BUFFALO, N.Y. — After spending most of his Friday trying to plumb the psyche of a couple of dozen talented and excessively polished and confident 18-year-olds, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney took time out from the player-interview process at the NHL Scouting Combine to check in.

Some of the headlines from his session:

•· The B’s continue to negotiate with unrestricted free agent-to-be Loui Eriksson, and there can be enough give-and-take on both sides to get a deal done and avoid the July 1 exit of the multi-talented Swede.

• Among the B’s many picks at last year’s NHL entry draft, Sweeney regards defenseman Brandon Carlo, a second-rounder, as the closest to being NHL-ready. He suggested it might be a “surprise” if any of the three first-rounders — defenseman Jakub Zboril, and left wingers Jake Debrusk and Zach Senyshyn — are ready to play next season.

• He does feel that a trio of older college products — defensemen Matt Grzelcyk of BU and Rob O’Gara of Yale and center Sean Kuraly of Miami (Ohio) — will compete for NHL paychecks in 2016-17.

• The Bruins intend to begin efforts in July on a contract extension for Brad Marchand, who can be a UFA after next season.

• This year’s draft is very good at the top, with the B’s likely to get an excellent prospect with their first pick (No. 14), though Sweeney is also open to any draft day moves that might present themselves.

Sweeney said he met this week with Eriksson’s agent, J.P. Barry, and will continue talks, “to see if we can find common ground.”

“We’re getting closer to July 1,” he said. “So does he feel the itch (to test the market)? Maybe. But I’ve said all along I respect what Loui brings to our club. If we don’t find common ground with Loui, we’re going to have to replace him. There’s been some good discussion. I think the onus is on us to display what level we’re willing to commit to Loui.

“No, no, they have not indicated at all that (Eriksson plans to leave). I think it will come down to how high we want to stretch things.”

On the B’s three first-rounders from last year, Sweeney has seen good things from all of them but they have work yet to do.

“You’d like to say that you’d find a surprise,” said Sweeney. “But I’ve said time and time again we’re not going to be impatient with the development process of these players. They’ll determine the time line. And the opportunity will be there when they’re ready.

“The players have attributes. Debrusk, in the Memorial Cup, had an outstanding game the one night I was there. (But) he has work to do. Senyshyn, the same. So, again, we are not going to be impatient in terms of fast-forwarding these guys.

“We have players coming out of college — Robbie O’Gara and Matt Grzelck and Sean Kuraly — that will be knocking on the door. The college guys are just older. They’re more mature players. You’ve seen several players around the NHL step right out of college and impact their teams. I would suspect we have players who will be knocking on that same door.”

Sweeney does not want Marchand to knock on the door of the free agent market 13 months from now, and hopes to get his top goal scorer locked up.

“We’re going to look at Brad right away, early on in the process,” said Sweeney. “Once we get by the first wave of July and have some good discussions, we want to make sure we’re tracking that on the early side. He’s a big part of our club.”

Sweeney also hopes to continue conversations with UFA-to-be Chris Kelly and John-Michael Liles about returning, assuming both are healthy.

The GM is hearing chatter about possible trades on Day 1 of the draft.

“The top part of the draft in particular is really strong,” said Sweeney. “I think there’s a chance for a lot of movement. There’s been a lot of talk about it. You’ve got to expect that somebody might move into a certain position that you didn’t expect

“The quality of the draft is good. I saw some really, really impressive kids over the course of the last four days. With two (Bruins) picks in the first round and (another) in the second round, we’re going to get good players.”