“Absolute goon squad of errors”: Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney don’t hold back criticism of 2025 NHL draft

Paul Bissonnette shared his thoughts about the 2025 NHL draft on Monday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets. This year, the New York Islanders picked OHL defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the first pick. Bissonnette and co-host Ryan Whitney talked about the draft and what went wrong.

Ryan Whitney talked about the "decentralized draft" and said it looked poorly organized.

"They decided to hold this decentralized draft. It was a comedy show," Whitney said (Timestamp: 10:09). "It was an absolute goon squad of errors."

Responding to which, Bissonnette said,

"I don't think it was that bad."

Whitney joked that Bissonnette liked it because he takes the league's side on everything. Following which Biz said,

"Listen, keep in mind after like the 12th pick I went for a Thai massage, so that might be why I was like, 'Oh it wasn't that long and painful."

One thing Bissonnette disliked was the Zoom interviews between players and team managers. He said the idea didn’t work well.

Still, Bissonnette said he liked one part of the event. He thought the moment between Schaefer and the Islanders was special.

"I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is really cool. Like this is different,’” he said.

Schaefer had 22 points in 17 games and was ranked first among North American skaters. He missed time due to a broken clavicle but returned in time for the NHL Scouting Combine. He became the second Erie player to go first overall. The first player was Connor McDavid in 2015.

But after that, Bissonnette felt the rest of the 2025 NHL draft was not as good. He also mentioned a moment with the Bruins that felt odd. He said the team didn’t talk much during their Zoom call due to hearing issues. He joked that contract talks might have already started.

"I'm like 'Oh, here we go, contract negotiation started already. They're being savages,'" Biz said.

Paul Bissonnette said Matthew Schaefer's special moment made the 2025 NHL draft 'worth it'

On Spittin’ Chiclets, Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney talked about Matthew Schaefer’s emotional moment in the 2025 NHL draft. His jersey had a special lavender ribbon. The ribbon was in memory of Schaefer’s mother, Jennifer, who died in February 2024 from breast cancer. His mother's initials were also written on the collar.

"For that moment alone, I felt like it was worth it, cuz you got to see who he is as a person and everything that he's dealt with," Bissonnette said (Timestamp: 13:41).

This moment stood out during the 2025 NHL draft, which had a lot of long speeches and awkward Zoom calls.