Q&A; with Aaron Ekblad

High-end NHL draft prospect Aaron Eklblad phoned into Boomer & Rhett on Sportsnet 960 Thursday morning.

On what can be proven in the draft combine:

"You know, I think it's just being able to prove you're going to push yourself to the absolute limit. The Max VO2 is exactly that and I think a lot of the strength coaches want to see where you're weak and where your potential to improve is, so I think it's all relevant. It's all very important for young players."

On if being a high-profile prospect made this year easier for him or not in terms of comfort level:

"Well, yeah, I guess you could almost say I'm a late birthday '95 because I've had three years in the OHL and that's kind of the way I look at it. I've had a lot of time to progress and I've had a lot of time to be scrutinized by a lot of people. Sometimes that hurts a player, sometimes it's good. However, I think it's had a positive outlook on my career."

On not having the benefit of a long playoff run this year and if he's had enough time to establish himself this year:

"This year it all started at the Ivan Hlinka. I had a long year in Barrie and even went to the world junior championships. At each level, I proved myself to be ready and I proved myself to be a pretty versatile player in all situations, so I think I've had quite a long enough season. I think a lot of people had a lot of time to get their crack at looking at me."

On if he feels he'll get much bigger:

"I think what you see is what you'll get right now. Obviously I matured pretty early. I grew very fast. But I think my body filled out and matured early as well. I think there's still a long way for me to go to get stronger and be a better hockey player. I think there's more than enough for me to do to be better."

On if it's overwhelming to think the NHL is basically just around the corner for him, only months away:

"Yeah, I wouldn't say it's overwhelming but it's exciting. It's been a long journey to get to this point and there's a lot of people I have to thank for everything they've done for me to get to this point. But no, it's humbling in ways that I could be back in Barrie next year. But I'm going to try and do everything in my power to play in the NHL next year and that's what my goal is."

On where he needs to improve the most now:

"I'd say my foot speed - my power and my stride. That's always going to be one of the most important things for me. I think the learning curve to moving the puck quicker or shooting the puck, I think that all comes with experience and working at it. But I think the most important thing would be my foot speed. I think that's something I can work on in the summer, something I can really hone in on and get better at and it'll help me a lot to play in the NHL next year."

On if anyone has reached out and given him great advice:

"I actually did a blog for NHL.com the other day and said you know what, there's a few guys. There's Bobby Orr, there's Mark Scheifele, there's Tanner Pearson, there's Kerby Rychel. All guys who have been through this exact process and some a little bit higher in the draft than others. But they've all been through the ranks and they've all proven themselves at different levels.

"All they said was come into this weekend and come into the next couple of weeks and enjoy the journey because the destination is only a small part of it and there's a lot of people you have to thank too, to get to this point."

On how he's going to kill time between now and the draft:

"I guess it won't be killing time, it'll be time spent trying to get my foot speed faster. It'll be time spent trying to get stronger and ready for next year. I think anytime I can get in the gym or get on the ice and do that it's really important."

Source: Boomer & Rhett, Sportsnet 960

Related: Sabres could take Ekblad