The dog days of the season are upon us and it's time for the first edition of the 2025 NHL draft rankings. Like last season, the first edition of the rankings are solely based on outputs from the draft model. There are no adjustments made for scouting, inputs from NHL scouts or executives and any other anecdotal information.

There were some changes made to the model from last season, as the model strives to consistently improve. The model weighs scoring statistics from the current season and the past season, league strength, team strength relative to league, tracking statistics (defensive, physical and transition play), age, size and injuries. The model weights changed, with less weight on the players' size and more weight on their tracking statistics, league strength and scoring statistics. The model factors for injuries, only in the number of games played as a function of the projection volatility. Matthew Schaefer and Roger McQueen have more volatile projections than Michael Misa and Porter Martone because they have missed significant time, leading to a smaller sample size.

Each player is projected in a category, with a confidence factor of how likely they are to reach that category. The most likely outcome becomes the category, which is combined with the confidence factor for a rating. Players are ranked based on their rating, which is the first edition of this year's rankings.

The forward categories are: elite player, top-line forward, top-six forward, impact forward, middle-six forward, bottom-six forward and NHL player.

The defensemen categories are: top-pair defenseman, top-four defenseman, impact defenseman and NHL defenseman.

The goaltender categories are: starting goaltender, platoon starter, backup goaltender and NHL goaltender.