OHL prospects put physical abilities on display at NHL Scouting Combine

 

With the 2018 NHL Draft in Dallas less than a month away, NHL teams took the opportunity to get to know eligible prospects off the ice this past week in Buffalo, NY as players engaged in a series of off-ice interviews and physical testing at HarborCenter.

A total of 24 OHL players were in attendance, taking part in eight different skill-testing exercises that were evaluated based on a variety of different measuring units.

Top OHL draft eligibles included highly athletic London Knights forward Liam Foudy. The son of a former CFL football player and Canadian Olympian, Foudy dominated with five different first place finishes including Standing Long Jump, Vertical Jump, No Arm Jump, Pro Agility Test and the Wingate Test. Other prominent OHLers included Mississauga Steelheads goaltender Jacob Ingham who was a top-10 finisher in three categories, Windsor Spitfires forward Curtis Douglas, Ottawa 67’s defenceman Kevin Bahl and Owen Sound Attack forward Aidan Dudas and Guelph Storm centreman Cam Hillis among others.

The event, which was the fourth consecutive NHL Scouting Combine to be held at Buffalo’s HarborCenter, featured top OHL players ranked in NHL Central Scouting’s Final Draft Rankings including number one North American prospect Andrei Svechnikov of the Barrie Colts, fourth-ranked blueliner Evan Bouchard of the London Knights as well as ninth and tenth-ranked forwards Barrett Hayton of the Soo Greyhounds and Serron Noel of the Oshawa Generals.

Changes were made to the way the bench press and the Wingate test were administered at the combine this year. Rather than measure the number of repetitions on the bench press, a device called “Gym Aware” was used to measure the velocity of the bar while the player pushed it up. The weight on the bar was 50 percent of the player’s body weight.

As a sign of respect and solidarity with the community of Humboldt, Sask. following April’s tragic bus accident that claimed the lives of 16 members of the hockey club, all 104 prospects attending the combine received a pair of shorts and baseball cap with the Humboldt logo stitched on each item.

Here’s a complete look at how OHL players fared in the various testing exercises:

GRIP STRENGTH (LBS)

Right Hand
2. Curtis Douglas (Windsor Spitfires) 179
T-5. Ryan McLeod (Mississauga Steelheads) 157

Left Hand
2. Curtis Douglas (Windsor Spitfires) 166
3. Ryan McLeod (Mississauga Steelheads) 159
8. Andrei Svechnikov (Barrie Colts) 151

BENCH PRESS (REPS)
4. Liam Foudy (London Knights) 7.72
6. Kevin Bahl (Ottawa 67’s) 7.3
T-7. Andrei Svechnikov (Barrie Colts) 7.25
10. Mitchell Hoelscher (Ottawa 67’s) 7.11

STANDING LONG JUMP (INCHES)
1. Liam Foudy (London Knights) 118.8
2. Jacob Ingham (Mississauga Steelheads) 115.0
T-7. Carter Robertson (Ottawa 67’s)

VERTICAL JUMP (INCHES)
1. Liam Foudy (London Knights) 27.65
9. Jacob Ingham (Mississauga Steelheads) 22.63

SQUAT JUMP (INCHES)
2. Liam Foudy (London Knights) 21.87
10. Andrei Svechnikov (Barrie Colts) 18.65

NO ARM JUMP (INCHES)
1. Liam Foudy (London Knights) 27.81
8. Andrei Svechnikov (Barrie Colts) 20.13

PULL UPS (MAX #)
T-2. Evan Bouchard (London Knights) 14
T-4. Mitchell Hoelscher (Ottawa 67’s) 13

PRO-AGILITY TEST (SECONDS)

Left
1. Liam Foudy (London Knights) 4.2
T-4. Aidan Dudas (Owen Sound Attack) 4.3
T-6. Jacob Ingham (Mississauga Steelheads) 4.4

Right
T-2. Liam Foudy (London Knights) 4.3
T-2. Andrei Svechnikov (Barrie Colts) 4.3
T-5. Aidan Dudas (Owen Sound Attack) 4.4
T-5. Barrett Hayton (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) 4.4

WINGATE TEST – Mean Power Output (watts/kg)
7. Cam Hillis (Guelph Storm) 15.9
10. Kody Clark (Ottawa 67’s) 15.8

WINGATE TEST – Peak Power Output (watts/kg)
1. Liam Foudy (London Knights) 19.8

WINGATE TEST – Fatigue Index
4. Kevin Bahl (Ottawa 67’s) 17.1
9. Evan Bouchard (London Knights) 18.6

AEROBIC FITNESS – VO2max Test Max
1. Cam Hillis (Guelph Storm) 65.0
2. Aidan Dudas (Owen Sound Attack) 63.0
5. Ty Dellandrea (Flint Firebirds) 60.0

AEROBIC FITNESS – VO2max Test Duration
2. Curtis Douglas (Windsor Spitfires) 16:35
4. Kevin Bahl (Ottawa 67’s) 16:10

For a full recap of top stories from the 2018 NHL Scouting Combine, visit nhl.com.