NHL Draft Combine 2018: Dates, Schedule, Format and Top Prospects

The NHL draft gets underway on June 22, after the Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights finish their business in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Stanley Cup Final puts the cap on the 2017-18 season, while the NHL draft represents the start of the 2018-19 season.

Prior to the draft, the top 104 draft-eligible players (60 forwards, 37 defensemen and seven goaltenders) will go to Buffalo for the NHL combine. This event, similar to the same type of evaluations conducted by the NFL and the NBA, gives the 31 NHL teams a chance to get to know these young players, test their conditioning and check out any potential medical issues before drafting them or letting them pass.

This year's combine will be conducted from Monday through Saturday in Buffalo, New York. The event will be held at both the KeyBank Center and the HarborCenter.

The players who will participate have all been scouted heavily, and teams have a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses on the ice. However, teams will have an opportunity to interview all players so they can form judgments on how those individuals will handle success, failure, good times and bad.

The conditioning tests include Wingate, VO2, pull-ups, bench press, standing long jump, grip strength and other drills that measure balance and movement skills. The Wingate test requires a player to pedal a stationary bicycle as fast as he can for 45 seconds, while the VO2 test also involves a stationary bike. Players are asked to maintain a specific revolutions per minute (RPM) level as resistance is added.

Teams will be able to interview players Monday through Friday, and medical exams will take place Thursday. The majority of the physical fitness tests will be held Saturday.

"The combine week is always an interesting event for Central Scouting that seems to go by very quickly," said Dan Marr, the NHL's director of Central Scouting, per Mike G. Morreale of NHL.com. Marr continued:

"The goal is to present an event that allows NHL personnel to interact with the future stars of our game and assist the NHL clubs in their pursuit of gaining as much knowledge about the draft prospects as possible. Central Scouting looks forward to hosting the prospects during combine week so that they can further showcase themselves."

Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the draft, and he is scheduled to take part in the combine. So is Andrei Svechnikov, a right wing who plays for Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League. Svechnikov will follow Dahlin in the draft, barring any unexpected developments.

The Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens will have the top three picks in the draft.

Other players who are expected to participate at the combine include left wing Brady Tkachuk of Boston University, right wing Filip Zadina of Halifax in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, defenseman Evan Bouchard of London in the OHL and defenseman Quinn Hughes of the University of Michigan.

NHL.com lists defenseman Adam Boqvist of Brynas (Sweden), right wing Vitali Kravtsov of Chelyabinsk (Russia), right wing Martin Kaut of Pardubice (Czech Republic) and defenseman Adam Ginning of Linkoping (Sweden) among the top international players who are scheduled to participate.