Ilia Morozov’s score in this month’s NHL combine for draft-eligible players was the fifth-highest in the event’s three-decade history.
The Miami center finished in the top 10 out of 90 blue chip prospects in six categories.
But the sophomore-to-be still wasn’t impressed with his performance in Buffalo, where he is expected to be selected in the first round of the NHL draft on Friday.
“Honestly I don’t think that my scores are outstanding,” Morozov said. “I think they’re pretty good, but honestly I expected more from myself. But I think it’s really good — I’ve been working out a lot the last couple years, so I think that’s why I got such results.”
Morozov stood out at the isokinetic squat (sixth), force plate vertical and no-arm jump (seventh and ninth) and tied in third for the right-handed grip test.
He led the entire pool class in the left-handed grip test at 184 pounds, and his 17 pull-ups tied him for fifth-best all-time in that event.
“I had really good preparation at Miami with our strength coach, Gord Farnell, spent like nine weeks working out, five or six times a week, so I was completely ready for that,” Morozov said. “In college you work out a lot, so it makes you stronger and prepares you for the NHL.”
Morozov’s overall score of 182.5 was the fifth-best score in NHL combine history and may result in him moving up the draft board on Friday.
“I can tell you this: The work he’s done since the season has ended, since we’ve known Ilia he’s taken a tremendous leap every off-season and has been a much better, much more prepared version of himself the next year, and we expect that trend to continue,” Miami head coach Anthony Noreen said.
Noreen also credited Farnell, who is the team’s assistant director of human performance, with Morozov’s success at the combine.
“I think any bit of growth that’s behind the scenes that maybe doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves, the job that Gord Farnell has done, he’s as good as any that I’ve been around, and there’s a reason that we brought him in,” Noreen said. “We feel like every guy that’s around him has gotten tremendously better, has learned from him.”
NHL Central scouting ranked Morozov No. 10 among North American skaters, and most scouting services have Morozov being drafted anywhere from 10th to 25th.
“I’m so excited, I’m counting the days,” Morozov said. “It’s going to be really interesting.”
Three first-round draftees have played for Miami: Tyler Biggs, Jack Roslovic and Kevyn Adams.
Biggs was the highest-ever RedHawks draft pick, selected 22nd by Toronto in 2011. Roslovic (Winnipeg) and Adams (Boston) were both taken 25th overall.
Meaning there’s an excellent chance Morozov is the highest-ever RedHawks NHL draftee.
“That’s going to mean a lot,” Morozov said. “Miami, decades ago was one of the best (hockey) schools, and we’re trying to bring it back, so we’ve got to set a new standard up, make this program better than it used to be.”
As a 17-year-freshman at Miami — the youngest player in Division I — Morozov finished the 2025-26 season with eight goals and 12 assists.
His success and development with the RedHawks should hopefully attract more blue-chip talent to Oxford under Noreen’s leadership.
“I think it says a ton about the current state of the program, and hopefully the direction it’s going in, and hopefully it continues to go in,” Noreen said. “We feel like Miami has every single thing needed to attract, develop, promote and move on to the NHL draft a student-athlete prospect, and I think Ilia’s a tremendous example of that, and we think it’s well earned just based on the work that he’s put in, not just since arriving on campus but before as well.”
Defenseman and incoming RedHawks freshman Tim Runtso also fared well at the combine. He finished third with a vertical jump of 116.0 inches and his 4.3 seconds in the left-side pro agility test ranked seventh overall.
“The long jump, I knew before coming to the combine was something I was good at, and when I got my test results back, I was above average in 95 percent of the stuff,” Runtso said. “Yeah, pretty happy.”
Runtso, who is 6-feet, 2-inches and 190 pounds, jumped from NAHL St. Cloud in 2024-25 to Victoria of the WHL last season and scored 11 goals and dished for 33 assists for 44 points, leading all Royals’ D-men in all three categories.
He attributed his immediate success in Canadian Juniors to Victoria head coach James Patrick, who played 21 seasons in the NHL and was an assistant head coach for Buffalo and Vancouver for another 11 campaigns.
“There’s so much to learn from him and he gave me so many opportunities, playing any role, whether that’s defending a goal or trying to get a goal, he just trusted me to put me on the ice, and I think that really helped me develop,” Runtso said.
Despite being passed over in last season’s NHL draft, Runtso, who turns 19 next month, is expected to be selected in the second or third round this weekend.
“Pretty excited, obviously, working up to it,” Runtso said. “Had a long season and a pretty good season so I didn’t really think I’d be in this position, but it’s good to be here.”
Runtso said the Miami coaching staff played the biggest role in his decision to come to Oxford.
“Two years ago, obviously, the team wasn’t too good, was going through a rough patch, and brought in some new coaches, and I was talking to Troy (Thibodeau) and Anthony, and they weren’t just giving me a script or anything, telling me, oh, we’re going to be good in the next couple of years, they really believed that,” Runtso said. “Whatever they told me, they believed in it and they’ve definitely proven themselves right.”
Noreen said Runtso is a player his staff targeted as soon as they took over in the spring of 2024.
“(He’s) someone that Troy had seen for years and saw make tremendous steps and just kept getting better,” Noreen said. “One thing I can tell you about Timmy: Every level he’s gone to he’s seemed to have overachieved and exceeded expectations. He’s a bit of a late bloomer, but we feel like his best hockey is ahead of him, and just a tremendous kid who loves hockey, loves life, is enjoyable to talk to, to be around. Really excited to watch him play hockey.”
Runtso is expected to make an immediate impact quarterbacking the Miami power play. The RedHawks were sixth-last in all of Division I on the man-advantage last season, converting at just a 12.1 percent clip.
“That’s a huge part of us bringing a guy like Timmy in this year,” Noreen said. “We just feel like specifically, that offensive part of a power play defensemen, we feel like he’s got the intangibles to do it, and he’s proven it, and we feel like he’s going to grow in that role, and we’re excited to see him back there for us and just a guy we think is — not unlike a lot of our young guys — we think he’s a guy that’s going to really take off with the resources and the development and everything that Miami has to offer.”
Morozov and Runtso were already expected to be selected prominently in Buffalo, and their combine results should only bolster their stock heading into this weekend.
“We got unbelievable reviews on both Ilia and Timmy and the job they did at the combine, not just in the physical side but also in the interviews,” Noreen said.
View From the Glass 