2022 NHL Draft Stock Watch: Does Juraj Slafkovsky have a higher ceiling than Shane Wright?

The 2022 NHL draft season is winding down even more with playoffs in the CHL leagues and the men’s World Championship being the only major events left on the calendar ahead of the scouting combine. There has been a special focus on men’s Worlds with many high-level NHL scouts and executives on hand to get a look at a number of top-tier prospects that will hear their names called quite early in the first round this July.

Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes is among those in attendance. With the Habs selecting first overall, it’s worth doing that extra due diligence on some of the top prospects, especially getting a chance to see them against NHL-caliber talent. Among the prospects everyone is tracking, Juraj Slafkovsky and Simon Nemec are playing for Slovakia, David Jiricek for Czechia and Marco Kasper from Austria. Adam Sykora is another draft-eligible participating for Slovakia but doesn’t quite have the same projection as the other four who are likely to go in the top half of the first round.

I’ve been tracking each player’s games throughout the tournament so far and all the young players have made a positive impact on their respective national teams, with a few playing outsized roles for players of their age and handling it extremely well.

Players like Slafkovsky and Nemec have already had a taste of higher-level international hockey having played in last year’s worlds and helping Slovakia win bronze at the most recent Olympics. However, this year’s tournament features a lot more NHL talent, which makes what they’re doing even more impressive.

The World Championship is a long, grinding tournament that only gets tougher as it progresses. It’s a great learning experience for each of them, but it also gives each a chance to give that last impression to the NHL’s top decisionmakers when it comes to the draft. So I wanted to give you an idea of what that’s looked like so far for each of the NHL draft prospects playing in the tournament. At this point, each appears to be trending up based on what he’s done at Worlds. Let’s take a look:

Juraj Slafkovsky, RW, Slovakia: Slovakia has not scored a ton as a team in this tournament and is currently 1-3, but Slafkovsky has been one of the team’s most consistent offensive threats. He has a goal and two assists in the tournament to date, but it has also become clear he is head coach Craig Ramsay’s go-to forward. Slafkovsky leads all Slovakian forwards in time on ice with an average of 19:41 through the first four games. He’s on the top power-play unit and has shown an ability to drive play and be more of a force down low. Slafkovsky has especially quick hands and a really good shot. He is second on the team in shots on goal and dictates a lot of what his team does offensively when he’s on the ice.

What is most impressive to me is how clearly Slafkovsky is respected by the veteran players on his team. They know the puck is best in his hands and will often defer to him in the offensive zone. Slafkovsky wants to be that guy, too. He’s taking a ton of shots and challenging opposing defenses. With his big 6-foot-4 frame, he is hard to knock off the puck and he’s got the quick hands to make plays and get around defenders. I have a feeling that Slafkovsky would thrive playing with better competition. As in, I think he could step into the NHL and play with top-tier talent and possibly play even better than he has this season. His offensive skillset is of NHL quality. I still think he needs to be a bit more decisive with pucks and think the game a bit quicker, but the things he does at his size give me a lot more confidence in his overall projection. Because of those physical tools and his scoring ability, he may actually have a higher overall ceiling than projected No. 1 Shane Wright. There are definitely a few teams out there that have the Slovakian winger higher on their boards.

Simon Nemec, D, Slovakia: After not playing a ton in the Olympics, Nemec is playing closer to a top-four role at the Worlds. He has nine shots on goal and two assists, while averaging nearly 18 minutes per game, third most among the team’s regular blueliners. Nemec is also part of Slovakia’s second power-play unit and has looked effective running things from the top of the point. His performance in this tournament is a continuation of his play late in the season, which is why his draft stock has been tracking up. After putting up 17 points in 19 playoff games in Slovakia’s top pro league, he showed he could handle a big role in tough games. That had to have played a role in the amount of faith Ramsay has put in him in this tournament vs. the Olympics, where he had a hard time getting a shift at all.

Nemec is an expert puck mover who makes good decisions and doesn’t get bothered by pressure. He doesn’t have the physical strength to shake off forecheckers, so he has to make quick decisions with his feet and find the best outlet pass. He does that with regularity. In the offensive zone, he can extend plays from the blueline and make pressuring forwards miss with good enough puck skills. Even though he’s played a lot, Nemec appears to have his minutes a little more measured, but I think he’s shown a good defensive stick and an ability to help his team keep possession of the puck when he’s on the ice. He’s currently a plus-2 on a team that is being outscored 14-9. I wonder if they should give him even more minutes just because he’s so smart with the puck on his stick.

With his game trending up the way it has all season, I’m starting to believe that there’s a realistic chance he is the first defenseman off the board. The gap between him and Jiricek has always been pretty slim. I still have Jiricek a tick above Nemec, but you have to consider the progression of Nemec’s season and its culmination with a very mature, confident performance at the worlds.

David Jiricek, D, Czechia: My top-rated defenseman at the midterm has spent the second half of the season injured. It’s hard to move up draft boards much when you’re on the shelf. However, Jiricek managed to return in time to earn a spot on the senior national team and make his World Championship debut. He has been used primarily as a bottom-pairing defenseman but has seen his role grow over the course of the tournament. A solid power-play weapon, he has a goal and an assist so far in the tournament. However, in his most recent game, Jiricek took just one shift after averaging 18 shifts for his first three games.

Jiricek is the kind of defenseman every team is searching for. He’s got the size, he’s a right shot and his mobility looks fully operational after his knee injury at the cancelled World Juniors. Being able to skate as well as he does at his size, having the offensive weapons that he does and still being able to defend at a solid level is a rare package. He has one of the best shots among defensemen in the last few years of the draft and has looked so sure of himself in his first go with the senior national team. I still have him ahead of Nemec on my list, but the margin is pretty slim. The biggest thing Jiricek had to prove in this tournament was that he’s fully recovered from his injury and he plays the same way he does with his club team in the Czech league. So far, so good.

Marco Kasper, C/W, Austria: If there is one player who I think is materially changing his draft projection in this tournament, it’s Kasper. He’s been Austria’s best forward and has had a tremendous progression over the course of the season. He played a big role for Rogle in the SHL playoffs this year and managed to become a bit more productive. Even though he only has one assist through four games at the tournament, Austria hasn’t scored many goals in general.

Kasper, however, has been generating chances for himself and his linemates, extending plays, making defenders miss and putting pressure on the opposition with good skating on the forecheck. Kasper plays like a pro. He has detail in his game, he’s physical, but the thing that stands out most to me is his compete level. He never quits on a play or a puck. There were a couple of shifts for him against Czechia, whom Austria beat in a shootout, where he just took over the puck and wouldn’t give it up until he was good and ready. You don’t see teenagers with that level of puck poise and aggressiveness at this level typically.

It does not matter to Kasper that Austria doesn’t have the depth, that he’s going against NHL talent, and that they’re not supposed to do much in this tournament. There is no reverence for the opposition. He just plays. You can also see that despite his youth, he is a leader on his team, directing teammates and them deferring to him on entries and in-zone play. I’ve liked the player all year, but this tournament has been a great last step for him. It would not shock me to see Kasper sneak into the top 10 and I’m rather confident at this point he will not slip outside of the top 15.

Adam Sykora, LW, Slovakia: The second-youngest player to record a point for Slovakia at the senior level, Sykora has seen his role grow after not playing in the first few games. He had an assist in Slovakia’s loss to Switzerland, but it was telling that his ice time grew in the third period. He has played with speed and without fear despite being the youngest player on the team and not having the same level of international experience as any of his other fellow draft eligibles.

Sykora, who plays for the same team as Nemec, has seen his draft stock rise quite a bit down the stretch. He played most of the season in Slovakia’s top pro division and got middle-six minutes all year long. He didn’t put up earth-shattering numbers, but his skating ability and skill definitely give him a chance to go in the upper-mid-rounds. He’s been overshadowed inside what should be the best Slovakian draft class in a generation, but his being on this roster is no mistake as he is showing pro upside in the two games he’s played so far.

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2022 NHL Draft Stock Watch: Does Juraj Slafkovsky have a higher ceiling than Shane Wright?

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