Joshua Ravensbergen is the top netminder available in the 2025 draft

You can never have too many goalies.

The best goalie available in the 2025 draft is North Vancouver, British Columbia native Joshua Ravensbergen. There’s a chance he could be available late in the first round or even in the second round.

Let’s take a look at what the 18-year-old netminder has to offer!

Scouting report

Ravensbergen was born on Nov. 27, 2006, in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Two things immediately stand out about the netminder. For starters, he stands at 6’5”, 190 lb, but more interestingly, he’s a rare right-handed catching netminder. Only a handful of netminders in the National Hockey League catch right-handed, two of whom are on the Washington Capitals.

In late April, Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis ranked the netminder 26th overall, the top-ranked draft-eligible goaltender. Here’s what he had to say about Ravensbergen.

“Most scouts believe Ravensbergen is first-round bound. And there’s no shortage of teams that should use a pick on the highly touted goalie prospect. At 6-foot-5, he has incredible size, great athleticism, and a calm demeanour. Package that together, and he’s an intriguing prospect. His numbers aren’t fantastic by any means, but he snagged wins consistently on a team that would be in a lot more trouble if he didn’t have their back. Look for Ravensbergen to become an NHL starter one day.”

In Dobber Prospects’ update in late March, Ravensbergen ranked as their 38th-best draft prospect, with Austin Kelly having this to say about the 18-year-old.

“Coming off an absolutely dominant D-1 in which Ravensbergen established himself as the number one starter on a dominant Prince George team, Ravensbergen has cooled off a bit this season. However, he’s still one of the top netminders available in this draft. He’s a mobile 6’5 netminder with good athleticism and awareness of the puck. Relatively calm, Ravensbergen doesn’t let in a lot of bad shots but has also let a few games get the best of him.

However, with only four right-handed NHL goalies like Ravensbergen, it begs the question, will he be an exception and become something increasingly rare in the modern NHL?”

Lastly, Jason Bukala of Sportsnet ranked Ravensbergen as his 25th-best draft prospect in a late-March update. This is what he had to say about the netminder.

“Ravensbergen is an athletic goalie who is big in his net. He plays a butterfly style, has very good feet and tracks the play on time moving laterally. His length provides him an opportunity to make second saves that some smaller goalies aren’t capable of reaching. I appreciate how aggressive Ravensbergen is challenging shooters at the top of his crease, especially when he fights to find pucks directed on net through traffic. He’s the top-rated goaltender in the draft class.”

The numbers

Ravensbergen started his Western Hockey League career in 2023-24 with the Prince George Cougars. At one point, he was teammates with Flames prospect Hunter Laing before the centre was traded to the Saskatoon Blades.

The netminder had a better season in 2023-24 than he did this past season. Last season, Ravensbergen played 38 games, posting a .907 save percentage and 2.46 goals against average, with a 26-4-2 record. He played 12 post-season games that season, recording a spectacular .931 save percentage and 1.98 goals against average as the Cougars were eliminated in the Western Conference Finals.

In 2023-24, Ravensbergen split the crease with Vancouver Canucks draft pick Ty Young, but the crease belonged to him in 2024-25 as Young turned professional. This past season, Ravensbergen had a .901 save percentage and 3 goals against average in 51 games, finishing the season with a 33-13-4 record. In seven post-season games, Ravensbergen had an .896 save percentage and 3.60 goals against average as the Cougars fell to the Portland Winterhawks in Game 7.

Availability and fit

It’s clear that Ravensbergen is the best netminder available in the 2025 draft, but the question is, do the Flames need him, and would he even be available when they pick?

The latter is the easier question to answer, as it seems that the 18-year-old netminder will be available in the backend of the first round or early in the first round. The Flames could use the pick they got from the Florida Panthers to select him.

With that being said, Ravensbergen isn’t really a fit for the Flames because Dustin Wolf is only 24 years old. Who knows what the future holds for Wolf (hopefully a lot of success), but drafting a netminder who is still half a decade away with a first-round pick would be a poor use of resources given bigger needs, namely at centre.

On top of that, the Flames have some goaltending prospects already, with Arsenii Sergeev turning professional after dragging Penn State to the Frozen Four. They also signed Notre Dame netminder Owen Say, who had a .920 save percentage and 2.82 goals against average in 27 games last season. That doesn’t even mention Yegor Yegorov and Kirill Zaurbin, two netminders playing in Russia.

If there’s a netminder available in the latter rounds, say Burke Hood of the Vancouver Giants, that’s where the Flames would pick a goalie.