Getting to meet Nolan and Nico at Scouting Combine

Andrew Gross | NorthJersey

Some impressions of Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier after chatting with both of them, well, being in media scrums around both of them, today at the Scouting Combine here in Buffalo:

1. Patrick, at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, is not overwhelmingly huge. But you can see the potential for him to add bulk to his frame as he matures physically. He also has this aura of intensity around him, be it in the way he addresses the media or how he was sitting and signing autographs for fans. I’m not talking about in a mean way. But he just seems like he’s very, very serious about everything he does. Reading into it, to me, that screams out hard-core competitor. You want those.

Just a for instance, here’s what he had to say when asked what would keep him from starting his professional career at the NHL level: “I don’t like to think like that. I don’t like thinking what’s going to keep me away I’m doing everything I can to get there. That’s my goal. I’m not a huge guy to set goals but I’ve had that one for three years.”

2. Which is not to say Hischier is not a competitor. But he definitely smiles more. Of course, he’s only been over in North America for one season after choosing to play junior hockey rather than continue in his native Switzerland – he said it was because he wanted to be a better hockey player. Patrick, born in Winnipeg, has been facing the media, the Canadian media, for a while now and he’s lived for over a year with being the potential No. 1 pick, which certainly brings a certain level of intense coverage.

3. Neither Patrick nor Hischier professed to know tons about the Devils – or the Flyers, who own the No. 2 pick for that matter. But Patrick certainly has some connections to New Jersey. First, he played two seasons for the Brandon Wheat Kings (Western Hockey League) with Devils’ prospect John Quenneville, the 30th overall pick in 2014 who played 12 NHL games last season, from 2014-16.

“It’d be good,” Patrick said of potentially being Quenneville’s NHL teammate. “He’s a funny guy and we had a really good relationship in Brandon. We roomed together on all of our road trips so we’re really good buddies and he’s obviously a tremdnous player. He’s going to be a really good NHL player coming up in the next couple of years. He talks nothing but good things about the Devils.”

Also, Patrick, the son of former NHL forward Steve Patrick and the nephew of former NHL defenseman James Patrick, has his family run in some of the same circles as Devils general manager Ray Shero, whose father was a GM/coach for both the Flyers and Rangers, though before either of the Patrick brothers played for the Rangers in the 1980s. Still, the hockey world can be a small world.

4. Some interesting material from Patrick regarding what he calls a misdiagnosed sports hernia. The short story: Patrick spent last summer recovering from surgery for a sports hernia on the right side. But he suffered through an injury-plagued season and he is saying now that there was also a sports hernia on the other side that went undetected and he therefore did not have surgery on.

His words: “Yeah, it was a sports hernia on my right side and I had two at the same time and they missed the one on the other side. I’m not disappointed with the doctor, he’s trying to do the best job he could. That happens. I think adversity for a young kid makes you stronger as a player. I didn’t talk about it during the year in the media that I was misdiagnosed. I just tried to focus on my game and this is the first time I’ve really said anything about it. So that’s the real story and that’s how it happened.”

Why open up now? Cynically, you could speculate that Patrick is doing what he can to alleviate any fears about his injury-plagued season. Or, perhaps, Patrick just didn’t want to make excuses during the season.

5. Hischier was also asked whether he is ready to be an NHL player immediately. He deflected the question pretty easily.

“It’s hard to answer right now because I really want to focus on my summer practice,” Hischier said.

6. Before driving up to Buffalo this morning, my belief was that the Devils might be leaning toward Hischier. A couple of whispers in my ear from NHL observers and I think I’m now leaning toward the Devils leaning to Patrick. Of course, I reserve the right to waver back and forth a few more times between now and June 23.

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