Top 10 moments from 2025 NHL Draft

LOS ANGELES -- The City of Angels may have summoned one just for Matthew Schaefer as he looked to the heavens and pointed to the sky in memory of his late mother after being chosen by the New York Islanders with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft on Friday.

It was certainly one of the most emotional moments in draft history.

After Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the 17-year-old defenseman as the newest member of the Islanders at L.A. Live's Peacock Theater, thoughts quickly shifted to his mother, Jennifer Schaefer, who died of breast cancer in February 2024. He turned and hugged his father, Todd, and his brother, Johnny, all of them in tears.

Schaefer smiled as he pulled on his Islanders jersey, which had a lavender ribbon in honor of his mother stitched on the left chest. Inside the collar were the initials "J.S."

"I couldn't control the tears," the defenseman with Erie of the Ontario Hockey League said. "Obviously, I'm thinking about my mom a little extra today. I know she’d be very proud. I’d love for her to be here in person, but obviously cancer [stinks], so she’s with me in spirit. I know she’s not suffering, and she’s happy, smiling down and always with me. …

"My mom's a big part of my life, and this jersey I'm going to hang up for sure. That ribbon has a little extra meaning to it."

Schaefer gave the ribbon a kiss while on stage during an incredibly poignant moment.

Here are 10 moments to remember from the 2025 draft:

Farm hand

Brady Martin celebrated with approximately 100 family members and friends in the most unusual way when former Nashville Predators and Hall of Fame defenseman Shea Weber announced him with the No. 5 selection in the draft on Friday.

The 18-year-old was on the family's dairy farm in Elora, Ontario. It's a place he knows very well, growing up in the countryside about 20 miles north of the city of Waterloo, where getting up to milk cows, feed chickens and rake up manure at 6 a.m. has been his way of life ... when the center is not starring for Sault Ste. Marie (OHL).

“This is where I want to be,” Martin said. “With the people who were there with me on this journey.”

The Martins made certain every guest felt right at home -- in front of the seated guests on the lawn beside the house was a big-screen TV that was secured to the shovel of a giant tractor.

'Happy' Hagens

The wait was worth it for Boston College center James Hagens, who was surprised and elated to see actor Adam Sandler appear on the screen to announce him as the No. 7 selection to the Boston Bruins.

After all, his favorite movie is "Happy Gilmore." Hagens had about 50 members of his family join him in Los Angeles.

"It was just right away the coolest thing and then as he starts talking, you hope to hear that he's gonna say Boston College and he ended up saying Boston College and I waited an extra second to hear my name, stood up, from there it was just nuts," Hagens said. "It's the coolest thing in the world. It's close to home. It's nice for my parents. I wanted to go to school in Boston. Turns out I'm a Boston Bruin now. It all worked out."

Sandler announced the pick by saying: "My name is Happy Gilmore, how are you? Proud to be part of the 2025 NHL Draft. The Boston Bruins select, from Boston College, James Hagens. Way to go 'Homie.'"

Gaudreau remembered

Meredith Gaudreau, the widow of the late NHL All-Star Johnny Gaudreau, made both picks for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round.

She was greeted with a standing ovation and chants of "Johnny! Johnny!" from those in attendance.

"I just wanted to take this time to thank every single team and every single fan base for your support for my family this past season," Meredith said from the podium.

Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were tragically killed when they were struck by an alleged drunk driver while riding bicycles in Salem County, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, 2024.

Meredith announced defenseman Jackson Smith from Tri-City of the Western Hockey League as the No. 14 pick. She later made the Blue Jackets' pick at No. 20, announcing goalie Pyotr Andreyanov from CSKA Jr. (Russia).

Prior to the selection she said: "I just want to give a quick shoutout to (Blue Jackets superfan group) the 5th Line back in Columbus. I hope you guys are having a fun night. And I want to give a special shoutout to our babies Noa, baby Johnny and baby Carter. We love you!"

Pennsylvania power

The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins each served their fan base well by having prominent athletes from the area make the picks in the first round.

Former Philadelphia 76ers great Charles Barkley announced power forward Porter Martone of Brampton (OHL) as the No. 6 pick by the Flyers. Another Philadelphia great, Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham, revealed the Flyers' No. 12 selection, center Jack Nesbitt of Windsor (OHL).

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang had some help from his 12-year-old son, Alex, as they selected center Benjamin Kindel with Calgary (WHL) for the team at pick No. 11.

Alex then pulled double duty, pressing the trade alert button when prompted to do so by Commissioner Bettman on stage, after the Penguins traded the No. 12 pick to the Flyers in exchange for picks No. 22 and 31.

McQueen in Disneyland

Roger McQueen got quite the surprise after the Anaheim Ducks selected him No. 10 on Friday.

The center from Brandon of the Western Hockey League was escorted, along with his mother and father, to a nearby helicopter and short flight to Disneyland in Anaheim. Roger and his mom and dad got to spend the night at a Disneyland resort.

Video and pictures of McQueen in Disneyland were unveiled upon his arrival midway through the first round. In fact, he was hanging out with Donald Duck, exchanging high-fives in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

There were questions where the ultra-skilled McQueen (6-5, 198) would be chosen since his 2025 NHL Draft-eligible season was limited to 17 games because of a fracture in his lower back.

"Certainly, had he not gone through the injuries, he arguably would have been in the top four, top five in this draft," Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. "He's a unique package in the sense that he moves really well for a 6-foot-5 guy, he has really good skill and he has the ability to be able to score. He's going to play a little different game than some of the guys we have now."

Collection of collegians

There were 10 current or committed NCAA Division I players chosen during the first round, marking the third-most in college hockey history and the most since 2016.

The 2016 NHL Draft and 2007 NHL Draft each featured 11 current or committed collegians in the opening round.

Hagens, who had 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games as a freshman at Boston College, was the first college player off the board to the Bruins.

The 18-year-old was one of five rising sophomores to hear his name called in the first round. The others: Wisconsin defenseman Logan Hensler (Ottawa Senators, No. 23), Michigan forward William Horcoff (Pittsburgh Penguins, No. 24), Boston University defenseman Sascha Boumedienne (Winnipeg Jets, No. 28), and Arizona State forward Cullen Potter (Calgary Flames, No. 32).

"The main reason I wanted to play college hockey is because I want to be in the NHL someday," Potter said. "Taking that next step in my development to play against guys that are closer to the NHL is what I wanted to do. I think I developed a lot as a player and am working towards playing in the NHL."

Goalie guild

Multiple goaltenders were chosen in the first round for only the second time in the past 13 drafts.

Pyotr Andreyanov (6-0, 207), who was 23-6-6 with a 1.75 GAA and .942 save percentage in 37 regular-season games with CSKA in Russia's junior league, was selected by the Blue Jackets at No. 20. Joshua Ravensbergen (6-5, 191), who was 33-13-4 with a 3.00 goals-against average and .901 save percentage in 51 games with Prince George of the Western Hockey League, went to San Jose at No. 30.

It marked the first time since 2021 that multiple goalies were chosen in the first round (Sebastian Cossa, No. 15, Detroit Red Wings; Jesper Wallstedt, No. 20, Minnesota Wild).

"I think the scouts have done their homework throughout the year, in the last two years, really," San Jose GM Mike Grier said. "As we followed our board, he was the best player available. We're not at the stage to whatever other people might think our need is in the organization. We're taking the best player here."

There were 24 goalies chosen in the 2025 draft. The record is 36 in 1993.

Oh, Canada!

For the first time in 38 years, at least 20 Canada-born players were chosen in the first round of the draft.

It is the fourth instance in NHL history that Canada has produced that many first-round picks, joining 1987 (21), 1982 (20), and 1979 (20). Twelve Canadian players were chosen among the top 15.

Additionally, the Canadian Hockey League produced 21 first-round picks, one short of the all-time record (22) established in 2013. There were nine players taken from each the OHL and WHL, and three from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. It marks the fifth time since 1969 that 21 CHL players have been taken in the opening round.

Canada produced 88 players chosen in the 2025 draft, the most since 89 were selected in 2016.

How Swede it is

Sweden had a 13-year run with at least one player chosen in the opening round end in the 2024 NHL Draft when the earliest pick was forward Lucas Pettersson to the Anaheim Ducks in the second round (No. 35).

This year, there were two Sweden-born players picked in the first round -- center Anton Frondell (No. 3, Chicago Blackhawks) and right wing Victor Eklund (No. 16, New York Islanders), each of Djurgarden in Sweden's second division.

There were 27 Sweden-born players selected over seven rounds, third most of any county after Canada (88) and the United States (50).

Frondell and Eklund became the 15th pair of Swedish teammates to be taken in the first round of the NHL Draft, something that has now happened in four of the past five drafts: Otto Stenberg and David Edstrom of Frolunda Jr. (2023), Noah Ostlund and Liam Ohgren of Djurgarden Jr. (2022), and Jesper Wallstedt and Fabian Lysell of Lulea (2021).

"I think it's important," Frondell said. "It shows how good of a country we are at ice hockey. We were close to winning the (IIHF) World Championship this year. We didn't do it. We lost against the U.S. in the semis, but Sweden is a good country in hockey."

Unplanned pick

No one was more surprised to be picked at the 2025 draft than center Aidan Park with Green Bay of the United States Hockey League.

Park (6-1, 188), who is No. 94 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, attended the draft in support of good friend Ryker Lee of Madison (USHL). Lee was chosen by the Nashville Predators in the first round (No. 26) on Friday.

Park returned to L.A. Live's Peacock Theater on the second day of the draft and it's a good thing he did -- the Edmonton Oilers selected him as a the second-to-last pick (No. 223) in the draft in the seventh round. He was given a nice ovation from the small (and shocked) contingent of friends he was sitting with.

"It was unbelievable," he said. "I actually came [Friday] for Ryker Lee, and I thought we were going to hang out [Saturday] but he flew out on a private jet to Nashville this morning. So I wasn't really expecting to come today. But I figured, because I live [eight miles away], why not? So, yeah, I ended up getting picked. It was a super special moment, and super exciting."