The world’s best teams to watch for 2025 NHL draft prospects

The 2024-25 NHL season is only a month old, but a few front offices might be more focused on how to prepare for the future, with Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz dropping the “rebuild” hint on local radio.

In other words, let the watch begin for the 2025 NHL draft class.

Draft-eligible players are in leagues all over the world, so we’ve created a guide of which teams or areas to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

United States National Team Development Program

This was the easiest pick of the bunch. On any given night, you will see various NHL GMs, front office employees and 20-plus scouts at the NTDP games. It is the most highly concentrated pool of top prospects in the world. The team stays together for the duration of the season and plays in international tournaments.

The program has pumped out prospects at a good clip over the past decade, and this season should be no different.

Of this current group, William Moore, Charlie Trethewey, Jack Murtagh and L.J. Mooney are drawing significant attention as possible first-round picks.

Beyond those top four, Cole McKinney, Conrad Fondrk and Mason Moe are drawing interest at forward. Donato Bracco, Asher Barnett, Carter Amico and Drew Shock have drawn significant interest from scouts on defense.