U18: Slovakia vs Finland at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup

In a thrilling 2-1 Finland victory that saw the game winning goal scored with three seconds left we focused on Slovakia’s 2024 NHL Draft prospects and one outstanding 2025 draft prospect

Game Rating: A-

Comments: Haronik is a long armed positionally sound left catching goalie. At 6’5 he had very little difficulty looking over, around or through the constant Finnish net front traffic. He showed nice puck anticipation on pucks passed through the royal road and often times seemed to be waiting for the one-timer to get to the net. The first goal against came while Slovakia was shorthanded on a beautifully executed dot-lane to dot-lane pass with two Finnish net front forwards working together to execute a flash screen and then a perfect well placed snapshot that went short side shelf. The second goal against came with 3 seconds remaining in the third period on a rolling puck slapshot that looked like it deflected off his defenseman’s hip about 2′ in front of him. On the night he stopped 32 of 34 shots (94%), made 15 scoring area saves (94%) and Slovakia played shorthanded for 5:57.

Game Rating: A

Comments: The 2007 birth year Radivojevic is a high end undersized smooth skating right shot defenseman who led Slovakia in minutes played (25:24) by three full minutes. His feet were incredibly smooth as he worked to set his gaps early in the neutral zone, retrieved dump-ins at full speed while looking of both shoulders to locate all forecheckers and while joining the rush as the second wave after making a hard flat breakout pass. He had the primary assist on a power play stretch pass that sent sent his forward in on a breakaway. At this point he does not have a rocket of a snap shot and is fairly predictable in his release as he attempted five power play snap shots and had three of them blocked. He finished the night with 2 giveaways, 8 takeaways and he won 75% of his 11 puck battles.

Game Rating: LV

Comments: DNP

Game Rating: B-

Comments: Licko is a thickly built left shot defender who plays the game on his inside edges, bu while in stride he has a full hip-knee-ankle thrust and flat edge return leg that allows him to be at top speed very quickly. During defensive transition he played with an extended stick dictating the direction he wanted the rush to go and often times he was skating forwards a stick’s length away from the intended Finnish passing target. He looked to go to the middle during neutral zone transition and when that was not open he looked to use his partner rather than forcing the puck back up the strong side. On the night he finished with 1 shot, 1 hit, 1 giveaway, a game high 9 takeaways and he won 60% of his 10 puck battles.

Game Rating: C+

Comments: Standing at 6’1′, and weighing 154lbs Liska is a right shot right wing with an NHL frame to build on. He showed good straight line speed and a willingness to finish his checks on the forecheck. He played forth line minutes (9:27) and was used on the penalty kill (1:15 PKTOI). He finished the night with 3 giveaways, 1 takeaway and he won 50% of his 4 puck battles.

Game Rating: B

Comments: Huzevka is long lanky left shot defender who played primarily the right side. He looked larger than his listed 6’3′. He is still quite slight, but he showed a nice smooth stride and a fluid pivot without needing to cross-over to go along with a very athletic knee over toe skating posture. There were times when it looked like he was going to lose a battle, but he used his reach to his advantage by making his opponent try to make plays with the puck outside of their comfort zone. Offensively he showed puck poise when Finnish forecheckers were bearing down on him and he changed the angle of his stick blade (without needing to stickhandle) to get his opponents to change the direction of their toecaps before he made a pass. He did not earn any power play time and he was a second or third pairing while shorthanded, but what you see now is not what you’re going to be getting in four years. On the night he finished with 1 shot, 2 hits, had 1 shot blocked, 2 giveaways, 4 take aways and he won 75% of his 4 puck battles.

Game Rating: B-

Comments: Kupec is a big strong left shot defenseman with a bit of a forward leaning ‘A’ frame skating base. He showed good forward straight line acceleration and when retreating backwards he used quick single cross-overs to generate his speed. He was -1 on the night on Finland’s final second goal and it looked like the point shot deflected off his hip past his goaltender. Offensively there were a few times that he goy himself in trouble by trying to do too much, but he had some fortunate bounces where the puck stayed with him rather than finding a Finish stick. In the neutral zone he looked to use his partner whenever possible making very hard tape to tape passes. Defensively he set his gap early and showed confidence in his feet by staying up in the play or on the blueline as long as possible. He earned a holding penalty while shutting down the cycle, but truthfully we liked his assertiveness and aggressiveness when going after smaller agile forwards. He was a key member to the Slovakian penalty kill unit as his attention to detail and quick first step were an asset. An area for concern is that he received no power play time, but it was fairly obvious why as he had three point shots blocked with one leading to a 2on1 heading the other way with 6:15 remaining in the period. he finished the game with 6 giveaways, 3 takeaways and he won 80% of his 5 puck battles. Kupec’s game rating would have been dramatically higher without the 3 blocked shots so this is something we will be watching for during his draft year.

Game Rating: B+

Comments: Pitka is long strong powerful right shot power center with an upright skating posture and a 3/4 length stride. He showed good straight line speed when forechecking and he was fearless when going after pucks that were sitting tightly on the yellow bumper. After winning a loose puck or receiving a pass he shielded the puck with his hips while his eyes were up looking to make the next play. He showed excellent hand eye coordination as he knocked multiple bouncing pucks out of mid-air and as the net front on the power play he was able to get his stick on point shots that were coming in hot at waist height. He earned 4 PIMs on the night with one penalty coming while trying to defend the cycle and his feet got crossed up after charging too hard into the corner while the puck carrier was facing him. The other penalty came on a post whistle net front scrum that we enjoyed seeing him engage in. On the night he finished with 1 secondary PP assist, 5 shots, 6 grade ‘A’ opportunities, 13/20 on face-offs, 4 giveaways, 2 takeaways and he won 67% of his 6 puck battles. There is a lot to like about the direction of this blossoming young power center’s game.

Game Rating: C+

Comments: Maruna is a big left shot power forward with skill in the making, but this was a game to move on from for him as he seemed to be over pursuing the puck defensively and too hyper focused on the puck offensively. On the night he finished with 0 points, 1 shot, 2/14 on face-offs, 1 hit, 1 giveaway, 3 takeaways and he won 17% of his 12 puck battles. We understand that bigger players take longer to grow into their body so we will move on from this one and are excited to see him play again very soon.

Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images

Average player size by league;

U14 – 5’5” , 127lbs

U15 – 5’7” , 136lbs

U16 – 5’8” , 149lbs

U18 – 5’11” , 168lbs

NCDC – 6’0” , 183lbs (Tier 3)

BCHL – 5’11” , 179lbs (Tier 2)

AJHL – 5’11” , 176lbs (Tier 2)

NAHL – 5’11” , 173lbs (Tier 2)

USHL – 5’11” , 174lbs (Tier 1)

NCAA D3 – 5’10” , 170lbs

NCAA D1 – 6’0” , 190lbs

WHL – 6’0” , 188lbs

OHL – 6’0” , 185lbs

QMJHL – 5’11” , 179lbs

ECHL – 5’11” , 183lbs

AHL – 6’0” , 194lbs

NHL – 6’1.5” , 206lbs

NHL All-Star – 6’1” , 201lbs

Player Size Data compiled by ChatGPT