Winners, losers and top moments of the 2025 NHL draft - ESPN

The 2025 NHL draft is now complete. Though drafting Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 pick was no surprise, there was no shortage of shocks as the two-day event proceeded.

That included celebrity guests making picks and other interesting aspects of the first «decentralized» draft, along with the usual draft-day twists and turns.

Now that all 224 selections have been made, what stands out the most? ESPN reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski serve up their takes on the best, worst and most transcendent moments from the event.

Being drafted by an NHL team is one of the biggest moments of any young player's life. But it's those little touches that the league and its teams add that make that moment go from memorable to incredible.

When Schaefer went No. 1 to the New York Islanders, he already had his late mother, Jennifer, in his thoughts since she died last year of breast cancer. Schaefer had her photo and a signature stitched inside his jacket. But when he was given his first Islanders jersey, it had a purple Hockey Fights Cancer ribbon sewn on the left chest and his mother's initials on the inside collar. Schaefer kissed the ribbon after he put on the jersey.

«This is a high-class organization,» Schaefer said. «A lot of people can say, 'Oh, it's just a ribbon,' but it means a lot for me. My mom's a big part of my life. This jersey, I'm going to hang up for sure.»

Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks' marketing department and the NHL cooked up something special for the No. 10 pick: loading him into a helicopter, flying him across Southern California and then driving him to Disneyland. That the pick ended up being Roger McQueen — who then got to meet Lightning McQueen in Radiator Springs at California Adventure —