Inside the development of draft prospect Oliver Moore, from a sub-five-minute mile to a flower farm

Roses and tulips.

Despite living on a flower farm during his time with the United States National Team Development Program, Oliver Moore could name only two flowers off the top of his head.

But Moore doesn’t have aspirations of being a florist or a farmer. He wants to play in the NHL, plus he learned more applicable lessons from his billet family than flower names.

The 18-year-old center, who grew up in Mounds View, Minn., was the first player from the NTDP to be assigned to live with Lynsey Taulbee and her family in Plymouth, Mich. He was excited to hear he’d be living on a farm, and even offered to help out.

» READ MORE: NHL draft: Center Oliver Moore could fit the Flyers’ need for speed

“I honestly can’t say I did anything,” Moore said with a laugh.

But despite the seemingly major differences between running a flower farm and training for the NHL, Moore and Taulbee found ways that their fields aligned. Moore drew motivation from the long hours Taulbee put into her business, Muddy Acres Flower Farm. He also picked up tips and tricks for Instagram.

Taulbee has tons of Instagram followers — 115,000 and counting. She showed Moore, who is drawn to NHL players like New Jersey’s Jack Hughes who show their personalities on social media, what it takes to build a professional brand. Taulbee’s lessons are something Moore is keeping in the back of his mind as he progresses in his hockey career and thinks about his own potential branding.

Moore has personality in spades. His parents, Shawna and Brian, like to tease that the world shouldn’t see how goofy he is.

But while Moore’s big personality defines him for friends and family, the hockey world has assigned him a different label — “the best skater in the draft.”

While Moore’s speed is unquestionably elite, as he prepares for the NHL draft on June 28-29 — where he is expected to be a first-round pick and could be an option for the Flyers at No. 7 — he’s eager to prove he’s more than just a speedster.

Moore would have been good at any sport, and that’s not just parental bias from Shawna and Brian. He hit a golf ball 100 yards while he was still in diapers. Then he set a record in swimming in the second grade. And he was beyond elite on the track.

As a middle schooler, Moore ran the mile in under five minutes. Shawna, who has run several marathons, including Boston, still walks past Moore’s record — she believes it is 4 minutes, 55 seconds — on the school wall when she substitute teaches. Twelve-year-old boys who run faster than 6:03 are considered in the 100th percentile, according to National Fitness Standards. At 15, a 5:19 mile is considered elite, according to Running Level.

“All we had to do is decide ‘Which [sport] does he love?’” Shawna said. “And he loves hockey.”

Moore was always good at hockey, even when competing against older players. But his track speed didn’t translate to the ice initially. He had a hop in his skating form that was slowing him down, so, after being referred by another parent, Brian reached out to skating coach Katie McDonough, the founder of Cutting Edge Performance Power Skating in Minnesota.

But Moore actually got worse as a hockey player — at least temporarily.

“The first week, maybe he forgets how to play hockey because he’s thinking about skating all the time,” Moore’s father said. “And then all of a sudden, boom.”

McDonough took Moore back to the basics. When he came to her, he was trying to move all of his limbs as fast as he could.

“Essentially Ollie was trying to jump out of his boots to try to be faster as you would bring your legs up high when you’re running,” McDonough said. “And while some of that is similar, it doesn’t cross over to the ice and work in his favor.”

Moore would constantly ask when he could go fast “like Connor McDavid,” and McDonough would tell him he had to trust the process. While he may not have liked it, he did, and he significantly cut his time going from goal line to goal line. Whereas he once skated it in eight seconds, he’s at the point where anything over four seconds is considered unacceptable.

His speed has stood out at every level since. But it wasn’t until he participated in the BioSteel All-America prospects event and clocked a faster speed than McDavid had at 18 that the Moores realized just how special their son’s speed was.

Moore gave an embarrassed laugh when asked about the McDavid comparison and made it clear he’s not yet anywhere near the player McDavid is today. But just being in the conversation is surreal and scouts have taken notice.

“The skating’s incredible. The stride’s not perfect, but he integrates linear crossovers into already explosive skating,” Mitch Brown, Elite Prospects’ director of North American scouting, wrote about Moore in a November game report.

However, Moore is well aware there’s more to the game than straight-line speed, and he has been focused on understanding when to unleash the speed and when to dial it back. In the last year, he finally feels like his brain is catching up to his feet.

Sitting in front of media, agents, scouts, and general managers at the draft combine last week in Buffalo, Moore was relaxed in his own skin. He had been prepared well during his time at NTDP, where he rounded out as both a player and a person.

Yet, he almost wasn’t allowed to join in the first place. When former NTDP assistant Rod Braceful approached Shawna at a tournament in Pittsburgh about Oliver potentially enrolling at the program, Shawna’s first instinct was to say no. The concept of sending her 16-year-old son to Michigan seemed crazy.

But after talking to Oliver, Shawna realized just how big an opportunity this would be for him. Despite the fact she’d miss him, she told Braceful, “I’m not one to clip my kids’ wings.”

It turned out to be the best thing for Moore. Moore’s self-driven work ethic stood out immediately to coach Dan Muse. On a team full of hard workers, Moore was a cut above, supplementing his workouts with his Life Time Fitness membership. His teammates soon followed his lead

Moore’s efforts translated into a physical, smart game. While Moore served as the team’s second-line center, Muse pointed out that Moore contributed in every situation and played as many minutes as the members of the NTDP’s historic first line of Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Gabe Perreault, all of whom are projected to be first-round picks later this month.

Explosive speed still defines Moore’s game, but he also possesses good strength and competitiveness, is a diligent two-way player, and is solid in the faceoff dot. Moore is dynamic in transition and has shown flashes when it comes to creating offense. Last season, he finished with 31 goals and 75 points in 61 games.

This fall, Moore will attend the University of Minnesota, but first comes a pit stop in Nashville to find out where his NHL future lies.

He’s been hesitant to talk about the draft, but he’s also not nervous. He had a strong season with the NTDP, won gold at the Under-18 Worlds, felt he showed well in interviews — including one with the Flyers — and then delivered in the combine tests. Moore is ranked eighth among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting and ninth in Elite Prospects’ consolidated rankings, but he knows his future is now in the hands of NHL front offices. With the Flyers picking seventh, and always looking to bolster their team speed, Moore might be a fit there.

“Whoever takes him, it’s part of a process and it’s not the end,” Brian said.

Leading up to the draft, Moore has been compared to McDavid because of his skating. He has been compared to Detroit’s Dylan Larkin. But his only goal is to make “Oliver Moore” a significant name of its own, one that is not only associated with speed but also a complete 200-foot game. Hearing his name called later this month will be just another step on that journey.