The 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft will be held June 27-28 at L.A. Live's Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The first round will be held June 27 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), with rounds 2-7 on June 28 (Noon ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, SN1). NHL.com is counting down to the draft with in-depth profiles on top prospects, podcasts and other features. Full draft coverage can be found here.
Matthew Schaefer and Roger McQueen each was limited by injuries to 17 games this season, but both said on the latest "NHL Draft Class" podcast that they will be taking part in the fitness testing at the NHL Scouting Combine.
Schaefer, a defenseman from Erie of the Ontario Hockey League who is No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, sustained a season-ending broken clavicle while playing for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship on Dec. 27.
"I'm cleared to do basically all [the testing]," Schaefer said on the podcast, recorded from the combine in Buffalo. "Just bench press and pull-ups that I'm not going to be able to do. ... But I'll be able to do everything else."
The testing will take place Friday and Saturday and includes two stationary bike tests, bench press, pull-ups, vertical jump, standing broad jump and a 20-yard shuttle run.
McQueen, a center with Brandon of the Western Hockey League who is No. 8 on Central Scouting's final ranking, was limited to 17 games because of a back injury. He said he's fully cleared to take part in all the testing.
On a scale of 1-10, McQueen said, "I'm at a 10, pain-free now, and there's no symptoms for the last while."
McQueen also went in-depth on his back injury and how it took so long to be correctly diagnosed, while Schaefer discussed a trip he had planned to meet with grieving children at the Western New York Compassion Connection and how important it was for him because of the death of his mother from breast cancer in February 2024.
"NHL Draft Class" is free, and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms, including iTunes and Spotify. It also is available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
