The Potential Steal of the 2025 NHL Draft

The Florida Panthers have terrorized the last two NHL Postseasons through their relentless forechecking and physical play. Going into this draft it was clear that teams were looking to emulate this style, as is often the case in the NHL. Brady Martin is a great example of this, as one of the most physical players in the draft while still maintaining some scoring touch. Teams see a future Sam Bennett in Martin, and this is why Nashville picked him at 5^th overall, a much higher position than most public rankings had him at. NHL teams paid attention to this year’s cup winners, and they learned. The question is, did they learn the right lessons?

Victor Eklund was the 2^nd highest ranked European Skater by NHL central scouting. Most draft rankings placed him as a top 10 prospect in this year’s draft. Personally, I had him ranked at 6^th, and as the top available European skater.  And yet, he fell to the New York Islanders at 16^th overall. Not a massive fall by any means, but one that left me surprised.

When I think of Florida Panthers hockey, I think of an efficient forecheck, high puck retrieval rates, and a skilled forward group that can capitalize on the turnovers forced by the teams forecheck. Eklund is a highly skilled winger that is great on the forecheck due to his fearless style of play. He’s undersized but battles harder in the corner than most much larger players and he’s effective too. He routinely wins puck battles down low and can quickly transition onto offense, using his high-end skill and vision to create dangerous scoring chances for his team. He may be the best pure puck retriever in the draft due to a combination of his skating ability and IQ. Consistently being the first one on the ice to anticipate where the puck is going and often winning the ensuing race.

To me, Eklund has all the skills that made the Florida Panthers such a dangerous team this year. For teams looking to adopt that style he would’ve been a great fit and for that matter his “Swiss Army Knife” like skillset would make him a great fit on a variety of teams and in a variety of roles up and down the lineup.

This isn’t to say that a player like Brady Martin won’t be an effective forechecker in the NHL, but Eklund is much further along and does it in a way that generates a high level of offense. Martin, on the other hand, is a much more punishing forechecker. Having thrown some of the biggest hits of anyone in this draft class. Martin exemplifies the “bully hockey” mindset that many teams took away from the Panthers success. It’s the lack of offence that limits his game comparatively to a player like Victor Eklund. Which is why the players draft positions is so surprising to me. They are similar in mindset overall but the results both players drove are much more in favor to a player like Eklund. Regardless, my belief is that Eklund may have become one of the most underrated players in this draft class and will assuredly be taken much higher in future “redrafts”.

Check out more of my thoughts on some of the top skaters from the 2025 NHL Entry Draft below.