From Luke Vlooswyk to Mads Kongsbak Klyvø, the best names eligible for the 2025 NHL Entry draft and the only draft ranking you need.

The 2025 NHL Entry Draft is tomorrow.

Some NHL teams may still be finalizing their draft lists, fine-tuning them to make sure they’ve got each prospect slotted in the right spot before their general manager trades away all of their picks.

Likewise, hardcore hockey fans are poring over autonomous draft rankings, preparing themselves to be extremely upset when their team doesn’t pick the diamond in the rough that one guy on YouTube really liked.

Most of those draft rankings are focused on intangible things that don’t matter like skating,shooting,and passing. Hear at Pass it to Bulis, we like to focus on tangible things that mean a lot more, like how good a name looks on the back of a jersey.

They say that hockey players play for the crest on the front and not the name on the back. but itS a lot more fun for fans to cheer for the crest on the front when the name on the back is cool.

The NHL has seen some incredible names, like Dit Clapper, Zarley Zalapski, and Håkan Loob. Those players have carved out a place in NHL history beyond what they accomplished on the ice.

A great name has to be taken into account at the draft. When you step up to the mic to make your pick,do you want to be saying a pedestrian surname like “Smith” or a cool surname like “Bear”? I rest my case.

This is the eighth year of the best name rankings, and the Vancouver Canucks have made a habit of picking from my lists over the years, taking great names like Jack Rathbone, Jett Woo, Nils Höglander, and Hunter Brzustewicz. What do those players have in common aside from great names? They’ve earned NHL contracts, despite all being picked outside of the first round. That’s a pretty good hit rate. Honestly, I’m doing better than most actual NHL scouts.

Here are this year’s best names, starting wiht some honourable mentions who didn’t quiet make the cut.

I shoudl note, some names land in the honourable mentions as they’re not quite as good as the top 20, while others end up in the honourable mentions because they stretch the definition of “prospect” to its absolute breaking point, like Thananutch Kulthanthorn: an incredible name, but he plays in the Siam Hockey League, which is a non-contact recreational league in Thailand.

Honourable Mentions

Daniele Wagner, Thananutch Kulthanthorn, Nathan Free, Linus Funck, Richard Gallant, Henry Brzustewicz, Ilyas Magomedsultanov, Wilson Björck, Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz, Julius sumpf, Evan Passmore, Jakob Ihs-Wozniak, Blake Arrowsmith, Linus Böös, Noam Fältskog, Bill Zonnon, Nic Whitehead, jonas Woo, Lane Sim, Egan Beveridge, hudson Kibblewhite, hughston Hurt, Jager gugyelka, Yannik Boppart, Hunter Dingman, Oscar Krook, Finn De St. Hubert, Jonathan Thörn, Gino Texter, Neo Karling

20 | Stanley Hastings

I nearly put this name in the Honourable Mentions, but decided that I couldn’t leave the most Vancouver name in the draft off the list; not on a website named Vancouver is Awesome.

Stanley Hastings is actually American and played high school hockey for Saratoga Springs high this past year, where he scored 9 goals and 19 points in 19 games.

Look, is this 5’9″ forward going to get drafted? Absolutely not. But how could I resist putting a guy named after Stanley Park and Hastings Street on this list? Sure, that’s almost certainly not what he’s actually named for, but let’s not sweat the details.

If you don’t agree with my choice to do some pandering to Vancouver with this pick, just grab your favorite name from the Honourable Mentions and pretend I put that name at number 20 rather.

19 | Chase Jette

I cannot emphasize enough, do not chase jets. You do not want to be caught in the jet-wash from the engines and, besides, what would you do with a jet after you caught it?

Chase Jette sounds like the name of a character in a dime-store novel about international superspies.

As befitting his name, Jette is a speedy forward who can fly up the ice with the puck and is also tenacious in his battles to win the puck. His point totals in the USHL were pedestrian during the regular season,with 15 goals and 24 points in 59 games,but he had a strong playoffs,putting up 13 points in 15 games.

Jette also represented Team USA at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup,scoring a couple of goals in five games.

There’s a chance that Jette is a late-round selection in the draft, with FC Hockey ranking him 161st on their list.

18 | Pius Pranskevicius

Long-time Pass it to Bulis readers will know that I love me some alliteration. This name delivers,with the plosive “P”s firing out like pellets from a BB gun.

But this isn’t just an alliterative name: Pijus Pranskevicius is a well-rounded, two-way, 200-foot name that gets in the corners and comes out with the puck every time. It is a simply delightful name to say out loud.

Pranskevicius isn’t going to get drafted,as he’s an extreme long shot,but I am pulling for the kid.

He’s a 5’7″ winger from Lithuania,who absolutely tore up Sweden’s second-tier under-18 league,the J18 Region,with 14 goals and 35 points in 19 games. That earned him time in the J20 Region, as well as the first-tier under-18 league, the J18 Nationell, where he continued to excel, scoring 10 goals in 15 games. He’s got some serious skill.

Top that off with some strong performances in international tournaments for Lithuania, albeit in lower tiers of the World Juniors and World Under-18 championships, and you’ve got a player whose name I’m hoping to hear a lot more in the future.

17 | Shamar Moses

“Moses parts the defense like the Red Sea.”

You’re welcome for that one, future play-by-play commentators calling games for whoever drafts Shamar Moses.

On top of being a prophet, Moses is a top prospect, who could get drafted in the third or fourth round this year. He’s a 6’1″ right wing who put up 48 points in 61 games for the North Bay Battalion in the OHL this past season after a trade from the Barrie Colts.

According to scouting reports, Moses has a lot more talent than his point totals might suggest, with a great shot, intriguing playmaking ability, and a physical edge to his game. A team picking him outside of the first two rounds will be betting that he could breakout with improvements to his skating and motor.

16 | Luke Floos Wyk

A lot of names are going to land on this list simply because they are fun to say.”luke Vlooswyk” falls into that category, as you not only get an absolute treat of a last name in “Vlooswyk,” but also a well-chosen first name in “Luke” that provides some lovely assonance and consonance.

Vlooswyk is a 6’4″ shutdown defenceman with a strong chance of being a late-round pick thanks to his mobility, physicality, and reach. being a right-hand shot doesn’t hurt.

“He remains one of the best rush defenders in this draft class in my opinion, consistently closing gaps quickly, using his size and strength effectively, and showing solid mobility,” said Elite Prospects’ Simon Desjardins in one scouting report. “He uses well-timed body checks and an active stick to disrupt plays.”

the question for Vlooswyk is whether he can move the puck well enough to make it