Another NHL Combine has come and gone in Buffalo, NY this past week. For the 106 invited players, it was a week full of 1-on-1 interviews with NHL teams, interviews with the media, and a variety of fitness tests. The fitness testing results mean more to some NHL executives than they do to others, but nonetheless it is always fascinating to see who finished atop the leaderboards in the fitness testing categories. The Combine is also the final opportunity for players to submit their height and weight, which is always an intriguing progression to monitor. The NHL Combine is the perfect precursor to the NHL Draft. It is some of these player’s first times meeting their competitors on the draft board, and it allows for these players to meet their future management of the team that drafts them in Nashville in just a few weeks.
Standouts
Nick Lardis of the Hamilton Bulldogs placed 1st in four categories: Vertical Jump, Squat Jump, No Arm Jump, & Pull Ups (15). This standout performance puts more eyes on the late riser, who arrived in Hamilton and tore it up through the second half of the season putting up 46 points in 33 games. Lardis has skyrocketed on many draft boards, including McKeen’s, as he finished 32nd overall and snuck his way into the tail end of the first round. He is a player that has certainly benefited from being the “go-to” player on the Bulldogs, and his success will hopefully lead into next season as the team moves to Brantford.
Another player from the OHL, Brad Gardiner also performed exceptionally well in the fitness tests. The two-way centre from the Ottawa 67’s finished in the top 10 in five of the categories completed on the weekend of the Combine, as well as in the Grip Strength test completed earlier in the week. Gardiner likely drew some more attention with this performance, as he was one of the later ranked players out of the 106 at the Combine (McKeen’s has Brad Gardiner ranked at 163rd).
Leading the results in the consensus “most difficult” category, the VO2 MAX, was Seattle Thunderbirds forward Nico Myatovic. In their media availability, nearly every player stated that the VO2 MAX was the hardest fitness test of them all. The VO2 MAX is a gruelling test of oxygen utilized during maximum effort. By winning in this category, Myatovic has likely gained some respect points from teams and players.
The tallest player at the Combine measured up at 6 '6.75”, and that was Czech goaltender Michael Hrabal. Hrabal is one of the top ranked goaltenders heading into the NHL Draft, and he was one of seven goalies invited to the Combine. Hrabal’s size is definitely a draw for some teams, as we see NHL goaltenders getting taller and taller each year.
Fitness Testing Results (excluding Functional Movement Screen & Grip Strength)
Top 10 from each category;
VO2 Max
- Nico Myatovic
- Brad Gardiner
- Bradly Nadeau
- Beckett Hendrickson
- Noel Nordh
- Easton Cowan
- Aram Minnetian
- Paul Fischer
- Axel Sandin Pellikka
- Hunter Brzustewicz
Wingate Test
- Noah Dower Nlsson
- Danny Nelson
- Tom Willander
- Hunter Brzustewicz
- Cameron Allen
- David Edstrom
- Brayden Yager
- Tanner Molendyk
- Samuel Honzek
- Jonathan Castagna
Pull Ups
- Nick Lardis- 15
- Danny Nelson- 14
- Bradly Nadeau- 14
- Cameron Allen- 14
- Connor Bedard- 14
- Brad Gardiner- 13
- Jaden Lipinski- 13
- Nate Danielson- 13
- Oliver Moore- 13
- Denver Barkey- 12
Pro Agility (Right)
- Easton Cowan
- Jonathan Castagna
- Brady Cleveland
- Samuel Honzek
- Scott Ratzlaff
- Brandon Svoboda
- Brad Gardiner
- Beau Akey
- Andrew Gibson
- Hunter Brzustewicz
Pro Agility (Left)
- Easton Cowan
- Jonathan Castagna
- Oliver Moore
- Brandon Svoboda
- Jayden Perron
- Brad Gardiner
- Ethan Gauthier
- Beau Akey
- Andrew Gibson
- Bradly Nadeau
Bench Press (50% of Body Weight)
- Axel Sandin Pellikka
- Charlie Stramel
- Mathieu Cataford
- Lukas Dragicevic
- Ryan Leonard
- Cameron Allen
- Jonathan Castagna
- Bradly Nadeau
- Brad Gardiner
- Nate Danielson
Standing Long Jump
- Charlie Stramel- 118”
- Samuel Honzek- 117.5”
- Cameron Allen- 117”
- Tom Willander- 116.5”
- Beau Akey- 116”
- Nick Lardis- 114.5”
- Maxim Strbak- 112.8”
- David Reinbacher- 112”
- Nate Danielson- 111.5”
- Jayden Perron- 111”
Vertical Jump
- Nick Lardis
- Cameron Allen
- Colby Barlow
- Caden Price
- Charlie Stramel
- Nate Danielson
- Jesse Nurmi
- Beau Akey
- Oliver Moore
- Ethan Gauthier
No Arm Jump
- Nick Lardis
- Oliver Moore
- Samuel Honzek
- Jesse Nurmi
- Colby Barlow
- Cameron Allen
- Jayden Perron
- Jonathan Castagna
- Nate Danielson
- Charlie Stramel
Squat Jump
- Nick Lardis
- Jesse Nurmi
- Colby Barlow
- Nate Danielson
- Jonathan Castagna
- Cameron Allen
- Tanner Molendyk
- Noah Dower Nilsson
- Oliver Moore
- Tom Willander
Heights & Weights
Name Height /Weight
Beau Akey 6’0”/175
Cameron Allen 6’0”/192
Trey Augustine 6’1.25”/190
Denver Barkey 5’8.75”/155
Colby Barlow 6’0.5”/195
Connor Bedard 5’9.75”/185
Zach Benson 5’9.75”/170
Tristan Bertucci 6’1.75”/175
Carson Bjarnason 6’3.25”/190
Oliver Bonk 6’1.5”/180
Gavin Brindley 5’8”/168
Hunter Brzustewicz 5’11.75”/190
Luca Cagnoni 5’9”/182
Jonathan Castagna 6’2.25” /195
Mathieu Cataford 5’11”/190
Alex Ciernik 5’10.25”/174
Brady Cleveland 6’4.75”//210
Easton Cowan 5’10.5”/170
Andrew Cristall 5’9.5”/175
Nate Danielson 6’1.5”/186
Noah Dower Nilsson 5’11.75 “/185
Lukas Dragicevic 6’1”/194
Jakub Dvorak 6’5”/210
Dalibor Dvorsky 6’1”/200
David Edstrom 6’3”/185
Paul Fischer 6’1”/200
Drew Fortescue 6’1”/176
Adam Gajan 6’2.75”/180
Brad Gardiner 6’1”/184
Ethan Gauthier 5’11.5”/183
Andrew Gibson 6’2.75”/202
Terrell Goldsmith 6’4”/220
Kasper Halttunen 6’3.25”/215
Lenni Hameenaho 6’1”/185
Riley Heidt 5’10.5”/180
Beckett Hendrickson 6’1.5”/174
Samuel Honzek 6’3.25”/195
Michael Hrabel 6’6.75”/215
Larry Keenan 6’3.25”/186
Jesse Kiiskinen 6’0.25”/190
Rasmus Kumpulainen 6’2.75”/190
Nick Lardis 5’11”/168
Ryan Leonard 5’11.75 “/190
Kalan Lind 6’0.5”/158
Theo Lindstein 6’0”/185
Jaden Lipinski 6’3.75”/210
Dylan MacKinnon 6’2”/190
Matteo Mann 6’5.5”/230
Gavin McCarthy 6’1.5”/186
Ethan Miedema 6’4”/208
Aram Minnetian 5’11”/195
Martin Misiak 6’1.5”/200
Tanner Molendyk 5’11”/181
Oscar Fisker Molgaard 5’11.75“/166
Oliver Moore 5’11”/195
Etienne Morin 6’0”/180
Carsen Musser 6’4”/212
Quentin Musty 6’1.5”/200
Nico Myatovic 6’2.5”/180
Sawyer Mynio 6’0.5”/163
Bradly Nadeau 5’10.25”/160
Zach Nehring 6’2.75”/182
Danny Nelson 6’3”/212
Felix Nilsson 6’0.5”/187
Noel Nordh 6’1.5”/200
Jesse Nurmi 5’11”/168
Tyler Peddle 6’1”/204
Gabriel Perreault 5’10.75”/163
Jayden Perron 5’9”/166
Alex Pharand 6’2.5”/205
Emil Pieniniemi 6’2.25”/175
Luca Pinelli 5’8.75”/167
Aaron Pionk 6’0.75”/173
Coulson Pitre 6’0.75”/170
Caden Price 6’0.5”/190
Scott Ratzlaff 6’0.5”/175
Carson Rehkopf 6’2.5”/195
David Reinbacher 6’2.25”/194
Eduard Sale 6’1.75”/175
Axel Sandin-Pellikka 5’11”/180
Gracyn Sawchyn 5’10.75”/155
Zachary Schulz 6’1”/197
Jayson Shaugabay 5’9.25”/165
William Smith 5’11.75 “/180
Jakub Stancl 6’3”/202
Otto Stenberg 5’11”/185
Charlie Stramel 6’3”/222
Andrew Strathmann 5’10.75”/185
Maxim Strbak 6’1.25”/198
Aydar Suniev 6’1.5”/192
Brandon Svoboda 6’3.25”/209
Carey Terrance 6’0.25”/178
Jordan Tourigny 5’11.25”/165
Anton Wahlberg 6’3.25”/192
William Whitelaw 5’8.75”/175
Tom Willander 6’1”/180
Matthew Wood 6’4”/197
Brayden Yager 5’11”/170
Koehn Ziemmer 6’0.25”/210