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From slimy reptiles to wicked curveballs, Mitch Marner, Noah Hanifin and the rest of the top-ranked NHL prospects of 2015 were kept busy in the days leading up to the draft in Sunrise, Fla.

On one particular muggy south Florida morning, Marner and Hanifin joined Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Dylan Strome for a tour of the Everglades. At one point, handlers took turns putting a wriggly green snake around the necks of Marner and Hanifin, a squirming living necklace as it were.

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“(Marner) was scared of it,” chuckled Hanifin, who showed no such fear.

Advantage: Hanifin.

Photo by Grant Halverson / Getty Images

At another Miami-area outing, the top prospects had the opportunity to go to Marlins Park and take batting practice at the spiffy home of the local MLB team.

“I was pretty bad at it. I think I hit four or five balls. It was a lot of fun, though,” Marner recalled.

As for Hanifin: “I did pretty well in the cage, being an American kid and things like that.”