[Sandman]

Draft Thoughts (Hidden Gems Edition, Vol. 48):

LW David Rozsival (6'0",185)
Bili Tygri Liberec U20: 30gp/ 17g/ 20a/ 37pts, +20, 8 PIM

Don't sleep on this one. Winger David Rozsival (ranked # 22 EU Skaters) finished the regular season 3rd in scoring for U-18 players in Czechia's U20 League, despite missing a few months of action due to injury; he was 1st in his age group by a large margin in ppg, with 1.23, with the next highest mark being 0.92 (though there were a few with under 10 games played that had a 1.00 ppg). He got a 5-game cup o' coffee over the course of the season in the Extraliga, Czechia's top men's league (no points), and made it back from injury in time to play 4 games for his U20 team in the 2nd-round of the playoffs, scoring 4 goals before they were eliminated from the post-season. Rozsival also made an appearance in last summer's Hlinka, where he tied teammate Vojtech Cihar for 7th in Team Czechia scoring, with a goal and an assist in 5 games. I hate to use the old cliche', but Rozsival is one of those, "good at everything, but not elite in any area" types, or perhaps a "Swiss Army knife", because he's quite well-rounded, can play in any situation (including both special teams), and makes an impact in all three zones. He is an excellent skater, and although he may not possess elite speed, he is definitely faster than the average junior player, and bumps his pace up a few notches with his high-end workrate. He has a peppy short-burst at his disposal to win races and sprint to loose pucks, with polished edges that allow him to sidestep checks, evade pressure, and make sharp lateral cuts across the ice.

Any profile you read on Rozsival will surely make mention of how amazingly strong on the puck he is, with exemplary protection ability, and well-developed puck-control. Though he's average-sized, it's very difficult to take the puck from him after it touches his blade- his presence on the ice extends possession and offensive-zone time for his team. With quick hands, his puck-skill is uncommon, giving him the ability to deke and dangle past defenders, and he can knock saucer passes down out of the air and gain control quickly while in-motion. His hockey sense is exceptional as well, giving him virtually infallible positioning in all three zones, with high-end awareness; he knows where to be at all times to best support the play on and off the puck, stay open and playable, and be consistently disruptive to his opponents. He reads the play around him well, and makes quick, viable decisions. Rozsival's offense is well-balanced between playmaking and goal-scoring, and while his numbers don't seem elite, his 1.23 ppg as a U-18 player are greater than that of countryman David Krejci's (1.20 ppg) at the same age, and ranks 49th all-time for ppg in a season by a U-18 player with 10 games or more. He has a quick and precise release, and soft hands in-close to beat goalies, getting his chances by finding gaps to fill in the slot, and by going to the net to pick-up loose pucks. In his playmaking, he exerts creativity and vision, finding teammates through traffic and across the ice, and understands how to create space by drawing pressure with patient delays, changes of pace, cutbacks, as well as stops and starts, and how to shift defenses on the cycle. There's a fair amount of deception in his game as well, to give him a little more breathing room to move around, and his passing skill is well-honed with an arsenal of slip passes through triangles, saucers over blades, and hooks around sticks.

Rozsival is fairly hard-nosed in battle, and will fight for pucks along the wall and in the corners, and will plant himself in front of the net to lock horns with opposing defensemen to win positioning. He forechecks vigorously, attacking puck-carriers with speed and tenacity to disrupt retrievals and snuff breakouts, turning recoveries into instantaneous offense. He is supportive of his team's play in all three zones, and instrumental through transition in advancing the puck up the ice via passing plays or by carries, and is dually disruptive to opponents in the neutral zone with his active stick and sharp anticipation. One of Rozsival's calling-cards, and an area that separates him from other players of his ilk, is his impeccable reliability in his own-zone, in addition to his his ability to disturb the opposition in the other two-thirds of the ice. He backchecks as hard as he forechecks, working to limit time and space for attackers, while also reducing time on defense for his team. Exhibiting top-notch awareness and anticipation, he blocks lanes proactively, wins inside position before his man can get the puck, causes turnovers, and tips away passes. He subs-in for roaming defensemen, and aids them in battles down-low. With Rozy, I think it's just a matter of how scouts view his offense translating, and to what degree; the rest of his game in the other two zones is scalable, in my opinion. Look for him in the third, or fourth-round.