2025 NHL Draft profile: Blake Fiddler, Edmonton Oil Kings

It was a game that will go down as one of the biggest playoff victories in Dallas Stars history.

Trailing the Colorado Avalanche 2-0 in Game 7 of their first-round series in the 2025 NHL Playoffs, the Stars scored four unanswered goals in the final frame- including a Mikko Rantanen hat trick against his former team- to secure the win and move on to the second round.

Blake Fiddler was among the 18,500-plus fans who nearly blew the roof off the American Airlines Center after the unbelievable comeback.

While the Nashville-born, Dallas-raised defender has skated on the AAC ice plenty of times, his NHL dream felt closer than ever as he watched from the stands.

“We’ve been waiting this whole year knowing that’s a possibility, and now it’s finally here… It feels like it’s been a long time, and I’m ready for the draft now,” Fiddler said.

The 6-foot-4, 209-pound Edmonton Oil Kings blueliner is ranked 26th among all North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in the agency’s final rankings ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft.

His sophomore WHL season saw him double his previous scoring totals with 10 goals (including two game-winners) and 23 assists for 33 points in 64 regular-season games, helping the Oil Kings return to the postseason for the first time since winning it all in 2022.

They say everything is bigger in Texas – and that absolutely includes Blake Fiddler's game!@EdmOilKings | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/hgxNvcldtO

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 10, 2025

Fiddler led all Oil Kings defencemen in goals and points while finishing third in assists.

“He skates extremely well for his size,” Oil Kings General Manager Kirt Hill said. “He sees the ice well, and he’s a guy that can play in all situations. He chips in offensively. He can be really hard to play against in the D-zone as well… And he’s a right shot, which everybody always gets pretty excited about.

He’s a guy who can play huge minutes, and I think that just correlates back to how well he takes care of his body. I mean, a 68-game schedule is a busy one, especially for a player like Blake, who is playing for Team CHL, is going to World Junior camp for Team USA. It’s an extremely long year for him, and to be playing over 20 minutes a night, it just speaks to what he does to prepare himself and keep himself healthy.”

Fiddler believes his success all ties back to his skating ability and extra time post-practice spent working on his edges and d-line mobility.

“I think that my defending got a lot better, and same with my offensive game towards the end of the year,” Fiddler, who scored two game-winners in the final three games of the regular season, said. “All around finding that, being more efficient out there, learning when to go, not to go, and kind of just learning how to play a bigger role. Felt more comfortable, and with my mobility and kind of being able to eat big minutes for my team. I’m a strong skater for my size, and I use my size and skating to defend and help produce offense, and I use my legs to join or lead the rush.”

Hill also cites the 17-year-old as a player the Oil Kings gravitate to, and often gets the group together away from the rink- characteristics that helped him earn an ‘A’ on Team CHL’s leadership group at the first-ever CHL USA Prospects Challenge in November.

So, any NHL teams in the market for a 6-foot-4, right shot defender that can do this?

Asking on behalf of Blake Fiddler 🚨🚨@EdmOilKings | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/MfB2UE9xvi

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) March 16, 2025

On the international stage, Fiddler captained the United States at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he picked up a goal and three assists in five games, and cracked the U.S. roster for the 2025 IIHF U18 World Championship in his hometown.

Fiddler added three points (2G-1A) and scored the game-opening goal of the bronze-medal match, an eventual 4-3 win over Slovakia, in front of dozens of friends and family in early May.

“He’s going to get some opportunities offensively, but his game is going to be about making it really hard for opponents to score,” TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button said. “That’s where 80% of his strength is, in my view. Maybe he’s got more offense than I give him credit for, but the one thing that I feel really comfortable in talking about Blake is that he plays a game that helps you win. He plays a game that is necessary to have when you’re trying to win. So that’s the type of player you want and need on your team.”

As the son of former WHLer and NHL journeyman forward Vernon Fiddler, Blake has grown up as a student of the game.

After family skates in Dallas, Blake (who turned eight during Vernon’s final season with the Stars) would often hop on the ice to go one-on-one against his dad’s teammates- and even challenge stars like WHL alumnus Jamie Benn and former OHL star Tyler Seguin to ‘fights’.

Post-game, he’d head to the team dressing room to press his dad about the ins and outs of the match.

“After games, when they’d win, I remember he’d always cold tub after games and I’d just be in there sitting down with the stat sheet,” Fiddler recalled. “I always just wondered what all the stats were, and he’d just tell me what they are, and kind of just all the questions I had to ask everyone.”

Blake switched from forward to defence when he was about 11 years old, but says he still shares his dad’s competitive streak and fierce will to win.

“He’s helped me a lot during my career, but you know, I’m my own player and my own person,” Fiddler added. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to kind of get yourself to the next level. There’s people that help you along the way, but you’re able to carve your own path.”

Twenty-eight NHL teams interviewed Fiddler at the 2025 NHL Combine in Buffalo, N.Y., where he also posted top-10 finishes in wingspan and grip strength in fitness testing.

With TSN’s Bob McKenzie projecting Fiddler as the 28th overall pick in next week’s draft, there’s a very real chance the youngster could be selected by the team his dad played for in the city he was born in- the Nashville Predators.

Fiddler and his family will be in attendance when the NHL Draft begins with Round One on Friday, June 27, in Los Angeles.