Kraken select Jake O’Brien No. 8 overall in 2025 NHL Draft

The Seattle Kraken selected center Jake O’Brien of the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft Friday night at The Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

O’Brien, who turned 18 earlier this month, epitomizes the center crop in this year’s class. While Michael Misa’s offense separates him from the pack, so many of the other top pivots are more about the floor they bring because of their well-rounded skill sets. O’Brien definitely fits that description.

O’Brien was the OHL’s rookie of the year in 2023-24, and while he started a bit slowly this year, he corrected course and had a dominant 2024-25 in the end. He racked up 98 points in 66 games with Brantford this season, with 66 of those points coming on assists. His ability to find teammates with accurate passes through traffic stands out. Scouts also single out his puck patience, intelligence and two-way acumen. He projects to be a big-time play driver and a player coaches can trust in pretty much any situation at the NHL level.

Like so many prospects his age, O’Brien needs to add muscle to maximize his game, but at 6-foot-2, he has a big enough frame to work with. Picture a player who, at his peak, can drive a team’s second line and play on the power play and penalty kill and you could have O’Brien. Physically, he isn’t the fastest player on the ice, but he’s known to mentally process the game as quickly as anyone in the Draft class, consistently thinking a step ahead of opposing checkers.

O’Brien comes from a strong athletic bloodline. His dad, Dan O’Brien, a right winger, reached the ECHL level, and Jake’s mom, Amy Turek, played on the Canadian national women’s team and was a world champion playing inline hockey for Canada as well.

“O’Brien has the skills and the smarts to be a very impressive center in the NHL,” Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis said. “His off-puck play is great, and he’s always out-thinking his opponents. O’Brien just fell short of 100 points with 98, but he only continued to get better as the season wore on. He’s never going to blow you away with his pure skill, but his work ethic and ability to be effective in all three zones will allow him to have a solid career.”

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