Morning Coffee: Is a surprise in store at top of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft?

Congratulations to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, and the 2025 NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

One of the most dominant seasons ever came down to 48 minutes with the first NBA Finals Game 7 since 2016.

Ultimately, SGA and the Thunder capped off a remarkable year with a win and cover to clinch the first championship since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2008-09.

Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers once again with 29 points along with a game-high 12 assists, five rebounds, two blocks, and a steal in the Thunder’s 103-91 victory.

SGA became the first player to win MVP and an NBA title in the same season since Stephen Curry did it in 2014-15.

He also won the NBA Finals MVP, the NBA scoring title, Western Conference Finals MVP, and earned a first-team All-NBA nod in an unforgettable individual season.

Oklahoma City finished with the highest points per game differential in NBA history, setting the all-time records with 64 double-digit wins, 48 wins by 15 or more, and 12 wins by 30 or more points in the regular season and the playoffs combined.

The Thunder were the betting favourite in 78 of their 82 regular season games and every game this postseason.

As if that wasn’t impressive enough, OKC covered the spread at a 65 per cent rate – the best mark in the NBA.

Consider all the above and the fact that the Thunder are the youngest NBA champions since 1976-77 and it shouldn’t be hard to figure out which team opened as the favourite to win the title next season.

Oklahoma City is +220 as the obvious NBA championship favourite at FanDuel with a chance to repeat in 2026.

No other team is shorter than +800 to win the title.

With the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Final in the books, the focus now shifts to the offseason in both sports with an emphasis on what the top teams must do in the coming weeks to contend for a championship.

The NBA Draft goes this Wednesday June 25th at the Barclays Center in New York City.

The NHL Entry Draft will take place this weekend starting with the first round at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Friday night.

Duke superstar Cooper Flagg remains an obvious pick to go first overall to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Draft.

Meanwhile, the sentiment is building towards a consensus top two choices in this year’s NHL Draft with an emerging favourite to go first overall to the New York Islanders.

Is a surprise in story at the top of the NHL Entry Draft?

This is Morning Coffee for Monday June 23rd, 2025.

Is A Surprise In Store At Top Of The 2025 NHL Entry Draft?

Bob McKenzie’s Final Draft Ranking Special is scheduled to air at 11:30 AM ET on TSN4. 

In case you miss it, you’ll be able to check out Bob’s full list during your lunch break, with the full show set to run again tonight on TSN1/4.

At this point, it’s unlikely we’re in for a surprise at the top of the board.

Three years ago, Juraj Slafkovsky was +450 to be the first overall pick at FanDuel when we found out that Bob had him in the No. 1 spot in his final draft ranking.

It wasn’t long before we saw a significant adjustment to FanDuel’s market for the first overall pick.

Nobody is expecting a major market correction when Bob’s final rankings for this year’s NHL Entry Draft are revealed later this morning.

Erie Otter defenceman Matthew Schaefer was at the top of the list when Bob provided his last update in May.

Since Schaefer won’t turn 18 until September, FanDuel has a market for the position of the first overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft.

Defenceman is the obvious favourite at -1900.

That number represents a 95 per cent probability.

Forward is a distant second choice at +700.

Meanwhile, FanDuel has forward as a -1900 favourite to be the position of the second overall pick.

Defenceman is +700 to be the position of the No. 2 pick.

Those numbers illustrate the likelihood that Schaefer is the first pick in the NHL Entry Draft, followed by Saginaw Spirit centre Michael Misa at second overall.

Keep in mind, Swedish forward Anton Frondell is the favourite to go third overall at FanDuel, followed by Moncton Wildcat centre Caleb Desnoyers and Brampton Steelhead winger Porter Martone.

Misa is +750 to go third overall as the fourth choice in that market behind Frondell, Desnoyers, and Martone.

If Misa does drop to third overall, it’s still considered more likely than not that it’s a forward that goes No. 2.

Schaefer, Misa, Frondell, and Desnoyers are all expected to go among the top five picks in the first round.

Boston College centre James Hagan is the favourite to go fifth overall at +175 and is -135 to be a top five pick.

Martone is -130 to be a top five pick at FanDuel.

No other player is shorter than +500 to go top five.

With the Islanders, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, Utah Mammoth, and Nashville Predators at the top of the board with picks one through five in that order, the conversation is expected be focused on the future rather than the 2026 Stanley Cup winner on Friday night.

Of course, that could change with one or two notable trades, or the potential for more rumours involving some of the biggest names available during TSN’s Countdown to Free Agent Frenzy.

As of this morning, FanDuel has the Vegas Golden Knights as the favourite to be Mitch Marner’s Next Team at +185.

That’s the shortest odds we have seen for the favourite in that market to date and it represents a 35.1 per cent implied probability that Marner ends up in Vegas.

The Carolina Hurricanes (+490), Pittsburgh Penguins (+550), Chicago Blackhawks (+800), Los Angeles Kings (+800), and the Anaheim Ducks (+850) round out the top six choices in the Marner Next Team market this morning.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are +2600 – their longest odds in the Marner Next Team market to date.

The top five choices to win the Stanley Cup from 2025 are the top five choices to win the Stanley Cup again in 2026, except at different numbers and in a different order.

Which NHL team will improve its chances to contend for the Stanley Cup the most this offseason?

With Marner and several other big names available, this offseason should be a fun one with TSN’s Free Agent Frenzy show set for July 1st.

First up, it’s Bob McKenzie’s Final Draft Ranking Special later this morning on TSN.

You know what I’ll be doing at 11:30 AM ET.

Have a great day, everyone.