2017 NHL Draft

NHL Draft Combine: Fitness Test Results

Norris, Reedy, and Ferraro place high in multiple categories
Steve Kournianos  |  6/4/2017 |  New York  |  [hupso]

Defenseman Cale Makar placed in the Top 10 in five events at the 2017 NHL Scouting Combine (Photo: Olean Times Herald)

The Draft Analyst (New York) — Although the 2017 NHL Entry Draft is not expected to provide a ready-made superstar in the mold of Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid, talent evaluators and front office executive gathered in Buffalo beginning last week to finalize player assessments for over a hundred top draft prospects. Running a gauntlet of physical fitness tests and team interviews, the players competed against one another to help solidify or improve upon impressions made based on their play on the ice. A total of 14 individual event stations encompassed the physical portion, which included tests involving  pull-ups, wing-span measurements, standing long jump and a bench press.

Most of the media attention was directed towards two prospects — centers Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier — considered by many to be the first two picks when the draft convenes in Chicago on June 23. While neither are expected to become instant stars, it was Patrick’s season-long struggle with injuries that had some question whether he was the same lock for first overall as he was when the season began. Patrick, who admitted he dealt with two sports hernia injuries before and during this past season, was medically cleared to participate in the fitness testing. He finished 14th with 11 pull-ups and 20th in the bench press but failed to crack the top 25 in the remaining 12 events. Hischier placed within the top 25 in four events — Pro Agility Right (13th), Peak Power Output (13th), Standing Long Jump (24th) and an impressive second place with 13 consecutive pull-ups.

It appears most the remaining top rated prospects did not perform as well in the physical stations. Green Bay Gambler Casey Mittelstadt, for example, is pegged by many to be a Top 5 pick, but failed to do one pull-up and managed a single bench press. Fellow USHL’er Eeli Tolvanen is also expected to get drafted within or near the lottery, but couldn’t crack the Top 25 in a single event. Meanwhile, Klim Kostin, the Russian power forward who was a preseason top pick but missed the second half with a shoulder injury, tied for 17th in the pull-ups with 17.

Several players knocked it out of the park in Buffalo. Team USA center Josh Norris led all competitors by placing within the Top 5 in six events, winning five outright. Teammate Scott Reedy, who needed a strong combine after getting benched at the under-18 world championship, tied with Norris,  USHL defensemen Mario Ferraro, and WHL overager Morgan Geekie for the most Top 10 finishes with seven. Finnish blueliner Juuso Valimaki, also a possible lottery pick, led all prospects with 11 Top 25 finishes, while Ferraro and Geekie came in second with apiece.

Below are tables listing all 14 events and the participants that placed in the Top 25, preceded by listing the total individual placement within the Top 25, Top 10 and Top 5.

Prospect Performance

Name Pos Tm League May Rank Top-25 Top-10 Top-5
Casey Mittelstadt C Green Bay USHL 1 2 1 1
Nico Hischier C Halifax QMJHL 2 4 1 1
Nolan Patrick C Brandon WHL 3 2 0 0
Eeli Tolvanen LW Sioux City USHL 4 DNP DNP DNP
Owen Tippett RW Mississauga OHL 5 3 0 0
Elias Pettersson C/W Timra IK Allsvenskan 6 2 2 1
Martin Necas C Brno Extraliga 7 1 1 1
Timothy Liljegren RHD Rogle SHL 8 4 1 0
Gabriel Vilardi C/LW Windsor OHL 9 2 1 1
Erik Brannstrom LHD HV71 SHL 10 5 1 0
Cody Glass C Portland WHL 11 2 0 0
Miro Heiskanen LHD IFK Liiga 12 1 0 0
Lias Andersson C/W HV71 SHL 13 4 0 0
Juuso Valimaki LHD Tri-City WHL 14 11 3 3
Urho Vaakanainen LHD JyP Liiga 15 1 1 0
Kailer Yamamoto RW Spokane WHL 16 7 6 5
Kristian Vesalainen RW/LW Frolunda J20 Superelit 17 4 2 1
Cale Makar RHD Brooks AJHL 18 5 5 2
Nicolas Hague LHD Mississauga OHL 19 2 0 0
Klim Kostin RW Dynamo-Balshikha VHL 20 DNP DNP DNP
Michael Rasmussen C Tri-City WHL 21 2 2 2
Henri Jokiharju RHD Portland WHL 22 4 2 0
Ryan Poehling C St. Cloud St. NCHC 23 3 0 0
Antoine Morand C Acadie-Bathurst QMJHL 24 3 2 1
Scott Reedy C/LW U.S. U18 NTDP 25 7 7 5
Nick Suzuki C Owen Sound OHL 26 4 2 0
Callan Foote RHD Kelowna WHL 27 5 2 1
Ian Mitchell RHD Spruce Grove AJHL 28 2 0 0
Joshua Norris C U.S. U18 NTDP 30 8 7 6
Robert Thomas C London OHL 31 2 0 0
Shane Bowers C Waterloo USHL 32 3 2 2
Robin Salo LHD Sport Liiga 33 3 1 0
Joni Ikonen C Frolunda J20 Superelit 34 DNP DNP DNP
Nikita Popugaev LW Prince George WHL 35 3 2 2
Grant Mismash LW U.S. U18 NTDP 36 2 1 1
Maxime Comtois LW/C Victoriaville QMJHL 37 2 2 0
Kole Lind LW Kelowna WHL 39 4 0 0
David Farrance LHD U.S. U18 NTDP 40 DNP DNP DNP
Cale Fleury RHD Kootenay WHL 41 7 1 0
Filip Chytil LW/C ZPS Zlin Extraliga 42 5 3 0
Aleksi Heponiemi C/W Swift Current WHL 43 5 2 0
Michael Dipietro G Windsor OHL 44 2 0 0
Alexander Chmelevski C/W Ottawa OHL 45 3 0 0
Ivan Lodnia RW Erie OHL 46 3 1 0
Adam Ruzicka C Sarnia OHL 47 3 1 0
Mason Shaw C Medicine Hat WHL 48 3 2 0
Pierre-Olivier Joseph LHD Charlottetown QMJHL 49 6 2 0
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen G HPK U20 Jr. A SM-Liiga 50 2 2 2
Maksim Zhukov G Green Bay USHL 51 1 0 0
Jack Studnicka C Oshawa OHL 52 4 3 0
Jason Robertson LW Kingston OHL 53 3 1 0
Evan Barratt C/W U.S. U18 NTDP 54 2 0 0
Nathan Knoepke LHD U.S. U18 NTDP 55 2 0 0
Alex Formenton LW London OHL 56 7 1 0
Alexei Lipanov C HK MVD MHL 57 2 0 0
Morgan Frost C Sault Ste Marie OHL 58 9 6 4
Ostap Safin RW Sparta Prague Extraliga U20 59 3 0 0
Conor Timmins RHD Sault Ste Marie OHL 60 2 0 0
Cayden Primeau G Lincoln USHL 61 1 0 0
Stelio Mattheos RW Brandon WHL 62 4 3 2
Jaret Anderson-Dolan C Spokane WHL 63 4 0 0
Isaac Ratcliffe LW Guelph OHL 64 6 4 2
Mackenzie Entwistle C/W Hamilton OHL 66 3 0 0
Luke Martin RHD Michigan Big-10 67 3 0 0
Matthew Strome LW Hamilton OHL 68 1 0 0
Dmitri Samorukov LHD Guelph OHL 69 2 0 0
Jonas Rondbjerg RW Vaxjo J20 Superelit 71 3 0 0
Josh Brook RHD Moose Jaw WHL 73 3 2 1
Thomas Miller RHD U.S. U18 NTDP 74 3 1 0
Pavel Koltygin LW Drummondville QMJHL 75 3 0 0
Jake Oettinger G Boston University HE 78 1 0 0
Ian Scott G Prince Albert WHL 81 3 3 1
Michael Anderson LHD Waterloo USHL 82 DNP DNP DNP
Jonah Gadjovich LW Owen Sound OHL 83 7 5 2
Maxwell Gildon LHD U.S. U18 NTDP 86 DNP DNP DNP
Jacob Paquette LHD Kingston OHL 87 5 3 0
Joel Teasdale LW Blainville-Boisbriand QMJHL 90 1 0 0
Jesper Boqvist C/W Timra IK Allsvenskan 93 1 1 1
Jake Leschyshyn C/W Regina WHL 94 2 1 1
Lucas Elvenes C Rogle J20 Superelit 95 1 0 0
Dylan Samberg LHD Hermantown HS-MN 97 8 1 1
Jarret Tyszka LHD Seattle WHL 99 3 2 0
Filip Westerlund RHD Frolunda SHL 105 2 0 0
Nick Henry RW Regina WHL 106 DNP DNP DNP
Lane Zablocki RW Red Deer WHL 115 2 1 0
Keith Petruzzelli G Muskegon USHL 117 2 1 1
Stuart Skinner G Lethbridge WHL 128 3 0 0
Dayton Rasmussen G Tri-City USHL 140 4 3 2
Kasper Kotkansalo LHD Sioux Falls USHL 142 5 1 0
Olle Eriksson Ek G Farjestad J20 Superelit 143 3 1 1
Eemeli Rasanen RHD Kingston OHL 144 5 1 0
D’artagnan Joly RW Baie-Comeau QMJHL 171 4 1 0
Tyler Inamoto LHD U.S. U18 NTDP 175 3 0 0
Reilly Walsh RHD Chicago USHL 190 2 1 0
Clayton Phillips LHD Frago Force USHL 193 6 1 0
Antoine Crete-Belzile LHD Blainville-Boisbriand QMJHL 200 5 0 0
Mario Ferraro LHD Des Moines USHL 201 10 7 4
Benjamin Mirageas LHD Bloomington USHL 245 4 0 0
Zach Gallant C Peterborough OHL 253 7 4 3
Cameron Crotty RHD Brockville CCHL 317 4 0 0
Jack Rathbone LHD Dexter HS-MA 341 7 2 1
Kale Howarth (OA) LW Trail BCHL 135 (OA) 1 1 0
Morgan Geekie (OA) C/W Tri-City WHL 7 (OA) 10 7 3

Aerobic Fitness: Test Duration

Rank Name Time
1 Bowers, Shane 16:45
2 Vesalainen, Kristian 16:11
3 Rasmussen, Michael 16:00
4 Foote, Callan 16:00
5 Valimaki, Juuso 15:57
6 Chytil, Filip 15:43
7 Gallant, Zach 15:30
8 Mattheos, Stelio 15:25
9 Suzuki, Nick 15:15
10 Reedy, Scott 15:15
11 Vilardi, Gabriel 15:14
12 Popugaev, Nikita 15:02
13 Martin, Luke 15:01
14 Anderson-Dolan, Jaret 15:00
15 Knoepke, Nathan 15:00
16 Lind, Kole 15:00
17 Samberg, Dylan 15:00
18 Samorukov, Dmitri 15:00
19 Ferraro, Mario 15:00
20 Timmins, Conor 14:59
21 Chmelevski, Alexander 14:55
22 Andersson, Lias 14:45
23 Crotty, Cameron 14:42
24 Lodnia, Ivan 14:37
25 Thomas, Robert 14:32

Aerobic Fitness: VO2max

Rank Name (Ml/Kg/Min)
1 Yamamoto, Kailer 68
2 Reedy, Scott 66
3 Ratcliffe, Isaac 64
4 Bowers, Shane 63
5 Ferraro, Mario 63
6 Frost, Morgan 63
7 Eriksson Ek, Olle 62
8 Heponiemi, Aleksi 62
9 Suzuki, Nick 59
10 Brook, Josh 59
11 Formenton, Alex 58
12 Elvenes, Lucas 58
13 Valimaki, Juuso 57
14 Gallant, Zach 57
15 Timmins, Conor 57
16 Andersson, Lias 57
17 Crotty, Cameron 57
18 Brannstrom, Erik 57
19 Barratt, Evan 57
20 Geekie, Morgan 57
21 Foote, Callan 56
22 Chytil, Filip 56
23 Anderson-Dolan, Jaret 56
24 Chmelevski, Alexander 56
25 Salo, Robin 56

Agility & Balance: Pro Agility Left

Rank Name  
1 Norris, Joshua 4.19
2 Yamamoto, Kailer 4.38
3 Valimaki, Juuso 4.45
4 Reedy, Scott 4.46
5 Ferraro, Mario 4.46
6 Geekie, Morgan 4.46
7 Foote, Callan 4.5
8 Makar, Cale 4.52
9 Ratcliffe, Isaac 4.55
10 Miller, Thomas 4.55
11 Formenton, Alex 4.56
12 Rathbone, Jack 4.58
13 Crotty, Cameron 4.59
14 Morand, Antoine 4.6
15 Joseph, Pierre-Olivier 4.6
16 Rasanen, Eemeli 4.63
17 Poehling, Ryan 4.63
18 Phillips, Clayton 4.64
19 Inamoto, Tyler 4.64
20 Glass, Cody 4.64
21 Mirageas, Benjamin 4.64
22 Studnicka, Jack 4.65
23 Samberg, Dylan 4.65
24 Tippett, Owen 4.65
25 Fleury, Cale 4.65

Agility & Balance: Pro Agility Right

Rank Name
1 Norris, Joshua 4.19
2 Yamamoto, Kailer 4.2
3 Makar, Cale 4.39
4 Reedy, Scott 4.41
5 Geekie, Morgan 4.41
6 Ferraro, Mario 4.42
7 Comtois, Maxime 4.46
8 Lodnia, Ivan 4.46
9 Joseph, Pierre-Olivier 4.48
10 Studnicka, Jack 4.51
11 Rathbone, Jack 4.53
12 Gadjovich, Jonah 4.53
13 Hischier, Nico 4.53
14 Foote, Callan 4.55
15 Fleury, Cale 4.55
16 Poehling, Ryan 4.56
17 Teasdale, Joel 4.56
18 Crete-Belzile, Antoine 4.56
19 Phillips, Clayton 4.57
20 Suzuki, Nick 4.57
21 Frost, Morgan 4.57
22 Mirageas, Benjamin 4.58
23 Valimaki, Juuso 4.6
24 Glass, Cody 4.62
25 Rondbjerg, Jonas 4.62

Anaerobic Fitness: Mean Power Output

Rank Name (Watts/Kg)
1 Frost, Morgan 12.8
2 Norris, Joshua 12.7
3 Pettersson, Elias 12.5
4 Yamamoto, Kailer 12.4
5 Samberg, Dylan 12.4
6 Tyszka, Jarret 12.4
7 Joseph, Pierre-Olivier 12.3
8 Studnicka, Jack 12.3
9 Shaw, Mason 12.2
10 Ferraro, Mario 12.2
11 Heponiemi, Aleksi 12.2
12 Mitchell, Ian 12.1
13 Mismash, Grant 12.1
14 Formenton, Alex 12.1
15 Valimaki, Juuso 12.1
16 Rasanen, Eemeli 12
17 Rathbone, Jack 12
18 Poehling, Ryan 11.9
19 Chytil, Filip 11.9
20 Ratcliffe, Isaac 11.9
21 Zablocki, Lane 11.9
22 Liljegren, Timothy 11.9
23 Lodnia, Ivan 11.8
24 Eriksson Ek, Olle 11.8
25 Inamoto, Tyler 11.8

Anaerobic Fitness: Peak Power Output

Rank Name (Watts/Kg)
1 Norris, Joshua 19.5
2 Boqvist, Jesper 17.6
3 Yamamoto, Kailer 17.1
4 Valimaki, Juuso 16.9
5 Mismash, Grant 16.6
6 Studnicka, Jack 16.6
7 Pettersson, Elias 16.4
8 Frost, Morgan 16.4
9 Ferraro, Mario 16.4
10 Gadjovich, Jonah 16.3
11 Liljegren, Timothy 16.2
12 Geekie, Morgan 16.1
13 Hischier, Nico 16.1
14 Rathbone, Jack 16.1
15 Mitchell, Ian 16.1
16 Eriksson Ek, Olle 16
17 Phillips, Clayton 16
18 Formenton, Alex 16
19 Joseph, Pierre-Olivier 15.9
20 Ratcliffe, Isaac 15.9
21 Heponiemi, Aleksi 15.9
22 Andersson, Lias 15.9
23 Shaw, Mason 15.7
24 Heiskanen, Miro 15.7
25 Rasanen, Eemeli 15.7

Anthropometry: Wing Span

Rank Name Inches
1 Ratcliffe, Isaac 81.29
2 Petruzzelli, Keith 79.5
3 Rasmussen, Michael 79.25
4 Gallant, Zach 79
5 Luukkonen, Ukko-Pekka 78.75
6 Tyszka, Jarret 78.75
7 Howarth, Kale 78.75
8 Paquette, Jacob 78.74
9 Scott, Ian 78.5
10 Rasanen, Eemeli 78.5
11 Hague, Nicolas 78.5
12 Foote, Callan 78.25
13 Ruzicka, Adam 78.25
14 Oettinger, Jake 78
15 Robertson, Jason 78
16 Samberg, Dylan 77.79
17 Dipietro, Michael 77.5
18 Primeau, Cayden 77.5
19 Vesalainen, Kristian 77.25
20 Safin, Ostap 77
21 Strome, Matthew 77
22 Skinner, Stuart 77
23 Zhukov, Maksim 77
24 Valimaki, Juuso 77
25 Geekie, Morgan 77

Force Plate: Vertical Jump

Rank Name Inches
1 Norris, Joshua 26.19
2 Rasmussen, Dayton 25.56
3 Frost, Morgan 24.63
4 Geekie, Morgan 24.4
5 Makar, Cale 23.69
6 Formenton, Alex 23.63
7 Scott, Ian 23.45
8 Jokiharju, Henri 22.84
9 Chytil, Filip 22.62
10 Salo, Robin 22.54
11 Crete-Belzile, Antoine 21.94
12 Joseph, Pierre-Olivier 21.91
13 Joly, D’artagnan 21.7
14 Tippett, Owen 21.19
15 Koltygin, Pavel 21.17
16 Valimaki, Juuso 21.02
17 Liljegren, Timothy 20.98
18 Rathbone, Jack 20.83
19 Samberg, Dylan 20.69
20 Mittelstadt, Casey 20.6
21 Mirageas, Benjamin 20.55
22 Fleury, Cale 20.52
23 Paquette, Jacob 20.48
24 Kotkansalo, Kasper 20.45
25 Suzuki, Nick 20.42

Musculoskeletal: Bench Press

Rank Name Reps
1 Rasmussen, Dayton 17
2 Brook, Josh 16
3 Leschyshyn, Jake 16
4 Norris, Joshua 15
5 Rathbone, Jack 15
6 Morand, Antoine 15
7 Gadjovich, Jonah 15
8 Shaw, Mason 15
9 Zablocki, Lane 15
10 Joly, D’artagnan 14
11 Ferraro, Mario 14
12 Westerlund, Filip 14
13 Fleury, Cale 13
14 Miller, Thomas 13
15 Yamamoto, Kailer 13
16 Brannstrom, Erik 13
17 Rondbjerg, Jonas 13
18 Phillips, Clayton 13
19 Andersson, Lias 12
20 Patrick, Nolan 12
21 Anderson-Dolan, Jaret 12
22 Samorukov, Dmitri 12
23 Bowers, Shane 12
24 Lipanov, Alexei 12
25 Samberg, Dylan 11

Musculoskeletal: Left Hand Grip

Rank Name Pounds
1 Reedy, Scott 170
2 Gadjovich, Jonah 164
3 Popugaev, Nikita 160
4 Ferraro, Mario 159
5 Gallant, Zach 149
6 Geekie, Morgan 145
7 Paquette, Jacob 145
8 Walsh, Reilly 144
9 Kotkansalo, Kasper 140
10 Robertson, Jason 140
11 Leschyshyn, Jake 139
12 Mirageas, Benjamin 139
13 Frost, Morgan 139
14 Entwistle, Mackenzie 139
15 Valimaki, Juuso 138
16 Fleury, Cale 136
17 Jokiharju, Henri 135
18 Brook, Josh 134
19 Crete-Belzile, Antoine 134
20 Thomas, Robert 133
21 Lind, Kole 133
22 Brannstrom, Erik 132
23 Crotty, Cameron 132
24 Ruzicka, Adam 132
25 Skinner, Stuart 132

Musculoskeletal: Right Hand Grip

Rank Name Pounds
1 Mattheos, Stelio 175
2 Popugaev, Nikita 175
3 Gadjovich, Jonah 159
4 Reedy, Scott 159
5 Frost, Morgan 154
6 Geekie, Morgan 149
7 Vaakanainen, Urho 149
8 Fleury, Cale 145
9 Ruzicka, Adam 145
10 Paquette, Jacob 144
11 Lind, Kole 144
12 Ferraro, Mario 142
13 Valimaki, Juuso 142
14 Formenton, Alex 141
15 Gallant, Zach 140
16 Robertson, Jason 140
17 Crete-Belzile, Antoine 137
18 Phillips, Clayton 136
19 Jokiharju, Henri 136
20 Rasmussen, Dayton 136
21 Samberg, Dylan 136
22 Safin, Ostap 136
23 Kotkansalo, Kasper 135
24 Hague, Nicolas 135
25 Skinner, Stuart 135

Musculoskeletal: Pull-Ups Consecutive

Rank Name No.
1 Rathbone, Jack 13
2 Hischier, Nico 13
3 Morand, Antoine 13
4 Ferraro, Mario 12
5 Gallant, Zach 12
6 Yamamoto, Kailer 12
7 Gadjovich, Jonah 11
8 Geekie, Morgan 11
9 Heponiemi, Aleksi 11
10 Phillips, Clayton 11
11 Martin, Luke 11
12 Lipanov, Alexei 11
13 Chmelevski, Alexander 11
14 Patrick, Nolan 11
15 Miller, Thomas 11
16 Norris, Joshua 11
17 Walsh, Reilly 10
18 Frost, Morgan 10
19 Brannstrom, Erik 10
20 Koltygin, Pavel 10
21 Mattheos, Stelio 10
22 Vesalainen, Kristian 10
23 Joly, D’artagnan 10
24 Westerlund, Filip 10
25 Salo, Robin 10

Musculoskeletal: Standing Long Jump

Rank Name in.
1 Norris, Joshua 118
2 Scott, Ian 117.5
3 Geekie, Morgan 114.5
4 Frost, Morgan 114.3
5 Ratcliffe, Isaac 113.5
6 Rasmussen, Dayton 113.3
7 Jokiharju, Henri 111.8
8 Liljegren, Timothy 111.5
9 Comtois, Maxime 109.5
10 Makar, Cale 109.3
11 Rondbjerg, Jonas 108.8
12 Joly, D’artagnan 108.5
13 Joseph, Pierre-Olivier 108.5
14 Paquette, Jacob 108.3
15 Fleury, Cale 108
16 Entwistle, Mackenzie 108
17 Rasanen, Eemeli 107.5
18 Formenton, Alex 107.3
19 Gadjovich, Jonah 106.3
20 Koltygin, Pavel 106.3
21 Kotkansalo, Kasper 106
22 Petruzzelli, Keith 106
23 Valimaki, Juuso 105.8
24 Hischier, Nico 105.8
25 Gallant, Zach 105.5

All results via NHL Central Scouting’s website: Click Here