2025 NHL Draft Prospect Breakdown: Cameron Schmidt is unstoppable

Credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff

One of the hot topics at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: would the undersized Cameron Schmidt play himself into the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft?

NHL Central Scouting has him as a B-ranked prospect, someone they project to go in the second or third round. And it’s fair – he’s 5-foot-8. But Schmidt is doing everything in his power to shift the narrative to his dominant offensive abilities, and he’s now sitting with 12 goals and 19 points in 11 games with the Vancouver Giants. His offensive explosion isn’t exactly a surprise – he had 31 goals and 58 points as a rookie last year.

But the WHL superstar has points in every single game thus far, and was even one of Canada’s better players during the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Nothing seems to be fazing him right now, especially when he gets some space around the net.

Schmidt was named to the CHL’s roster for the upcoming two-game showcase event against the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. With the way he’s playing, Schmidt will be one of the biggest draws – and, hopefully, he’ll find a way to stand out in a team full of star talent.

He’s been great, but so have these other nine players hoping to hear their names called at the 2025 NHL Draft:

WHL

– Carter Bear was named to the CHL’s roster for next month’s showcase, and it’s well deserved. He’s up to 15 points in 10 games, putting him on pace for around 50 goals and 100 points. The Everett Silvertips star is an older prospect, having been born two months after the 2024 NHL Draft’s cutoff date. But he’s using that extra experience to his advantage, pummeling goaltenders consistently this year. I love how skilled he is with the puck, and he seems smarter in his own zone this year, too.

OHL

– I hadn’t seen much of Jack Nesbitt before this year, but I’ve been happy with what I’ve seen. He’s playing a key role with Windsor, sitting at over a point per game. More importantly, though, I really like his game away from the puck – he’s smart, plays a heads-up game, and does a lot of the offensive driving for the Spitfires. I think he’ll break the 30-goal mark this year, and teams are keeping note of his big 6-foot-4 frame – although some I’ve talked to wish he’d add more muscle.

QMJHL

– Goaltender Lucas Beckman wasn’t named to the CHL’s squad against the USNTDP, but I have to guess he received serious consideration. He was excellent in limited QMJHL duty last year, posting three shutouts in nine games with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Now, back on a full-time basis, he’s 7-3-0 with one shutout and a league-leading .921 save percentage among draft eligibles. I also thought he probably deserved at least another start at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, but it’s hard to go up against a star prospect like Jack Ivankovic. Nonetheless, I know he’s not big, but the numbers have been really solid and I think NHL teams should take notice of Beckman.

OJHL

– I saw the brand-new King Rebellion in person for the first earlier this month to check out Beijing-born Haoxi (Simon) Wang. He’s easy to see out there – he’s a 6-foot-6, 212-pound blueliner who makes life miserable for just about everyone around him. He has quieted down offensively in recent weeks, but Wang still has 10 points in 14 games, which is impressive for a blueliner his size. He’s mean, takes space away, and loves to use his stick whenever possible. Wang is a Boston University commit who looks like a solid long-term project for a team wanting to bank on his size being just the starting point in his overall package. From talking to scouts, he has taken big strides in the way he moves the puck, and loves to shoot the puck.

– It’s been fascinating to watch Jonathan Kapageridis this season. I remember watching him as an underaged defender at the 2022 OHL Cup, and then seeing decent improvement on how he attacked the game the following year. You could see he knew what to do with the puck, but the numbers just never backed it up. That was until he joined the Cobourg Cougars last year and had a three-point OJHL debut before posting 14 points in 17 playoff games as an affiliated player last year. Now playing full-time with the Cougars, he already has more than a point per game while increasing his overall physicality, too. Kapageridis is playing with so much confidence, and I know plenty of NHL teams are taking note. Look for Kapageridis to play for Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge in December.

USHL

– Ryker Lee has had a solid transition to the USHL after spending the past few years with the Shattuck’s St. Mary’s prep program. While he isn’t blowing the doors off yet, he is tied for first in scoring on the Madison Capitols with 10 points in nine games while being a solid, buzzsaw energy forward. He’s riding a five-game points streak and is getting a ton of quality scoring chances, too. Lee is likely a mid-round pick, but I think he’s smart and quick enough to earn some solid interest this year.

– The son of former NHLer Branko Radivojevič, Luka Radivojevič made his name known early after playing such an important role with Slovakia’s U-17 team at 15. He then made Slovakia’s World Junior team last year and was the nation’s best player en route to a fourth-place finish at the U-18 World Championship this past Spring. Hopes were high for him after getting into nine SHL games between the regular season and playoffs, but he struggled early with Orebro this year and ultimately left to head to the USHL. That might have been the best thing for his development, as he now has two assists in two games with Muskegon after putting on a show against the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. From watching back those two games, Radivojevič looked as confident as I’ve seen him and was playing with so much momentum. Look for him to help his draft stock in front of more eyes in the USHL.

Sweden

– I’m a Victor Eklund fan. And Djurgardens must be, too, given he’s up to four goals and eight points in 11 games in the second-tier Swedish pro league. He played 15 games there last year, a season built upon him learning the pace and physicality of the men’s game. This year, he’s been an important contributor with three multi-point games. He has double the points of any other U-19 player in the league, and at his current pace of 38 points, he’s looking to pass the likes of William Nylander, Filip Forsberg, Alexander Wennberg and David Pastrnak to put himself in the top five in all-time U-19 scoring in the Allsvenskan.

– I’ve grown to like Eric Nilson, the son of former NHLer Marcus Nilson, the more I’ve watched him. I don’t think he’s going to put up a lot of points in the NHL, but I think he’s got the overall rounded toolkit that’ll make him valuable. Nilson has 18 points in 14 games with Djurgardens’ U-20 team, including three three-point efforts this season. He’s a physical, two-way forward who plays a responsible game, and he keeps impressing me with how dangerous he can be in close to the net.

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