The letter arrived on a Tuesday in late January, official NHL Central Scouting letterhead, informing Beckett that he'd been invited to the pre-draft combine — an honor reserved for the league's most closely evaluated prospects, and one that carried, buried in its formal congratulatory language, a scheduling conflict neither of them had fully anticipated.
"It's the same week as conference semifinals," Beckett said, staring at the letter with an expression Rae hadn't seen on him before — genuine conflict, torn between two things he wanted with equal intensity.
"You have to go," Rae said immediately. "This is everything you've worked your whole life for."
"I'm the captain. I can't just leave the team during the biggest games of the season."
"Beckett, this is the NHL combine. This isn't op
