I resume my mini-series on 2025 NHL Entry Draft eligible WHL prospects with an entry on an intriguing player with an impressive ceiling. His physical profile is enticing, but what he could become is even more so. Let us take a look at this ’06 and conduct some analysis and make some comparisons.

Lynden Lakovic was born in Kelowna, British Columbia on December 12th, 2006. He comes from a strong hockey background, with two of his uncles (Gregg and the late Sasha Lakovic) having pro careers as enforces. Lynden, however, has walked down a more offensive-oriented path in his minor and junior hockey careers. With Pursuit of Excellence and RINK HA Kelowna’s U15 prep teams, Lakovic accumulated a combined 18 points in 30 games across two truncated seasons affected by COVID shutdowns. Banking on his potential and impressive frame, the Moose Jaw Warriors took him in the second round of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft. He would spend most of the following season with West Van Academy U18 Prep and register 27 points in 33 games. In 2022-23, he was effectively a full-time WHLer, registering 2 goals and 5 assists in 37 games. He additionally made an appearance at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge with Team Canada Black, recording a goal and two assists in 7 games as his team came in fourth place.

The next year, he was a mainstay on the roster and played all 68 games in the regular season. He exhibited some promise on the run, recording 18 goals and 21 assists and seemed to rise to the occasion in the postseason with 5 goals and 3 assists to his name across 20 postseason games as the Warriors won their first ever WHL championship. This run and the chance to play at the Memorial Cup assuredly gave him some confidence and valuable experience to carry with him going forward.

This season, he has already matched his points output from last season in 31 games, and also had a further chance to showcase his abilities at the CHL/USA Prospects Challenge. He participated in the CHL’s sweep of the US National Team Development Program and having plenty to do with it.. He scored the first goal of game one and overall was an analytics darling, accumulating the third-highest xG buildup in both games 1 and 2 per Mitch Brown’s model and posting terrific transition metrics in game 2. The second game is actually more of his style. I would argue that he is a terrific possession dominant player who is a transition wizard and can be a terrific puck carrier in the NHL. That said, it was intriguing seeing him do a lot of off-puck offensive work in the first game. I think it shows that he is becoming a more diverse attacker, which only serves to make him more dangerous.

I have engaged in extensive discussions about who this prospect could be, and there are a couple of comparisons that have come out of that discourse really make sense. Dylan Strome absolutely works for a contemporary comparison, as does prime Blake Wheeler for one reaching back a little bit earlier into the 21st century. What is perhaps most fitting about both of these comparisons beyond just the style fit is that both seemed to have achieved late bloomer status, to terrific results. Lakovic is something of a project, he is still a work in progress when it comes to becoming who he could be and there is some uncertainty about getting there. However, the very top of his potential is somewhere worth getting to, and with him standing at 6’4″, there are probably a number of teams that will be willing to make that bet due to the potential payoff. He has already exhibited growth in some respects – As noted, his offensive tool kit is expanding with time. Additionally, as is observed and addressed by Lakovic himself in the previously linked article, Moose Jaw head coach Mark O’Leary has done a lot in assisting him in rounding out his game. He understands defensive responsibility, work rate, and positioning more than he once did. He has put in the work to become a more versatile threat across all 200 feet than he was when he first arrived in the WHL. With him on an upward trajectory, the odds of him hitting his ceiling seem pretty good.

There is some variance in where Lakovic could end up in the draft per the consensus, but he seems to be most consistently ranked at 12th. This commonality includes that being his midterm ranking by NHL Central Scouting. I think this, if not even slightly higher, makes all the sense in the world. In a class with this much uncertainty after the absolute top of the pile, I think that is a good point to make bets on potential upside. With Lakovic having the sort of ceiling he does, it is very much worth taking a flier on him if you are drafting at or around that position. I would wager that it is a no brainer, in fact. We are looking at an All-Star in the making if he hits his ideal developmental outcome.