Top prospects for 2025 Draft arrive in Buffalo for Scouting Combine

The 2025 NHL Scouting Combine presented by Fanatics is taking place this week at KeyBank Center and LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo. The combine will allow NHL teams an opportunity to conduct interviews and provide physical and medical assessments of the top prospects eligible for the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft. NHL.com will bring you all the sights and sounds.

BUFFALO -- Matthew Schaefer, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, has 16 scheduled interviews this week at the NHL Scouting Combine.

Equally important to the defenseman with Erie of the Ontario Hockey League was a discussion with peers and younger players on Monday afternoon during a visit to the Western New York Compassion Connection Grief Center.

He takes great pride as a spokesperson for grieving children and teenagers wherever he goes, understanding the value of being able to help others in times of tragedy.

Schaefer lost his mother, Jennifer, to breast cancer in February 2024, three months after his billet mother, Emily Matson, died.

"I just want to be a good person ... I’ve been through a lot and I want to help other people," Schaefer said. "I've been through a lot of things that other people haven't, and these kids have gone through some of the similar things and we're in the same category. I was really excited to talk to them and hopefully change their minds a bit on some things, coping with things like this. My mental mindset, I just want to be able to talk about my mom a lot and people I've lost and just be happy.

"I want to bring on the legacy that she had and the amazing person she was."

In addition to helping others, the 17-year-old left-handed shot is looking forward to what the Scouting Combine has to offer this week.

"The thing I'm looking forward to at the combine is being with friends that you've battled or played with all season, being able to just be with them once again for a week," Schaefer said. "I think the biggest thing is being able to talk to NHL teams. It's all about creating relationships and seeing people you have talked to throughout the season."

Schaefer (6-foot-2, 183 pounds), No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, had surgery on Dec. 30 after sustaining a broken clavicle three days earlier while playing for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa. He was cleared for contact by doctors on May 1 after missing the last 46 games, including nine OHL playoff games. He finished with 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) and a plus-21 rating in 17 OHL games.

The New York Islanders have the No. 1 pick in the Draft after winning the NHL Draft Lottery on May 5. He meets with the Islanders brass on Tuesday.

Schaefer said he'll continue to build strength this offseason.

"I'm working out with (trainer) Bryan Marshall, and my defense coach is (former NHL defenseman) Mark Giordano, so I'm super excited to work with him," Schaefer said. "I'm going to be skating with him a lot."

Among the NHL players Schaefer will likely skate with this summer at the Canadian Ice Academy in Mississauga, Ontario, is Islanders defenseman and former Erie alumnus Adam Pelech. They each work with Marshall as their trainer.

'Hagens come home'

James Hagens isn't exactly privy to his growing fan base on social media these days.

Growing up an avid New York Islanders fan on Long Island in Hauppage, New York, however, he was aware of a bumper sticker created by the Islanders fan base a week after the NHL club moved up nine spots to win the NHL Draft Lottery.

The sticker read: "Hagens come home."

"I have seen it," Hagens said with a grin. "It's cool when you see people around Long Island supporting that and having that on their car ... it's special. Growing up an Islanders fan and seeing them get that first pick, naturally you're happy, you're excited.

"Being from Long Island and always being around the Isles my whole entire life, I know how exciting that is for all my friends and every Isles fan out there. You just have to be grateful for whichever team takes a chance on you. It's cool that [the Islanders won the lottery] but you don't know what's going to happen on draft day."

The San Jose Sharks have the No. 2 pick, the Chicago Blackhawks own the No. 3 pick, and the Utah Mammoth are at No. 4. Hagens, No. 3 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, had 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games as a freshman at Boston College in Hockey East this season.

Would he be disappointed if he isn't chosen by the Islanders?

"You grow up around the team, grow up going to games, grow up in the old arena, the Nassau Coliseum," he said. "It'd be really cool to go there but you just have to be grateful for any team that picks you in the NHL. There's so many great teams, so many great places."

Martone's practice partner

Porter Martone had many people help him along the way to becoming a potential top 10 selection in the 2025 draft. The 18-year-old right wing with Brampton (OHL) also had a wooden goalie named ‘Jeff’ play an integral role.

"I don't even know how long ago, maybe five years, when my dad constructed a goalie (made of wood) in the backyard for me and my sister and we'd shoot pucks at it for practice," Martone said. "The first ‘Jeff’ didn't last very long but we've since added pieces to it and had to replace pieces. But it's still in our backyard and I shoot on it. It takes up a lot of the net, so I got to work on picking my corners."

Where did the name 'Jeff' come from?

"I think my sister came up with it ... I didn't even know it was named Jeff until my sister told me," Martone said. "You can't really miss him when you look through the back window of my house ... he's kind of just sitting there."

Martone (6-3, 208), No. 6 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, is excited to be taking part in the Combine this week.

"It's definitely an exciting time of the year," he said. "The scouting combine is the second to last thing before the NHL Draft, so I think it's cool for all of us kind of get together, meet with the teams, and get a sense of everyone's organization and how they operate."

NTDP well-represented

There are nine players from USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 team attending the combine, including five forwards and four defensemen.

Will Moore (6-2, 175), a center, is one of three from the program projected to be chosen in the first round, with left wing Jack Murtagh and center Cole McKinney. McKinney (6-0, 200), No. 32 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, led the NTDP with 61 points (27 goals, 34 assists) and ranked second with six power-play goals in 60 games this season. Moore (6-2, 175), No. 29 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, was second on the NTDP with 59 points (27 goals, 32 assists) in 64 games. Murtagh (6-1, 200), No. 30, ranked first with seven power-play goals and tied for third with 53 points (22 goals, 31 assists) in 56 games.

Moore is committed to Boston College in 2025-26, Murtagh to Boston University and McKinney to the University of Michigan.

"Playing for the NTDP has been unbelievable ... just the amount of work you see other guys put in and being able to skate with some of the best players of your age group," McKinney said. "But it pushes you every single day and I think that's what helps us improve so quickly over time."