NHL Draft Combine 2023: Dates, Schedule, Format and Top Prospects

With the NHL Draft on the horizon, top prospects will be accessible to NHL team scouts and officials starting Sunday in Buffalo as part of the pro hockey league's annual combine.

The final showcase for the young men looking to take their skills to the NHL and help a lucky team develop in to a Stanley Cup contender, the event will go a long way in determining who lands where and in which spot they hear their name called.

What exactly is the combine and who are the prospects to watch out for this year?

Find out with this early preview of the 2023 NHL Draft Combine.

Schedule

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HALIFAX, CANADA - JANUARY 04: Leo Carlsson #21 of Team Sweden skates during the third period against Team Czech Republic in the semifinal round of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship at Scotiabank Centre on January 4, 2023 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Team Czech Republic defeated Team Sweden 2-1 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

The schedule for this year's NHL Draft Combine is as follows:

• Sunday, June 4: Player arrivals
• Monday, June 5 through Friday, June 9: NHL teams are eligible to meet with players for one-on-one interviews
• Wednesday, June 7: Medical examinations
• Friday, June 9: Media availability
• Saturday, June 10: Physical evaluations begin (including standing height/wingspan standing horizontal jump, force plate vertical jump, bench press, pro agility test, pull ups and Wingate Cycle Ergometer test)

What Is the NHL Draft Combine?

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TAMPERE, FINLAND - MAY 28: Adam Fantilli of Canada controls the puck during the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Finland - Latvia game between Canada and Germany at Nokia Arena on May 28, 2023 in Tampere, Finland. (Photo by Pasi Suokko/Apollo Photo/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Over 100 NHL prospects will gather in Buffalo for the largest job interview of their lives at the NHL Draft Combine.

A week-long event in which teams will have the opportunity to meet, engage and review the physical traits and overall health of league hopefuls, it has become a key stop on the road to the NHL Draft.

"The NHL combine is the final showcase event before the NHL draft and it's a week full of interviews, medicals and fitness testing where the players get to interact with NHL personnel and the NHL clubs get to learn as much as possible about the future stars of our game," NHL Central Scouting vice president Dan Marr told NHL.com.

Like the NFL, the hockey combine allows teams to better get to know the young men that they will potentially acquire and build their organizations around for the foreseeable future.

There are currently expected to be 65 forwards, 34 defensemen and seven goalies in attendance at this year's event.

Top Prospects

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LANGLEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JANUARY 25: Forward Connor Bedard #98 of the Regina Pats fires a slapshot for team Red during the 2023 Kubota CHL Top Prospects Game at the Langley Events Centre on January 25, 2023 in Langley, British Columbia. (Photo by Dennis Pajot/Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks hold the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft and all preconceived notions are the storied franchise will take Connor Bedard in that spot, and rightfully so.

Bedard is a generational talent who, at 17 years of age, dominated the Western Hockey League by leading in every major, measurable statistical category one could hope for.

Goals? He had 71 of those.

Points? 143.

He added 360 shots on goal, averaged just over 2.5 points per game and over a goal a game. He was a face-off machine, winning over half of all that he participated in, and had a 35-game point streak that lasted from September to February to really hammer home just how great he is.

Bedard, the headliner stealer that he will absolutely be come draft night, is not the only player teams will have their sights set on at this year's combine.

Adam Fantilli of the University of Michigan was the country's best college player at age 18. William Smith has experienced international play as part of USA Hockey and led the team with 20 points.

Sweden's Leo Carlsson made a name for himself with Orebro of the Swedish Hockey League and is one of 23 international players who will appear at this year's combine.

Bedard will have to have a truly uninspiring, disastrous even, performance in Buffalo to sway Chicago from taking him at No. 1.

He is that good, has been the obvious top pick since he became eligible for the NHL Draft and is the type of player who, like Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin were two decades ago, can turn a franchise around and eventually earn the Blackhawks their first Stanley Cup since 2015.

The real mystery will be who goes to the Anaheim Ducks at No. 2.