There were 103 payers interviewed, tested and schmoozed this past week.
The set up saw a familiar schedule; the first portion of the week was a lot of meetings and dinners with NHL team executives. It's at this stage that the teams can really dig in to determine what time of person these "players" are.
Also, throughout the week, all players are required to perform a medical examination.
Then on Saturday, the rigorous testing commenced. The type of testing that would surely make this blogger searching for the nearest puke bucket.
Finally, Sunday is media day for the players where they continue to answer questions about their experience throughout the week, playing style, history and comparisons with the members of the media.
All of this took place in Buffalo, NY. Obviously, the combine was the main priority, however, when you get 31 NHL GMs and scouts in one place, the inevitable trade chatter picks up – more on that in a minute.
Back to the combine; the Hawks had their key execs and scouts there, even Scotty Bowman was there:
On Friday, Blackhawks Director of Scouting Mark Kelley stated that they have narrowed their list to approximately 6 potentials.
If I had to guess based on ranking, need and what I heard coming out of the combine, the 6 players on Kelley's list - in no particular order - would be:
Byram
Turcotte
Cozens
Zegras
Caufield
Dach
The word out of Buffalo after the interviews is that Byram and Turcotte are leading the pack as possible 3rd overall pick(s) for Blackhawks.
The benefit to the Hawks is that they will be able to make up their mind weeks in advance to the draft as they know Hughes and Kakko will be going #1 and #2.
It's not a surprise that Bowen Byram, the top defender in the pool and Illinois native, Alex Turcotte are potentially tops of the Hawks list.
Here's a clip of Byram and his experience of the combine:
(Courtesy: NHL)
Turcotte has really appeared to shoot up ranks as an option for Mark Kelley and Stan Bowman. He wasn't the only one that says that he grew up a Blackhawks fan. It makes sense growing up in Illinois. Turcotte also won some brownie points for stated his admiration for Jonathan Toews. This also makes sense as his game has a resemblance of Captain Serious.
I will continue to analyze all possible options and break down my remaining draft previews – Byram, Podkolzin, Krebs and Cozens in the coming weeks.
Other notes from around the combine that I found interesting:
* Spencer Knight – this kid is a pure athlete. He scored very well in the fitness testing. I think he goes higher than some anticipate. He was top 15 in 8 of the fitness activities.
* Jack Hughes – the expected #1 overall pick was unable to participate in fitness testing after his medical exam came back revealing he was less than 100%. Fun fact: this will not affect his draft position whatsoever.
*
Combine Results - HERE is a breakdown courtesy of Sportsnet of the results.
It shows a nice breakdown of every fitness test and includes the top 10 finishers.
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Flipping back to NHL trade chatter before I leave you – this is the time that talks really tend to ramp up. As mentioned above, anytime you get 31 GMs and team executives in one city, discussions start to get more in-depth.
With the NHL Draft under a month away, with so many top-end RFAs still unsigned and with a healthy crop of UFAs, this is going to get fun moving forward.
The Blues and Bruins are still battling it out in the finals with Boston holding a 2-1 lead in the series but that's not going to stop the other 29 teams from getting set up for some trades.
I haven't heard anything specific on the Blackhawks, but it's been interesting to hear both Zaitsev and Marleau on their way out from Toronto (that is, if anyone will have them).
I was told to keep an eye out for Pittsburgh, Edmonton and Anaheim on the trade front.
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That's all for now. I will have the following blogs this week:
* Bowan Byram – Draft Preview
* Re-Draft Friday – 2015
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Did your thoughts change at all after the combine? How much weight (pun in intended) do you put into the combine?
See ya out there,
TC
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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