BUFFALO, N.Y. — The NHL Scouting Combine wrapped up in downtown Buffalo on Saturday afternoon.
The nearly week-long event finished off with a round of fitness testing and final media interviews for the top draft-eligible prospects at the LECOM Harborcenter.
The Buffalo Sabres, with eight total picks, will start their night at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft in Las Vegas later this month with the 11th overall selection. Buffalo could certainly decide to trade its first-round pick or stick with the more traditional approach and seek out another top-rated prospect. In that case, Canadian junior hockey center for the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League, Berkly Catton could be an option for the Sabres as he claimed his conversations with the team this week went very well.
“You look at their kind of track record with Benson and Savoie, similar to myself I think in lots of ways,” Catton said. “So, talk with them about that and you know just being here, obviously chat a little bit about the facilities and the people I’ve met with the Sabres and stuff. Yeah, we had a really good chat, actually.”
RELATED: NHL's top draft prospect Macklin Celebrini in no rush to turn pro, with Sharks likely landing spot
Many of the prospects shared stories and examples of strange or funny questions that teams had asked them over the course of the week.
A popular one among several players was “What animal would you be on and off the ice?” An interesting response to that question came from Tij Iginla, a junior ice hockey forward for the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League.
“They said you can’t say lion or dog because everyone says that and I wanted to go with one they probably have never heard so on the spot I was like ‘I’m a pegasus,’” Iginla said. “It's a horse so I feel like I could be sociable and friendly and hang out with the other horses but then when it's time to kind of ascend, I got the wings too, so I'll try to fly.”
Iginla was not only one of the players with a creative response to that question, but he is also one of a few prospects who have fathers that used to play in the NHL. Iginla’s father, Jarome Iginla, is a member of the Hall of Fame and played in the league for 20 years.
"Kind of my whole life obviously my dad's been there with me,” Tij Iginla said. “I think I've gotten used to answering questions and hearing about him but from an outside perspective it might seem like there's more pressure, more expectations, things like that but I think for me, my motivation comes from within. I want to succeed because it's what I want to do and my dream."
Another forward prospect, Max Plante, has followed in his father’s footsteps for as long as he can remember. Derek Plante played eight seasons in the National Hockey League and spent five of them with the Sabres. Max said that the memories of his father playing in Buffalo will stick with him forever.
“Game 7, some type of record he had. He scored the tying and then winning goal,” Max Plante said. “I kind of chirp him about the shot saying maybe it shouldn’t have went in but he said he shot it so hard it went through the goalie’s glove.”
Plante and the rest of the prospects will now look to make their own mark in the league starting at the NHL Entry Draft on June 28 in Las Vegas.