The 2022 NHL Scouting Combine is wrapping up in Buffalo on Saturday, with the big-time fitness testing day.
After two years with no combine, we're probably all a little rusty on how this works.
Sportsnet has a good rundown of all the tests, and what they involve.
Click here to check it out.
The article also includes Saturday's testing schedule. You'll see that the last group is set to go through starting at 10:30 a.m. PT.
Click here for the top 25 results for each of the 18 tests. This may not be complete as I write this on Saturday morning, but here are a couple of results that jump out at me:
Aerobic Fitness (VO2Max): On the endurance side, Owen Pickering took first place in test duration by a fairly significant margin, at 15:30.
Pickering is a 6'4" left-shot defenseman out of Swift Current in the WHL, who is ranked 15th among North American skaters in the
final rankings from NHL Central Scouting. He's in range for the Canucks if they keep their 15th pick and decide to go for a defenseman.
Pickering also tied for 11th in the second VO2Max category, which basically measures cardiovascular fitness.
A notable standout in this category is Marco Kasper, the Austrian center who has been playing in the Swedish league. He climbed to fifth among European skaters in the final Central Scouting rankings. And though he had just two assists in seven games at the recent men's World Championship, the Austrian team that was added to the tournament after Russia and Belarus were uninvited surprised some people — avoiding relegation by, most notably, beating the Czechs and pushing Team USA to overtime.
I found confirmation that Kasper did speak with the Canucks:
You may have heard the buzz on Friday when Elliotte Friedman lit a fire on his '32 Thoughts' podcast when Jeff Marek revealed that the Canucks were one of two teams known to have asked top prospect Juraj Slafkovsky whether he's able to play centre.
Because Slafkovsky is expected to go first or second in the draft, Friedman immediately started musing on why Vancouver might even be talking to a prospect that's ranked so high, and whether that means they're trying to trade up.
I think Slafkovsky is incredible — a big-bodied power forward with great hands. He was MVP at the Olympics at 17 years old and has shown a tremendous commitment to his hockey career. He left home in Slovakia at 14 years old to move to Finland, on his own, for a better development path. And I've heard him in a number of podcast interviews: he speaks solid English and isn't afraid to let his big personality shine through. He seems to have the makings of a star and to me, he's more intriguing than consensus No. 1 Shane Wright — who will probably be a very good player, but doesn't have quite the same...sparkle??
If the Canucks did find a way to trade up and grab Slafkovsky, I wouldn't be mad about it. But I suspect all that's happening here is due diligence. For a new management group and revamped scouting department, especially, it makes sense that they'd want to use this opportunity to speak with as many prospects as possible, across all levels of the draft.
Another name that is all over the top 25 results in the fitness testing categories is the "other" Jack Hughes. He's the son of new Montreal general manager Kent Hughes. And because his dad was an agent before taking the job with the Canadiens, this Jack Hughes functions with the same level of ease in the hockey world as did Quinn's brother when he was on track to be taken first overall in Vancouver in 2019.
This Jack Hughes started his freshman season at Northeastern as a 17-year-old last fall, making him one of the youngest players in the NCAA — and a teammate of Canucks prospect Aidan Mcdonough. A centre who's listed at 6'0" and 170 pounds, he still has some developing to do.
He actually fell from No. 7 to No. 26 among North American skaters between the mid-term and final Central Scouting rankings — and of course, all the gossip is about whether his dad will end up selecting him with one of Montreal's later draft picks. In addition to No. 1, the Habs have No. 26, No. 33, No. 66, No. 75 and No. 92 in the top three rounds — and a late second-rounder that they got from Edmonton in the Brett Kulak trade which has yet to be pinned down because the Oilers are still alive in the playoffs.
Hughes has also done some very engaging podcast interviews. So he has probably scored well with teams in his interviews, and I suspect he has bumped up his draft stock further by putting up so many strong testing results: first in pull-ups (19) and in the top 10 in long jump, hand grip (both hands), bench press, vertical jump, FMS, body fat, anaerobic peak power output and agility and balance (both sides). Really, the only notable test where his name doesn't appear is the VO2Max — and on one of his podcast appearances, he talked about how he'd tried to arrange a practice test ahead of time with a trainer, but he didn't think they'd done it correctly.
With nine picks in the draft, including second overall,
the New Jersey Devils have loaded up their website with draft combine content.
The link above will take you to a huge article that includes a bunch of interviews, including raw video, with many of the top prospects. Kasper, Slafkovsky and Wright are among the featured players you may want to hear from.
Expect to see loads of draft-related content coming down the pipe over the next month, before this year's top prospects hear their names called in Montreal on July 7-8. With so many media members having been on site in Buffalo for up to a week of interview opportunities, there will be plenty to read, watch and assess before the big weekend.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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