Red Wings brass size up young prospects at NHL draft combine – Detroit Free Press
Ken Holland, Ryan Martin, Kris Draper and a few scouts are in Buffalo getting to know draft hopefuls
As with many job interviews, the first remark is an invitation to open up.
Red Wings front office personnel — general manager Ken Holland, assistant general manager Ryan Martin, special assistant Kris Draper and several scouts — are in Buffalo for the week for the NHL draft combine.
The Wings got started interviewing candidates for next month’s draft early Tuesday and didn’t finish until around 4:30 p.m., a process that will go on through Friday. Players will undergo fitness tests on Saturday, and the results will be forwarded to teams.
By this time of year on the hockey calendar, teams have extensively observed players’ performances on the ice. The interviews with the mostly 18-year-olds are an opportunity to discover something about their personalities and maturity.
“We usually ask them to tell us about their family, tell us about where they’re from,” Holland told the Free Press. “We like to know about their training regimen, whether they have a plan for the summer.”
The Wings’ first pick in the June 24-25 draft is at 16th overall, then 46th, 106th, 136th, 166th and 196th. The 76th overall pick, in the third round, belongs to New Jersey because of the March 2015 trade for defenseman Marek Zidlicky.
At last year’s combine, a favorable interview impression left by Evgeny Svechnikov helped persuade the Wings to draft him 19th overall. More than 100 players generally attend the event, and teams request 20-minute interviews through the NHL, which then sets up schedules. Every team does not interview every player. There would be no reason for the Wings to interview players such as Auston Matthews or Patrik Laine, who will go within the first two picks.
Holland said other questions focus on how a player did at a tournament. In 2014, for example, Dylan Larkin played for the U.S. at the World U-18 championship, scoring a goal in the gold-medal game (the Wings ended up drafting Larkin 15th overall that June). But even if a player doesn’t do well in a tournament, Holland said, “We ask about that and listen to what they have to say why they feel they did or didn’t play well.”
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