Get To Know Players From the 2026 NHL Combine

The 2026 NHL Combine has concluded and took place in Buffalo, New York, from May 31 to June 6. There’s a ton of storylines coming out of it, from who will end up going first overall to the Vancouver Canucks, who hold the third overall pick and just hired Manny Malhotra, if they will end up drafting his son, Caleb Malhotra.

The combine gives prospects one last chance to impress NHL front offices and has implications on players’ draft stocks, whether they rise up or fall down on teams’ draft boards. However, what a lot of people don’t think of is who they are as people, what drives them as players, and even what their responses were when teams asked them weird or off-putting questions.

Casey Mutryn

Casey Mutryn has played for the United States National Development Team Program (USNDTP) for the last two seasons. During the 2025-26 season, he played in 25 games and recorded 16 points for them. He played an additional 62 games on the U.S. National U18 team where he recorded 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists).

His draft ranking is all over the place where he is ranked as high as 23rd by SMAHT Scouting, to 61st by McKeen’s Hockey.

There were some odd questions that teams asked players, one of them was if you were an animal, what animal would you be,” and Mutryn said, “It was a bit of a cliche answer but on the ice I said lion, and off the ice I said dog.” He said he chose a dog because he’s a dog person and even has a dog himself.

He also loves to golf, said the best score he’s had was a 71. Speaking of golf, he even had a hole-in-one when he was 11 years old. For those wondering, the hole was about 175 yards away.

Mans Gudmundsson

Mans Gudmundsson is a right-hand shot defenseman who played 35 games for Sweden’s U20 National team and recorded 25 points (one goal, 24 assists).

Gudmundsson is projected to go anywhere from late second round to early third round in this year’s draft. In draft rankings, he’s ranked as high as 61st by Elite Prospects and as low as 86th by Consolidated Rankings.

He prides himself on his two-way game, being able to move the puck up the ice and control the pace of play. He also loves to play in transition, saying it’s one of the strongest parts of his game. Defensively, he’s a physical presence who loves to use his body, especially in front of his own net.

Keaton Verhoeff

Keaton Verhoeff spent the 2025-26 season at the University of North Dakota, playing 34 games while recording 20 points (six goals, 14 assists), and helped his team to a Frozen Four appearance; however fell just short of the National Championship game. Verhoeff has been ranked as high as second by FloHockey and as low as 12th by Elite Prospects.

Verhoeff said it himself that his strength is his skating ability and how explosive he can be with getting in and out of strides. He was originally a goaltender when he first started hockey, then, when he was 11 years old, decided it was time to switch to defense. He said he enjoyed the switch and was never really a guy who wanted to sit in the net or in a corner by himself. He said he enjoyed being with all of the guys and being more involved in the game.

He was asked about his biggest adjustment going to the NCAA, and he said: “I think the biggest thing for me is kind of looking at guys’ sticks and then breaking faster. The biggest thing I noticed were guys’ sticks and details were a little tighter.”

Oliver Suvanto

Oliver Suvanto played in the Liiga with Tappara, playing in 48 games, recording 11 points (two goals, nine assists). Playing in the top Finnish league will most certainly help him prepare to play hockey in North America.

Suvanto has been ranked as high as 13th by Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino and as low as 28th by SMAHT Scouting.

I asked Suvanto, “What is one thing that people may not know about you?” His response was, “My friends basically know everything about me, but I do play the drums.”

He is also a big music guy, with his favorite genre being country. He said he doesn’t really have a favorite artist, but he really likes Jelly Roll.

He spoke with 20-plus teams, the Montreal Canadiens being one of them, and they asked him what type of boat he would be. His response was an army boat because they’re big, bulky and powerful.

He’s also drawn a lot of comparisons to Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, just by the way he plays a full 200-foot game and how high his hockey IQ is.

Alessandro Di Lorio

Alessandro Di Lorio has played in Sarnia the last two seasons, and this season he played in 45 games for them, recording 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists). He has been ranked as high as 47th by McKeen’s Hockey and as low as 92nd by Elite Prospects.

He was asked by a team that interviewed him what animal he was, and he said he was a golden retriever off the ice, and a dog on the ice.

He ended up suffering a major injury this season and had to battle through rehabbing it, and said he felt like he learned a lot about himself going through that process, and of course, teams asked him about the injury and kind of the “behind the scenes” of it.

He was asked about his playstyle, and said: “I think I see the ice pretty well, obviously you want to create space for your teammates, and, like I said, I play that physical game, versatility, I like to find guys on the ice.”

He also wants to get better off of the puck, and also said, “I feel I have a pretty good shot, but I would like to create more shot opportunities for myself.”

The last step of the draft process has officially concluded, and now we wait for the 2026 NHL Entry Draft that is being held in Buffalo on June 26-27. Who will be taken higher than everyone expects, and who will drop? We’ll find out in a few weeks.