As the 2007 class enters its main event of the season, it seems a good time to release our current top 5 for the 2025 NHL Draft, updating the pre-season list we published inside the Summer Blue Dispatch.

Center Ivan Ryabkin retains the top spot after what has been so far a successful transition to the top Russian junior league (MHL). Not only he has been producing at over a point per game pace, there have been games where he already looked like the best player on a team that also features a player penciled as a 1st-round pick in the upcoming draft (Igor Chernyshov).

The main story of the season for the 2007 class has been however the play of Anton Frondell. The Swedish forward has been a hyped prospect for a while, but this season he has taken his play to another level, adding speed and pace to his mature play, for the first time in our eyes looking more like a future star than a good complementary pro player.
We are really looking forward to see this more dynamic version of Frondell compete at the U17 WHC.

Adam Benák had a strong start to his season at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup despite competing there as an underager, and compared to last season he seems to have finally grown a bit more, enough to allow him to play as a 16-year-old at the Extraliga level.
Contrary to early indications he will be part of the Czech team at the World Hockey Challenge, which means he will go head-to head against Frondell.

6-foot-4 defenseman Kurban Limatov didn’t have as easy a transition to the MHL as his teammate Ryabkin (an injury didn’t help either), but remains a promising and intriguing prospect that consistently aims to make an impact all around the ice.

Based on the first months of this season there are probably other options available that one could make an argument for to complete this top 5, but Max Westergård has been a favorite of ours for quite some time already, and possesses traits that we feel make him a strong candidate to become a legit middle-six NHL winger down the road.