VIDEO INTERVIEW: Roberts Reflects on Combine, Looks Ahead to NHL Draft
Vancouver, B.C. – The 2024 NHL Entry Draft is now just over two weeks away, and with that June 28 date creeping closer, Giants defenceman Colton Roberts is thinking about it it more and more.
“My main focus was the [NHL] combine and then you get past that and you start thinking about the draft,” he said. “It’s cool. I get to go down to Vegas. I get to go see all my buddies; see guys I know walk down the stage. It will be a really amazing experience. It’s a once in a lifetime experience. Very grateful that I get to go. All my family is coming, so it’s cool that they get to spend that time with me.”
Roberts, who is the 36th ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting on their final list, said he spoke with 16 teams during the Scouting Combine, which ran from June 2-8 in Buffalo.
“You never know what you’re expecting when you get in there,” Roberts said about meeting with teams, where sometimes as many as 12 people were in the room. “There’s usually only three, four, five guys talking at a time, so it made it a little better. It was more ears in those type of meetings. For me, it doesn’t matter if there’s two or 12: whoever is talking to me, I’ll answer their question to the fullest.”
While some prospects got oddball questions, such as what is their Uber rating, Roberts said he didn’t get asked anything unusual.
“I know some of the guys that got those questions, so hearing that is pretty funny,” he said. “I’m kind of grateful I didn’t get any of those. I don’t even have Uber.”
The Maple Ridge product said it helped having some familiar faces go through the combine experience with him.
Cayden Lindstrom (Medicine Hat Tigers) and Miguel Marques (Lethbridge Hurricanes) played alongside Roberts for Delta Hockey Academy U17 Prep during the 2021-22 season, while E.J. Emery (NTDP), an American prospect, played with Roberts in 2019-20 with Burnaby Winter Club U15 Varsity.
He also got to know Everett Silvertips defenceman Tarin Smith, as the two went from being WHL playoff foes to rooming together during the Combine.
“Didn’t know him much, [but] got to know him really well. Awesome guy,” Roberts said of Smith. “But overall, I knew lots of guys, which made it easier for sure. If I came in not knowing anybody it would have made it harder because it wouldn’t be as social. With all those guys being there and being in the same boat as me, it made it easier.”
In terms of fitness testing, Roberts had a strong showing. He finished top-15 out of 100 players in four events and top-25 in six events.
Among his best results were two top-3 finishes: the third-best grip strength with his right hand (165 lbs.) and the third-most consecutive pull-ups (13 – tied for third with four others).
But to him, the placements aren’t what mattered most.
“I didn’t care about my scores. I just wanted to try my best. That was my big thing,” he explained. “I wanted to go there and give everything I had and leave it all on the table.”
