2025 NHL Draft Primer
The 2025 NHL Entry Draft will take place over two days at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Round 1 kicks off on Friday, June 27 at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET, with live coverage on ESPN, ESPN+, and Sportsnet. Rounds 2–7 will start Saturday, June 28 at 9 a.m. PT / noon ET, airing on NHL Network, ESPN+, Sportsnet, and SN1. Teams are operating in a decentralized manner, with executives and scouts remaining in their home cities, marking a departure from the traditional centralized draft environment.
Sam Dickinson was the first London Knight to go off the board at last year’s draft when the San Jose Sharks selected him with the 11th overall pick before the Edmonton Oilers capped off the first round selecting Sam O’Reilly.
Featured on this year’s NHL Central Scouting list is Henry Brzustewicz, Aleksei Medvedev, Noah Read, and Evan Van Gorp. Mike Zakharov, a recent fifth round selection of the Knights in the 2025 OHL Draft was also featured on the final rankings.
Henry Brzustewicz
Henry Brzustewicz was drafted 22nd overall by the Ottawa 67’s in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection before being shipped to the Knights for a haul of picks just days before the 2024-25 season got underway at training camp. The Memorial Cup Champion and two time OHL Champion Brzustewicz gained plenty of experience in his first season in London. Entering his rookie season on a stacked Knights blue line with the likes of Oliver Bonk, Dickinson, Jackson Edward, Isaiah George meant Brzustewicz had to find ice time elsewhere. He spent the majority of the 2024 postseason at forward, playing wing on the fourth line. Notably, he scored the overtime winner against the Oshawa Generals in game three of the championship series to cap off a five goal Knights comeback.
In his sophomore season Brzustewicz saw a big jump in responsibility and minutes, stepping up into big roles when Dickinson and Bonk were playing for Canada at the World Juniors at the holidays. Brzustewicz recorded a career high 42 points in 67 games, hitting double digits in the goal column and a plus/minus of 24. The Washington Township, MI native represented the Western Conference at the OHL Top Prospects Game in January. Ranked 19th across North American skaters by Central Scouting and 28th overall by Sportsnet, Brzustewicz could hear his name called as early as Friday night.
Aleksei Medvedev
Aleksei Medvedev entered his rookie season with the Knights after spending his 16 year old season with the St. Thomas Stars of the GOJHL in 2023-24. Medvedev split duties in the regular season with overage goaltender Austin Elliott and largely impressed across those starts. In 34 starts, The 6’3, 181 lb net minder posted a 2.79 GAA and 0.912 SV% alongside a 22-8-2-0 record. The St. Petersburg, Russia native recorded three shutouts in his rookie season. With the graduation of Elliott following the club’s Memorial Cup win, Medvedev will now take the reigns in the Knights crease and is set to lead the way in 2025-26. Medvedev also represented the Knights alongside Brzustewicz at the OHL Top Prospects game. Ranked by many in the 50-70th range, Medvedev figures to be an early day two selection and one of the first goaltenders off the board in the draft.
Noah Read
Signed to an OHL Scholarship & Development Agreement weeks before the 2024-25 regular season, Read quickly caught the attention of scouts in his rookie season in London. The St. Catherines, ON native spent the prior season with his hometown Falcons in the GOJHL with 38 points in 48 games before taking the jump to the next level. In his first season with the club Read recorded at a solid pace of 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in 45 games despite largely playing fourth line minutes due to the team’s extraordinary depth. Read’s “high effort level” and “excellent pace” has earned him rankings as high as 97th by Elite Prospects.
Evan Van Gorp
Entering the draft as an overager, Van Gorp largely improved in his second season with the Knights, earning the eyes of scouts across province. After a 12 point rookie season in 2024, Van Gorp almost quadrupled his total point output with a 41 point season across 64 games. The Watford, Ontario native was signed to a major junior card in January of 2024 and was a key contributor in the Knights championsip run in his first full season with the team. NHL Central Scouting listed Van Gorp at #193 in their final rankings.
