NHL draft survey: Prospects talk player comps, strange interview questions

The 2025 NHL Draft runs June 27-28 in Los Angeles. At the scouting combine in Buffalo in early June, theScore surveyed dozens of draft-eligible players on a variety of topics. Their answers, listed below, have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

James Hagens, C, Boston College (NCAA): Jack Hughes. A lot of similarities from his game that I can see in mine. The way he skates, the way he sees the ice, the way he scans. I think they're all things I try to implement in my own game.

Victor Eklund, LW, Djurgardens (HockeyAllsvenskan): People have compared me to Travis Konecny, so I feel like I model my game after him. I like his physicality. He's a big leader on the ice. You can see that. I feel like I want to be that one day, too.

Jackson Smith, D, Tri-City (WHL): A little bit like Miro Heiskanen or Shea Theodore. Good skating defensemen who have the offensive side but also the defensive side.

Milton Gastrin, C, MoDo (J20 Nationell): I'm trying to compare myself to another Swede like Gabriel Landeskog. I think he works hard and plays with a lot of intensity and aggressiveness.

Jack Nesbitt, C, Windsor (OHL): I love to play like Adam Lowry. Big, 6-foot-5, 210 lbs, that's what I want to be around. He's a center, captain, plays a full 200-foot game, he makes big hits, and he can score in big moments.

Lynden Lakovic, LW, Moose Jaw (WHL): At the NHL level, I would compare myself to Tage Thompson, but trying to emulate some things out of Matthew Knies' game. He's got a similar frame to mine. Just the way he uses his body in net-front scenarios and puck battles.

Malte Vass, D, Farjestad (J20 Nationell): I watched the playoffs, and I really like Lian Bichsel in Dallas. He's a really big guy. Bigger than I'm going to be. But I think our playing style is pretty similar. He's playing simple and hard, and I think that's part of my game that is close to his game.

Jack Ivankovic, G, Brampton (OHL): Juuse Saros and Igor Shesterkin are two big guys for me I look at. Both fast guys, a lot of strength in their pushes, pretty high hockey IQ.

Cole Reschny, C, Victoria (WHL): A bit of Brayden Schenn, a bit of Brayden Point. Schenn because he's a hard, 200-foot centerman, plays the defensive zone really hard. Pretty sweet offensive player, too. Can put the puck in the back of the net, can set up his teammates. His hockey IQ is pretty elite, and he's a leader. I think he leads by example and drags guys into battle. Point, people questioned his size and skating ability, but he's gone to the NHL and didn't take no for an answer from anybody. He's done it all. He's so tenacious. He works extremely hard every time he's on the ice.

Mans Goos, G, Farjestad (J20 Nationell): I watch Marc-Andre Fleury a lot. I love his game. He's been a role model for me since I was young. His athletic side, his competitiveness. He competes so hard.

Brady Martin, C, Soo (OHL): Connor McDavid's skating, 100%. That guy is the GOAT. Best of all time.

Nathan Behm, RW, Kamloops (WHL): Nikita Kucherov's deception. He has a lot of good head fakes and stick fakes. I think if I added that to my game, it'd make me pretty dominant.

Kashawn Aitcheson, D, Barrie (OHL): Sidney Crosby's IQ, just the way he sees the ice. I know he's a forward, but I think any player could afford to see the ice the way he does.

Ryker Lee, RW, Madison (USHL): McDavid's speed, by far. That would be dangerous. That would be super fun.

Nesbitt: Matthew Tkachuk's agitation. He's always getting in guys' faces, getting under their skin, getting in the goalie's crease. Once I get that in my game, it'll be fun.

Tommy Lafreniere, C, Kamloops (WHL): I need to work on my physicality a little bit, so maybe Sam Bennett's or Evander Kane's physicality. They bring their teams up with their physical play.

Maceo Phillips, D, U.S. National Team Development Program: Jake Sanderson's breakout ability. He's so good going back for the puck and just making the right play. That's definitely something I'm working on.

Asher Barnett, D, U.S. National Team Development Program: I'd take Gustav Forsling's stick detail. I think it's the best in the league. He's one of the smaller guys, but still a top-pairing defenseman. I think that shows a lot about how he defends.

Carter Klippenstein, C, Brandon (WHL): (Aleksander) Barkov's brain. I think he's a very smart player. One of the best in the NHL right now. He's proven it in the Cup Final the last three years. Great leader, too.

Goos: I have recently gotten into Sergei Bobrovsky's game. I really like how controlled and how good of a skater he is. It never seems he's caught off guard. He's always ready and he's always there. I would take his control and skating.

Hayden Paupanekis, C, Kelowna (WHL): Montreal had weird ones. They asked me what type of animal I am on and off the ice. I said I'm a grizzly bear on the ice and a dolphin off the ice. I think dolphins are nice and fun to hang around. On the ice, grizzly bear mentality is pretty scary. That's how I think my game is.

Gastrin: I got asked, 'Which animal are you off of the ice?' I said a cat because I have a cat at home. His name is Mojito, like the drink. And then they asked what type of animal on the ice. I said a tiger, like a bigger cat.

Smith: Utah told me to say mammoth to Montreal's animal question, so I did. I said a mammoth mixed with a goldfish. You know, mammoth big, moves well, versatile. And then goldfish, because of goldfish brain, able to forget things easily and move on from mistakes.

Owen Martin, C, Spokane (WHL): There was one I got from Montreal, it was about when Chris Rock and Will Smith had their little mix-up at the Oscars a few years ago. If somebody said something about my mom or sister, would I be able to hold myself back? That's kind of a tough question. I said, 'If they just used words and insulted somebody I cared about, then I'd go talk to them, I probably wouldn't jump to punching them right away. If somebody said something I definitely wouldn't appreciate that, wouldn't like that.'

Shane Vansaghi, RW, Michigan State (NCAA): I said polar bear to Montreal's animal question. Just a seek-and-destroy type of mentality on the ice. They see you and they're going to go kill you. That's the type of game I play. For off-ice animal, I said golden retriever, just a fun guy. Not too uptight or serious, have fun, hang out with the boys.

I also got the Chris Rock-Will Smith question from Montreal. I said, 'Well, depends on the scenario. You've got to look at it from two different sides. Are you at the Oscars? Or on the ice? There's two different mentalities. A golden retriever's probably not going to hit him back at the Oscars, but a polar bear would probably hit him back on the ice.'

Phillips: They try to trip you up sometimes. Dallas said my roommate said I was out past curfew. I laughed. I said, 'That's funny, we were lights out at 9:00.'

Aitcheson: I had to try and balance golf balls on top of each other. That was with Nashville, it was fun. I got it, so I was kind of impressed with myself.

Lasse Boelius, D, Assat (U20 SM-sarja): I played a numbers game with the Rangers. It was 100 numbers all around the paper, and you had to find 1-100 as fast as you can, in order. There's 30 seconds. It was tough. I got five.

Hagens: Someone told me I should've turned on the TV and watched them on draft day a couple years back. And I was on my couch, turning on my TV to watch him. That was pretty funny, definitely had me laughing.

Nesbitt: I wouldn't say it's a good chirp, but I hear it a lot about Liam Greentree on my team. He's got no front teeth, so all these guys are making a little lisp when they come up to him.

Barnett: I heard someone chirp my eyebrows before. They said, 'Nice eyebrows.'

Vansaghi: I don't know if this is a good one, but this is the most unique one: I got told I have big eyebrows. I didn't know what to say to it, so I guess it was pretty good.

Smith: One of my best friends on my team, Cruz Pavao, he's 16 and he was chirping with a 20-year-old. The 20-year-old called him a mini fridge, and Cruz got a little sad about it. It was pretty funny in the moment.

Klippenstein: Lot of stuff about girlfriends or sisters. Those are usually the funny ones that get guys pretty quiet.

Max Psenicka, D, Portland (WHL): Probably something that I'm a European and can't speak English. I shut them up real quick.

Matthew Schaefer, D, Erie (OHL): Maybe down the road, try and win a lot of Stanley Cups.

Anton Frondell, C, Djurgardens (HockeyAllsvenskan): Is there a record for most Stanley Cup wins? Probably that one. All that matters is if you win or not. I hate to lose, I love to win.

Owen Martin: Seeing Alex Ovechkin break that goals record this year was pretty cool, so I think that experience would be pretty cool. Probably the goals record.

Nesbitt: Most tipped goals or most faceoffs won. I'm always working on deflections after practice. Always the last guy on the ice doing that kind of stuff. In Windsor, I'm net-front on the power play, so I've got to work on that a lot. Just a lot of hand-eye, stuff like that. Hopefully, I can play net-front at the next level and hopefully make that record book.

Barnett: Probably the best plus-minus. I want to be the guy who's out there when goals are happening and not getting scored on.

Paupanekis: Maybe most hits or most blocked shots. That would be a pretty cool thing to be known for.

Klippenstein: I like how the NHL does it. Coming in at this age really tests scouts. They really have to see the potential in you. You can't just declare the year that you feel your best and you feel who you're going to be. Scouts really have to find you and pick you out, and they're really good at that job.

Paupanekis: I think it would be a little more interesting if guys were able to declare when they want to get drafted. There's a lot of guys who still have a lot of maturing to do off the ice as people. Once guys fill their body and get more confident with themselves as humans and find their identity, I think that makes a big difference. The draft, it means something, but I don't think it really means a lot at the end of the day. It's after, who works their hardest and wants to make the NHL, and I think that's the biggest thing.

Barnett: I think the NHL does it a good way. Because even if you're not drafted or not selected when you're a young guy, you still have the ability to sign with a team after you're done playing college or wherever you're at in junior. I think they do a good job. It's cool how teams get the ability to project not what you are, but what you're going to be in a few years. I think that's something that's pretty important.