"Wobbly-legged and pale, Mika Zibanejad emerged from a grand ballroom at the Toronto Congress Centre earlier this month ... with a big smile.

Threw up?

"Yeah, exactly," said the "Persian Prince," a 6-4 Swedish centerman whose mother is Finnish, whose father is Iranian and whose stock is skyrocketing into a potential top-10 pick Friday when the two-day NHL entry draft commences at Xcel Energy Center.

Zinanejad looks to be in terrific shape. Yet every time he does the Wingate cycle ergometer test -- 30 seconds of torture where you're fighting maximum power at maximum speed with a drill sergeant screaming in your face at, well, maximum volume -- Zinanejad finishes with his face inside a garbage bag.

This is the NHL's scouting combine, an annual rite of passage for the most highly touted draft-eligible prospects. They are prodded, poked and dissected by 30 NHL teams and their gray-haired front-office staffs who are searching for the steal of the century or, dare we say, a red flag.

During this particular week in early June, 102 excited draft-eligible players arrived in Toronto to undertake a painstaking interview process and grueling fitness regimen.

In the interviews, each team can talk to as many players as they want in 20-minute intervals. Some teams talk to 80-plus players; some, such as the Wild, talk to 50. Some players, such as top-five pick Gabriel Landeskog and one of the top-ranked Minnesotans, Joseph Labate, talk to half the teams, while others, such as Zinanejad, talk to almost all.

They're asked probing questions.

Rocco Grimaldi, the talented 5-6 California native and North Dakota Fighting Sioux, was asked incessantly how he will survive in the NHL at his size.

"And Rocco came back with authority," said Wild assistant GM Brent Flahr, laughing hysterically. "It was impressive. He's heard it all his life about his size, and he's driven to not use it as a crutch.""