2025 Draft Profile: Lynden Lakovic
Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes started the offseason by making one thing crystal clear, the Habs were seeking talent to help the top end of their roster who reside in bigger bodies that will be able to handle the grind of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Some excellent options that fulfill this need will be off the board by the time picks 16 and 17 come around, but other very interesting options might remain.
Enter Lynden Lakovic, a 6’4 winger who is full of skill despite questions arising around his ability to use his giant frame to his advantage consistently. Being aware of his shortcomings at such a young age is allowing Lakovic to remedy this early, as the young man has admitted to the hiring of a sports psychologist to try to iron out the mental side of his game. Perhaps he can use all the questions around him as motivation to prove the doubters wrong and become the best version of himself a la Cole Caufield. In any case, he represents a player that the Habs should consider with one of their first-round selections.
Bio
Left Wing
Shoots: Left
DOB: December 12th, 2006
Height: 6′4”
Weight: 190 lbs
Rankings
Elite Prospects: 14
Future Considerations: 10
Daily Faceoff: 25
The Hockey News (Ferrari): 8
The Hockey News (Kennedy): 18
TSN (Bob McKenzie): 20
TSN (Craig Button): 23
NHL Central Scouting (N. American): 14
Sportsnet (Cosentino): 23
Sportsnet (Bukala): 29
Draft Prospects Hockey: 10
Smaht Scouting: 8
McKeen’s Hockey: 13 HabsWorld: 14
Statistics
Scouting Report
The tools that Lakovic possesses make him a sure-fire first-round selection. He’s a big body with a strong shot and good vision when he has the puck on his stick. His skill set remains relatively raw, but some concern is that this has occurred due to the consistency in his game. He’s a player who often lacks in the physicality department, but when he played in the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge Game in November, he really stood out positively due to him using his frame to his advantage, something the scouts are hoping he can teach himself to do far more often.
Lakovic can process the game incredibly quickly, which enables him to make excellent plays. He’s quite good at using his frame to protect the puck which gives him additional time to complete plays. He appears to be a big-game performer, which rubs some people the wrong way, but shows some scouts that he has more to offer and that he could be a steal at his current ranking in the late teens. The instincts are very strong which should create a high-floor player. The question remains if he can find consistency to raise his ceiling.
One aspect to add about Lakovic is that he skates extremely well for a player with such a large frame. To this speed, a rather strong sense of proper positioning is added which allows him to conserve some energy as he’s not trying to catch up after being caught out of position. Add in the reach that is another tool thanks to his frame, and teams find a rather competent defensive player for such a young age. Overall, this might be a high-floor pick with enough tools that he could unlock to become a steal at his current draft position.
Timeline
There are many similarities between Tage Thompson and Lakovic at the time of being drafted. Why is this relevant to a prediction of Lakovic’s timeline? Well, bigger players tend to take longer to get used to their bodies and to develop. In this case, both Lakovic and Thompson are tall, lanky forwards who are not power forwards. Lakovic has the potential to be a top-line player and a strong 5-on-5 player, but he isn’t there yet. He needs time and coaching to iron out some quirks and inconsistencies, but it’s harder to coach talent into a player, and that won’t need to happen in this case.