacob Markstrom for the New Jersey Devils. He finished the year with a HDSV% of .801 and a MRSV% of .938. While his high-danger number was a touch below average, overall he exceeded league average.

The only problem with Allen as a potential suitor is that he is the belle of this year’s free agent goaltending ball – who will have no shortage of team’s calling his representation to swoon him to their organization.

Two Starter Upgrades

These two goaltenders are players who could replace Skinner. They could also replace Pickard and potentially force Skinner to serve as a backup (or 1B).

Joseph Woll

Joseph Woll has been a solid goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last year, he recorded a .809 HDSV% to go along with a .912 MRSV%. The year previous, he posted a .829 HDSV% and a .919 SV%. Woll started 41 games this past season and 23 the season before.

The tricky thing here is that a trade would need to be executed between the two teams. That might be difficult to execute when the Maple Leafs don’t have a star goaltender waiting in the wings.

Ilya Sorokin

The ultimate goaltedning upgrade the Oilers could conceive is acquiring Ilya Sorokin from the New York Islanders.

Sorokin burst onto the scene in 2020-21. Outside of that rookie season, where he only started 21 games, he’s started in at least 52 games in the four seasons after.

He’s had two down years since his Vezina-Finalist season in 2022-23. Despite the last two seasons being down years by Sorokin’s standard’s, they would be better than the goaltending the Oilers have gotten.

In 2023-24, Sorokin had a HDSV% of .828 and a MRSV% of .879. Last year, he had an .828 HDSV% (again) to go along with a .890 MRSV%. The biggest positive with these results is the consistent HDSV%.

However, prying Sorokin from the cold-dead-hands of the Islanders is a monumental task. To get a trade like that completed most likely means that the Oilers would need to part with at least one of their best prospects, one or two first-round draft picks, and Skinner.

Luckily for the Oilers, they have the next couple of months to figure out how to get out of this untasty pickle they find themselves in.

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A day after selecting Seattle Thunderbirds captain Braeden Cootes 15th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Vancouver Canucks have made their second pick. Selecting 47th overall and 15th in the second round, the Canucks picked goaltender Alexei Medvedev. 

Medvedev played in his first season with the London Knights of the OHL this past season, starting 34 of their games and winning 22 of them. He posted a 2.79 GAA and .912 SV% as well as three shutouts. He is 6’3 and catches left. 

Prior to joining the Knights, Medvedev spent a season with the St. Thomas Stars of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. He registered a .904 SV% and a 4.00 GAA in 28 games played, putting up a starting record of 11–15–0. In the playoffs, he played in five games and had a .918 SV%. 

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As of writing, the Canucks have four selections remaining in this draft. They will pick 65th overall (first in the third round), 143rd overall (15th in the fifth round), 175th overall (15th in the sixth round), and 207th overall (15th in the seventh round).

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

After acquiring Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders on Friday, Montreal Canadiens’ GM Kent Hughes got right back to work on Saturday Morning. The Habs had two picks in the second round, picks 41 and 49 overall, but the Canadiens’ brass felt like it was unlikely their man would still be there then.

As a result, Kent Hughes sent both of these picks to the Carolina Hurricanes for their 34th overall pick and swooped in to select a 6-foot-1 and 163-pound right winger from Russia, Alexander Zharovsky.

Last week, we reported that the Canadiens were attending the Gold Star showcase in Florida to meet the youngster. After his selection, the Canadiens’ communication department told us they wouldn’t be organizing a Zoom call with the forward because his English is very limited. This means he will have another aspect to develop, in addition to putting up muscle.

This is where Nick Bobrov’s connections in Russia pay off. Zharovsky possesses an impressive mix of skills and talent, and while there’s still some significant development to be made, he has a very high ceiling if he fulfills his potential.

It’s a gamble, but if it pays off, it will have been very much worth sacrificing a second-round pick. This is precisely why the Canadiens have been accumulating several assets, allowing them to move up when they felt it was warranted.

It’s going to take some time before we see if the gamble pays off. Still, if it does, Ivan Demidov could have a countryman to play alongside too, and by then, the Habs’ rookie would be well accustomed to Montreal, the people, the market, and the show, making him a perfect guide for Zharovsky.

More than a countryman actually, TVA Sports' Anthony Martineau reported that Zharovsky is Demidov's childhood friend and that he's knows the Canadiens rookie since he was eight years old. When Martineau spoke to him, he had just hung up with Demidov who called to congratulate him, the two are very excited at the thought of playing together down the line. For now though, Zharovsky has a valid contract in Russian until the end of May 2027.

Photo credit: Eric Bolte - Imagn Images 

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Flyers draft 6-foot-4, righty-shot defenseman in fifth round originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — With their second of two fifth-round picks in the 2025 NHL draft Saturday afternoon, the Flyers took Luke Vlooswyk.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound, righty-shot defenseman went 157th overall. He was the 72nd-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, climbing 37 spots from his midterm mark of 109th.

Matthew Gard, Vlooswyk’s teammate with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels, was drafted by the Flyers in the second round.

(More coming…)

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• Flyers open second round of NHL draft 2025 with 6-foot-6 defenseman

• Flyers add a U.S. forward with some positional versatility in second round

• Busy second round continues with a teammate of a Flyers prospect

• Flyers grab another big center to wrap up four picks in second round

• Finnish winger who made impressive second-half climb goes to Flyers in fifth round

1. There actually is a bright side to the Rangers doing nothing in the First Draft Round. Over the years the Blueshirts have scored big in the lower rounds.

2. Past "finds" include Henrik Lundqvist, Igor Shesterkin and Will Cuylle.

3. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that Cuylle should be the next Blueshirt captain. (And please don't annoy The Maven about Willing Willie being "too young.")

4. Come to think of it, there may be a couple of Rangers who still haven't grown up.

5. And speaking about "up," MSGers are getting taller by the season; and I don't mean The Twin Giraffes, Matt Rempe and Adam Edstrom.

6. My V.P. Of Hidden Information, Jess Rubenstein, reports that the Blueshirts farm system tops off with 6-7 Dylan Roobroeck at a mere 6-7. Ditto, Nathan Aspinal. Then there's "Lowly" Jaroslav Chmelar at a mere 6-5.

7. No question but that the Islanders hit the jackpot with a hat trick of first round Draft picks –  No. 1, defenseman Matthew Schaefer, a huge winner, as well as a couple of other gems – forward Victor Eklund plus blue liner Kashawn Aitcheson.

8. New Isles hockey boss Mathieu Darche also did a near Reverse Pot Of Gold by unloading overrated Noah  Dobson.

9. NHL Wraparound's Vic Morren on Schaefer: "His maturity level is advanced well beyond his peers."

10. That the Canadiens are now paying Dobber for eight years and at an average of $9.5 million proves something about the Habs' scouting failures. When it comes to the ex-Islander, the Montreal bird dogs must have stars in their eyes – but not on the ice! Bluntly put, Dobson is just NOT THAT GOOD!

11. Hauppauge's pride and joy  James Hagens, rates the P.R. medal for talking up his desire to be picked by the Islanders. But as NHL Roundabout's Neil Smith puts it: "You absolutely DO NOT draft a player so high up because he's local."

Impertinent Thoughts On Pertinent Draft Day Subjects1. If I'm Islanders rookie GM Mathieu Darche, my first overall Draft pick tonight will be defenseman Matthew Schaefer, 17, out of Erie.

12. Some of the VERY BEST news has been overshadowed by the Draft – the NHL's and NHLPA's new pact that will assure labor peace for five more years.

13. Kudos to Gary Bettman, Bill Daly and union leader Marty Walsh for making this happen. NHL labor relations never looked better; nor do The Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner.

14. Until there's a bulletin telling us otherwise, the Rangers remain stuck with K'Andre Miller. The question: can GM Chris Drury ever make a decent deal for the defenseman?

15. The Blue Jackets did a good thing when the club designated Meredith Gaudreau to make the club's Draft selection at #14. Meredith thanked the hockey world for its support.  (The hockey world always comes through!)

The Winnipeg Jets have re-signed defenceman Haydn Fleury to a two-year contract. 

The deal will be worth $950K per season and is of the one-way variety, meaning the 28-year-old would require to be passed through Waivers should be sent down by Winnipeg. 

Skating in his first season with the Jets in 2024-25, the Carlyle, SK. product put up seven assists in his 39 regular season games. Often serving as the seventh defenceman, Fleury was able to work his way into the favour of head coach Scott Arniel through his strong skating, puck-moving abilities and offence-first mentality. 

A former seventh overall selection of the Carolina Hurricanes (2014), Fleury stepped up his play in the postseason when called upon due to various injuries. With Logan Stanley, Colin Miller and Ville Heinola also downgraded due to the Luke Schenn deadline addition, Fluery elevated his play and served as regular third-pairing defender. 

His best showing came in Game 7 of the first round vs. St. Louis when Winnipeg's top defenceman Josh Morrissey went down with an injury early. A steady diet of Neal Pionk and Fleury followed. 

In 307 career games for the Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken, Tampa Bay and Winnipeg, the 6-foot-4, 208-pound rearguard has 10 goals, 44 points and 85 penalty minutes. 

Winnipeg still has contracts for Nikolaj Ehlers, Gabe Vilardi, Morgan Barron, Dylan Samberg, Mason Appleton and Brandon Tanev to sort out before all players hit free agency on July 1. 

Full list of every Bruins pick from 2025 NHL Draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

It will take a few years before we can accurately judge the quality of the Boston Bruins’ 2025 draft class. But in the short term, at least on paper, it appears the Bruins did pretty well over the last two days in Los Angeles.

The Bruins very much needed to bolster their talent and depth at center in this draft, so it wasn’t surprising to see them select centers with their first two picks.

The B’s were fortunate that Boston College star James Hagens — the No. 1 ranked prospect in the 2025 class before the season — fell to them at No. 7. He tallied 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games for the Eagles last season and projects to be a top-six center at the NHL level.

Boston selected another center — William Moore — with the No. 51 overall pick in Round 2. Some experts had Moore ranked as a top-35 prospect in this class, so the Bruins getting him at No. 51 was pretty good value.

The Bruins’ other second-round pick was Swedish defenseman Liam Pettersson at No. 61 overall. He is a good offensive player and moves the puck well, but he has plenty of room for improvement defensively.

The Bruins’ third-round pick was left wing Cooper Simpson, whose 49 goals in 31 games led all Minnesota high school players last season. He has committed to the University of North Dakota.

Boston added another d-man in Vashek Blanar with the No. 100 overall pick in the fourth round. He has tremendous size at 6-foot-4 and 183 pounds.

The B’s took another center in the fifth round with the selection of Cole Chandler at No. 133 overall. Chandler tallied 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) in 64 games for the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL last season.

The Bruins’ final pick at No. 165 overall in the sixth round was Russian center Kirill Yemelyanov, bringing the total number of centers drafted by Boston to four.

The Bruins made at least one pick in each of the first three rounds of the draft. The last time they did that was 2015. With seven players taken, this draft class is the Bruins’ largest since 2021 (also seven players).

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney also made two trades Saturday. He dealt the No. 69 pick to the Montreal Canadiens for the No. 79 and No. 108 picks. He then traded the No. 108 pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2026 fourth-rounder.

The full list of the Bruins’ 2025 draft picks is below:

With  Brock Nelson re-signing and numerous unrestricted free agents the Colorado Avalanche can re-sign, how high does Jonathan Drouin rank in terms of importance to the Avalanche?

Initially joining the team for the 2023-24 season, just above the NHL league minimum at $825,000, his first season was a success. In 79 games played, he finished with 19 goals and 37 assists for 56 points, totals not reached since his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens early in his career.

The following offseason, he initially accepted a one-year “prove it” deal, which led him to turn down numerous long-term offers to stay with the Avalanche and his good friend, Nathan MacKinnon, and remain with a competitive Avalanche team in a beneficial top-six role.

Unfortunately, after a season filled with disappointing performances and injuries that kept him off the ice, he finished with 11 goals and 26 assists for 37 points in 43 games. Although that isn’t a “bad” statline to finish with, barring injuries and all, it's just not enough for many teams to offer long-term value on any pending contracts, including the Avalanche.

For Drouin, injuries have been a significant factor over the past couple of seasons. He has only played over 60 games once since the 2018-19 season, when he last played 81 games with the Montreal Canadiens. He turns 31 next season, and given the team's current construction, his play may no longer align with the team's needs.

Outside of another cheap deal, and Gabriel Landeskog back, he doesn't fit into the top six anymore. Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen, Valeri Nichushkin, and Landeskog are your locks for top-six wingers, and Drouin's play doesn't mesh well with the bottom-six. 

The Avalanche had $1.2 million in cap space available for use. He could have taken another low-cost deal and hoped that next season he would stay healthy and produce well, allowing him to secure a larger contract the following offseason. However, could that cap space be better utilized elsewhere in the lineup? If you are going to pay $1-2 million for a winger, it could be better spent on someone who can play on the penalty kill and be more defensively responsible. 

Even now, with the Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets, which freed over $7 million in cap space, is a return still on the table? Does this move reopen the door for MacFarland and Sakic to return to talks and see if they can get him back for another year or two while still having more cap space to re-sign other pending UFAs? The Avalanche has some work to do now with their bottom-six after Coyle and Woods' departure, adding on top of Logan O’Connor going to miss the start of the season, rehabbing from hip surgery. 

Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood Traded to Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado Avalanche Get Picks and Prospect Gavin Brindley in ReturnDenver, Colo. - With just $1.2 million in cap space, the Colorado Avalanche were slated to head into this year's free agency period with a bit of a handicap.

As it stands now, the Avalanche are looking to deploy forwards Parker Kelly, Ross Colton, and Jack Drury in their bottom-six. Barring any signings, you now start looking at Colorado Eagles players to fill out the rest of the lineup, such as Nikita Prishchepov, Taylor Makar, and Ivan Ivan. Or even Zhakar Bardakov, who signed a one-year ELC with the team this past April, and someone MacFarland spoke about being an option for the bottom-six.

When talking about rounding out the #GoAvsGo bottom-six, MacFarland did name 2024 trade acquisition Zhakar Bardakov as a potential option.

Says he’s excited to see what he can do in a training camp setting.

— Bailey Curtis (@baileyycurtis) June 28, 2025

When players like Nichushkin, Landeskog, and Lehkonen were sidelined, Drouin performed well next to MacKinnon in the top six. He effectively used his playmaking skills and a surprisingly good shot. However, with the top six now healthy heading into the next season, is Drouin even necessary for the team? MacFarland could benefit more from building a strong, defensively sound bottom six.

If Drouin returns, he could provide insurance for the top six forward spots. However, his struggles to perform on the third line during the postseason raised many concerns. It’s not wise to invest in top-six insurance if that player is ineffective when placed in the bottom six. 

Colorado Avalanche Announce Dates for 2025 Rookie Showcase and Prospect Development CampColorado Avalanche PR announced on Monday afternoon that the organization will be hosting the 2025 Rookie Showcase. This is a showcase that cycles around the league, giving the prospects in participating organizations a chance to shine.

The new decentralized format for the 2025 NHL Draft didn't quite go as planned on Friday night. And that's putting it mildly.

This year, they opted for several new angles, including NHL executives and scouts staying at home, while letting special guests announce their selections for them at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Presumably, it was a move designed to save money, and whether it accomplished that or not, there are a lot of reasons Friday night's first-round format presentation should never be repeated.

Like, ever.

Credit where credit is due. The venue and the set looked beautiful on TV with an amazing backdrop.

Now here comes the, um, constructive criticism.

Awkward,  uninteresting video conference calls

The NHL relied on team executives and a nervous, excited 18-year-old kid to effectively carry half the broadcast, to be broadcasters or hosts, able to carry on a compelling conversation that’s worthy of being televised.

Fans may have wondered in the past what is said in a player's first meeting with his team. After half a dozen picks, the answer was clear: there is nothing interesting being said. It was like a boy meeting his girlfriend's dad for the first time. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.

Sometimes the conversation got so awkward, the reporter would ask the special guest what they thought, which was good news for The Goo Goo Dolls, who were called in from the bullpen during the Buffalo Sabres chat.

Check One, Check, Check. Hey, Can You Guys Hear Me?

I'm not sure what setup they were using to facilitate the video conference calls, but there was one technical glitch after another. Even when the feed was working and everyone could hear each other, there was an echo throughout.

The audio didn't work at all for some teams, including the Senators. When the camera cut to the Senators' feed with no audio, Senators owner Michael Andlauer didn't appear very happy. Hopefully, the glitch doesn’t cost him a draft pick.

You've Been Blocked

The other big technical glitch was fixed when they finally moved the camera. For the first few selections, the player was standing where he completely blocked our view of the NHL executives on the big screen.

Not-So-Special Guests

We live in a celebrity culture, so it's easy to understand why the league thought this might spice things up. For three reasons, it did not.

First of all, many of them couldn't be there and did a Zoom call to make the pick. Not a huge deal, if it's still done well, like the late Alex Trebek in 2020.

Secondly, many of the guests were less famous than the NHL general managers or owners they were representing.

Finally, very few of the special guests put any thought or preparation into it, certainly very few did anything that would be considered an upgrade on what the GM could have done from his home city.

Some of them slaughtered pronunciations—like Tony Finau with his mention of the "Monk-toon" Wildcats. Charles Barkley is always entertaining, but he seemed to think he was Zooming into Gary Bettman's podcast or something, to the point where Bettman had to remind him it's time to make the pick.

Some of them did okay. Adam Sandler Zoomed in with his Happy Gilmore routine, which was sort of fun. Raunchy comedian Nikki Glaser told a funny joke about Brett Hull and his beer-fueled "We Went Blues" chant at the 2019 Cup celebration. 

But most viewers might have preferred an extra 60 seconds of draft analysis from the panel.

At the very least, the league needs to do a better job of vetting who the special guests are and what they're planning. If it's not interesting in some way, just let the GMs make a straightforward pick.

Gary’s Walk-a-thon

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman got a great workout. For every pick, we had to watch him make the 80-foot expedition to the center-stage microphone just to bring on the special guest, even though he could have done so from the podium and second microphone to the left of the stage. Once the pick was made, everyone could make the walk to centre stage  then. We're waiting on the player to arrive from the stands anyway.

I'm not here to bury innovation or new ideas simply because they're different. These just didn't work.

The Sens aren’t scheduled to have a first-round pick next year, so fans may not care that much, but here’s hoping we get back to the standard draft format in 2026.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News/Ottawa
Banner image credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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The Buffalo Sabres were willing to trade their first-round pick at the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday for immediate help, but in the end did what many mock drafts projected them to do, going with the second-highest ranked defenseman after top pick Matthew Schaefer with Seattle Thunderbirds defenseman Radim Mrtka with the ninth overall pick. 

The 18-year-old Czech blueliner offers an intriguing physical package at 6’6”, 218 lb. with excellent skating ability. After getting limited playing time in various levels in Czechia last season and playing for his country in the Under-18s, Mrtka came to North America to play in the WHL and posted 35 points (3 goals, 32 assists) in 43 games with the Thunderbirds.  

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"Mrtka (offers a) very unique package to be able to move the way he does at 6'6", (is) almost more agile with the puck, if that's possible," Sabres Asst GM Jerry Forton said on Tuesday. "A smart player at both ends. I was over in Czechia early in the year when he wasn't getting a lot of playing time in the men's league over there to see what he was willing to do to move to North America. He comes from a background where he has very little in the way of resources for hockey or anything outside hockey. He uprooted, high character kid, a huge ceiling."

The Sabres were also intrigued by the big defenseman being a right-handed complement to Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power down the line, but that will likely not be for a few years, since most draft analysts consider him a raw talent that will need at some time to hone his skills. 

 "With these young players, they take time. You don't want to rush them," Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said after the first round. Philosophically, I always feel like they'll tell us when they're ready, and then you make room. If that means right away, it's great. If it means a year, two years, three years, you just don't know, but there's a, there's a good player there and we project him as a top four right-shot defenseman whenever that time comes, we'll see."

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