Fourteen teams interviewed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at the recent NHL scouting combine in Toronto, a number that seems totally out of whack with reality.
Since he is considered a slam-dunk to be among the first three players selected in the NHL entry draft June 24-25 in St. Paul, Minn., did not 10 to 12 teams waste their time in grilling the Red Deer Rebels star?
“Well, you never know what can happen,” said Nugent-Hopkins, modest almost to a fault.
The 18-year-old, who is putting the wraps on his high school education this month at Hunting Hills, has been under a microscope since last year when media types from across the country started to appreciate his enormous potential and the fact that he might be the biggest prize in the upcoming entry draft.
The easy-going, unflappable Nugent-Hopkins has been accommodating without exception.
“I’m actually getting more calls now because the media can’t see me and talk to me after games,” he said.
“But it’s all been fun. It’s been a good experience and I’m just having fun with it.”
The product of Burnaby, B.C., who just completed his second season with the Rebels, was one of 100 players invited to the NHL combine where they underwent a series of fitness/endurance tests and interviews.
Nugent-Hopkins was pleased with his showing. Now pushing the scales at roughly 170 pounds after weeks of weight training that followed the conclusion of the season, he recorded six 150-pound bench presses.
“I was pretty happy with that. I did eight but apparently I didn’t go far enough down on two of them. I’m sure that after another week in the gym, that now I could probably do more than six,” he said.
“I think everything (at the combine) went really well. I went in there in pretty good shape. I was pretty confident but you never know what to expect. But I think it went really well.”
To his relief, he wasn’t asked any off-the-wall questions during his interviews.
“I never got any really weird questions, luckily. But yeah, I’ve heard of those kind of questions being asked,” he said. “Mostly, they just enquired as to what kind of player I feel I am, and wanted a bit of background on my family and my history. They also wanted to know if I feel like I’m ready to make the jump to the NHL.
“It was great. Getting to talk with most of the teams for the first time was really cool and then the fitness testing was really interesting.”
Nugent-Hopkins and a handful of the top prospects for the entry draft then flew to Boston and attended Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final between the Bruins and Vancouver Canucks.
“That was awesome,” said the Western Hockey League’s 2009-10 rookie of the year and a first-team Eastern Conference all-star last season. “We got to meet a lot of the players and watched them have their morning skate and obviously got to watch the game, so it was really cool.”
For the record, Nugent-Hopkins applied in the affirmative when inquiring minds wanted his opinion on whether he’s capable of playing in the NHL next season, the one major drawback being his lack of bulk and strength.
“I’ve put on close to 10 pounds over the last two months. I’ve been eating the right things and working out hard and it’s been paying off so far,” he said.
If in fact he’s selected first overall in the entry draft, Nugent-Hopkins will be an Edmonton Oiler unless the team is offered a king’s-ransom package for the No. 1 pick.
“As a kid growing up you want to get drafted and to be drafted first overall would be incredible. It would be a huge honour,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “I’d love to join a team like Edmonton. That would be great.
“They’ve had some unbelievable players there over the years so in that sense I guess they have been one of my favourite teams.They have a great young team now and I think it would be a lot of fun to join them.”
Not lost in all the hoopla is the fact Nugent-Hopkins has graduated from high school, no small feat in itself given the demands on a WHL player, not to mention a major junior player of his stature.
“The last couple of years have been a lot harder for school, but I’ve had some great teachers who have been very understanding,” he said. “The Rebels as an organization want you to do well in school, so I’ve received a lot of help.”
Nugent-Hopkins will return to Burnaby after the NHL draft and continue to work on getting bigger and stronger. He’ll be back in Red Deer in August for the Rebels training camp.
Whether he’ll be back for the 2011-12 WHL season remains a mystery.
“I’d be OK with coming back. I’d like to help Red Deer get to a Memorial Cup, that would be the ultimate goal,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “Hopefully we could make it that far and personally it would be another building year for me.”
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com