General managers, scouts and other personnel from the NHL’s 32 teams are back in Buffalo this week for the league’s first pre-draft scouting combine since 2019.
Amid his third offseason as general manager of the Sabres, Kevyn Adams can interview prospects face-to-face before the draft for the first time.
The past two combines were canceled in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing Adams and others to speak to prospects over video conference call. Medical information was collected from third-party sources and fitness testing wasn’t available.
Eighty-five of the top draft-eligible prospects are gathered in KeyBank Center this week to speak to teams and undergo medical assessments. On Friday, some of the marquee players available in the draft, most notably center Shane Wright, will speak to the media. Then comes the rigorous fitness testing Saturday in LECOM Harborcenter, which is closed to the public.
The Sabres are speaking to a wide array of prospects as they complete their prospect rankings. They own three picks in the first round, Nos. 9, 16 and 28, and five of the first 75 selections overall. The draft will be held in Montreal on July 7-8, and the Sabres own 10 picks across seven rounds.
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There’s no fanfare surrounding the combine because there’s no on-ice testing and it can’t be viewed by a national television audience. But the NHL’s event has proven to be an important part of the pre-draft process as teams determine which players to target and others to avoid.
There’s no consensus top prospect this time. Wright, a center with Kingston in the Ontario Hockey League, was ranked the top North American skater by NHL Central Scouting following a 32-goal, 94-point season. He’s expected to be picked first overall by the Montreal Canadiens and their new general manager, Kent Hughes.
However, there’s competition to go first overall. Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovsky is viewed as NHL-ready after his remarkable performance at the Winter Olympics to help his country win bronze. He led the tournament with seven goals in seven games at only 17 years old. He also played professional hockey in Finland this season and represented Slovakia at the IIHF World Championship.
Logan Cooley, ranked the second-best North American skater, played at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, where he had 75 points in 51 games this season. Cooley’s oldest brother, Eric, played four seasons at Niagara University.
All three are expected to be gone by the time the Sabres are on the clock. In order, New Jersey, Arizona, Seattle and Philadelphia round out the top five in the draft.
There are several prospects Buffalo will consider, depending on who is still available. The list likely includes defenseman Simon Nemec, defenseman David Jiricek, forward Cutter Gauthier, winger Joakim Kemell, center Marco Kasper, forward Matthew Savoie, defenseman Kevin Korchinski, defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, center Conor Geekie and center Frank Nazar.
Every NHL team benefitted from being able to scout prospects in-person on a regular basis, unlike last draft when travel and Covid-19 restrictions forced staffs to rely on more video and analytics. Teams are still using those tools to supplement evaluations but watching a player in-person provides more context, such as their performance away from the puck and body language following a good or bad shift.
Players won’t be able to participate in the fitness testing portion of the combine week unless they get the OK through the medical evaluation Wednesday. While the fitness results typically don’t weigh heavily in a team’s evaluation, they can provide general managers with more information about where a player is at physically and how that could impact develop in the short- and long-term.
Seven of the 11 fitness tests will occur at LECOM Haborcenter on Saturday: standing height, wingspan, standing long jump, bench press, pro agility test, pull-ups and the Wingate Cycle Ergometer test.
The Wingate is often regarded by prospects as the most difficult test. Each is told to pedal on a stationary bike for 45 seconds, going all out in an initial spurt of 10 seconds, followed by alternating intervals of rest and five seconds of maximum power. The test measures power and fatigue.