Grading Stars’ 2025 NHL Draft class

The Dallas Stars and general manager Jim Nill did not have a pick until the third round of the 2025 NHL Draft. Still, it may have been another stellar draft for the three-time winner of the Jim Gregory Award as the General Manager of the Year. Nill has made a habit of making great draft picks, and this year was no different.

Nill took over as the Stars’ GM in April of 2013. His draft history since then has been wonderful. In the 2013 draft, he would take Valeri Nichushkin, Jason Dickinson, and Nick Paul, all of whom have had solid NHL careers. In 2015, it would be a second-round pick that stole the show, as Roope Hintz was selected 49th overall. Miro Heiskanen, Jake Oettinger, and Jason Robertson would all join the franchise in the 2017 class. Even as recent as the 2021 Draft, Dallas has had highly successful picks. They took both Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven that year.

This year, Dallas did not have a first-round selection, as they used that pick to trade with the Sharks for Cody Ceci and Mikael Granlund. They also did not have their second rounder as part of a trade in 2023 with the Blackhawks.

The Stars get a steal in the 3rd round

Late in the third round, with the 94th overall pick, the Stars selected Cameron Schmidt. The winger from Canada has played the last three years with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL. His last two seasons with the Giants have been great. In the 2023-24 campaign, he played in 59 games, scoring 31 goals and adding 27 assists. Then, last year, he played 61 games, scoring 40 goals and adding 38 assists. His 40 goals led the team last year, while his 78 points were also a team high. Mock drafts had Schmidt as a potential first-round pick, but the Stars managed to get him at the end of the third.

He is a strong skater who has great speed. This has helped with the number of goals he is scoring. Further, he has a solid shot with a quick release, but can also score from most places in the offensive zone. Further, he competes with a high motor and an edge to his game. Still, there are some concerns that may have led to him slipping into the third round.

First, he will force plays. The Canadian is a big-time playmaker, but needs to learn when it is the right time to take a risk, and when he should not. The biggest concern is his size. At just over 5-foot-7, he is a small forward. Still, his style of play can overcome that. Martin St. Louis was just 5-foot-8 and 182 pounds, and he would go on to have a Hall of Fame career. There is a risk with this pick, but at the end of the third round, it was a perfect selection.

Brandon Gorzynski is another solid pick

In the fourth round, with the 126th overall selection, the Stars would take another player out of the WHL. Brandon Gorzynski is an American-born center and has played the last two seasons for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL. He is coming off a solid season this year. In 68 games, he would score 17 goals and add 25 assists. Further, he scored four goals and added four assists in 11 playoff games. He was projected as a late-second to third-round pick, but fell well into the fourth.

He has a large frame and is a solid support forward overall. The center works hard to win puck battles and chases the puck. He is great at getting into position in both the offensive and defensive zones. The American is a strong two-way forward overall, but does have some areas of his game he needs to improve. He struggles with puck control. Further, while he is willing to get into battles for the puck, he does not yet have the strength to win those battles. With his frame, he could add strength, which would only solidify his defensive game. Overall, this is a low-risk pick for potentially a high reward.

The rest of the Stars’ draft and final grade

Dallas would end up with two picks in the fifth round of the draft. The first one saw them take another center. They took a left-handed center out of Finland at pick 146 with Atte Joki. It was a solid year for the center with Lukko U20. He played 40 games with 15 goals and 17 assists. He has solid size and strength, while also protecting the puck well. Still, he is not an explosive skater and has shown some struggles in the offensive zone. While he could make it into the NHL at some point as a bottom-six forward, Joki is much more of a project player.

With the second pick of the fifth round, the Stars would take Mans Goos, a goalie out of Sweden. Goos has great size, coming in at 6-foot-5, and he uses it well. He takes up a lot of the net and uses a wide butterfly to take away shooting lanes. Even when he goes into the butterfly, his size allows him to still cover the top of the net. The Swede is also good at recovery and stopping second-chance opportunities. Still, he does not have a lot of quickness. This showed in the U18 World Championships when he played in two games. He also struggled when he was pressured up close to the net. While his natural ability is strong, he still has a lot of work to do to get to the NHL level.

In the sixth round, Dallas would return to taking forwards, selecting Dawson Sharkey out of the QMJHL. He scored 39 points in 54 games with Acadie-Bathurst last season. He is an average-level skater and does have some playmaking ability. Overall, though, this is a project pick in the sixth round. The same is true of Charlie Paquette, their seventh-round pick. Like many of the other forwards Dallas took, the Canadian from the OHL is a solid two-way forward overall. He was the assistant captain on his team last year and averaged nearly a point per game. Still, he is another project player who has natural size and strength, but has not fully developed his game.

Best Pick: Cameron Schmidt, 3rd round, 94th overall

Worst Pick: Atte Joki, 5th round, 146th overall

Dallas Stars Final Draft Grade: B