Mandatory credit – Brantford Bulldogs X handle

Jake O’Brien NHL Draft Projection – Overview, Strengths, Weaknesses, and Projection for 2025 NHL Entry Draft

Center Jake O'Brien seen as a potential top ten pick

Mandatory credit – Brantford Bulldogs X handle

The 2025 NHL Entry Draft is just around the corner. As the 2024-25 NHL season nears its end, hockey fans have only a few days in between as they gear up for this year’s draft, which will be held on Friday, June 27, and Saturday, June 28, in Los Angeles, California.

The 2025 NHL Scouting Combine took place last week, so now all that remains is the most exciting part for young players looking to turn professional, and that is the NHL Entry Draft. Amongst the 90 players invited to the Combine, we will take a look at the draft overview and projection for Jake O’Brien, one of the potential top candidates to keep an eye out for.

Jake O’Brien Overview

Jake O’Brien is a junior ice hockey player born in Toronto, Canada, on June 16, 2007. O’Brien is a right-handed shooter and plays the center position for the Brantford Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The 17-year-old is eligible for the upcoming draft this year.

The Toronto native is no stranger to the game of hockey. The sport runs in his family, as both of his parents were former ice hockey players in college and as professionals. O’Brien’s father, Dan O’Brien, played in the ECHL and was a member of Clarkson University’s ice hockey team. His mother captained the Laurier University team and was also part of the Canadian national women’s team.

O’Brien is coming off a tremendous season with the Bulldogs, scoring 32 goals and adding 66 assists for a total of 98 points from 66 games. During the 2023-24 season, he won the Emms Family Award as the Rookie of the Year, an award he won on the back of stunning performances that included 13 goals and 51 assists. He led all rookies in multiple categories, such as points, assists, power-play goals, and more.

A highly-skilled playmaker with the @BulldogsOHL during hockey season and an accomplished muskie fisherman in the offseason, #NHLDraft prospect Jake O'Brien is a man of many talents 🎣@KubotaCanadaLtd | #MeetTheFuture pic.twitter.com/jLRlqpKNwM
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) June 8, 2025

Also Read: What Happened to Matthew Schaefer’s Mother?

Jake O’Brien Strengths

O’Brien is seen as the 4th-best North American skater in this year’s draft class, as per NHL’s Central Scouting. His main strength lies in his vision. The 17-year-old is able to spot even the tiniest of gaps between skates, sticks, and through multiple defenders. He has the ability to see a play develop beforehand and can pick out his teammates accordingly.

Additionally, if nothing is open, he has the creative instincts to make plays by faking and shifting his opponents. Another area he has improved over the past year is his puck-handling skills, which have led him to become a more well-rounded player. He displays a high hockey IQ, and his patience in making plays is also one of his core strengths.

Jake O’Brien Weaknesses

At 6 feet 2 inches and weighing around 170 pounds, O’Brien needs to fill out his frame and, more importantly, work on gaining more strength. Also, he is at a disadvantage when it comes to his speed on the ice. Additionally, the one area he needs to work on more is on faceoffs, as he won only 44.7% of his faceoffs, which is quite pedestrian for a center.

Jake O’Brien Draft Projection

Jake O’Brien is quite possibly the second or third-best center in this draft behind the likes of Michael Misa, who is clearly the favorite at his position, and perhaps Anton Frondell. Of course, there are varied opinions on who could be selected where after the first few picks at the top, but the overall consensus seems to suggest that O’Brien could be a top ten selection at this year’s draft.

Just a couple of the top 2025 #NHLDraft prospects taking in the #StanleyCup Final. 👏

Cc: Michael Misa, Matthew Schaefer, James Hagens & Jake O'Brien

🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/JBaTW47UTt
— NHL (@NHL) June 10, 2025

The Philadelphia Flyers with the number 6 pick overall, and the Buffalo Sabres with the number 9 pick are two spots that could be in play for the center, as are the Pittsburgh Penguins, who hold the number 11 pick.

2025 NHL Draft

2025 NHL Entry Draft

Jake O’Brien

NHL

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!