Color of Hockey: Aitcheson, Bear among top choices in 2025 NHL Draft

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles players of color who are ranked by NHL Central Scouting for the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft June 27-28 at L.A. Live's Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The first round will be June 27 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), with rounds 2-7 on June 28 (Noon ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, SN1).

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph marveled recently at how much hockey has grown since he was one of three players of color who were chosen in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft.

“I think the NHL and the hockey world in general has been giving so much to communities to make them able to play, enjoy the game of hockey,” said Joseph, who was taken by the Arizona Coyotes with the No. 23 pick in 2017 and was a guest coach at the Penguins’ Willie O’Ree Academy on Tuesday. “They have love for the game in their eyes and hearts. Kids just go practice, play and next thing you know, there are 20 of them possible for the draft. It's fun to see.”

There are at least 26 players of color in the final rankings by NHL Central Scouting who’ll be waiting to hear their names called at the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft on Friday and Saturday at L.A. Live's Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

The first round is Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), with rounds 2-7 on Saturday (Noon ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, SN1).

At least 10 Black players, six Indigenous players, eight players of Asian heritage and two players with Latin American roots are on Central Scouting’s lists of North American and International skaters.

Here are the top players of color who could be selected in the 2025 draft, in ranking order:

North American skaters

Kashawn Aitcheson, D, Barrie (OHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 9
A combination of physicality and offense, Aitcheson (6-1, 196) was third among Ontario Hockey League defensemen with 26 goals and seventh with 59 points in 64 games. The 18-year-old from Toronto also had 21 power-play points (nine goals, 12 assists).

Carter Bear, LW, Everett (WHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 10
Bear (6-0, 179) led Everett in goals (40), points (82) and power-play goals (14) in 56 games. The 18-year-old from Peguis First Nation and Winnipeg had nine game-winning goals, tied for second in the Western Hockey League.

Jack Nesbitt, LW, Windsor (OHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 15
A member of Wiikwemkoong First Nation, Nesbitt (6-4, 185) was fifth on Windsor in goals (25) and points (64) in 65 games, including six power-play and two short-handed goals. The 18-year-old from Sarnia, Ontario, was fifth on Windsor with 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 12 OHL playoff games.

Malcolm Spence, LW, Erie (OHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 17
Spence (6-2, 201) was third on Erie with 73 points (32 goals, 41 assists) in 65 games with 14 power-play points (five goals, nine assists). The 18-year-old from Mississauga, Ontario, had seven points (three goals, four assists) in seven games to help Canada win the 2024 IIHF World Under-18 Championship. He will play at the University of Michigan next season.

Ryker Lee, RW, Madison (USHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 28
Lee (6-0, 185) led all United States Hockey League rookies in goals (31), power-play goals (10) and points (68), and tied for first in assists (37) and game-winning goals (five) in 58 games for Madison. He had 21 regular-season multipoint games, and six points (three goals, three assists in seven USHL playoff games. The 18-year-old from Wilmette, Illinois, whose father immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan, committed to Michigan State for next season.

William Moore, C, USNTDP (USHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 29
Moore (6-2, 175) had 59 points (27 goals, 32 assists) in 64 games for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. The 18-year-old had 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in seven games to help the United States win the bronze medal at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Worlds. Born in Mississauga, Ontario, Moore is a dual U.S.-Canada citizen. His father, Patrick, is American and mother, Vanusa, is from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Bill Zonnon, RW, Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 31
Zonnon (6-2, 190) was second on Rouyn-Noranda with 83 points (28 goals, 55 assists) in 64 games, and had 34 power-play points (seven goals, 27 assists). The 18-year-old from Montreal tied for the team lead with 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 13 Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League playoff games.

Simon (Haoxi) Wang, D, Oshawa (OHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 34
Wang (6-5, 215) had 22 points (four goals, 18 assists) in 38 games with King of the Ontario Junior Hockey League to begin this season and had two assists in 32 games and three assists in 21 playoff games after joining Oshawa in December. Born in Beijing, the 17-year-old could become the third player born in China to be selected in the NHL Draft, joining Kevin He (2024 Winnipeg Jets, fourth round, No. 109) and Andong Song (2015 New York Islanders, sixth round, No. 172).

Hayden Paupanekis, C, Kelowna (WHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 38
A member of the Norway House Cree Nation, the 18-year-old (6-4, 196) had 43 points (22 goals, 21 assists) in 71 games for Kelowna and Spokane.

Carter Amico, D, USNTDP (USHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 41 (North American skaters)
Amico (6-5, 225 pounds) had three assists in 13 games this season. The 18-year-old from Westbrook, Maine, is committed to play for Boston University in 2026-27.

Cameron Schmidt, RW, Vancouver (WHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 43
Schmidt (5-7, 160) tied for seventh in the WHL with 40 goals in 61 games, and led Vancouver with 78 points (38 assists). His nine points (four goals, five assists) in five games led the team during the WHL playoffs, and the 18-year-old had four points (two goals, two assists) in seven games for Canada at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Worlds.

Conrad Fondrk, C, USNTDP (USHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 45
Fondrk, whose mother is from Honduras, was ninth on USNTDP’s Under-18 team with 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 40 games. The 18-year-old from St. Paul, Minnesota, is committed to play for Boston University next season.

Ben Kevan, RW, Des Moines (USHL), NHL Central Scouting: No. 55 (North American skaters)
Kevan (6-0, 173) led Des Moines in assists (30) and had 43 points (13 goals) in 51 games. The 18-year-old from Fairfield, California, who is of Japanese heritage, had three points (two goals, one assist) for the U.S. at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Worlds, including a goal in a 4-3 overtime win against Slovakia for the bronze medal.

Mace’o Phillips, D, USNTDP (USHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 61
The 18-year-old from Wayzata, Minnesota, had six points (two goals, four assists) in 60 games. Phillips (6-5, 228) played in five games for the U.S. at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 World championship but didn’t register a point. He will play for the University of Minnesota next season.

Lukas Sawchyn, C, Edmonton (WHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 69
Sawchyn (5-9, 168) was third in scoring for Edmonton with 55 points (15 goals, 40 assists) in 66 games. The 18-year-old, who is Metis from Grand Prairie, Alberta, had three points (two goals, one assist) in five postseason games and one assist for Canada at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Worlds.

Alex Huang, D, Chicoutimi (QMJHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 77
Huang (6-0, 170) was second in scoring among Chicoutimi defensemen with 40 points (seven goals, 33 assists) in 64 games. The native of Rosemere, Quebec, who turns 18 on July 30, had four assists in six games for Canada at the 2025 IIHF Under 18 Worlds. He’s committed to play for Harvard University in 2026-27.

Aidan Park, C, Green Bay (USHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 94
Park (6-1, 188) was second on Green Bay with 66 points (33 goals, 33 assists) in 55 regular-season games and tied for the team lead with three points (two goals, one assist) in two playoff games. The 19-year-old is the nephew of Minnesota Wild pro scout and retired NHL forward Richard Park, who was the second player born in South Korea to reach the NHL. Aidan Park will play for the University of Michigan next season.

Anthony Allain-Samake, D, Sioux City (USHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 101
Allain-Samake (6-1, 183) had 14 assists in 61 regular-season games and one assist in five playoff games. The 17-year-old from Gatineau, Quebec, is committed to play for the University of Connecticut in 2026-27.

Owen Conrad, D, Charlottetown (QMJHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 102
Conrad (6-2, 214), an 18-year-old who is Elsipogtog First Nation from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, was second among Charlottetown defensemen with 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists) in 64 regular-season games.

Shamar Moses, RW, North Bay (OHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 104
Moses (6-1, 200) had 48 points (12 goals, 36 assists) in 66 games for North Bay, second on the team in assists and third in points, after the 18-year-old was acquired in a trade with Barrie five games into the 2024-25 OHL season.

William Belle, RW, USNTDP (USHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 117
Belle (6-3, 219) has one of the more unique paths to the draft. The son of a Chinese mother and American father, he lived in China until his family moved to the U.S. in 2015. The 18-year-old, who had 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 55 games for the USNTDP, will play for Notre Dame next season.

Jonas Woo, D, Medicine Hat (WHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 156
Woo was third in scoring among Medicine Hat defensemen wtih 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists) in 57 regular-season games. The 18-year-old from Winnipeg tied for fourth on the team with 11 assists in 18 playoff games. He is the younger brother of Jett Woo, a defenseman for Abbottsford, the Vancouver Canucks’ American Hockey League affiliate.

Jett Lajoie, RW, Prince George (WHL), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 166
A member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, The 18-year-old (5-11, 178) had 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) in 67 regular-season games and five points (one goal, four assists) in seven playoff games.

International skaters

Max Westergard, LW, Frolunda, (Sweden-JR), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 30
Westergard (5-10, 158) was the fourth-leading scorer for Frolunda’s Under-20 junior team this season with 50 points (19 goals, 31 assists) in 41 games and had three points (one goal, two assists) in 11 playoff games for Frolunda’s senior team in the Swedish Hockey League. The 17-year-old from Tampere, Finland, whose father is Finnish-Swedish and mother is Kenyan, was co-leader for Finland with six points (two goals, four assists) in five games at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Worlds.

Samuel Murin, LW, Spisska Nova Ves (Slovakia), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 82
Murin (6-0, 185) had three points (one goal, two assists) in 27 regular-season games for Poprad and Spisska Nova Ves. The 18-year-old from Poprad, Slovakia, had one assist in seven games for Slovakia at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Worlds.

Jeremiah Mundy, RW, Davos Jr. (Swiss-JR), NHL Central Scouting ranking: No. 139
Mundy (6-2, 194), who is Swiss-Canadian, had 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) in 45 games for Davos' under-20 team and four points (one goal, three assists) in five games at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Worlds.