The statistical “best in show” at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo wasn’t Connor Bedard. He continues to be the top prospect for the 2023 draft.
Don’t be fooled by Connor Bedard’s infant visage, which is 17 years old.
The same is true of his performance at the NHL Scouting Combine in 2023.
We all knew the rumored top choice in the 2023 NHL draft was more than capable of being swift, shrewd, and agile. It turns out that the child is also very powerful and muscular.
All eyes were on forward Bedard at the Buffalo scouting combine because he is the “next generational talent” the Blackhawks are anticipated to choose with the first overall choice on June 28 in Nashville. He participated in a medical and fitness evaluation together with roughly 100 other elite prospects from across the globe, as well as an additional chance to have one-on-one interviews with NHL teams.
Even though Bedard failed to “ace” any of the tests, it is irrelevant.
Numbers can’t capture the unique combination of IQ, vision, hockey sense, and X-factors that exceptional hockey players possess. Some of the best athletes in history, like Wayne Gretzky, may have failed fitness tests.
Bedard was 185 pounds and 5 feet 9 3/4 inches tall. His body fat reading of 7.82% placed him 14th out of the group. The swift forward then took part in a round of roughly 20 tests with the other prospects.
Bedard completed 14 pull-ups in a row to tie for second place with the group.
He finished in the top ten of anaerobic fitness fatigue testing, which is significant in hockey because the sport’s high-intensity skating and frequent starts, pauses, and turns may make a player’s leg muscles “burn.” If somebody refers to a hockey player as “gliding,” they are either 1) an onlooker without any skating experience, or 2) a coach belittling their player.
In addition, Bedard performed well on a functional movement screen (FMS), which assesses stability and mobility through seven different movements: the deep squat, hurdle step, inline lunge, shoulder mobility, active straight leg raise, trunk stability pushup, and rotary stability.