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Sandman · 05-16-2023, 01:14 AM

Draft Thought:

I confess that I didn't notice 6'2" LW/C Juraj Pekarcik in the U-18's as much as I should have, as he finished with an outstanding 10 points in 7 games, tied for 11th in tournament scoring ahead of names like Oliver Moore, Calum Ritchie, and Eduard Sale, amongst others. Impressive, especially considering that he played for the Slovaks, who ended up surprising with a 4th-place finish. JP's points came: 2 against Sweden, 1 against Canada, 4 against Germany, 2 against Finland, 1 against USA. He was held pointless in the bronze medal game against our Team Canada in the second meeting of the two teams, but he played an incredible 28 minutes. Point of fact, he didn't play under 20 minutes in any game, save for one. What I did notice is that JP is a good, albeit not elite skater for his size, and he likes to carry the puck through the breakout into the offensive zone(even burning some of our D), and he can really push the pace. Obviously, he has excellent puck control, and puck protection, and can be dangerous off the rush. He plays a power game, and battles physically all over the ice, and in the hard areas, and he is said to posess a reasonably good off-puck game as well, always being in good position on both sides of the puck. Stays active, has a good motor, and as one can imagine, he forechecks relentlessly. He has a defensive conscience, and uses his stick well to break up plays. JP has a good shot, with a deceptive release, but it's hard to project his offensive game to the NHL, as it's said that he needs too much time to make plays, and he can be pressured into making errors with the puck. Back home in Slovakia, he played an impressive 30 games (with 3 points) in the top-tier men's league, with another 8 games in the second-tier men's league (with an impressive 8 points), and 16 games in the U20 Junior circuit (20 points). Only 2 under-18 players played more games in the top league than JP, and only 1 player had more points. In the second-tier, Pekarcik was the only under-18 player to hit a ppg. Obviously, Button likes him, and E-Mac from Upside Hockey had him ranked pretty early. It should be mentioned that Pekarcik is one of the youngest players in the draft, with a September 12th Birthday. I'm going to guess 4th round here.

05-16-2023, 01:14 AM	#1025
Sandman Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Calgary Exp:	Draft Thought: I confess that I didn't notice 6'2" LW/C Juraj Pekarcik in the U-18's as much as I should have, as he finished with an outstanding 10 points in 7 games, tied for 11th in tournament scoring ahead of names like Oliver Moore, Calum Ritchie, and Eduard Sale, amongst others. Impressive, especially considering that he played for the Slovaks, who ended up surprising with a 4th-place finish. JP's points came: 2 against Sweden, 1 against Canada, 4 against Germany, 2 against Finland, 1 against USA. He was held pointless in the bronze medal game against our Team Canada in the second meeting of the two teams, but he played an incredible 28 minutes. Point of fact, he didn't play under 20 minutes in any game, save for one. What I did notice is that JP is a good, albeit not elite skater for his size, and he likes to carry the puck through the breakout into the offensive zone(even burning some of our D), and he can really push the pace. Obviously, he has excellent puck control, and puck protection, and can be dangerous off the rush. He plays a power game, and battles physically all over the ice, and in the hard areas, and he is said to posess a reasonably good off-puck game as well, always being in good position on both sides of the puck. Stays active, has a good motor, and as one can imagine, he forechecks relentlessly. He has a defensive conscience, and uses his stick well to break up plays. JP has a good shot, with a deceptive release, but it's hard to project his offensive game to the NHL, as it's said that he needs too much time to make plays, and he can be pressured into making errors with the puck. Back home in Slovakia, he played an impressive 30 games (with 3 points) in the top-tier men's league, with another 8 games in the second-tier men's league (with an impressive 8 points), and 16 games in the U20 Junior circuit (20 points). Only 2 under-18 players played more games in the top league than JP, and only 1 player had more points. In the second-tier, Pekarcik was the only under-18 player to hit a ppg. Obviously, Button likes him, and E-Mac from Upside Hockey had him ranked pretty early. It should be mentioned that Pekarcik is one of the youngest players in the draft, with a September 12th Birthday. I'm going to guess 4th round here. Last edited by Sandman; 05-16-2023 at 01:20 AM.