NHL Combine Notebook - 06.06.25

BUFFALO — Just one full day remains at the 2025 NHL Scouting Combine.

Fitness testing day.

Players have completed meetings with NHL clubs - some meeting with as many as 30 different teams during their week in Western New York. Now, the NHL prospects will wrap up their time here with seven tests on the arena floor at LECOM HarborCenter Saturday.

Friday’s activities at the Combine included the Aerobic Fitness VO2max test, as well as a media session for six of the top prospects eligible for the Draft later this month.

Testing Technique

Flames Director of Sports Performance Rick Davis will be a keen observer at Saturday’s fitness testing.

It’s a chance for him to get a glimpse at the potential new members of the organization, and to get a sense of each prospect’s future potential.

The range of tests, according to Davis, offer teams a wide-ranging look at each athlete, from body composition, to strength, to endurance.

“It’s kind of like that first starting baseline of their professional athletic development,” he said Friday. “We have a baseline measurement, and we can kind of track those trends longitudinally over time and say that this athlete has taken current, or correct steps in their athletic development, to maximize their potential as NHL hockey players.”

But that’s not to say that the results are the be-all and end-all for each prospect. Each player here in Buffalo is at a different maturation level and some of the older players at the Combine have the benefit of up to 12 months of additional time on the ice and in the gym.

“The athletes are physically more mature are going to be able to perform more work, that can be in relation to leg power and strength,” Davis explained. “So we’re looking at where they’re currently at, but also we’re looking at athletes that have higher potential.

“It’s not that an athlete has maximized his potential here, it’s saying ‘hey, is his ceiling higher than this guy, and can we get more out of him from an overall holistic development standpoint?’”

From here, Davis will compile the data and break it all down for the Flames hockey operations personnel.

And in the event that Calgary picks Combine attendees in this month’s Draft, Davis and his conditioning team will have a head-start in assessing the new Flames prospects, enabling them to craft work plans to ensure their development happens the right way.

“It really gives us objective, quantified information to say that this athlete,” he said. “For him to be his best NHL hockey player in the future, whether it’s in one to five years, we can push out different areas of athletic development based on his different physiological capabilities here.”

Brother's Keeper

Michael Misa has been in the spotlight for his entire OHL career.

As an exceptional status player, he was granted permission to play major junior hockey at 15 - a year earlier than usual - and ahead of this month’s NHL Draft, he already has a Memorial Cup and OHL Player of the Year honours on his resume.

But amid the hype and anticipation for this year’s NHL Draft, Misa - ranked No. 2 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting - has leaned on a pair of Flames prospects for advice.

Misa’s older brother, Luke, was selected in the fifth round by Calgary in last year’s Draft, while Zayne Parekh - his teammate with the Saginaw Spirit - was the ninth-overall selection one year ago.

“It’s huge for me to have someone so close in age and went through this whole process last year,” Misa said of his older sibling. “He’s been huge for me, like my best guy off the ice to lean on for advice.

“Zayne’s another one, played with him for three years now. He’s taught me a lot of stuff in my OHL career, another great guy I can lean on.”

And while Michael is likely to end up with family bragging rights when it comes to his Draft position later this month, there’s one discipline he’s happy to concede to Luke.

Billiards.

“Him, to be honest,” Michael admitted with a smile, when asked which sibling was better with the pool cue.

A friendly rivalry, for sure.

Put Us In, Coach!

Swedish teammates Anton Frondell and Victor Eklund are ranked No. 1 and 2 among International skaters by NHL Central Scouting, and they took the podium together in Friday’s media session.

In fact, the two are so intertwined, that they insisted they play together with Djurgarden this past winter.

“I think I told him like 10 times,” Eklund said of his persistence in asking head coach Robert Kimby to put himself and Frondell on the same line, adding the duo finally got their wish in January.

“It’s been pretty easy to play with Anton,” he added. “I think we did pretty well.”

Well enough to help their club earn promotion to the SHL for the 2025-26 season. Eklund finished the 2024-25 season with 31 points in 42 games, while Frondell chipped in with 11 goals and 25 points in 29 appearances.

But the two haven’t always been this close.

Eklund shared that they faced off against each other as kids, with one particular game staying etched into his memory.

“(At) 10 years old, I remember playing him, and he actually made a move on me - like the puck between my legs - and I just can’t forget that,” said Eklund. “He says he doesn’t remember that, but I know.”

But as he did on the ice in that particular instance, Frondell had the last laugh.

“I actually do remember that move,” he said, prompting hearty laughter from the assembled media.

“It was really good.”