Going through the notebook to give you some more insights into what happened at the NHL Draft Combine in Toronto today.
It's always interesting when we hear the same comments about guys- good and bad- from different teams.
One acknowledged star during the interview process for several team sources is U.S. NTDP defenseman Connor Murphy. He's extremely personable and down-to-earth, but also intelligent and focused. If a team is convinced that he's just had a run of bad luck when it comes to his injuries, we could see him being a high (top-30) pick simply because when he's been in action, he's been excellent but also brings the ideal personality and character to the mix, too.
As a side note, B2011DW confirmed that Connor was born in Beverly, Mass. in March, 1993- when Papa Murphy was still with the Bruins. He's technically a Bay State native, but doesn't claim the region having spent a large portion of his youth in Florida and Ohio.
On the downside, one guy we're hearing trending negative things about is Omaha (USHL) winger Seth Ambroz. We hate to kick a kid when he's down, but the rumor is that he's been "extremely unimpressive" (not our words) in several of the sitdowns. If teams were worried about Ambroz's commitment and intensity before, we can't imagine anything has changed. We know he has myriad physical gifts and a surplus of natural talent, but it will all be for naught if Ambroz doesn't engage in some reputation management.
The combine continues tomorrow (Friday) with the first physical testing group kicking it off at 8:30 a.m. Tyler Biggs, Mark McNeill, Logan Shaw, Rocco Grimaldi, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nick Shore, Scott Mayfield and Jamie Oleksiak will lead the way.
*(Not affiliated with the Boston Bruins or the New England Hockey Journal)
If you're in the area, watch Scott Mayfield. The kid is enormous and strong like bull. I think he's going to end up moving up into the late teens.
ReplyDeleteSaw him briefly in the hotel lobby yesterday- was on his way to an interview, butis in the first testing group Friday and we'll be sure to get something on him.
ReplyDeleteI think Ambroz is going to be the first boom/bust pick in the draft. He's going to go higher than expected because there's just too much talent there to pass on.
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