The 2024 NHL Scouting Combine is taking place this week at KeyBank Center and LECOM HarborCenter in Buffalo. The combine will allow NHL teams an opportunity to conduct interviews and provide physical and medical assessments of the top prospects eligible for the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft. NHL.com will bring you all the sights and sounds.
BUFFALO -- Aron Kiviharju said the chance to play for Finland at the 2024 IIHF World Under-18 Championship was impossible to decline, even if the defenseman wasn't completely healed from Oct. 24 surgery to repair a dislocated left kneecap.
"I'm good enough to play," the 18-year-old said. "There wasn't any risk that I will get injured again with the knee, so that was the reason that I played. ... The biggest thing was that for my head and for my heart to get back to playing."
Kiviharju had three assists in five games for Finland at the tournament, which was held April 25-May 5, and led the team with an average ice time of 21:54.
Because they were his first games in six months, he knew to grade his play on a curve.
"I was 200 days with not playing hockey, so the thing was enjoy the game," Kiviharju said. "Try to be the best version of yourself every night.
"There might be nights when the passes don't go from tape to tape, when you don't feel quick on your feet. There's going to be different types of games, but just try to be the best version of yourself every night, try to help your team some ways to win. So those were the things, enjoy the game and put the best on the table that you have."
Kiviharju (5-foot-9, 170 pounds) is No. 8 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters for the 2024 draft, and scouts point to his maturity, hockey IQ and ability to control the tempo of the game with the puck on his stick as the best aspects of his game. He expects to refine those skills with HIFK in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland, for at least one more season, mostly because he feels he needs at least one full, healthy season before he moves to the NHL.
He had two points (one goal, one assist) in seven games before the injury.
"I only have so far in two years 28 games in the league and you have to go through one level to get to another one," Kiviharju said. "I have to do the breakthrough in one league first, then step to another level."
Buium still relishing NCAA title
Zeev Buium doesn't need much prompting to turn on his favorite video. It's from April 13, and it features the University of Denver defenseman and his teammates celebrating their NCAA championship.
Buium said he's watched the video more than 100 times in the past six weeks.
"We'll watch it a ton," he said. "I'll probably throw it on in my room or downstairs with the guys almost every time we're together. It never gets old watching that, the feeling. You get a little piece of that feeling every time you watch the video. Every time. It's awesome."
Buium (6-foot, 183 pounds) was a key piece of Denver's championship season. The 18-year-old led NCAA defensemen with 50 points (11 goals, 39 assists) in 42 games as a freshman. He also helped the United States win the gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship and is No. 4 in NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters for the 2024 draft.
So with all those accomplishments already, does he feel he could step into an NHL lineup next season?
"I think for me, my feet are in Denver right now," Buium said. "It's kind of how I am as a person, being where my feet are, and right now that's Denver, but with the draft and everything you never know what can happen, or if a team really needs you or whatever it is. That's more for discussion after the draft, but as of right now, my feet are at Denver, and that's where I'm planning on playing."
No. 6 key for George
Carter George has a very particular routine, and it involves the No. 6.
It goes back to when the goalie made his Ontario Hockey League debut with Owen Sound in 2022-23.
"My first game in the OHL at home, I asked my trainer, I need to go visualize, where should I sit?" George said. "He just points out and says go behind the net and go sit in No. 6, so I did that, and I won my first game, so anytime I go sit in the rink or something like that, it's got to be No. 6."
Why No. 6?
"Couldn't tell you," George said. "Ever since then I've stuck with it. Any rink I go to, to go sit the stands, it's got to be No. 6."
His superstition has worked; the 18-year-old had a .907 save percentage in 56 games for Owen Sound while facing an OHL-high 1,923 shots and was voted the best goalie at the 2024 IIHF World Under-18 Championship after helping Canada win the gold medal. He is No. 2 among North American goalies in Central Scouting's final ranking.
Brandsegg-Nygard, Solberg enjoying time together
Forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and defenseman Stian Solberg have a chance to become the first Norway-born players selected in the first round of the NHL draft.
Brandsegg-Nygard (6-1, 198), a forward with Mora in Allsvenskan, the second division in Sweden, is No. 5 in Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters. Solberg (6-2, 194), a defenseman with Valerenga in Norway's top professional league, is No. 20.
They were born in Oslo and played together for seven seasons at various age levels with Valerenga and are best friends. This week they're roommates at the combine.
"I would say of us two, he's the guy that leaves the clothes on the floor," Solberg said. "We're both, I would say, laid back on that front. We don't take the extra time to hang things up. But he's great. He doesn't snore."
Brandsegg-Nygard has positive reviews for Solberg -- mostly.
"He's a cool roommate," Brandsegg-Nygard said. "He likes to have his light on, and that's a bit frustrating at night, but it is really cool to have a friend like that to live with."
