If you think the burning questions prospective NHL teams have for draft prospects are about their style of play, personality, or hockey journey, think again.<\/p>\n
From the event that brought you groundbreaking and totally logical questions such as \u201chow do you describe the color blue<\/a>,\u201d \u201cwhat is your Uber rating<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cif someone said something about your mom or sister, would you be able to hold yourself back\u2013 in terms of the Chris Rock\/Will Smith Oscar slap<\/a>\u201d (teams won\u2019t have to ask Gavin McKenna that one), comes the newest edition of \u201cwho can ask the weirdest question to a bunch of stressed out 18 year-olds,\u201d formally known as the 2026 NHL Scouting Combine.<\/p>\n Per San Jose Hockey Now\u2019s Sheng Peng<\/a>, Caleb Malhotra, shared this year\u2019s strangest and arguably most disturbing question on Friday.<\/p>\n According to Malhotra, an unidentified team \u2014 later revealed to be the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> \u2014 asked: \u201cIf you were on a desert island with no water for a day\u2019s walk, and you had someone beside you with a water bottle, would you kill them to take the water?\u201d<\/p>\n While Malhotra later clarified that he personally wasn\u2019t asked the question, he still shared his answer with Peng<\/a>, saying he initially thought he would kill for the bottle, but doesn\u2019t think he\u2019d actually go through with it.<\/p>\n Malhotra\u2019s revelation follows what happened at last year\u2019s combine when the Canadiens asked a very similar, tweaked question, per Taylor Haase of DK Pittsburgh Sports<\/a>:<\/p>\n Montreal, as always, has the most unhinged questions this week. They\u2019re asking players if they were stranded in a desert with someone and only a bottle of water and a baseball bat, and you can\u2019t share the water, and the other person takes the water first, what do you do with the bat?<\/p>\n The Canadiens seem to be a constant source of off-the-wall interrogation at every year\u2019s combine, also frequently asking prospects what animal they think they would be on and off the ice<\/a>. Jackson Smith, selected 14th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> last year, notably answered that he\u2019d be a mix between a mammoth and a goldfish.<\/p>\n Another example of deranged and often gruesome combine questioning comes from David Reinbacher<\/a>, who was selected fifth overall by the Canadiens in 2023. The Austrian defender was asked: \u201cIt\u2019s World War II, and you\u2019re the captain of a boat, and you have to bomb an enemy boat, but your teammates are swimming in the ocean,\u201d per an interview with TSN<\/a>. Reinbacher responded, \u201cNo, I wouldn\u2019t do it,\u201d because he would want to save his teammates.<\/p>\n Even the questions about hockey have twisted layers and mind games to them. A team asked prospects if they\u2019d rather have a four year career with a Cup, or a ten year career with none, per the Daily Faceoff\u2019s Jeff Marek<\/a>. He shared that a prospect told him they chose the four year option because that\u2019s what they thought the team would want to hear, but Marek heard from someone else that they\u2019d want players who chose the 10 years, because it demonstrates they play the game for the love of it, not for a trophy.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not all borderline psychological warfare, however, but it is almost all absurd. Keaton Verhoeff, a top-five North American prospect, told Elite Prospects<\/a> that one team asked what he would do if he ordered a BLT with cheese, and his sandwich came out with no cheese (although, the option of murder technically remains).<\/p>\n The Canadiens and other teams also often have prospects get up and do activities that test their ability to focus or their risk-assessment awareness. According to RG\u2019s Marco D\u2019Amico<\/a>, the Habs asked players to try to throw a puck into a garbage can. They could throw from anywhere in the room, but if they missed, Montreal wouldn\u2019t draft them.<\/p>\n The Nashville Predators<\/a> asked prospects to stack golf balls to test how long they would spend on the task before quitting, according to Jeff Marek<\/a>. This isn\u2019t a new tactic for the Preds, also having prospects attempt the extremely difficult but possible feat at the 2025 combine<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n Possibly the most absurd of all, Marek was also reportedly told that the New York Islanders put a brick in front of prospects,<\/a> and gave them 30 seconds to name as many different uses for it as they could<\/a>. They did the same with an umbrella as well, per Islanders beat reporter Stefen Rosner<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the spirit of nonsensical fun(?) the NHL teams seem to be running off of, I thought I\u2019d share my thoughts and answers on some of the weirdest questions to come out of the Scouting Combine in recent years.<\/p>\n First up, Malhotra\u2019s question of doom and despair.<\/p>\n Important detail here in the 2026 version\u2013 Malhotra says the nearest water is a day\u2019s walk away in this scenario. He may be getting that exact detail wrong, but if so, the question loses some of its edge, since I wouldn\u2019t\u00a0need\u00a0the water. Teams may be seeing who catches that nuance.<\/p>\n However, ignoring that specification makes the question much more interesting. I would initially think of convincing the other person to share the water. If that wasn\u2019t an option, what\u2019s stopping me from just grabbing the water and running without killing them?<\/p>\n If the options were strictly kill or have no water, I\u2019d still choose not to kill the other person. I\u2019d scavenge for a clean water source, and if there isn\u2019t one, then the water bottle is just delaying the inevitable. In that case, I\u2019d rather die with my morals than with an extra day or two.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not really sure what answer they\u2019re looking for here. Saying no demonstrates selflessness and strong morals, while saying yes demonstrates a willingness to do whatever it takes. Trying to negotiate shows you are a good communicator and may signal good leadership. Looking for other options proves problem-solving skills and the ability to think outside the box.<\/p>\n Next up, Reinbacher\u2019s war question. I\u2019m loving that these questions share a common theme of death, not hockey.<\/p>\n Reinbacher said no because he would want to save his teammates, and I agree. I think \u201cno\u201d is the best answer here because it shows you are a good teammate and willing to stand up for what you believe is right. The other option is always to follow orders, even when they don\u2019t seem to direct you to the best choice, which is not typically praised.<\/p>\n Finally, as for what animal I would be, I\u2019d probably answer with some version of the generic \u201capex predator on the ice and friendly dog off the ice\u201d answer. That sounds like the boring answer that an NHL general manager would be enthralled with.<\/p>\n As for the brick question, I\u2019d probably use it to break the nearest window and escape these deranged lines of questioning.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t