Top North American goalie prospects discussed ahead of 2025 NHL Draft

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. Today, a look at the top-eligible North American goalies in a Q&A with Al Jensen of NHL Central Scouting. Full draft coverage can be found here.

Joshua Ravensbergen is plenty motivated entering the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft.

That's because the 18-year-old goalie with Prince George of the Western Hockey League could be the first player at his position to be selected after not being chosen among the 214 picks, including 24 goalies, in the 2021 WHL bantam draft.

"For sure it was something that motivated and helped me get to this point," Ravensbergen said. "It kind of opened my eyes to how hard you have to work in the summers. Before my [WHL] draft year I kind of took summers off. But I was really [upset] that I wasn't selected; I really wanted to play in the WHL. So I skated as much as possible, worked out a lot more too. I was on the ice two, sometimes three times a day. It might have been a little too much looking back at it, but it definitely helped me turn the corner."

Ravensbergen (6-foot-5, 191 pounds), No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American goalies, was 33-13-4 with a 3.00 goals-against average and .901 save percentage in 51 games.

"I enjoy pressure; pressure is a privilege," Ravensbergen said. "You got to learn how to handle it. As long as you don't make it become too big of a thing in your mind and you are able to handle it, then you can kind of turn it into excitement."

Ravensbergen has "a lot of NHL potential", according to NHL Central Scouting's Al Jensen.

"I think he's got a good chance to be drafted in the first round," Jensen said. "Any NHL goalie coach would love to work with him, especially with what he's got."

Why does Ravensbergen think he should be chosen in the opening round?

"I like to think of myself as a winner," he said. "The last three seasons, I feel like my regular-season record is pretty good. It helps having a couple really good teams in front of you, but at the same time, I want to win games. I want to help my teammates out. I'd say that's something that helps me in the game."

There were 24 goalies chosen in the 2024 NHL Draft, including five in the second round: Ilya Nabokov to the Colorado Avalanche (No. 38), Mikhail Yegorov (New Jersey Devils, No. 49), Carter George (Los Angeles Kings, No. 57), Evan Gardner (Columbus Blue Jackets, No. 60), and Eemil Vinni (Edmonton Oilers, No. 64).

To break down many of the top-eligible North American goalies in the 2025 draft, here are five questions with Jensen:

This seems to be a good year for draft-eligible goalies. How do you feel about the class?

"There are quite a few goalies that are going to have a chance to play in the NHL someday. Entering the season I wasn't sure, but as the season wore on and especially in the second half, I could see some good quality goalies. I like the list that we put together."

Lucas Beckman (6-1, 182) of Baie-Comeau in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League moved to No. 2 on the final goaltender ranking from No. 3 at the midterm. Why?

"It's his consistent compete. He gives his team a chance every single night. I like his quickness, his athleticism, and he's one of those goalies who's very reliable and gives his team a chance to win every night. He gets around the crease quickly, efficiently. He's smart, reads when to challenge, and reads the one-time plays really well. He played 52 games in the regular season with a .914 save percentage. You can tell he's got a big heart just by the way he competes so hard every night."

Jack Ivankovic (5-11, 173) of Brampton in the Ontario Hockey League is the only player among the top 20 North American goalies under 6-foot tall. But he had so much success this season. When teams look beyond the height, what are they seeing?

"He's not above 6-foot, but he plays bigger than some of the 6-foot-2 goalies because of the way he plays. He's smart in his positional play and that's what it's all about, because sometimes the big goalies sag deep in the crease and open up when they move laterally. He's pretty compact, and with his smarts, his quickness and athleticism. He'll probably have to do the same thing Dustin Wolf did with the Calgary Flames to get his chance, but in my eyes there's no doubt that he'll be able to do that."

Michal Pradel (6-4, 195) began the season in Slovakia and was No. 8 on Central Scouting's International list of goalies at the midterm release in January. He played well for Tri-City after making the move to the United States Hockey League in January and is No. 3 on the North American goalie ranks. What impressed you in the second half?

"When I first saw him in January, I could tell he was just getting a feel for the North American style, but he already plays like a North American goalie. He's got such a presence in the net. He started to wow me as I kept watching him. He's well-balanced, smart in challenging, and has that calmness and poise in the net. He doesn't let any bad goals or bad games get him down. His mechanics are exceptional, great butterfly, keeps his glove up, his body upright to protect the top corners. He had a good showing for Slovakia at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship. An NHL team would love to have and be able to work with him since he's got a lot to offer."

Can you give us a sleeper you feel could be drafted at some point and become a serviceable NHL goalie down the road?

"There's a kid playing in Lone Star of the North American Hockey League who I really like, Ryan Cameron (6-foot, 180). He's smart, quick, and his compete and crease movements are solid. He's got a powerful leg drive for his lateral mobility and has good post-to-post ability. He's good at challenging, is quick up and down, and well-balanced. He's just above that 6-foot mark, but if teams followed him and watched him, they'd see this kid is a quality goalie. I hope he gets drafted because I've been very impressed with the way he plays, and I like his skill level."