Jujhar Khaira doesn't expect Boston's physical forward Milan Lucic to step aside if the Bruins were to add the former Prince George Spruce King to the roster at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh on June 22 and 23.
The 17 year old from Surrey chatted with the Bruins and about 11 other NHL teams last week at the NHL Combine in Toronto where he placed in the top 10 in four of the physical tests. The interview Khaira had with the Bruins provided the toughest question.
"They said, 'Why do you think Lucic is going to give up his spot?'" recalled Khaira. "I just said that, obviously he's not going to give it up, he's probably one of the hardest workers so I'm just going to have to go there and practice. If I get drafted by the team, I'll just have to work that much harder to try and beat him out."
Much to Khaira's relief none of the teams he interviewed with posed a trickier question.
"They just wanted to know what I'm like as a player and asked about family and what my plans are for the next couple of years," said Kharia, who is committed to attend NCAA Division 1 Michigan Tech in September. "I didn't get anything out of the ordinary, which was nice. I don't know if I could've handled those crazy questions."
Khaira headed to Toronto as the top-ranked eligible British Columbia Hockey League player for the 2012 entry draft after spending two seasons with the Spruce Kings. In his rookie season Khaira finished finished second in team scoring, which earned him the four-year scholarship to Michigan Tech. Last season, Khaira finished in the top 10 in BCHL scoring, second on the Kings to league-leader Paul De Jersey.
During his two seasons with the Kings, the 2012 graduate of Clayton Heights secondary in Cloverdale, had 39 goals and 121 points in 112 games.
In the Combine's physical categories, Khaira produced the seventh largest wing span measurement of 77.75 inches, was fifth in the bench press with 12 reps at 150-pounds and was eighth for strength, lifting 9.1 pounds of body weight, which was four points above the Combine average. In a test of upper-body power, Khaira was fourth in throwing a four kilogram ball 232 inches.
"I did well, but there's a lot of room for improvement," he said. "It's nice to see how you stand up against the top guys in the world. I'm just going to work that much harder and up my numbers.
"I had a lot of fun there," added Khaira. "It's definitely a once in a lifetime experience."
Khaira moved up six positions from the midseason NHL draft rankings to sit at 74th in the final rankings. De Jersey made the biggest leap, moving from 203rd to 98th position.
One of the biggest concerns NHL clubs have about Khaira is his future plans to go the NCAA route rather than working on his game in junior hockey - the Western Hockey League's Everett Silvertips acquired his rights in a trade with the Prince George Cougars last month.
"[School's] the plan right now," said Khaira. "They asked about that a little bit trying to see where my head's at right now and what my plans are."
Khaira said his current plan is to major in engineering or business management when he arrives at Michigan Tech in September.
"It'll be a lot faster and there's a lot more skilled guys and I'll be playing against 24 year olds and stuff, who will be a lot more mature than the young guys," said Khaira.
Not that size should be an issue for Khaira, who said he's grown about three-quarters of an inch and added about 15 pounds of muscle since the Kings season ended, where he was listed at six-foot-three, 195 pounds.
The last Spruce King drafted into the NHL was Brad Fast in the third round (84th overall) in 1999 by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Khaira said he's undecided if he'll pack his bags for Pittsburgh to attend the draft in person, adding it'll depend on how interested the NHL teams seem in him and if they'd want second interviews.
