Another NHL recruiting group wraps up in downtown Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The NHL scouting party wrapped up Saturday afternoon in downtown Buffalo.

The event, which lasted nearly a week, concluded with a series of fitness tests and final media interviews for the top draft-eligible prospects at LECOM Harborcenter.

The Buffalo Sabres, with eight picks overall, will begin their night at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas later this month with the 11th overall selection. Buffalo could certainly decide to trade their first-round pick or stick with the more traditional approach and pursue another blue-chip prospect. In this case, Berkly Catton, Canadian junior hockey center for the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League, could be an option for the Sabers, as he said his conversations with the team this week were very well executed.

“You look at their kind of track record with Benson and Savoie, similar to mine, I think, in a lot of ways,” Catton said. “So, talk about it with them and you know, just being here, obviously chat a little bit about the facilities and the people that I’ve met with the Sabers and all that. Yeah, we had a really good conversation, actually.

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Many prospects shared stories and examples of strange or funny questions teams had asked them during the week.

A popular question among several players was “What animal would you be on and off the ice?” » An interesting answer to this question came from Tij Iginla, a junior ice hockey forward for the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League.

“They said you couldn’t say lion or dog because everyone said that and I wanted to pick one that they’d probably never heard, so right then and there I was like, ‘I I’m a pegasus,'” Iginla said. “He’s a horse so I feel like I could be sociable and friendly and hang out with the other horses, but when it’s time to ride, I have the wings too, so I’ll try to fly .”

Iginla was not only one of the players who creatively answered that question, but he is also one of the few prospects whose father played in the NHL. Iginla’s father, Jarome Iginla, is a Hall of Famer and played in the league for 20 years.

“All my life, obviously, my dad has been there with me,” Tij Iginla said. “I think I’ve gotten used to answering questions and hearing about him, but from an outside perspective it might seem like there’s more pressure, more expectations, things like that but I think for me, my motivation comes from within, I want to succeed because that’s what I want to do and my dream.

Another hopeful, Max Plante, has followed in his father’s footsteps for as long as he can remember. Derek Plante played eight seasons in the National Hockey League and spent five with the Sabres. Max said the memories of his father playing in Buffalo will stay with him forever.

“Game 7, kind of a record he had. He scored the equalizing goal and then the winning goal,” said Max Plante. “I kind of chirped him about the shot saying maybe it shouldn’t have gone in, but he said he shot it so hard it went through the goalie’s glove .”

Plante and the rest of the prospects will now attempt to make their own mark on the league beginning with the NHL Draft on June 28 in Las Vegas.