Ryker Lee has shot up NHL Central Scouting’s rankings this year. Here’s why the shooting winger would be a steal in the second round.
It is another day, so we have another prospect profile for the 2025 NHL Draft season. Today, we will be profiling Ryker Lee, a college-bound wing.
Who is Ryker Lee?
Ryker Lee was born on November 8, 2006, in Wilmette, Illinois. Growing up in Illinois until he was accepted to Shattuck-Saint Mary’s in Minnesota, Lee has marked himself as one of the best goal scorers in the 2025 NHL Draft. In his one and only full season in the USHL with the Madison Capitals, in which he was named Rookie of the Year, Lee posted 31 goals and 37 assists in 58 games, setting him up for the upcoming year, which he will spend with Michigan State University. He will also find himself facing off against his Madison Capitals teammate, Mason Moe, who is set to attend the University of Minnesota.
Elite Prospects
While Ryker Lee is a solid goal scorer for his age, he is not an especially big player. At 6’0” and 181 pounds, Lee could find himself falling in the Draft due to his average-at-best skating and lack of defensive reputation. For the New Jersey Devils, who are actively seeking offensive help both in the immediate future and in their prospect pipeline, they may have to overlook those qualities for the opportunity to select someone with Lee’s hands and skill with the puck.
Where is Lee Ranked?
Lee is ranked in the first two rounds by most sources. Rankings are sourced through Elite Prospects.
- 28th by NHL Central Scouting (NA Skaters) (40th in mid-season)
- 23rd by Dobber Prospects and Smaht Scouting
- 30th by TSN — Button
- 34th by Elite Prospects
- 38th by Daily Faceoff and The Hockey News — Ferrari
- 39th by FCHockey
- 42nd by McKeen’s Hockey
- 43rd by The Hockey News — Kennedy
- 58th by Sportsnet — Bukala and TSN — McKenzie
- 59th by Recruit Scouting
What Others Say About Lee?
For The Hockey Writers, Matthew Buhrmann wrote a glowing review of Lee’s offensive ability. Citing @RyanMaScouting’s tracking data impact card on Lee, which is a fan of Lee’s possession impact and power play ability, Burhmann put a lot of stock into Lee’s commitment to Michigan State, arguing that should give teams a reason to select him in the late first or early second round. He also writes,
He’s a little underrated in this draft because Canadian Hockey League (CHL) guys get most of the attention, but the USHL is a harder league to play in, especially defensively, where teams are more structured and tougher to break down. The fact that he put up the numbers he did in such a tight-checking league shows how well he can create and make plays in big moments.
Buhrmann is right that CHL guys usually get more attention than their USHL counterparts, but I would argue this has shifted rather strongly since Jack Hughes went first overall in 2019. I do agree with his assessment that some CHL games tend to be more wide-open. Moving on, though, Smaht Scouting ranked Lee 23rd in their Spring Draft Rankings. Dan Haurin wrote on Lee,
He has a distinctive dynamic element to his game, consistently manipulating defenders and opening up space for teammates and himself to create scoring chances. He’s also got a hard and accurate shot with a quick release that he’s willing to use both from out high and right around the crease in the offensive zone. He’s currently shooting nearly twice the USHL league average per 60, as well as generating nearly twice the xG/60.
While knocking his skating ability, Haurin indicates that Ryker Lee’s shooting, distribution skill, and offensive IQ combine to make him one of the most valuable pure offensive threats of the 2025 Draft. My worry, seeing the caveat of his skating ability from a few sources, is that Lee may struggle with the speed of the NHL game. This is especially true if he remains slightly on the smaller side.
A Little Video
From Prospect Shifts, below is a full-game tape from one of Madison’s games against the Chicago Steel.
Immediately in this game, Lee’s slower style is on display, as he tries to force the puck intot he offensive zone through traffic and turns it over. Fortunately, Chicago was not quick to counter, and Madison ended up keeping the puck in the offensive zone. Just a minute later in the game, they were on the power play, and Lee was out there for the advantage. On the power play, Lee has two issues. The first is that he is positioned on his strong side, where he does not seem to move around quick enough. He will be handled roughly by NHL defenses in that position if he does not gain weight or improve his skating.
In the offensive zone, Lee seeks out shooting areas, and his teammates do a good job of getting him the puck. Back on the power play about four and a half minutes into the video, Lee again struggles to deal with penalty killers on his side, leading to hectic puck movement and a team turnover, which created a shorthanded chance that was gloved by Madison’s goaltender.
Defensively, Lee is a bit of a floater, but he is not terribly positioned. Like many skilled players, he is waiting for the opportunity to grab a loose puck and take it the other way, but he does not make much of an impact directly on puck carriers. This also seems to ring true for Lee’s forechecking, as he is not big enough to create turnovers on his own, but is well-positioned enough to make plays on the puck when he has help.
Something that Lee repeatedly does well is get into the right areas immediately after offensive zone faceoffs. He looks to get open for passes or to get into position to deflect shots from the point, not wasting any time in the process. Throughout the video, Lee’s offensive instincts and choices with the puck are strong. Past the mid-way point, Mason Moe makes a stand-up play at the blueline, creating a turnover with Lee streaking ahead. Lee gets the puck around center ice with Bobby Cowan on his left. Forcing the goalie to wait for his shot, Lee takes the puck deep into the offensive zone before dropping it, taking two defenders out of the play, and Lee picks up the assist on Cowan’s goal.
The highlight of the video starts at 14:25, when Lee shields the puck in the defensive zone to make a backhand pass to start a transition play. Mason Moe chases the puck down in the offensive zone and stretches a risky, but rewarding pass across to Lee. Lee’s shot is batted down and then chipped to the slot by Cowan, but Moe was unable to play it. Lee backhands the bouncing puck at the blueline, building a cycle in the offensive zone. After a couple passes, Lee gets the puck back and beats a sleeping defender, breaking down the goalie for a ridiculous goal.
On another power play in the third period, Lee shows off his legs and takes the offensive zone by himself after skating the puck through three zones, avoiding a neutral zone drop pass. After a faceoff, Mason Moe takes a crossing pass from Lee and surveys from his wall, but drops the puck back to the point. Colton Jamieson calmly slides it over to Lee on the right, who steps in, shoots, and scores his second goal of the game. He picked his spot by the blocker and hit it perfectly through the screen.
Lee makes one of the wildest passes of the game at 17:48 in the neutral zone, as he was hounded while skating back from the offensive zone to center ice. Lee backhands the puck between the two Steel forwards pressuring him, allowing Jamieson to dump back into the offensive zone. It was not an especially meaningful play, but one of those moves that make you go what did he just do? Ultimately, it created an offensive zone opportunity, but Lee was unable to pull off the chip shot goal off the goalie’s back. Lee did get his hat trick, eventually, on the empty net, as he was deprived of one chance on a bad icing call (that was apparently reversed and put at center ice) and got another, firing a laser on goal right off the bench with just over a minute left in the game.
It was a slow start, but by the end, you see why some people see Lee as a late first-round prospect. However, his size and lack of physicality may turn some teams off of drafting him, and teams in the mid-second round should be hoping for an offensive talent like this to fall. If you want to see more, see the highlight package below.
My Thoughts
One of these days, one of these right-handed snipers wearing number 10 are going to make it big in the NHL. I see a lot of Daniel Sprong in Ryker Lee’s game, primarily in their approach and great offensive instincts. You don’t see a lot of instances of guys like Lee making the wrong play on the attack. He will miss the net sometimes because he is trying to pick and snipe corners, but he is driven to get the puck on goal, whether shots come off his stick or from his teammates. He is also apparently a very good passer, both from what scouts say about him and from what I see on video.
The big question will be whether Lee makes it to 50th overall. Of course, not everyone profiled here will be available by then, but some might. You don’t know which guy ranked at 90-100th might get picked in the early second round, or whatever. You don’t know who is ranked around 30th that might be available in the third round. Or maybe this will be the year that NHL GMs draft perfectly, without error. So if Ryker Lee ends up being that prospect that falls into the Devils’ lap, that would be great. He can replace the space that Alex Holtz occupied and never fully grew out of as a prospect, and he would not have the expectations associated with being a top-10 pick. Winning hockey teams will always need goal scorers, so I would mark Ryker Lee for the New Jersey Devils draft board. Maybe the Devils can even end up with Ryker Lee at 50 and Mason Moe later on.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of Ryker Lee? How do you think he compares to the others profiled here? Do you like his game? Do you think he has enough build to succeed in the NHL? What do you think of his shot? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.