Bolts hope to turn evaluations at NHL Scouting Combine into draft success

The end of the 2014-15 hockey season was a whirlwind for Tony Cirelli.
The current Tampa Bay Lightning center had just completed his first season in the Ontario Hockey League with Oshawa and helped the Generals win the league championship.
In the Memorial Cup competition, Canada's most prestigious junior hockey tournament determining the Canadian Hockey League champion, Oshawa went undefeated in round robin play and advanced to play Kelowna in the final, where Cirelli scored the game-tying goal in the second period before netting the game-winner in overtime in Oshawa's 2-1 victory.

A week later, Cirelli was in Buffalo competing at the NHL Scouting Combine, the results of which would play a large role in determining his future in the NHL. Unlike a lot of the prospects competing at the combine, Cirelli didn't have time to prepare for the physical tests - standing long jump, vertical jump, pro agility, bench press, pull ups, VO2 max (bike) and the infamous Wingate (bike) - because of the length of his season.
But he competed any way.
"I just thought it was an opportunity to go there and show them that I'm going to try and give it my all even though I didn't have a month or two to train, show them what I can do," Cirelli remembered.
Apparently, Cirelli showed enough, at least for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A month after Cirelli played in the biggest game of his career, he experienced the best moment of his hockey career when the Lightning selected him in the third round (72nd overall) at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
"The fitness side, any of the players you draft, all of them need to get stronger, they need to get in the gym, whether they're big and strong already or they're developing later," Lightning director of player development Stacy Roest said. "Some prospects have more time to prepare for the physical testing. Some are a little bit nicked up from the season. I think for me it's about feeling good about the player and obviously you watch them during the season and get to know them. If they're going to be part of the Lightning, you want to get a feel for the kid and his personality and how he responds."
Cirelli has proven to be a valuable pick too. He made his NHL debut this season on March 1 at Dallas and recorded a goal and an assist, becoming one of just four Bolts all-time to tally multiple points in their League debut. Cirelli put up five goals and six assists over 18 games down the stretch of the regular season for the Lightning and started every game of the playoffs for the Bolts, recording two goals and an assist while centering Tampa Bay's third line.

Cirelli is the most productive member of the 2015 draft class' third round to date. Only four players from that round have made their NHL debut and none has anywhere close to Cirelli's 18 games -- Arizona's Adin Hill comes closest with four.
The Lightning are hoping to unearth more gems like Cirelli at this year's NHL Draft, which will be held June 22-23 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Bolts will be without a first round draft pick - it was dealt away in the trade deadline deal that brought Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to Tampa Bay - but own selections in Rounds 2-6 and two selections in Round 7.
Finding those players that can develop into future NHL stars -- like Cirelli -- revolves partly around a prospect's performance at the NHL Scouting Combine, both in the physical testing and the one-on-one interviews teams conduct. Roest, who, along with the rest of the Lightning's hockey ops staff, just finished evaluating over 100 prospects and interviewing more than 30 during last week's NHL Scouting Combine at HarborCenter in Buffalo, said this year's draft class has size and variety.
"It looks like a good crop, but just like the draft, who knows, right? It takes a few years to figure out," Roest said. "Everybody says, 'This draft's great,' or, 'That draft's great,' but at the end of the day, it's about picking the right prospect and then developing him in your system. But I like this group. I had fun this year. I've seen a lot of the guys play and it looks like there are some good prospects and very nice, mature kids."
Roest said the one-on-one interview sessions are valuable for him because you get a chance to develop a rapport with a prospect and determine if his personality is a fit with the organization.
"I like to meet the players, talk hockey to them, see what kind of personality they have," Roest said. "You get to talk to them about family and hockey and life and then you joke around a little bit. That's kind of the way we operate. It's a big decision to draft one player that you want to be a part of your organization for a long time."
Cirelli said he got a sense from his interviews the Lightning were interested in drafting him, although the organization didn't have as many hockey ops personnel at the scouting combine in 2015 because the team was competing in the Stanley Cup Final against Chicago at the time.
"You get to go in there and show the different teams your personality," Cirelli said. "You get to go face to face with them and kind of let them know what kind of player you are and how you act and how you are off the ice. I think it's nothing but positive."
It's a positive for the Lightning too. They were able to solidify their feelings on a high-caliber prospect like Cirelli and draft him a few weeks later.
They hope they've found a few more Cirellis from this past week in Buffalo.