Adam Clendening, Matt Nieto earn invites to 2011 NHL Draft Combine

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

Freshman defenseman Adam Clendening and freshman forward Matt Nieto both earned invitations to the 2011 NHL Draft Combine according to the scouting combine invitation list that the NHL released Monday. The top 102 draft-eligible players will attend the combine, which will take place from May 30 to June 4 in Toronto.

Both Clendening and Nieto finished in the top 50 of the Central Scouting Rankings, an improvement over their midterm ranks. Nieto had been ranked at 55 but finished at 43 while Clendening was ranked 61 in the midterm rankings and finished at 45.

Freshman forward Sahir Gill just missed an invitation to the combine. Gill improved his midterm ranking from 139 to a final of 110, eight spots shy of an invite. The only other current Hockey East players ranked by Central Scouting are Northeastern’s Jamieson Oleksiak at 13 and University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s Mike Pereira at 114.

None of Boston University’s known incoming freshmen earned spots among the top 210 draft-eligible North American skaters.