2017 NHL Scouting Combine Wraps up in Buffalo

Posted on June 3, 2017 by Jon Sorensen
Photo: NHL

The 2017 NHL scouting combine wrapped up its last day of activities on Saturday with the traditional strength and conditioning drills. 

This year’s combine included 29 players from the NCAA, 52 players from the Canadian Hockey Leage (CHL), and 22 players from the Western Hockey League (WHL). Nationally, this breaks down to 84 North Americans and 20 international prospects invited to this year’s combine. Positionally, 58 forwards, 36 defensemen, and 10 goalies made the invited list. This year’s top prospects included Nolan Patrick, projected first overall pick coming into the combine, Nico Hischier, and Gabriel Vilardi.


Photo: NHL

Fridays activities included wall-to-wall  team interviews and meetings with the 104 draft prospects. Below, top prospect Nico Hischier meets with representatives from the New Jersey Devils. (Devils have the first overall pick in this year’s draft).

And top prospect Nolan Patrick


Photos: New Jersey Devils

In addition, some of the top prospects held a meet-and-greet with fans and signed autographs at the end of the day on Friday.


Photo: NHL

GO TIME:
On Saturday, things got real for the prospects, as top prospect Nolan Patrick found out during the bike workout. (Video from @4TomMartin).

 

The Buffalo Sabres media team provides a good overview of the activities included in the strength and conditioning portion of the combine.

THE CAPITALS:
The Caps were relatively low-profile at this years scouting combine, understandably so. Barring a trade, the Caps first pick in this years draft is in the 4th round, 120th overall, which ties an NHL record for the longest wait before making a first selection in a draft. More on that, here.

Here are the top scorers in a few of the categories.

Heights and weights of all of the prospects in attendance can be viewed here.

Top 25 scorers in each of the categories can be found here.

SCENES FROM BUFFALO:
Some of the other scenes from Buffalo.
Here, top prospect Nico Hischier is tested for side-to-side agility during the days conditioning tests.

By Jon Sorensen

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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