2025 NHL draft: Buzz on prospects, trades, free agency

Although the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers may never stop celebrating, the NHL offseason has begun.

The past several days have included Jonathan Toews pledging to sign with the Winnipeg Jets once free agency begins, as well as a flurry of re-signings, and a trade between the Chicago Blackhawks and Seattle Kraken, with Andre Burakovsky headed to the Second City.

On Friday and Saturday of this week, the NHL draft will take place in Los Angeles, including seven rounds of prospect selections and (most likely) a handful of franchise-altering trades. Then on Tuesday, July 1, free agency officially begins.

To help make sense of it all, our reporters reached out to sources in front offices around the league for their takes on the draft, trades and the free agent class.

So ahead of this week’s flurry of action, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski deliver the latest buzz around the NHL:

Schaefer earned perspective through tragedy

Matthew Schaefer has been the projected first overall pick in this year’s draft for months, projected to land with the New York Islanders, who hold the first pick on Friday. But the Erie Otters defenseman isn’t all that concerned about where he ultimately lands.

No pressure. No stress. It’s all about enjoying the journey — a lesson Schaefer has learned the hard way.

“I’ve been through a lot,” he said recently. And that’s putting it mildly.

Schaefer lost his billet mother in late 2023. Two months later, his own mother died after a long battle with cancer. Then, during the 2025 World Junior Championship, Otters owner Jim Waters — with whom Schaefer was close — also passed away. During that same event, Schaefer broke his collarbone and missed the remainder of his season in Erie.

That would be a debilitating 12 months for anyone to endure, let alone a 17-year-old on the cusp of achieving his life-long dream of playing in the NHL. Schaefer has an infectiously upbeat attitude to it all, though. What others might view as adversity he sees as almost a superpower, and it’s helped him cope with the demands of being a highly touted prospect.

“There’s a lot worse things that can happen in life [than not being picked No. 1],” he said. “Going through injuries are super easy. I feel like when I was…