This is the third story in a series of player profiles from the NHL's Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y., focusing on potential second-round picks for the Penguins at 44th and 46th overall.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The first word forward John Mustard used to describe his game was "dynamic."
"I like to play with a lot of energy and speed," Mustard continued when speaking at last week's NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y. "I think I create a lot of plays off the rush, but also hard on second and third efforts in the offensive zone."
Mustard, who won't turn 18 years old until August, is expected to be drafted sometime in the early- to mid-second round later this month in Las Vegas. If he's still around when the Penguins are on the clock for their 44th and 46th overall picks, he might be worth a look.
Mustard, who plays both center and left wing, is a left-handed shot listed at 6 foot 1 and 186 pounds. He was born in Newmarket, Ontario but moved to New Jersey at seven years old and grew up playing for the North Jersey Avalanche system and later high school hockey at Bergen Catholic High. He won the USHL's Rookie of the Year award last season, finishing No. 2 on the Waterloo Black Hawks in scoring with 56 points (29 goals, 27 assists) in 60 games.
You can't give John Mustard (2024) that much space. The @FriarsHockey commit now has 15 goals and his 29 points are the third-most in the @USHL. His draft stock is definitely skyrocketing. @BlckHawksHockey #USHL pic.twitter.com/YAcPZ0481E
— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) December 29, 2023
Throw those hats! John Mustard (2024) walks the puck in and rips a shot into the net to complete the hat trick. Goal No. 2⃣0⃣ for the @FriarsHockey commit. @BlckHawksHockey pic.twitter.com/gce2Rf9QgO
— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) February 4, 2024
John Mustard (2024) gives @BlckHawksHockey their three-goal lead right back with an UNBELIEVABLE goal. Might he go in the first round in the #2024NHLDraft? pic.twitter.com/J0SaqsOeeY
— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) February 7, 2024
Mustard said that the speed and the size of opponents was one of the biggest adjustments in the USHL game for him, and that his "ability to read plays quicker" helped him make that transition to a new league.
He handled it well. NHL Central Scouting had Mustard ranked as the 41st-best North American skater in the midterm rankings in January, and he rose to the 27th-best North American skater by the final rankings.
“It’s hard not to notice him when he's on the ice,” NHL Central Scouting’s Pat Cullen told NHL.com earlier this month. “He backchecks extremely hard, works defensively. But yet when he's in the offensive zone and around, he gets open, he is perpetually in motion. He's a guy that seems to utilize what he does well, very well. He skates and competes hard. And then, to top it off, he has good sense to get open when he doesn't have the puck.”
The EliteProspects draft guide this season says that Mustard "does everything a full speed."
"A quick burst of crossovers is often all he needs to burst by opponents, usually set up with a fake in the opposite direction and a powerful weight shift," reads the guide. "After he beats the defense, he rolls on his outside side, curls the puck around a stick, and fires a powerful wrister. When he’s not rushing the puck, Mustard’s hunting in the offensive zone for open space."
Mustard, who tries to model his game after that of Winnipeg's Kyle Connor, told me at the combine that his defensive game is the area of his game he's focusing on improving first and foremost.
"I think just playing within a system a little better," he added. "And maybe just playing better and being more aware of my surroundings in the defensive zone."
Mustard said that in the offensive zone, he'd like to work on just making "simple" plays and not always taking the puck to the middle.
Mustard was one of the standouts in several fitness tests at the combine. The bench press test measures the velocity at which a player is able to bench press half of their bodyweight, and Mustard had the third-best score among participants. His grip strength on his right side was tied for the ninth-best at 158 pounds. In the side-to-side shuttle run test to measure a player's agility, Mustard had the third-best time starting on his left side.
Mustard met with 23 teams at the combine, and the Penguins weren't one of them. That doesn't necessarily rule him out as a potential pick, however. If they're pretty familiar with a guy from over the course of a season, they don't always meet at the combine with a potential pick.
Looking ahead to next season, Mustard is committed to Providence College, calling it "the spot where I'm going to learn to play a pro-style game."
With Mustard expected to spend at least a couple seasons playing college hockey first, he's still some years away from turning pro. But he has the makings of a potential top-six forward long-term.
