Emptying the 2025 NHL Combine Notebook

Let’s start by talking about the player who most think will go first overall at the 2025 NHL Draft.

Schaefer Shines Bright

All eyes were on Matthew Schaefer this week. After deeming himself fully healed from a broken collarbone, he went out and completed most of the fitness testing on Saturday. He said he wasn’t doing the bench press or pull ups.

How did Schaefer do? He placed in the top-25 in the VO2 Max, Agility Right, Mean Power Output, Peak Power Output and Left & Right Hand Grip. That’s pretty good considering he hasn’t played in a game since leaving the World Junior Championships.

While Schaefer’s performance on the fitness testing was good, what he said to the media on Saturday shined like his personality. He’s a self-admitted talker. He loves to meet new people and always has something interesting to say.

Schaefer spent time in Buffalo at the Grief Awareness Center. It was important for him to spend time there. He was asked to reflect on that given everything he’s been through.

“It means a lot. I want to help people,” Schaefer said. “I’ve been through a lot. A lot of people may not know. I lost my billet mom due to suicide. I lost my mom two months after due to cancer. She battled for two years and I lost my owner when I was at the World Juniors. So a lot of tragedies in my life. Obviously, it makes me a lot stronger. If love could have saved them, they would have lived forever. That’s a good saying I go by. Everything happens for a reason in life…But I want to help people. A lot of people are going through this. People don’t realize how important grief centers are.”

“So for me to take time out of my schedule. My grad ceremony was that night but I would go to the grief center 10 times out of 10 over my grad or anything because it means a lot to me to be able to help people. There’s young kids that are going through tough times. A lot of people love to keep it in. I want to try to put their minds at ease in anyway and hopefully, they can come out and talk a bit more and help get their feelings off their chest because when they keep it in, they’re burning inside.”

Mature beyond their years is a phrase you hear used to describe certain prospects. Schaefer takes that to a whole new level. The New York Islanders have the chance to draft him first overall. A great defensive talent. A future captain. Much more. It would be stunning to see him passed over given everything he brings to the table.

The Sharks

The San Jose Sharks would love to draft Schaefer since they have a lot of young talent up front. However, the only way they can make that happen is if the Islanders pass on him or they complete a trade with the Islanders up to number one.

The James Hagens being drafted by his hometown team would be a great story. However, that doesn’t seem like the likely outcome. If Schaefer goes to the Islanders as many expect, the Sharks have a tough decision to make.

GM Mike Grier would consider moving the second pick if they get an overwhelming return. That’s an interesting tidbit. It suggests that there are enough similar players in that range in which one isn’t head and shoulders above the rest.

If the Sharks keep the pick, they’ll get a great player. Michael Misa could easily be the pick. Both Schaefer and Misa’s best friend Malcolm Spence want to see it. Hagens, Porter Martone and others could conceivably go here.

The key here is the separation from Schaefer to the best best defensive prospect. Most believe that’s Radim Mrtka. He could be available several spots later.

The question we need to consider is at what point do the Sharks separate making the pick at two versus trading it? Teams will have to pony up. But unlike in most years, it’s not out of the question to see top draft picks get dealt. Still, enough people think Misa to the Sharks second is a reasonable outcome if they keep the pick.

Blackhawks Locked Down

Good luck trying to figure out what the Chicago Blackhawks are thinking. Holders of the third pick, there are a variety of opinions I’ve heard about their potential course of action.

One important question to consider with them. Are they set at center right now given who they do have? Is their 1-2 combo down the middle Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar? If the answer is yes, then the top wingers come into play. If not, then anything’s possible.

One player who had glowing things to say about the Blackhawks was Martone. Here’s what he had to say when asked about them.

“I felt like I had a really good meeting with them,” Martone said. “They got a great thing going there. I’d be honored to be selected by the Blackhawks. You see the young core there. It’s gonna be something special in 5-10 years down the road. You really see them win the Stanley Cup.”

Martone played at the Men’s World Championships with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and many others. He called that “pretty special.”

“Not every 18-year old kid gets to say they can do that,” Martone said. “You get to be around Sidney Crosby for a month straight. You can’t put a price tag on that. I got to learn so much. I think I got a little bit of a one up. I was around NHL players for a month. Going into training camp, I definitely know what to expect.”

Martone says he tries to model himself after Corey Perry and Matthew Tkachuk. If that’s the kind of player he becomes, it would make perfect sense for the Blackhawks to take him third. Only time will tell if they agree with that assessment or not.

Utah Might Steal Show

Here’s where things get very interesting. The Utah Mammoth were one of the biggest topics going around the NHL Combine. They took many top prospects to dinner. But then at the same time, their pick fourth overall may be available too.

The Mammoth want to take the next step. They are very interested in adding now help to their roster after many years of building through the draft.

Given who the owners are and the desire to make a huge splash, the Mammoth are perhaps the the team to watch as we count down to Los Angeles. If they elect to make the pick, here’s the other major story that played out at the Combine.

This is perhaps where we could see someone like Brady Martin drafted.

Martin had dinner with four teams. They happen to be the teams holding picks 4-7. The Mammoth, the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins all treated him. There is overwhelming evidence he’ll be the player to potentially crash the top-5 party.

The Mammoth are set to steal the show by making a huge move or making a woah pick. Whatever it ends up being, don’t expect it to be boring.

Emptying the Notebook

From here on out, we’ll go rapid fire with different things that appeared in my notebook.