BUFFALO, N.Y. — The NHL Combine will wind down on Saturday with a full day of testing. Strength and conditioning coaches from around the league will be evaluating these players on their fitness.
During the week it was all about the interviews as teams got to talk to the players that they’ve been scouting on the ice. Every team brings their general managers, coaching staffs and scouting staffs.
One player that is very intriguing is Hamburg’s own Quentin Musty. The 6-foot, 2-inch, 200-pound left wing scored 26 goals and 52 assists for 78 points with the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL.
Musty won’t turn 18 until July, and the director on NHL Central Scouting, Dan Marr, thinks Musty will be better than he thinks he’ll be.
“He’s one of those players where you’re going to say the best is yet to come. He’s got that talent and ability and I don’t know that he realizes how good he could be, but I think that he’s starting to figure that out," Marr said.
“This was a year where things started to come together for him, now hopefully he gets drafted high, and he gets that motivation to where he’s going to become better and better.”
Derek McKenzie took over as coach this season, and Marr feels it really helped Musty.
“He went in there and he taught those kids responsibility. They played more like a team, but Quentin led the way,” McKenzie said.
Musty might be a low first-round pick.
“We have him as a first-round consideration. He’s got the physical package, he’s got the speed, he’s got the hands, and the smarts, and scoring ability. He’s got potential to be a power forward,” Marr said.
The three players that are expected to go to the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and Columbus Blue Jackets are Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, and Leo Carlsson.
The second-best player in the draft isn’t in Buffalo for the combine because Russian players haven’t been coming. Matevei Michkov is an exceptional talent, but many teams might be scared away from taking him because he has a three-year contract in the KHL meaning he wouldn’t be done with that until spring of 2026. He would be 21 at that time, going on 22, and the question is, would you ever get him to come over?
I’ve seen in other interviews that Michkov said he wants to play in the NHL. The Sabres have been taking and signing quite a few Russians the past few years, so that wouldn’t scare them off, but on the off chance he falls to No. 13, would Kevyn Adams be willing to take a swing. It could turn into a grand slam home run or a strikeout looking.