Macklin Celebrini, the projected top pick in the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft, is one of 100 prospects invited to participate in the 2024 NHL Scouting Combine at KeyBank Center and LECOM HarborCenter in Buffalo beginning Monday.
"The NHL Combine is a rite of passage on a player's path to the NHL and is an event that NHL clubs and prospects look forward to participating in," NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said.
The combine, which will run June 3-8, gives the 32 NHL teams physical and medical assessments of the top prospects ahead of the 2024 draft at Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28-29.
"The NHL combine is the final showcase event before the NHL draft and it's a week full of interviews, medicals and fitness testing where the players get to interact with NHL personnel and the NHL clubs get to learn as much as possible about the future stars of our game," Marr said.
There will be 62 forwards, 35 defensemen, and three goalies attending the combine. All are listed in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings of North American and International skaters and goaltenders.
NHL Central Scouting will again provide an app for all the attending prospects to download to their mobile device. It contains all the information they need to navigate the gamut of interviews with NHL teams, and medical and fitness testing.
"We were testing it out a little bit (in 2023) and it worked very well for us," NHL Central Scouting's David Gregory said. "There's all kinds of different things going on at the same time ... interviews, testing, and players have to be fed and housed.
"The app was a really nice tool to allow us to say, 'OK, this is where this person needs to be' or 'Here's how we can get a hold of this person.' It's going to be something I'm sure will continue because it'll be hard to go back to the old way after having the advantage of this tool."
Teams can have 1-on-1 interviews with prospects at KeyBank Center from June 3-7. The medical examinations will take place June 5, and seven of the 11 fitness tests will occur at HarborCenter on June 8 (standing height/wingspan, horizontal jump, force plate vertical jumps, bench press, pro agility test, pull ups, Wingate Cycle Ergometer test).
No player can test until clearing the medical screening.
Celebrini (6-foot, 190 pounds), a left-handed center with Boston University, is No. 1 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters. The No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft belongs to the San Jose Sharks, who won the NHL Draft Lottery on May 7. The Chicago Blackhawks have the No. 2 selection and the Anaheim Ducks the No. 3 pick.
The 17-year-old was the youngest to win the Hobey Baker Award, presented annually to the top NCAA men's hockey player. He was second in the NCAA with 32 goals and third with 64 points in 38 games.
Also scheduled for the Combine is Michigan State right-handed defenseman Artyom Levshunov (6-2, 208). The 18-year-old, who is No. 2 among North American skaters, ranked second nationally among freshmen at his position and tied for 10th among all defensemen with 35 points (nine goals, 26 assists) in 38 games.
Cayden Lindstrom (6-3, 210), No. 3 among North American skaters, is one of 10 combine invites projected as a first-round pick from the Western Hockey League. The 18-year-old Medicine Hat center will be in high demand during the interviewing process after missing 36 regular-season games and having surgery to repair an upper-body injury. Lindstrom, who returned to the lineup on March 29, had 46 points (27 goals, 19 assists) in 32 games prior to getting injured and two points (one goal, one assist) and 17 shots on goal in four WHL playoff games.
"They wisely decided he's better off not participating with Canada at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship. ... Just spend the summer preparing to be ready for the start of next season," Marr said. "He did nothing to diminish his status from where we had him ranked and he's still one of the best power forwards coming into a draft class that we've seen in a number of years."
Konsta Helenius (5-11, 180), No. 3 on Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters, is the highest-ranked skater of 25 International players invited to the combine. The right-shot center had 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 51 games for Jukurit in Liiga, Finland's top professional men's league.
Another top International skater expected to be questioned thoroughly is No. 4 defenseman Adam Jiricek (6-2, 182) of Plzen in Czechia's top division.
Jiricek injured his right knee while playing for Czechia at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship on Dec. 26, had surgery and missed the remainder of the season. The 17-year-old had one assist in 19 games in Czechia's top professional men's league this season.
Mikhail Yegorov (6-4, 179), No. 1 on the final ranking of North American goalies, and Eemil Vinni (6-3, 187), No. 1 on the final ranking of International goalies, will also attend the combine.
