BUFFALO, New York — The NHL Scouting Combine is, above all, a week of meetings.

Yes, there’s physical testing that takes place — much of it on Saturday, with an accompanying media zoo. But the bulk of the value, and time, in Buffalo, goes to the meetings between prospects and teams. It’s common for players to meet with more than 20 teams. Teams are likely meeting with about 60 prospects. And from that standpoint, you can’t read too much into the fact any one team is meeting with any one player.

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But sometimes, your ears do perk up when hearing about one. And that’s what happened Saturday, when, after forward prospect Samuel Honzek said Detroit was one of the 25 teams he met with, he also took it a step further: “Detroit was one of the — I would say the best meeting I’ve ever had here,” Honzek said.

At the end of the day, there’s only so much to be gleaned from a 20-minute conversation. But considering we know Detroit GM Steve Yzerman was spotted at Honzek’s playoff series, there’s some smoke starting to accumulate here.

The Red Wings have two picks, at Nos. 9 and 17, in the first round, and Honzek could theoretically be in play at either spot, as a 6-foot-4 forward who can play in all situations. If he had his druthers, Honzek says he would play wing, but told teams this week it’s up to them and that he has no problem playing center.

Samuel Honzek finished tied for second in horizonal jump in the 2023 NHL Scouting Combine fitness testing. Honzek is the No. 9 ranked North American Skater and a member of the @WHLGiants.

See full details: https://t.co/8mBriFOcK3 pic.twitter.com/JUfpBr9B4P

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 10, 2023

Center, of course, is the more premium position, and Honzek’s physical tools — with good skating for his size — would give him a solid ability to stick there, although it may be telling that he has a slight preference for the wing. Corey Pronman’s comparable for Honzek is Bruins forward Pavel Zacha, who just wrapped up a 57-point season for the record-setting Bruins, in which he spent time at both forward positions.

Again, he belongs in the conversation at both of Detroit’s picks, but obviously, the idea of possibly targeting Honzek at No. 17 is especially appealing, because it means the Red Wings could land another premium target — from an even bigger pool of players — at No. 9.

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One such candidate would be Honzek’s countryman, Dalibor Dvorsky, who was also among those Detroit met with in Buffalo. For much of the year, Dvorsky’s stock was in flux because of his uneven results in Sweden’s Allsvenskan compared to his own age group. He was dominant in Sweden’s J20 league, averaging a goal (and over two points) per game, and nearly did the same in an outstanding showing at the U18 World Championship. But in the Allsvenskan, his production was more lukewarm, with 14 points in 38 contests for AIK.

It’s worth noting here, though, that Dvorsky is on the young side of this draft class. He played the entire season at age 17, and won’t turn 18 until later this week. That’s relevant context, especially when noting the difference in results between competing with his peers and with men. Dvorsky mentioned John Tavares and Anze Kopitar as players he models his game after, citing their ability as good two-way centers with “great offensive instincts, good shot, good hockey IQ and they’re strong on the puck too.”

WHL center Nate Danielson is another centerman of note in the Red Wings’ range, albeit on the older end of the class rather than the younger side. You could argue a Danielson pick might be a bit redundant to Detroit’s selection of Marco Kasper in last year’s first round, as smooth-skating, two-way centermen with plus grades on their compete level and perhaps underrated offense. But adding either Dvorsky or Danielson to the fold would suddenly give the Red Wings an enviable center picture for the future, with Kasper, Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp already there (though the latter could certainly move to the wing in his later years).

I would expect at least one of the two to be picked ahead of the Red Wings’ spot at No. 9, though, and it’s possible both could be gone. That scenario where both are picked in the top eight, however, would likely mean Detroit has a shot at a player I’ve highlighted since early in the process: U.S. NTDP winger Ryan Leonard.

Finding a perfect comparable for Leonard is tough, because despite his enticing blend of power and offensive touch, he is still under 6 feet tall, which leaves room to question just how much of that power element will ultimately hold up against pros. But his game does remind me of Tyler Bertuzzi in some ways, and getting a player with his compete level who can add real offense would check two big boxes for the Red Wings, who need to replace Bertuzzi going forward.

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One comment from Leonard I enjoyed this week. I asked him about his overtime gold medal-clinching goal for the U.S. at U18 worlds, and about the blocked shot that preceded it — which Team USA coach Dan Muse highlighted in a recent interview with The Athletic. I wanted to know: was he still feeling the effects of the block?

“Leg was a little banged up,” he acknowledged. “But it’s a gold medal game, it’s overtime, your adrenaline takes over. I’m not feeling anything. Told them I was fine to go, and name got called, and then yeah. Game.”

Toughness and compete level can, at times, feel like buzzwords in the NHL Draft process, considering every team obviously covets those traits. But that’s a pretty good embodiment of what the Red Wings are trying to build. I also continue to believe that Leonard’s linemate, Gabe Perreault, will be in Detroit’s mix — for a Red Wings team lacking offense, Perreault’s brand of IQ and creativity would fill a big need.

That’s a lot of names, and it speaks to the depth of this class, especially at forward. And that’s one argument for the Red Wings to instead use the ninth pick on one of the class’s top defensemen, trusting that they can still get a forward they like at 17, but realizing that the top ‘D’ in the class — including David Reinbacher, Dmitri Simashev, Tom Willander and Axel Sandin Pellikka — may get snatched up before then, because of the relative scarcity.

Willander, in particular, has been a riser since his stellar play at the U18 worlds, after helping Rögle win Sweden’s J20 championship. And if his interviews with teams went anything like his interview with Pronman and me on “The Athletic Hockey Show,” I expect that will only continue. Willander was impressive on a number of topics, but impressed me most when talking about the origins of his outstanding skating — his best asset as a player, in my opinion.

“I was terrible at first,” Willander said. “I was like, really bad at skating. In fact, so bad that I asked my father to just take a whole winter break from school to just practice skating, that’s how bad it was. At least that’s what he told me. I guess it did not come that naturally to me, but we practiced very much when I was young.”

Willander’s father is a youth hockey director for Sollentuna, so certainly that helps. But the commitment to developing his skating — to this current level, no less — really stands out as an indicator of the defenseman’s drive. He said he focused a lot on improving his offense this season, both technically and tactically, and by year’s end, Willander was playing a massive role for Sweden, scoring three goals and eight points in seven games at the U18 World Championship. And his goals for himself are even higher.

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“Obviously I’m aiming high. I want to be a first-pair type of guy,” he said. “But I feel like my strength is in the two-way game, I feel like I’m strong in my skating, and I compete hard and I go strong along the boards.”

His meeting for Detroit was scheduled for shortly after we spoke, so I don’t have any notes on how that went, but I left the conversation quite impressed. He even showed a good sense of humor, when asked about the idea of playing with fellow Rögle product William Wallinder to form a Wallinder-Willander pair (it actually happened before in an exhibition, he said).

He’s seen Red Wings’ fans joking about the notion, too, saying, “I think it’s a good one, making the commentators get … something to wrap their head around.”

There’s another side to getting the league all in one place for the combine, too: reports and rumors start to fly about what players could be on the move between now and the draft (which is now just over two weeks away).

And the Red Wings found themselves right in the middle of that over the weekend, with Pierre LeBrun reporting local product Alex DeBrincat has given the Senators a list of preferred destinations should Ottawa decide to trade him. Naturally, Detroit is among the most interesting possible landing spots — not only because of DeBrincat’s roots here, but because the Red Wings badly need a scorer of his caliber, and have both the cap space and assets to acquire him. He was near the top of our list of potential Red Wings trade targets last month.

The particulars of such a trade, if it were to materialize, would be fascinating between two teams who appear to be on similar contention timelines.

Ottawa gave up the seventh and 39th picks in last year’s draft, plus a 2024 third-rounder, to acquire DeBrincat, but that was with two years of team control remaining, one of which was at a team-friendly $6.4 million cap hit. That’s no longer the case, with DeBrincat an RFA one year from unrestricted free agency, a $9 million qualifying offer, and coming off his least productive season since 2019-20. Simply put, the Senators are not getting back what they gave up for DeBrincat last summer.

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But we’re still talking about a multi-time 40-goal scorer here, which is precisely why the Red Wings should be interested at the right cost.

What might that be? A good recent comparable would be last summer’s Kevin Fiala trade from Minnesota to Los Angeles. Fiala was 25, an RFA who was a year from UFA status, and coming off a great season with the Wild when he was dealt to the Kings for the 19th overall pick and defense prospect Brock Faber.

It’s easy enough, then, to say a hypothetical Red Wing package might need to be built around pick 17 and a high-level prospect.

Finding a Faber equivalence is tricky, as he was a very good prospect but also had some unique circumstances as a college player two years from being able to hit free agency. Still, he was a near-NHL-ready prospect who looked like he would outperform his second-round draft slot. The two names that come to mind there would be winger Jonatan Berggren, who made his NHL debut last season, and Wallinder.

Losing either would sting for Detroit, but the Red Wings would be getting the ready-made goal scorer they desperately need in their top-six. But of the two, Berggren might make the most sense, giving Ottawa back another smaller, offensive-minded player who can step right into their lineup, as opposed to Wallinder, who may need a bit more time to percolate (and who Detroit may prefer keeping, too).

Even if a trade were to work out, though, there would still be the matter of paying DeBrincat, who isn’t likely to get an AAV in line with his $9 million Q.O. on a long-term deal, but will still be due a hefty raise.

Surely, Detroit would be happy to get DeBrincat on something like Fiala’s seven-year, $7.875 million AAV pact, but his career statistical profile is actually closer to that of Patrik Laine, who signed for four years and an $8.7 million AAV last summer.

Alex DeBrincat comparables

PlayerCareer G/GPCareer P/GPPlatform year G/GPPlatform year P/GP

0.42

0.83

0.33

0.8

0.43

0.82

0.46

1

0.3

0.73

0.4

1.04

That creates a bit of a conundrum. Laine’s deal being only four years is a confounding factor, but DeBrincat’s representation can certainly argue Laine is his best comp. That’s the same cap hit as Dylan Larkin, though, and for as good as DeBrincat is, there have been enough ups and downs to his production (even with a relatively high floor) that $8.7 million might be uncomfortable territory. Especially after giving up multiple major assets in the process.

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So while the fit is obvious, on multiple levels, the Red Wings will still have a lot to think about on this front — and with the draft and free agency rapidly approaching, only about two more weeks to make a decision.

(Photo of Alex DeBrincat: Richard A. Whittaker / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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