Inside the NHL Mock Draft 2025: Why Matthew Schaefer Could Be the Islanders’ Game-Changer No One Saw Coming

5. Nashville Predators: James Hagens, C, Boston College

Soo Greyhounds center Brady Martin fits the competitive archetype the Predators covet, and I think he’s in play as early as here, but how long have they been waiting for a premium skill forward in Smashville? This is the highest Nashville has picked since it drafted Seth Jones fourth a dozen years ago, and now the Preds get their next American star and the most talented forward they’ve ever drafted. — Scott Wheeler

6. Philadelphia Flyers: Anton Frondell, C, Djurgården (SWEDEN-2)

The Flyers dropping two spots in the lottery wasn’t ideal, but they’re fortunate that the draft is deep at their position of need: center. So, we’ll go with the best available one still on the board here in Frondell, giving the Flyers a couple of potential top-six pivots in their system (including Jett Luchanko, who they nabbed a year ago). The hope will be that at least one of them meshes long term with promising young winger Matvei Michkov. The Flyers once picked a Swede in the sixth-overall spot, too: a guy by the name of Peter Forsberg in 1991.  — Kevin Kurz

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15