Time for another series at McKeen’s from our scouting staff. The 2024 NHL Draft season is well under way and our scouts have been busy soaking in the action around the globe. Analyzing early season play can be difficult; perhaps even a bit of a ruse. Hot starts aren’t always sustainable and cold starts are not always indicative. However, players can still catch our attention in positive ways and that’s what this series intends to highlight.
Matej Deraj - Regional Scout for Slovakia and Czechia
Adam Jiříček – Defense – HC Plzeň
6´2, 176 lbs – 2006-06-28
Despite a slower start to the season in the Czech top tier league, Adam Jiříček is still widely considered a potential top ten pick for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. The younger brother of one of the best young defensemen prospects David Jiříček (a Blue Jackets rookie), Adam plays the same position as his sibling, yet their styles differ. Adam plays a more polished, not so aggressive two-way game and doesn´t have the bomb of a shot, but he does share some similarities with David, other than the surname.
Adam Jiříček started the season with HC Plzeň in Czech top tier league, just like his brother David in his draft year. However, Adam didn´t find immediate success and struggled a bit, even his time on ice dropped from 13-14 minutes a night to single-digits. He was sent to the juniors at some point and played three games at the U20 level, but now he´s back and looking better. He still has disappointed offensively, but he doesn´t look too out of pace in one of the best European pro leagues. It's not uncommon for young prospects from Extraliga to get a limited opportunity in their draft year – Stanislav Svozil, Filip Chytil or Eduard Šalé have all been there.
The younger Jiříček is tall and lanky (6´2, 176 lbs), although he did put on some muscle since the start of his draft year. However, I´d like him to get even stronger, since it is quite evident he needs to gain some weight to hold his own against more experienced and stronger opponents.
He´s a right-handed defenseman who excels in his own zone, using either his stick or body to neutralize the opponent. Even though he doesn´t enjoy throwing big hits like his brother, he´s not afraid of board battles either and can throw a solid bodycheck himself. He plays a smart game, quickly identifies the threat and jumps to defend.
Jiříček is a pretty good skater for a player of his size, as he displays good four-way mobility and speed. On the other hand, he's still far from a top skater and will need to improve to cope with higher levels of competition and be effective. He lacks high end elusiveness and explosiveness, which is not unusual for a taller player.
Jiříček projects as a typical two-way defenseman who likes to join the rush and create plays, but doesn´t forget about his defensive duty. He´s a smart player, scans the ice well and plays with his head up to look for the opportunities. A decent playmaker as well. Jiříček is quite confident with the puck on his stick. He is not afraid of one-on-one battles, but sometimes, he gets too confident.
Overall, Adam Jiříček has the potential to be a great top-four defenseman at the NHL level. He might not be as noticeable and flashy as his older brother, but he´s a reliable defenseman with a solid offensive touch. He does a lot of little things well and will be extremely hard to play against as he adds more muscle.
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Jiříček is a solid power-play option who doesn't limit his game to standing at the blue line and shooting. In this clip, he starts the play from the left circle and scans the options. He decides to go for a cross-ice pass to his teammate at the right circle. Even though the pass is not ideal, it finds the teammate who sends it to the net for a tip-in and Jiříček gets the secondary assist. However, I like what he does after sending the puck. He doesn´t admire his pass, but immediately changes his position with a teammate and goes to his usual spot near the blue line to react. A very good example of his positional awareness.
Jiříček is fierce. He gets into board battles and fights hard, however, the success rate against older and stronger opponents in the Czech top tier league is not that high. In this clip, he tries a move that might have worked (and it has, in the past) in juniors, but the opponent reads his intention and stops him easily with his body. Jiříček doesn´t give up and fights for the puck. This clip shows two things he needs to work on to be successful at a higher level – skating mobility and strength.
He can be really aggressive with his stick and it pays off in this clip. The Canadians start with a 3-on-2 breakaway but they miss the right time and lose the advantage since the situation becomes a 3-on-3, maybe 3-on-4. As Jiříček recognizes this, he immediately attacks the puck-holding forward and neutralizes a potential pass with his active stick. I love his compete level and how he never stops playing. He always keeps his head up and scans the ice. After breaking up the potential opportunity, he heads for his position at the right defense and prepares to start a play.
Jiříček has a tremendous potential in the physical area of the game. He would benefit from adding more muscle and doesn´t have the strength of more experienced players yet, but he´s still able to throw a solid hit. He´s not overly aggressive, but waits for the right opportunity. In this clip, he realizes the forward is not in a great position to protect the puck, so he steps in and delivers an easy, clean hit to strip him of it. Jiříček´s prepared for the check and effectively uses his body to collect the puck.
Tomáš Galvas – Defense/Wing – Bílí Tygři Liberec
5´10”, 154 lbs – 2006-02-11
One of my favorite prospects who´s still under the radar in most rankings. Tomáš Galvas is a very skilled two-way defenseman who skates like the wind. He´s undersized (5´10”) for a defenseman, but with the recent trend of more and more small, skilled Ds, it might not be that big of a problem. He´s currently in the second to third round discussion, but as the draft year progresses, he might sneak into the late first round conversation.
Galvas has had an interesting draft year so far; he started the season with his hometown club HC Olomouc and was supposed to fight for a good spot at the 2024 NHL Draft as an Olomouc player. However, he didn´t get any opportunities in the top tier league, which was definitely unexpected. Since he only played in juniors, he decided to switch teams and went to Liberec, a team known for developing young players. The move has ended up as successful, since Galvas immediately made the first team in Liberec and has been playing well in Extraliga. He scored his first goal, added a couple of assists and according to advanced stats, he´s been one of the best Liberec defensemen so far.
He also played a couple of games at the wing, when Liberec´s forward group was decimated with injuries. It´s an interesting option and he didn´t struggle at all, but I don´t think he has the level of offense to become a true winger. However, it might be something to consider.
Galvas is very fun to watch. He´s skilled, confident and has great hands, but his puckhandling skills have recently not been as great as advertised in Czech top tier league. He´s able to beat opponents in one-on-one battles. He loves to join the rush with the puck on his stick, but he also displays solid playmaking ability and finds his teammates in dangerous spots.
All in all, he´s a smart player who works well in all three zones. He jumps at pucks quickly, uses his stick well and plays a smart game overall. Furthermore, his biggest asset is his skating. Galvas plays the game at a high pace, he's quick, elusive and his feet and hands complement very well. He looks like he´s never tired – his feet just never stop moving.
The obvious weakness to his game is his lack of strength – Galvas doesn´t have the ideal size of a modern defenseman and it can be quite noticeable in board battles and in front of his own net. He looks like a child among men in videos from Czech top tier league. He compensates for the lack of strength with smarts and skills, but you´d want him to get to at least 175 pounds to be able to compete well. He also tries to do too much from time to time and his puck skills are, unsurprisingly, much more on display when playing against his peers.
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This is a very nice sequence by Galvas. He prepares for the challenge and attacks an opponent in the offensive zone when he´s receiving a pass. Before he can even sense Galvas, the young defenseman strips him of the puck, retrieves it and creates a dangerous play as he quickly finds a teammate in a good spot.
Galvas sometimes makes things too complicated for himself, just like in this clip. He retrieves the puck in a far from an ideal position and doesn´t see a teammate to pass to, so he tries to go behind his own net, but fails to do so, as he struggles with keeping the puck. The forechecking forward easily overpowers him at the boards and Galvas loses the puck in a dangerous spot.
When playing against his peers, Galvas can be unstoppable with the puck. In this clip from the last Hlinka Gretzky Cup, he retrieves the puck in his own zone and carries it all the way to the offensive zone. None of the three opponents are able to stop him, Galvas easily avoids every attempt to strip him of the puck. He safely carries it to the corner, turns around and has a ton of time to start a play in the offensive zone.
Galvas is a feisty defenseman who´s hard to get rid of. Due to his exceptional skating, he´s able to put up with most forwards and their attempts to lose him by quick maneuvers, just like in this clip. Despite a potential struggle, Galvas is able to stay with the opponent and doesn´t let him go to the net or have any free space. He catches him behind the net and strips him of the puck with his stick. With a little help from his teammate, Galvas wins the battle and Liberec gets the puck.
Petr Sikora – Center – Oceláři Třinec
5´11, 170 lbs – 2006-01-02
Sikora is one of the Czech players who stood out at the successful Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where the home team earned a silver medal. Sikora scored a goal and added two assists in five games at the tournament, as he served as the second-line center for the Czechs. Sikora played the pre-season on the first team of HC Oceláři Třinec, but apart from one Champions Hockey League game, he didn´t have any opportunities throughout the season. He´s spent the whole season in juniors so far as one of the leading scorers of the Czech U20 league.
Sikora is a defensively responsible two-way center who plays well at the both ends of the rink. He´s able to create plays and has a solid playmaking ability and vision. His wrist shot is dangerous too, but his release is somewhat slow. He´d need it to become quicker and less readable to be successful at scoring in tougher leagues.
Sikora is a pretty good skater, he uses his feet well and has the ability to change directions quickly. He has skilled hands, he´s confident with the puck on his stick, and doesn´t hesitate to try flashy moves to beat defenders one on one.
Despite not having the biggest frame (5´11”), Sikora is a tenacious forward who competes really hard and finishes his checks. He´s a hard-working player, dangerous on the forecheck and always willing to throw his body. He´s a valuable penalty kill option with his fearless style of play. However, discipline has been an issue. On the other hand, he draws a lot of penalties too and doesn´t hesitate to fight for his teammates, which is valuable and shows heart.
All in all, Sikora is an interesting prospect. He has decent offensive skills, yet he doesn´t struggle in his own zone and plays a responsible game. His compete level is very high; he fights for every puck and enjoys the physical aspect of the game despite being undersized. I wouldn´t mind using a late-round pick on him and he might get selected even higher. It would be beneficial for Sikora to be given an opportunity in a men´s league, even if it was a second-tier competition. The Czech junior league is not exactly an easy league to scout and there aren´t many players who are drafted from it, but Sikora could very well be one of them. He didn´t look out of pace in pre-season or Champions League games with Třinec´s A-team, but it´s almost impossible for the young Czech to sneak into a stacked lineup.
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Sikora always works hard and his compete level is very high. In this clip from a Champions Hockey League game, he first fights for the puck behind the net and steals it, and then he heads for the net. When he doesn´t get the puck, he returns back to the neutral zone, where he intercepts a pass and retrieves the puck. Sikora is confident enough to try to break into the offensive zone on his own and makes a couple of moves to get through the defense. He makes it past two opponents, but the last move doesn´t work out and Sikora loses the puck.
I like this play from Sikora, he gets the puck, quickly scans the surroundings and decides to make a no-look pass to the teammate in the best position, who has no problem scoring with a one-timer. A good display of Sikora´s vision and playmaking.
Sikora plays a smart two-way game. In this clip, he appears out of nowhere in his own zone to steal the puck from a Canadian player. He covers it well against the other opponent, calmly holds the puck and sends it across the boards to start an attack.
Sikora sometimes tries to force plays too much and ends up losing the puck. This move is certainly funny and juggling with the puck looks good during a warm-up, but there is no point of doing it in a game. Sikora purposefully plays with a high stick and the play gets obviously called, so the Czechs lose the puck for no reason.
Samuel Kupec – Defense – HK Dukla Trenčín
6´3, 214 lbs – 2006-01-14
In contrast to last years, there are not many young players skating in Slovak leagues who could be considered legitimate draft prospects. The best one of the few is Samuel Kupec, who´s playing for HK Dukla Trenčín. Kupec was drafted #8 overall in the last CHL Import Draft and was considering moving overseas, but he decided to stay in Slovakia to play with men. This year, he played in both of two highest Slovak divisions with some games in the U20 league as well.
Kupec is a strong defensive defenseman with a great size (6´3”, 214 lbs) who likes to use his body. He enjoys throwing big hits, getting into scrums and playing very physical and aggressively overall. He is strong in his own zone and in front of his own net, where it´s very difficult to push him out of the way.
When it comes to offensive part of the game, Kupec doesn´t offer as much as in defense. He plays a simple, smart game with a lot of shooting. He has a hard shot from the point and likes to use it often. Kupec doesn´t overcomplicate things with the puck and doesn´t try flashy moves, he prefers to send it right to the net from the blue line. He is not a puck-carrying type of a defenseman; he rarely joins the rush and prefers to simply pass the puck.
It´s hard to tell how much value Kupec has apart from the defensive part of his game. He´s strong in his own zone, likes to play physical and displays great strength. I like his game, as he plays a simple, projectable style, but doesn´t have the skills of more offensively-minded Ds and his skating is not amazing either. There might be an NHL team that sees a future shutdown defenseman in him and uses a late-round pick on him, but it´d be more likely for Kupec if he got more playing time in Slovak top tier league and did well.
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In this clip, Kupec doesn´t overthink when he gets the puck at the blue line. He gets into the right position and quickly fires it to the net, as two of his teammates are screening the goalie. The goalie doesn´t catch the puck and allows a rebound, which almost ends up in the net. The whole scoring opportunity started with a good shot from Kupec.
Kupec is very strong on the skates and hard to get knocked off. In this clip, the opponent who tries to hit him is behind his back, but Kupec prepares for the check and shows his strength. The opponent thinks he caught him unprepared, but Kupec flexes his muscles and throws the opposing forward away with ease.
Kupec didn´t disappoint when given a chance in Slovak top tier league, but his puck skills need a bit of work. In this clip, he fails to send an easy puck to a teammate, he hits an opponent and loses the upcoming battle. With the help of his teammates, the opportunity is quickly neutralized, but the situation might ́ve ended up much worse for Trenčín.
Defensively, Kupec does a great job in this clip as he watches the one-on-one board battle between two players, quickly identifies where the puck is and retrieves it with ease to start a play. He sees an open teammate to send the puck to, however, the pass is not ideal and the play ends up with an icing.