For the second year running on The Athletic Hockey Show, the guys hosted their U23 draft, building four rosters of six forwards, four defensemen and one goalie out of the top U23 talent in the league, for a total of 44 picks.

After a random snake draft order was drawn, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler and Max Bultman were joined by Flo Hockey’s Chris Peters.

Here’s a condensed version of how it played out and the debates that were had, with each team at the end. Note that the guys were trying to pick for the future, not the present, so this was still an exercise in projection as much as roster-building.

Round 1

PICKTEAMPLAYERPOSITION

1

Bultman

C

2

Pronman

C/W

3

Wheeler

W

4

Peters

C

Bultman: I’m not going to surprise anybody at the first pick. It’s Macklin Celebrini. It’s the do-it-all No. 1 center. The rare guy who, at 18, 19 years old, you feel really confident saying projects into a true two-way star, a guy who can be your leading scorer and who can shut down opposing players. We’ve talked about him in the kind of the vein of Sidney Crosby, but I think of an Aleksander Barkov, the No. 1 center on the Stanley Cup champs for the last two years. (Celebrini) doesn’t quite have that size. I think he can have that kind of impact.

Pronman: Not a lot of argument, I think, is going to come from this panel. I feel like the first two picks are not going to be very controversial. Connor Bedard goes to Team Pronman. He’s going to be an absolute dynamo we’re going to build around. He’s going to give us a lot a goals, a lot of points, and we’re going to hopefully have the best offense in this four-team league led by him.

Bultman: Are you slotting Bedard on Team Pronman as a center, or are you slotting him as a winger?

Pronman: Kind of like how Chicago is doing it: Tentatively, he is a center, but I reserve the right to change that depending on how the rest of my asset accumulation goes.

Wheeler: Well, when this draft order got passed around earlier today, I kind of knew that the draft was going to going to start at No. 3 and that I had the first real choice here. There are a couple of defensemen I considered here. There were a couple of centers I considered here. But I’m going to take the first winger of the draft and select Matvei Michkov. I’m big on Michkov’s upside. I think he’s going to be one of the five or 10 leading scorers in the league in the prime of his career.

Peters: All right. Let’s go back to the centers. I have no problem with Matvei going there. I figured that he was going to be there for me at No. 4, but then he was not. So, I’m going to go with Adam Fantilli. Give me some size, give me some snarl, give me some goal-scoring, give me some pace, give me all the good things. He’s a guy that I think you can win with. Yes, I believe there are some legitimate concerns about the overall hockey sense, and that’s why he often appears behind Leo Carlsson, who is still available on the board for now, but you know, I think that for me, Fantilli checks the most boxes among the available centers in terms of what he’s going to bring to the table.

Peters: I want to make sure that I get the defenseman that I most covet in this class. And that is another Michigan man, Luke Hughes. I’ve been very high on Luke for a long time. There have been ups and downs, but as I look at the defensemen, I think Matthew Schaefer, in a best-case scenario, is going to be Luke Hughes. I don’t think he has the offensive upside that Hughes does. The skating, I think, I would grade similarly. Luke’s got the size, he’s got some length to him. I think as he gets physically stronger, you’re going to get a really solid two-way defenseman that gives you just tremendous mobility. I think he’s a legitimate No. 1.

Wheeler: And I’m thrilled here because I was considering taking Matthew Schaeffer at No. 3, and he was my top-ranked D. I think he’s going to be a more well-rounded player than Luke Hughes. I think Schaefer is going to be the more impactful NHL defenseman, the true No. 1. I’m not sure Luke ever defends at quite that high a level.

Bultman: I thought you might go Lane Hutson here. So talk me through Schaefer versus Hutson in your thought process.

Wheeler: Part of it is that I think there’s a chance that I get Hutson a little bit later. So there’s calculated risk there. But I would rank it this way, too.

Pronman: I can’t believe Leo Carlsson’s still here and I’m just running up to the podium to call this name. A 6-foot-3 center with the high-end skill and hockey sense. I mean, this guy has the capability to be a star No. 1 center in the league with size. Just one of the rarest combinations of traits. I know the production hasn’t gone off yet, but I think him versus Adam Fantilli is a really close debate. And I love Schaefer. I love Luke Hughes. I was kind of penciling in Luke Hughes into my second pick here. But I’m happy getting Leo Carlsson. And like I said, now I’m not really sure where Bedard fits in my lineup. He might be a center, he might be a wing.

Bultman: All right, the defense board has not broken the way I hoped. I hoped that I would have a chance, as it broke around back to me to get one of Matthew Schaefer or Luke Hughes. So I will follow Corey’s lead and double up on the centers here. And I’ll take Wyatt Johnston. I don’t know that it’s quite the level of like dynamic offense, but it’s really good offense. He’s a really smart two-way player. I think that’s how you win Stanley Cups: built like that down the middle. So between Celebrini and Johnston, I feel great there.

And then I’ll take Sam Dickinson. It’s a little bit of a question here. I think I’d probably like to see a little bit from him in the NHL before I made him my No. 1 core blueliner. I also just love the projection, the size, the skating. So as much as I would have loved to get a guy that was just a little bit more of a sure thing, I think there’s a lot of room for upside and a lot of room for Sam Dickinson to be a No. 1 defender.

Pronman: I have Sam rated really highly, but there was one defenseman I had rated above Dickinson, and that’s Zeev Buium. He joins what I’m hoping to be an exceptionally dynamic power play with him and Bedard and Leo Carlsson all on the same unit. To me, he’s one of the most purely talented players I’ve seen in college hockey. One of the most impactful college hockey players I’ve ever seen as a teenager. Elite skill, elite hockey sense, he moves really well. I think he’s got the potential to be an impact player at the next level.

Wheeler: And I’m going to step to the podium and take Lane Hutson and add him to my blue line alongside Matthew Schaefer. I think Lane is a pretty singular player. He may not ever be the perfect defenseman, but he does multiple things better than any U23 player.

Pronman: Do you think he’s that much better offensively than Zeev at the same age?

Peters: Yes.

Wheeler: Yes. I would say the only U23 D who I think has a chance to be close to Lane offensively wouldn’t be Zeev for me; it would probably be Zayne Parekh.

Peters: My next pick should be won’t surprise anybody that’s followed me for any amount of time over the last five years. Give me the dynamic Logan Cooley. Cooley, for me, I think, is just scratching the surface of what he’s going to be.

Rounds 4/5

PickTeamPlayerPosition

13

Peters

W

14

Wheeler

C

15

Pronman

W

16

Bultman

W

17

Bultman

W

18

Pronman

C

19

Wheeler

D

20

Peters

C/W

Peters: I’m going Ivan Demidov at No. 13. Now I’ve got what I feel is a very elite trio of producers.

Wheeler: I’m going to take my first center. The way that the board broke here, I went with two D and a winger off the top, and now, after taking the first overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, I’m to take the second overall pick in Michael Misa.

Bultman: I don’t think anyone here is going to be too surprised. I think Misa is very much in the range. I was not sure how this was going to go for you, avoiding center for as long as you did. You come out of it with a really good player here still.

Pronman: I’m super excited to add Juraj Slafkovský as my first-line left wing. I think his player profile is really unique.

Bultman: I think it’s notable here that Corey, you ranked him on your list No. 7 and you’re taking him off the board here at No. 15. I think this happens to teams a little more often than anyone would realize. Corey’s got four players in his top seven here. There are teams in their classes that have scenarios like this.

We talked about the game theory Scott had earlier, of placing a pretty calculated bet that he was going to be able to float Hutson four picks back to himself. And that paid off. I do wonder if Corey had to calculate that he wasn’t going to get Slafkovský back around.

I am going to go winger twice here. First, I’m going to go with Dylan Guenther, a young forward whom I really love. I think he is going to blow past 30 goals this year. I was extremely impressed with the combo of him and Cooley. And I’m going to back it up and take Matthew Knies. Love the power element. I think he’s going to really complement the guys that I have in place here.

Pronman: I’m debating a little group of centers here. Mason McTavish, Matty Beniers, Caleb Desnoyers, Anton Frondell, Shane Wright and Berkly Catton. Will Smith, too, could be in that mix, although I think he’s probably a winger in this format. Realistically, we’ve only got one power-play unit we’re leaning on. So I’m going to take Matty Beniers and he’s going to be an outstanding second-line center for my team.

Wheeler: There’s one thing that none of the players who’ve been selected have done, and that’s play 25 minutes a night for three seasons in the NHL already. And despite already having Matthew Schaefer and Lane Hutson, I think the way that the board has gone here has led me back to another D, and I’m going to take Owen Power. I love the variety that Power, Hutson and Schaefer give me.

Peters: Corey had just kind of alluded that Will Smith is probably a wing in this scenario, and he’s going to be a wing on my team. I just think that what we saw in the back half of last season, the way that he’s progressed and the track record that he has, he’s always been a top producer, he’s always made players around him better.

Peters: I’m going to go with Artyom Levshunov here. I like the size. He’s always finding ways to do things. I want to have some size on the back end.

Wheeler: And I’m going to go D yet again here. And we’re going to take a fourth defenseman for Team Wheeler here and complete my defense with Zayne Parekh. I’m ecstatic to have Zayne Parekh and Lane Hutson as my two power-play quarterbacks and Matthew Schaefer and Owen Power as my minute-munching pillars.

Pronman: My board says take another forward, but I have four forwards and I have one D. And the good D are going quick here. So I feel like I got to jump in and take one and take Carter Yakemchuk. He’s going to be on that first pair on the right side with Buium. He’s got just a high-end skill level, the size and he has physicality. He had a tougher year than expected, but I’m excited with those two on my blue line.

Peters: Yeah, I mean, the D class has definitely thinned out in a considerable way, quickly.

Pronman: Scott’s gonna run a 4D first power-play unit.

Wheeler: 2D first power-play unit, maybe.

Bultman: I’m filled up at center, but I’m going to take a center here with the explicit intention of playing him on the wing. And that’s James Hagens. I need the skill and sense, kind of the pure power-play quarterback type. Hagens is the last guy here that I feel really good about in that role.

And it’s abundantly clear to me that I need a defenseman next. And I’m going to go with the one I’m the most familiar with on the board, and that’s Simon Edvinsson. Love the size, length, skating. I think there’s more offense.

Pronman: I’m tempted to take a D here, but I’m gonna go forward and take a player that I think is pretty unique, in Porter Martone, to be on my second-line right wing, a guy with really high-end skill and size.

Wheeler: I was sort of tapping my feet here for Porter Martone.

Bultman: A little bit of a steal.

Wheeler: I’m going to pivot and go with Catton. I think Catton, in terms of the remaining forwards, has the most pop, the most offense. Love the way that he plays, the way that he attacks.

Peters: I’m going to go with Anton Frondell. I think that there is an opportunity for him to be a strong, two-way player, but I think the offense is going to come and I feel he’s going to be a legitimate goal-scoring threat. He gives me some good size. He gives me some versatility.

Up next, my inclination is to go toward defense again, but it’s so hard to pass on some of these forwards that and I’m gonna go with Ryan Leonard. I have a goal-scoring cavalcade here, guys with good shots, some heaviness now, and a bit of a hard-nosed nature.

Wheeler: I already have two centers in Misa and Catton, but I’m going to make it three centers and move one of them to the wing so that Caleb Desnoyers can slot in perfectly as my second-line center. He can penalty-kill for me and he’s that impactful two-way, winning center.

Pronman: I’ve got two really dynamic players in Buium and Yakemchuk on my blue line. They defend OK, but they’re more offensive defensemen than they are players who are going to check, going to kill penalties, going to be hard to play against. So I’m gonna bring in some size and some tenacity with Anton Silayev to round out and add some different elements to my defense group.

Bultman: For all the grief I gave Scott on his blue line, I’m desperately scouring for a power-play quarterback that I feel merits being taken. But at No. 32, I am not going to take a power play quarterback; I’m going to take Dmitri Simashev. In Simashev, I’m going to get a guy who I think is very much like Simon Edvinsson, and I think my opponents might be like, “Wasn’t that guy just on the ice last shift? How did he get back out there?” I don’t think your guys’ skill guys are going to have much transition luck against my blue line.

And then I’m going to take Beckett Sennecke. I think there’s a lot of high-end potential offensively with Sennecke.

Pronman: Fair to say you’re looking to have a group now for your last D of (Brandt) Clarke, (Axel) Sandin Pellikka, (Simon) Nemec, (Cole) Hutson.

Wheeler: I’d have Denton Mateychuk in there as well.

Pronman: I am ecstatic with my last forward to get Mason McTavish. He’s a heavy centerman, he has legit skill, he can really shoot the puck, he skates well. I know his production hasn’t been outstanding, but it’s Anaheim and I think this guy just has so many traits to be an outstanding playoff-type top-two-line forward.

Wheeler: I’m going to go out and get the goalie that I want and take the first goalie of the draft (and) the goalie who I believe has the highest upside amongst this U23 cohort: Jacob Fowler. Jacob has been one of the best — forget goalies — one of the best players in college hockey two years running. I think he’s a future starter in the NHL.

Peters: I had Simashev circled as a guy that I wanted to get in this range. And then Max was like, “No, you can’t do that,” which was not very nice. So it gets a little bit tougher for me in terms of making the D decision here. But I’m going to go with a guy that I think kind of adds some more of that snarl to the group: Kashawn Aitcheson. There are absolutely defensemen with better upside in this range, but not a lot of what he brings to the table.

And then I was thinking about Fowler, who would have absolutely been a guy in the mix for me. But I’m going to close out my defensive group here and add a little more flash and dash with Cole Hutson.

Bultman: I had finally decided which of these power play D I was going to take, and Peters takes him.

Wheeler: I’m going to take Cutter Gauthier. I thought Cutter had a really nice rookie season last year. I like the size that he adds to my group. I like the goal-scoring punch that he adds to my group, and I think he’s going to continue to take steps.

Pronman: My last defenseman will be David Reinbacher, just to get the lefty-righty now on both pairs. He’s 6-foot-2. He skates really well. When he was healthy last year in the American League, he was excellent. He has real legit two-way ability. I think my four D now between him, Buium, Silayev and Yakemchuk have a lot of different elements. We can fill out both specialty teams. It’s a very exciting group I’m building. We play championship hockey.

Bultman: So that brings me to my D question here. I’m really worried about getting called a homer, but I’m gonna take Axel Sandin Pellikka. But I’m curious, like when you look at him versus a Brandt Clarke, I think the competitiveness is a little higher. Do you think that’s a reach by me to go ASP over Clarke?

Pronman: No, I don’t think it is. I have them back-to-back on my U23 ranking. And I’m gonna caveat by saying that I think ASP is better than this player, but if you look at the profile — 5-11, right shot, good-not-great skating D who’s not dynamic, but is very talented, who put up record-breaking numbers as a teenage defenseman in the SHL — that is not unprecedented. In fact, it’s recently precedented in what Nils Lundkvist did. And I’m sure many of us remember the Nils Lundkvist hype train coming out of Sweden and the huge numbers he put up and how excited Rangers fans got. And they had Zach Jones, and it’s like, actually, the NHL’s a really hard league for 5-11 defensemen who are not, you know, Lane Hutson special or something like that. So I could see the reservation there, but Clarke’s skating is really bad. So like I think that’s a perfectly reasonable player to take in that spot to fill out that role.

Bultman: Scott, you really like Brandt, right?

Wheeler: I love Brandt, and I don’t think his skating is “really bad.” It certainly looks unconventional with the knee-knock, but I think he’s shown that he can move just fine at the NHL level and I expect him to pop here offensively and become one of the better offensive power-play quarterback types in the league. If I hadn’t taken Zayne and Lane so high, I probably would have sat on Brandt as my second power-play guy.

Bultman: All right, I don’t know goalies at all. So I’ve really just been buying time trying to figure out which of these guys I’m gonna take. I think I’m going to go with Yegor Zavragin. Could I tell you why? No.

Pronman: I’m going to take Ravensburg. I love the tools, love the athleticism. His most recent viewings, which were the World Junior Summer Showcase, I thought he was excellent. I think this guy has starting-goalie upside in the NHL. I think he’s the best under-23 goalie.

Wheeler: There are a bunch of wingers here, frankly, that I like. I like Kent Johnson. I like Matt Coronato. I like Logan Stankoven. I like my boy Gabe Perreault, who I thought was disrespected in Corey’s list last week. But I’m actually going to take Cutter Gauthier’s former NTDP linemate, Jimmy Snuggerud. I think he’s got a chance to be in the Calder conversation this year. It sounds like he’s going to be their first-line right wing alongside Robert Thomas right away. And I like the idea of reuniting Cuttery and Snuggy on my second line.

Bultman: All right, Chris, bring us home.

Peters: I love Mikhail Yegorov, both as a goalie and as just a guy to talk to. He is awesome. And then he’s also a 6-foot-5 athletic goalie. Do not sleep on Yegorov. I think this kid has tremendous talent and upside.

Pronman: It ends up being a very big lineup, which I guess will further the bias from people that think that I favor size, but you know what? I’ve got Connor Bedard on this team to go with these tremendous all-around forwards. It’s a really exciting group. I would say it’s the best forward group, quite honestly, among us.

I have some really good balance on D. And I’ve got the best goalie in the U23 draft. I mean, Ravensbergen is a stud. I had him top-20 going into 2025. He’s really talented. Just an exciting team. It’s a championship team, I think.

Wheeler: For all the talk in this sport about building from the blue line out, I’m the only one who prioritized it. In Matthew Schaefer and Owen Power, I think I have the two most well-rounded D. And in Lane Hutson and Zayne Parekh, I think I have the two most purely talented D. I’ve got Lane Hutson playing his off side on the right side, but he did so successfully last year, and it sounds like he could continue to. And then I’ve got the actual best goalie, Jacob Fowler, between the pipes.

And then up front, I’ve got a skilled first line and more of your typical second line.

I really like the mix I have up front and when I look at my two lines, I don’t think I am giving back all that much to any of the other teams by prioritizing D like I did. In Michkov, I still have one of the two or three most talented forwards in this group. And in Catton and Misa, I’ve got plenty of skill alongside him. And I really, really like the mix of my second line.

I’m thrilled with my team, and we’re going to win by playing through our D.

Peters: With Adam Fantilli bearing down on you as a No. 1 center with Smith and Demidov on the wings, I’ve just got a lot of dynamic talent there. Then you’ve got the dynamic Logan Cooley and you throw Anton Frondell on the wing with Ryan Leonard, who is tough as nails and can score. And then on the blue line, I do have three lefties, but Luke Hughes, he’s our No. 1 defenseman. He’s gonna run the power play. You got Cole Hutson to run PP2. Aitcheson is the human battering ram. And then A 6-foot-5 Russian goalie who’s only scratching the surface. I know Corey said he has the best goalie. I think he has the fourth-best goalie in the group. I’m really looking forward to that. I think that goal-scoring is at a premium. I’ve got some goal-scorers. We’ve got playmakers. I’ve got guys that can do it from the back end. And give me Yegorov.

Wheeler: I think that Aitcheson-Hutson pair leaves you exposed to the quality of the rest of our groups.

Bultman: A big part of my thinking in building my team was that this is going to be All-Star rosters and I need to have guys who can defend star players. I think that’s how I tried to build my team, with Sam Dickinson, Simon Edvinsson and Dmitri Simashev as anchors of the blue line. Obviously, it’s kind of the opposite look of how Scott did it, right? Scott’s blue line is going to move pucks and drive play. Mine’s going to try to deny, deny and get the puck moving back up ice. I think my forward build is very similar to Corey’s. I know he thinks he’s number one with a bullet there. But with Guenther, Celebrini, Hagens, Knies, Johnston and Sennecke, I think that’s a forward group that can play any style of hockey and be effective. Again, I think they’re not gonna give hardly anything up. They’re gonna be a pain to play against.

(Top photo of Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard: Kavin Mistry / NHLI via Getty Images)