The 2025 NHL Draft starts Friday at Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The Winnipeg Jets have five picks, a first-round selection (28th overall), 3rd round selection (92nd overall), 5th round pick (156th overall), 6th round selection (188th overall) and a 7th round selection (220th overall). Jets reporter Jamie Thomas spoke with draft guru Chris Peters from FloHockey about last year’s draft and what to expect this weekend.
JT: With the NHL Draft just around the corner, let's start with a look back at what the Winnipeg Jets did last year, Chris, and we'll start with just four picks in 2024 beginning with Alfons Frij, their highest pick.
CP: I think that it's always tough. I think right after the draft you hope you're gonna see some progression. I think that there's still plenty of elements to like about Freij’s game and where he's going and what he's doing. In terms of production, in terms of overall output, it wasn't exactly an exciting year. It wasn't necessarily something to write home about, but now he's got an opportunity to build off of the experience that he gained. He will be at the World Junior Summer Showcase, which means he's on the radar to be on Team Sweden for the World Juniors.
JT: The remaining picks in rounds four through six, three players that played in the Canadian Hockey League last year, Kevin He, Markus Loponen and Kieron Walton. Walton had the best year statistically, did he stand out the most to you?
CP: I think that we saw progression with each of those players and with that you have Walton with the production that he had (38G, 92 pts), you're kind of blown away by that. It's just a really remarkable season for a player that you picked fairly late. So that's obviously incredibly impressive, but I think I also saw a progression from Kevin He. The skill is notable, but taking a step, not playing on the best team, still making an impact. That's a really solid thing to see in terms of where he's going next. And then Loponen, he made that transition to North American hockey. He was able to make an impact on a team that did better than expected this year in the WHL, was impactful that way and obviously now he'll similar to, Freij, he'll be in the mix to play for Finland's junior team this year, at the World Juniors.
JT: You’ve been busy for almost a year looking at the prospects for the 2025 NHL Draft, how would you describe the pool of players available?
CP: There's a lot of intrigue in this draft though because you have a lot of centers. You have a lot of guys with size. We're talking 6’4 and above. There is multiple 6' 6 defensemen, multiple 6'6 centers, so you've got this really interesting dynamic of players where if they hit, that’s a really valuable commodity. So, I think that the teams, this is where the scouts make their money. Everybody can make those first picks. You obviously have to get those ones right, but a lot of teams are going to find success in building through the middle rounds.
JT: From the start of the hockey season to the end of it and to where we are right now, it seems like Matthew Schaefer (Erie, OHL) has never left the top pick. After the World Juniors where he got hurt, he did not play. What is it that scouts love so much about this kid that has him remaining as the consensus top pick?
CP: The biggest thing to me is the potential. I think of all the players that we've talked about at the top of this draft, Matthew Schaefer is the one that projects most comfortably, I think, into the top of the lineup player, so a number one defenseman. On top of that, the injury (broken collarbone) is not something that is gonna be something that should linger. So, I don't think that there's any sense of risk there. The other thing that teams absolutely love about this guy is his character. I mean he is a mature young man. He's been through a lot in his life. He's handled it with such tremendous grace and strength, and he's got this just remarkable maturity, and I think that that speaks to a lot of teams. They say, ‘can this kid handle being the face of our franchise?’ I think he can.
JT: You don't see goaltenders go in the first round often. Why do scouts love Joshua Ravensbergen (Prince George, WHL) so much?
CP: Well, I think it's all the tools, he's got the size (6’5, 192). He's pretty solid. It is going to be really interesting to see going forward where everything ends up with him in terms of where he's going to be drafted. The other thing too is that I've actually heard from some teams that they do like some of the goalies in this draft, and there are actually a few teams that have the Russian goalies (Pyotr Andreyanov, Semyon Frolov) or at least one of them ahead of Ravensbergen on their list. I've heard that from a couple different places and you never know around this time of year, but to me I think Ravensbergen at least has that projection of a number one goalie.
JT: You can never have enough defensemen in your system. So, talk about two players, in particular, Blake Fiddler and Sascha Bouemedienne and how they could be a fit for the Winnipeg Jets, should they be available when Winnipeg comes up at 28.
CP: What I'd say is that I think Blake Fiddler has all the tools that you want in a potential top four defenseman, and he has the size, he has the skating ability. I think he's got pretty decent hockey sense. It's improving. I'd like to see him continue to work on that a little bit. His mobility is good. There's enough offense in his game, I don't think he's going to be a true point producer. Then he's also got the NHL bloodline (dad Vernon Fiddler). So, I think that's good. And his season got better as the year went on. I think he's going to be one of those players that is a bit more of a project, like you've got to continue working with him, but as you do, you'll have an opportunity to have a really great player. And then Sascha Boumedienne, he's one of the best skaters in the draft, period, for any position. He's got just remarkable four-way mobility. His edge work is fantastic. He has closing speed. He has the ability to retrieve pucks. The one thing that I think we want to see more of his decision making with the puck. If he can improve that a little bit, I think that that's an area where he would have some success, but the skating and the ability to retrieve and move pucks is going to be really important for him.
JT: As exciting as it would be to have either one of those two players drop to the Jets. What's a more realistic scenario for Winnipeg at 28 in your eyes?
CP: Well, I think there's a number of guys that should be there that'll be intriguing. I think Bill Zonnon (LW) out of Blainville-Boisbriand, he just got traded. But he's a guy that I think projects into a Jets style player. He's got some quickness, he's got that compete, but he's also got skill. I think he's got a decent size. He’s got to continue to tack on strength and build muscle and get in there. So, I think he's a, he's an interesting guy. Will Horcoff on the University of Michigan, obviously he's a Canadian US dual citizen too, so there's a little bit of that. With Will Horcoff, very much a Jets style player in terms of drives hard to the net, he's physical. I think he's really only scratching the surface, and the offensive upside is a little bit limited. I think it's probably going to be a bottom 6 forward at the next level, but to see him make the transition from the NTDP to college hockey, really fascinating, how he played better in college than he did at U18. I liked what I saw from him at Michigan, college guys were bouncing off of him, tremendous athletes, super strong, has good bloodlines obviously with Shawn Horcoff being his dad. He's fascinating. And another guy to kind of keep an eye out for a guy that might end up slipping into the second round, but he's got good scoring ability as Jacob Ihs-Wozniak (Uhlea U20 Sweden). I have him 29th on my draft list. He's got good enough speed. He competes, he gets to good areas. He's the kind of guy you want to pair with a playmaker because he's got good finishing ability, but he drives the net, gets to the interior, I think that the skill isn't dynamic, but he has scoring ability. So that's the guy that I would potentially look at late in the first round as an option of probably being a middle six scorer.
