Draft notebook: Drury hopes to carve his own path to NHL

Jack Drury is used to being recognized for his name. Such is life when your father and uncle have a combined 1,306 NHL games under their belt, not to mention a Stanley Cup and a pair of Olympic medals for the latter.
It's no surprise, then, that Drury was recognized during his time at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, the city where his uncle, Chris, produced some of his finest pro seasons as one of the core players on teams that reached back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals.

"When I went to the hospital for my testing, a lot of the volunteers here, they all say how they know Chris and remember him," Drury said. "I think it shows a lot about how dedicated the fans in Buffalo are. It's pretty cool to get to hear those things."
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Drury will follow in the footsteps of his father, Ted, when he begins his collegiate career at Harvard University next season (he also considered Chris' alma mater, Boston University, as well as Boston College). Beyond his schooling choice, however, he intends to carve his own path in hockey.
"For me, it's an honor to be a Drury," he said. "It was great to be able to pull on the experiences of my dad and my uncle. But I think I'm my own player. I'm just going one day at a time and sticking to my process.
"When the opportunity presents itself for me to try and play professionally, maybe then I'll start thinking about that a little more but for now I'm just trying to get better every day."

So, what does Drury's path look like to this point? His earliest memories of his father's playing career stem back to Ted's seasons in Germany, where he remembers fans waving sparklers before games and a family car that featured the logo of the Krefeld Pinguine as well as Ted's number 18.
The family moved to Chicago upon Ted's retirement, where Drury remained until beginning his USHL career with Waterloo in 2016-17. He scored 12 points in 44 games that season, then spent the summer working with coaches to improve his strength and skating.
The work paid off. Drury scored 65 points (24+41) in 56 games as captain for Waterloo this past season and went from being the 60th ranked North American skater on NHL Central Scouting's midterm list to 27th when the final list was published in May.
A centerman like his father and uncle, Drury describes himself as a dependable two-way forward who possesses a scoring touch and the ability to distribute the puck to his teammates. He interviewed with 20 teams at the combine, Buffalo included.
Naturally, his bloodlines came up in some of those conversations.
"Yeah, a couple of them, but I think most teams know and I make it apparent that I'm trying to create my own path," he said. "That's something that, as I've been getting older, I've realized more and more. I think the teams respect that and understand that as well."