Teams in preparation for the NHL draft ask prospects an uncomfortable question

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Joshua Deeds
June 13, 2023 (0:40)

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Before the NHL Draft, there is a draft combine where teams measure prospects using various metrics to determine who to draft. The process involves evaluating how they operate both on and off the ice, which can lead to some absurd interview questions being asked.

It's clear that GMs and teams use these interviews to gauge players' responses and sometimes intentionally push their buttons.

One prospect even claimed that the weirdest question he was asked was during his interview with Columbus.

One prospect said the weirdest question he got asked in a combine interview is what he wants said at his funeral. He said he was pretty sure Columbus asked that one.

Interviews can make or break for a prospect, as evidenced by Nail Yakupov's infamous interview that went terribly wrong, which has been memorialized on YouTube thanks to Brian Burke.

We weren't going to take him. His draft interview was the worst interview I've ever had in my life. Terrible.

He was defiant, obnoxious, and sullen. John Lilley, one of our scouts ... almost fought him in the interview, so it was not a good interview.

It is unfair and impractical to ask irrelevant and abstract questions just to provoke a reaction when evaluating a potential candidate.

Moreover, it seems inappropriate to ask players from Flint, MI about a sensitive issue that has affected their community adversely.

Such a premise appears unreasonable when assessing prospects..

Flint players Tristan Bertucci and Coulson Pitre each said that NHL teams asked them at points "How's the water in Flint these days?"

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