NHL Draft 2025: Pronman and Wheeler Answer The Biggest Questions Facing Teams

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NHL Draft 2025: Pronman and Wheeler answer the biggest questions facing teams

By Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler
June 25, 2025 5:00 am MDT

Each year, in advance of the NHL Draft, The Athletic’s prospects writers Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler solicit team-specific questions from our pool of beat writers. Consider it our experts’ pre-draft news conference.

This year, questions from a dozen different teams were submitted. Here are their answers.

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St. Louis Blues

The Blues drafted defensemen with their first three picks in last year’s draft, and as Corey wrote recently, the No. 1 need in the pipeline is probably center. When their first pick this year comes around at No. 19, is it more likely the best available player will be a center or a defenseman, and if so, who? — Jeremy Rutherford

Wheeler: I think it’s more likely that the best-available player is a defenseman or a winger than a center, but it’s not a sure thing that the two Cs who I’d strongly consider there are gone. I think there’s a chance one of Cootes or Reschny is still available, but those are the only two centers I’d view in the best player available conversation at No. 19 (I’m not there on Nesbitt, for example), and I think it’s probably 60/40 that they’re both gone, so I’ll lean toward it being one of the other positions atop my list when it’s their turn.

Pronman: I think they are probably hoping one of Cootes, Reschny or Nesbitt is still on the board.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/642937 ... questions/