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New York Times
04-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Canada defeats Sweden to win repeat gold at U18 IIHF Men's World Championship
By Scott Wheeler, Corey Pronman and Max Bultman FRISCO, Texas — Canada has repeated as the IIHF Under-18 World Champions for the first time ever, defeating Sweden 7-0 Saturday night to secure the 2025 title. In a much-anticipated gold medal game between two teams loaded with top prospects in both the 2025 and 2026 NHL Draft classes, Canada blitzed Sweden in the first period, taking an early 2-0 lead on 20 shots in the first frame, grabbing an early lead and never looking back. Advertisement It started with Canadian defenseman Xavier Villeneuve, who opened the scoring just 4:06 into the game by capitalizing on a Sweden turnover and wiring a shot from the top of the circle. Then, Canada forward Brady Martin made his presence felt on his team's next two goals, first scoring off a slick pass from Cole Reschny at the top of the crease, and then screening Sweden goalie Love Harenstam on Jackson Smith's goal from the point to make it 3-0 early in the second period. Brady Martin with a beauty! 🚨 Un but de toute beauté de Brady Martin! 🚨#U18MensWorlds | # — Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) May 4, 2025 Canada pushed it to 4-0 later in the period on an Ethan Czata rush goal, and from there the rout was on. Martin added a highlight-reel tally to run it to 5-0 by the end of the second period. Sweden made a change in net after two periods, taking out Harenstam for Måns Goos, but Canada quickly got to Goos too, with forward Braeden Cootes striking just 1:12 into the third. Forward Jack Nesbitt rounded out the scoring later in the third for Canada. Canada goaltender Jack Ivankovic stopped all 28 shots he faced, securing shutouts in both the semifinal and gold medal game. Despite the nation's incredible hockey history and pedigree, Canada had previously won the World U18 Championship (which began in 1999) just five times, and never before in consecutive seasons. That may be due in part to the event's overlap with the Canadian Hockey League — encompassing all three major junior leagues — playoffs, taking some of the top talent in the age group out of Team Canada's player pool. Even this year, top 2025 NHL Draft prospect Caleb Desnoyers was not available due to his QMJHL playoff run with Moncton, 2026 draft eligible Gavin McKenna is still in the WHL playoffs with Medicine Hat, and fellow top prospects in the 2007 birth year Michael Misa and Matthew Schaefer — both 2025 eligibles — were not available to Team Canada due to injury. Advertisement But in a strong class for the group, it didn't matter. Canada finished a perfect 7-0 in the tournament, racing through pool play with a tournament-best plus-24 goal differential, and then punctuated the event with a strong showing in the medal round that also included a 4-0 shutout of Slovakia in the semifinal. Canadian goaltender Jack Ivankovic was already the first and only goalie to ever win gold at all three of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and U18 Worlds. When he won gold at the latter, he was the third-stringer. Now he has two golds at U18 Worlds and he can say he was the goaltender of record at all three major tournaments. JACK IVANKOVIC!!! 🤯#U18MensWorlds | # — Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) May 4, 2025 How about this for international pedigree at 17 years old (he doesn't turn 18 for another two and a half weeks): 2023 U17s: 5-3-0, .923 SV% 2024 Hlinka: 4-0-0, .967 SV% 2025 World Juniors: 0-0-1, .923 SV% 2025 U18s: 6-0-0, .961 He looked like he was in a different class than the rest of the goalies at this year's U18s. He's still eligible to play for Canada at both the 2026 and 2027 World Juniors as well. — Scott Wheeler Canada's tournament has had ups and downs, including a nail-biter vs. Czechia in the quarterfinals, and an unconvincing win over a lackluster Finland team. They have had their consistent standouts all tournament: Forwards Cole Reschny, Brady Martin and Braeden Cootes, alongside defenseman Keaton Verhoeff and their goalie Ivankovic, but the depth of their team was a major issue. They were not getting secondary scoring or consistent puck possession from the down parts of their lineup. That changed in the medal round and especially in the final game against Sweden. They were rolling four lines, and many of the down-lineup forwards had their best game of the tournament in terms of chance generation and controlling the play. The story of the 2025 NHL Draft and possibly the 2026 draft will be the strength of the CHL and Canadian crop of talent, and it was on display in the medal round this weekend. — Corey Pronman Advertisement The result Saturday certainly sours things, but Sweden had an impressive tournament, both individually and as a team. Their 4-3 win over the United States in Friday's semifinal was a highly competitive and exciting game, ultimately decided by a pair of Swedish goals midway through the third period. 2026 draft eligible Viggo Bjorck had three points in that game, and fellow 2026 eligible Ivar Stenberg (the younger brother of St. Louis Blues prospect Otto Stenberg) was one of the best players at the tournament. On top of that, defenseman Sascha Boumedienne set the tournament record for points by a defenseman with 14, and forward Filip Ekberg won tournament MVP honors with 10 goals and 18 points in seven games, the most points ever by a Swede at the event. That said, it was a quieter-than-hoped week for top 2025 draft-eligible forward Anton Frondell, who finished with three points in five games — although he did play some of his best hockey of the event early in the gold medal game, before it got out of hand. — Max Bultman F: Brady Martin (CAN) F: Filip Ekberg (SWE) F: Ivar Stenberg (SWE) D: Sascha Boumedienne (SWE) D: Drew Schock (USA) G: Jack Ivankovic (CAN) MVP: Filip Ekberg (SWE) Best G: Jack Ivankovic (CAN) Best D: Sascha Boumedienne (SWE) Best F: Filip Ekberg (SWE) Pronman's All-Star & MVP Ballot MVP: Ivar Stenberg (SWE) F: Ivar Stenberg (SWE) F: Filip Ekberg (SWE) F: Brady Martin (CAN) D: Sascha Boumedienne (SWE) D: Keaton Verhoeff (CAN) G: Jack Ivankovic (CAN) Wheeler's All-Star & MVP Ballot MVP: Jack Ivankovic (CAN) F: Ivar Stenberg (SWE) F: Brady Martin (CAN) F: Filip Ekberg (SWE) D: Sascha Boumedienne (SWE) D: Drew Schock (USA) G: Jack Ivankovic (CAN) Bultman's All-Star & MVP Ballot MVP: Filip Ekberg (SWE) F: Filip Ekberg (SWE) F: Ivar Stenberg (SWE) F: Brady Martin (CAN) D: Sascha Boumedienne (SWE) D: Drew Schock (USA) G: Jack Ivankovic (CAN) (Top photo of Jack Ivankovic (left) and Brady Martin (right): Micheline Veluvolu / Courtesy of IIHF)
New York Times
01-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Meet Cole Reschny, the hottest prospect in the 2025 NHL Draft: ‘He stirs the drink'
ALLEN, Tex. — Ask Victoria Royals head coach James Patrick or general manager Jake Heisinger about Cole Reschny and they'll both say the same thing. 'I will say this: I don't know if a player in our league had a better second half than him. (And) I know there's not one player that I can think of who played better in the playoffs,' Patrick said. 'He put this team on his back and his playmaking and compete were elite.' Advertisement In those playoffs, Reschny registered 25 points in just 11 games, leading the Royals past the Tri-City Americans and to six games in a second-round series against the heavily favored Spokane Chiefs. 'I would say in the second half of the season that he was as dominant as any player in the league,' Heisinger said. 'He led us all the way through and when the stakes got higher, he raised his game for the playoffs and he really showed not only where he can take his game to but just how competitive he is, how badly he wants to win.' On the year, he registered 35 goals and 117 points in 73 combined regular season and playoff games. At year's end, NHL Central Scouting listed the 5-foot-10.5, 183-pound center as their 25th-ranked North American skater in the draft. Immediately after losing Game 6 to the Chiefs, he wasn't satisfied, either, hopping on a plane to Texas the following day to join Team Canada at U18 Worlds. Though he joined the team late, they immediately named him an alternate captain. In his first game of the tournament, he scored in a 5-1 win against Finland. A day later, on a back-to-back against Norway, he scored again and added two assists to give him four points in two games. And on Wednesday's quarterfinal against Czechia, he made it six points in three games, scoring a big late-second-period goal to tie the game 2-2 and an even bigger one to win it in overtime. He played 21:50 in the game, tops among Canadian forwards. COLE RESCHNY CALLS GAME IN OT😤 The @victoriaroyals' star #NHLDraft prospect sends 🇨🇦 to the semis❗️ #U18MensWorlds — Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) April 30, 2025 It's already his third time performing for Hockey Canada, after winning gold at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he registered seven points in five games, and co-leading Canada Red in scoring with eight points in seven games at the 2023 World U17 Hockey Challenge before that. After chasing a second gold medal, it'll be onto the next thing, and then the next, and the next. The draft. Development camp. Skating and training with his skills coach and strength and conditioning coach, Adam Huxley, and daily hour-long drives from his small Saskatchewan town of Macklin and across the provincial border into Wainwright, Alta., to get to work. Advertisement That's the Reschny way. When he had his exit meeting with Patrick and Heisinger before departing for Texas, they didn't even have to tell him what they expected of him in the offseason, like they do for their other players. 'He's not a guy that you need to lay out what he needs to work on,' Heisinger said. 'He knows he's got to keep putting the work in on and off the ice and he's someone that's very driven and very motivated. As soon as the U18s are done, he'll be getting right to it.' There are about 1,200 people who live in Macklin. Just enough for a church, a school, a couple of inns, a couple of restaurants, a couple of car repair shops, and a hockey arena. 'It's a very small town,' Reschny said of his home. 'Just growing up there, it's tough. You have to drive a lot to get anywhere. It's fun though. It's a lot of driving but it's fun. (And) it's a pretty good rink in town. We're pretty lucky to have what we have there.' The Reschnys account for five of those people. Cole's dad, Clinton, works as an oil field services sales manager. His mother, Allison, is an educational assistant at the school, working with special needs students. Cole is the middle of three boys. His older brother, Austin, who he says has been the most influential person in his hockey career, is a 21-year-old forward at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. His younger brother, Anderson, is a 14-year-old defenseman at OHA Prep. His uncle, Trevor Reschny, also played at Northeastern University, where he served as the Huskies' captain in his senior year. Cole spends his free time fishing, snowmobiling and helping Clinton farm goats. The closest real hub, according to Reschny, is Lloydminster, a town of about 30,000 more than 100 kilometres north. Wainwright is only home to 6,000 people, but Huxley's group in the gym and on the ice is 25-30 pro and junior players, and they take pride in their offseason training group being equivalent to the ones at the top gyms and rinks in major cities like Calgary and Edmonton. Advertisement Huxley has been working with Reschny since he was 8 or 9 years old. His other clients include players such as Carson Soucy, Bobby McMann, Mason Shaw, Scott Ratzlaff and Jagger Firkus. Huxley, who played more than a decade in the AHL and ECHL and is the western head of player development for the skills development and technology firm Power Edge Pro, put Reschny in their group in the gym and on the ice when he was 15. When he first started skating and working out with them, they were 'shocked' by his age because of how mature he is. 'I don't think I've met a more professional, driven kid at 15-17 in my time doing this,' Huxley said. 'The older pro guys look up to him, I'm not kidding. You won't find a better kid. First and foremost he's an amazing kid, secondly he's a really good hockey player.' That's true of all three Reschny boys, plus Clinton and Allison. Huxley called Allison 'an amazing lady' and said Clinton 'just tells them how it is.' 'I don't think you've met a more respectful group of kids, a more polite group of kids. They're very, very well parented and you can tell when you talk to Cole his respect level for adults and older guys in the gym and on the ice, his coaches, is something you don't see much anymore,' Huxley said. 'He's an old soul and it's just a pleasure to be around all of the Reschnys. His parents are model hockey parents.' This summer, when the U18s wrap up and Reschny returns home to Macklin to start his offseason training with Huxley, his focus will be on adding a step, which scouts have asked about. Both Heisinger and Huxley said he's 'faster than people give him credit for.' 'I've had a couple of people ask me and they're not worried about his speed, but they've asked about it, and I have four or five clips where I say, 'Well, this is what you're getting. He's toasting defenders because his hands, feet and head move in sync,'' Huxley said. 'And he's continually working on his first three steps, which is their question mark. But when you look at his game as a whole, his brain and everything else works together so well. Sometimes I watch him and I'm like 'Go, go, go, you're the best player out there' but then I watch and he'll make the right play almost every time. He's a thinker.' Advertisement Despite his 5-foot-10.5 listing, Huxley also says Reschny's 'a beast in the gym.' Heisinger called him a 'powerful kid (who) gets to pucks' because of how motivated and driven he is. 'People look at size and to the naked eye they always look at height. And you know what, wingspan and length and reach is one way of looking at size and it's awesome to have, but Cole is built like Sid (Sidney Crosby),' Huxley said. 'He's low to the ice. His legs are super strong and going to be super explosive. And if you watch him down low, he isn't getting beat off pucks very often and that's because he's very, very strong.' Huxley thinks he could grow a couple of inches and get to six feet, too, and compares him to how thick and strong Logan Stankoven was at the same age (though Stankoven was 2 1/2 inches shorter). 'When you think of size, do you really think about height anymore? I think you think of, 'If I have the puck, how am I going to keep it?' And I think Cole is a very strong player. He's very strong for his age,' Huxley said. On the ice, that strength shows up in his ability to win and hold pucks, too. 'He's a battler,' Heisinger said. 'He wants to win puck battles. He's a guy that's in the fight to win the fight. He's going to do whatever it takes to win a game, to win a battle. He's the ultimate team guy, ultimate competitor, and someone that when the chips are down you want him on your side.' Patrick said the only player he has ever coached in the WHL who entered the league as strong as Reschny did at 16 was Minnesota Wild first-rounder Carson Lambos. 'Probably Cole's biggest strength is how strong he is on his feet, how strong he is on the puck,' Patrick said. That first season, Patrick said he didn't think there was a player in the CHL who had to play as much and as big a role as Reschny did. After first-line center Robin Sapousek got injured at the World Juniors, Reschny became Victoria's 1C at 16. In a perfect world, Patrick would have preferred his rookie season in the WHL to be in third-line matchups and minutes. Advertisement Instead, Reschny registered 59 points in 61 games, second on the team in scoring and fifth among WHL rookies. 'He stirs the drink. He makes players around him better. Two years in a row, as a 16- and 17-year-old, that team just has no success without him and it's very evident. Look at the players this year who played with him, look at the players last year who played with him, they both had career years,' Huxley said, pointing specifically to linemate Teydon Trembecky's jump from 10 goals and 20 points a year ago to 46 goals and 88 points this season. He actually had a 'really tough first couple of months' to start this season, according to Patrick, and didn't play particularly well at November's CHL USA Prospects Challenge (where he scored the game-winner in the second game of the event, his lone point in its two games). But he got better, and better, and better as the season went on. In the second half, Patrick said he was outplaying the opposing teams' 19- and 20-year-old first-line centers head-to-head as a 17-year-old. When they'd go into Prince George it was Wild 2023 second-rounder Riley Heidt, then 19. When they'd go into Vancouver, it was 20-year-old drafted prospects Connor Levis and Jaden Lipinski. 'He was playing these players head-to-head or outplaying them,' Patrick said, 'and coming away with two, three, four points, and playing in every situation, and playing the game the right way. But not only that, just how he led by example was pretty impressive. We hadn't seen too many instances like this and I certainly haven't. I don't think I've seen a 17-year-old play better in the playoffs in my time coaching in the league.' In the playoffs, it was Kraken 2024 top-10 pick Berkly Catton in Spokane. 'I think he showed here playing against a pretty potent top line in Spokane that his skating was more than fine,' Heisinger said. Advertisement All year, even when he got off to a slower start offensively, he was also Patrick's 'best defensive center' and 'top penalty killer' and 'top faceoff guy.' 'From the time I got here, he has played a real responsible two-way game,' Patrick said. 'And for me coming from the NHL to coaching junior, it was way more pronounced to have some young players who have no clue how to play the game defensively or no desire to play in the D-zone. And in saying that, it's never even been an issue for him. He feels a responsibility, he's aware of it, he knows how to play in the D-zone, he's good at taking away passing lanes, he's good at ending plays and he will get in the shot lanes. It's something that he has been willing to do and takes pride in from the time that I got here.' Huxley went a step further. 'I've been around a lot of the kids in the draft and I'm not a scout, but I don't think there's a better 200-foot player in the draft. There's not a chance,' Huxley said.
New York Times
28-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How Ben Kindel, through soccer and sense, has become a top 2025 NHL Draft prospect
ALLEN, Tex. — Garry Davidson didn't really get introduced to Ben Kindel's game until a breakout performance at the John Reid Memorial Tournament, a big bantam showcase in St. Albert, Alta. It was January 2022, and Davidson, a longtime WHL general manager, was in his first season with the Calgary Hitmen. Back then, Kindel was a 'skinny, scrawny 14-year-old' who'd missed the first half of the season with a broken hand. Advertisement Davidson was immediately impressed by his sense for the game, though, so he tried not to worry about how underdeveloped he looked. Then he 'had a great finish and a good playoff that year' and sparked the Hitmen's interest. When the 2022 WHL Bantam Draft rolled around, the Hitmen had two late second-round picks and crossed their fingers that he'd still be available, banking on other teams sleeping on him because of his size and the time missed. When he was there for them, they selected him 43rd overall. 'He kind of came out of the forest in the second half, so to speak, and we were pretty fortunate that we got him where we got him,' Davidson said. Three years later, Kindel is a top prospect in the 2025 NHL Draft. This season, as a 17-year-old, he led the Hitmen in combined regular-season and playoff scoring, registering 43 goals and 114 points in 76 games. NHL Central Scouting have him listed as their 21st-ranked North American skater in the draft. Their report describes him as follows: 'Ben is a smart and versatile center that can be deployed in all situations. He is quick, agile and elusive with the puck, with the ability to create his own scoring chances as well as set-up quality looks for teammates. A consistent generator of offence, he's smart and responsible with and without the puck and an asset on both special team units. Willing to play bigger than his size, he battles and competes with good balance and strength on his skates. He consistently goes into the 'hard' areas of the ice to makes plays and generate chances.' On Sunday, he arrived in Texas two games into Team Canada's U18 Worlds after leading the Hitmen to Game 7 of the second round of the WHL playoffs and played that game, too. Canada immediately slotted him onto the second line with fellow projected first-round picks Cole Reschny and Jack Nesbitt. A little over three minutes into his first game with the team, he put a one-touch shot on the power play under the bar to give Canada a 1-0 lead against the Finns. 🎯🎯🎯#U18MensWorlds | # — Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) April 27, 2025 Kindel is still on the smaller side, with a 5-foot-10, 176-pound listing. But scouts and coaches alike respect his game, and he was a go-to player in all situations for the Hitmen, including on the penalty kill, making a successful move from the wing back to the natural center position he played in minor hockey. Advertisement He also comes from a family of athletes. Both of his parents played pro soccer and for the Canadian national team. His dad, Steve Kindel, played for the Vancouver Whitecaps and earned four caps for the Canadian men's national team. His mom, Sara Maglio, was part of Canada's 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup team. Steve and Sara met playing for Simon Fraser University's soccer teams. Steve is the senior technical director of the North Vancouver Football Club these days, and Sara is the executive director at the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club. Last summer, Sara joined Ben's younger sister, Lacey, in Alajuela, Costa Rica, for the 2024 CONCACAF Under-15 soccer championship while Steve went to Edmonton to watch Ben play for Canada at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. It was both kids' first time ever representing Canada internationally. Ben won gold; Lacey won bronze. Until he was 16, Kindel was an elite-level soccer player himself and competed at the National U16 Soccer Championship in 2022, the year of his bantam draft in hockey. He was an attacking midfielder. He doesn't like to admit it, but he grew up supporting Italy more than Canada internationally. Davidson, without prompting, talked about how he can see the high-level soccer in Kindel's game on the ice. 'His feet are part of his ability,' Davidson said. 'He makes bad passes look real good, he seems to be able to use his feet in traffic all the time when he's in board battles and uses them so effectively. We always talk about two-sport athletes or three-sport athletes, and I'm a big proponent of young people playing other sports because there's crossover benefits, and certainly I think we're seeing that in Ben's game.' His game is really about his 'phenomenal' sense, though, according to Davidson. After a very respectable 60-point season as a 16-year-old rookie a year ago, Davidson and his staff weren't expecting Kindel to push for 100 points in his draft year. But Davidson said he wasn't surprised by it in the end 'because he possesses such good hockey sense and has a real knack for creating offense not only for himself but for his linemates.' Advertisement 'We anticipated he was going to drive offense for us,' Davidson said, while also pointing to Kindel's high-end hands and feet. He's also got room to grow still in both strength and, accordingly, skating. 'I think his skating is going to continue to improve as he gets more core and leg strength,' Davidson said. 'I think he's a typical 17-year-old. He doesn't have man strength yet at all, so there's room. Whether he's going to get to 6-feet tall I think is probably a stretch but he certainly will fill out and increase his strengths and that'll be important with the core and the legs to assist with his skating.' For the last three years, he has also worked with skating coach Barb Aidelbaum in Vancouver to get quicker after his agent, Ross Gurney, connected them. He has also worked closely with his skills coach Justin Rai of Kaivo, a local hockey development coach who trains players like Connor Bedard, Kent Johnson and Andrew Cristall, and who works with the Seattle Kraken. Initially, he and Aidelbaum worked together starting in the spring after his CSSHL season finished. Since then, 'he's had a vast rate of improvement,' according to Aidelbaum. The soccer background is evident even in his skating sessions with Aidelbaum. 'He's not an early sport specializer and he has improved motor skills development over others that just do single sport from a very young age. So he's got a larger skill set. His athleticism is at a higher level,' Aidelbaum said on a recent phone call. 'So he's certainly easier to coach because he also has higher body awareness with that. He has a very, very strong core, which is very likely from his soccer. So his hips and core is strong but in general as soon as he gains strength in his lower body legs down, he's got huge potential to be an excellent skater. And the data tells us that with the competitive athletes that aren't early specializers, they have a reduced risk of overuse injuries and burnout. And that's him.' Advertisement In his work with Aidelbaum, he has also proven to be a fast learner. 'I can be working with him on a very technical skill and be aiming for his hips to go one way direction and his shoulders to go one direction and a certain amount of ankle flex and he can put it all together right away,' Aidelbaum said. 'And I think that's just overall what we're seeing with him is that he's just got unlimited potential and he's on a fast track for sure. He's got a great work ethic. Anyone that improves their points from season to season by going from 60 points to 99 points obviously is a smart guy.' In those ways, he also reminds Aidelbaum of one of her former clients: Longtime NHL defenseman Dan Hamhuis. 'He's kind of that quiet hard worker, takes a lot in, very deep thinking person,' Aidelbaum said. 'He processes a lot of information in the lesson but then he'll also go home and process it for the next couple of days and come back and be that much better than he was during training sessions before. There are similarities between those two athletes, although Hamhuis is a defenseman, just in the way they think and develop. It's very exciting.' Standing inside the Credit Union of Texas Event Center after his U18 Worlds debut, Kindel was still wrapping his head around a busy week. His Hitmen had lost to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Game 7 on Wednesday. A day later, he was booking and hopping on a flight to Dallas. His first goal was a WHL title, not a gold medal. Now he's had to recalibrate. '(The loss) was obviously devastating. We were hoping to go farther in the playoffs but you have to quickly turn your mind around and focus on other things and this tournament is a really important thing to me,' he said. His impact was felt immediately, too. Beyond the goal, and the top-six role, he was also immediately inserted onto both the power play and the penalty kill. Cory Stillman, Canada's head coach, said the way he thinks the game stood out immediately. Advertisement 'He's very smart. He wants to move the puck. There were a couple of times I wished he shot the puck and moved it a little quicker today but he's a great player that way and he's going to be a great fit,' Stillman said. '(He) makes us a lot deeper. It puts guys in the positions that they should be in.' Beyond all of the hockey attributes, Davidson also describes him as uniquely very competitive — a very quiet leader who maybe isn't the rah-rah guy but works hard and has the focus and drive to bring his game to the NHL. Aidelbaum is sure of it. 'He's one of the guys that I look at and go, 'He's only just begun. His NHL career is going to be lengthy,'' Aidelbaum said. 'Some players, you look at them and you go 'Well, he's really good now, but is he going to play in NHL games?' But with him, he's on the fast track for sure.' — With reporting in London and Oshawa, Ont.
New York Times
27-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Why Adam Benák, one of the 2025 NHL Draft's smallest prospects, could defy his size
FRISCO, Texas — 'He's the smartest player I've ever coached.' 'One of the best skaters I've ever seen.' That's Ryan Ward talking, twice, about Adam Benák. Ward has been a head coach in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms, an assistant coach in the OHL with the Soo Greyhounds and a video coach in the NHL with the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs. Advertisement In Youngstown, he has coached Sascha Boumedienne, one of the best skaters in the 2025 NHL Draft, and previous draft picks such as Brandon Svoboda, Martin Misiak, William Whitelaw and James Fisher, each standout skaters in different ways. In Sault Ste. Marie, he coached first-rounders such as Morgan Frost, Rasmus Sandin and Barrett Hayton, each lauded for their smarts, as well as high-end skaters such as Mac Hollowell. But it's Benák, he'll say unequivocally, who is the smartest and fastest. It's also Benák who holds the Hlinka Gretzky Cup's all-time points record with 21 points in 10 games across two tournaments — two tournaments in which he led the Czechs to silver medals. It's also Benák who registered 14 points in 14 games at two U17 worlds. It's also Benák who, as a rookie with Youngstown in the USHL this season, registered 59 points in 56 games to lead the Phantoms in scoring by six points. He led all U18 skaters in league scoring, too. This week, at U18 worlds in Texas, it was Benák who showed up late to join the Czechs, played 23:44 shortly after landing, was immediately given a letter on his jersey and had primary assists on all three of Czechia's goals in a 4-3 overtime loss to Germany. On Saturday, he added a fourth primary point in two games when he ripped a shot under the bar from the right-wing faceoff circle on the power play to give the Czechs a 2-0 lead over Switzerland, and a fifth with a primary assist on the empty-netter that sealed it 4-2. Nekompromisní rána Adama Benáka znamená vedení o dvě branky! 🔥 🇨🇭⚔️🇨🇿 0:2#SUICZE #U18MensWorlds #narodnitym — Český hokej (@czehockey) April 26, 2025 But then there's this: 5-foot-7.25, 164 pounds. That's his listing with NHL Central Scouting, which ranked him 58th among North American skaters on its final list for the 2025 NHL Draft. And it makes him one of the most interesting and also difficult case studies in the class. That won't stop his believers from making his case, though. Ask Ward or Youngstown co-general managers Jason Deskins and Ryan Kosecki about Benák's size and they'll tell you why he's going to beat it. 'Just wait until he hits puberty. He's still a boy. People that look at his size should think twice. He's a special player. Just give him some time,' Ward said. 'He's an extraordinary hockey player. So competitive, so smart, unbelievable passer.' Advertisement Deskins refers to him as a 'bulldog.' 'He doesn't really care how big you are, he's going to play the same way all the time and he gives you second and third efforts and competes on pucks. And even when he gets knocked off pucks, he's going to work and keep going at it,' Deskins said. Kosecki, as he begins to make his case, says Benák's 'not afraid of guys.' 'He plays the body, he's physical, he can play wing or center. I know everyone wants big centers in the NHL right now so he'll probably have to play wing in the NHL, but IQ is the most important thing in hockey and he's got it coming out of his ears, and he's such a fun kid and he immerses himself in hockey, so for that I think he'll have tons of success,' Kosecki continued. In his introduction to Benák in exhibition games against the NTDP in September, Ward said he was 'dominant' and 'could've had nine points a game.' Deskins argues people don't realize how good the USHL is and how hard it is to be dominant as a 17-year-old, to strengthen Benák's case. 'I think people assume that it might not be what the CHL is and I can just tell you that this league is an absolute bear and it's really, really hard to score in, especially at a young age,' Deskins said. 'So I think sometimes these young kids come in and their expectations or somebody else's expectations from the outside might be that they're going to have 100 points and it just doesn't work that way. With Adam, the one thing that I've been really pleased with is just that he continually got better. Every single week, you look at him and he starts doing little things that you would hope for and taking steps.' When people ask Benák about his size and why he thinks he's going to make it in spite of it, he tells them the following: 'I think my work ethic is the biggest difference. I know I'm smaller, but you don't have to be the biggest guy if you're the hardest worker. So that's what I'm trying to do, and show people that size doesn't matter for me.' Advertisement He has made changes to his style of play this year to show them, too, making an effort to play a much more physical style than he used to. It's a style he said he has really enjoyed in North America. After what he said was an adjustment in the first half, he's really happy with the way he has played in the second half. And he'll always have the speed and the smarts to fall back on. He says both were developed by playing competitive soccer and floorball growing up. But the skating has also come from hard work. 'I was always smaller so I knew I needed to be fast to be faster than the bigger guys, and it's something that I've worked at every day of my life. I know I need to be faster than everyone if I want to play in the NHL,' Benák said. His impact on the Czech team was felt immediately, despite the travel day and a bit of jet lag. Jaroslav Nedved, Czechia's assistant coach, calls him 'one of the best players in his age group' regardless of country. 'He gives us speed, he gives us finesse, he sees the game,' Nedved said. 'He's a big part of our group. For us, he's the biggest impact on our game. With his speed and hockey IQ, he sees the game one step ahead of everybody else. He can skate one way to bring the defenceman in and then he can pass it or delay it and put it to the second wave. And he knows what's going to happen before everybody else knows. If he goes to the right or left side of the rink with the puck, it's for a reason. How do you say it in music? He's the conductor, or the orchestrator. He orchestrates his teammates.' Despite it all, scouts worry that the height will never come and wonder if he'll be able to play his style, however smart and fast and fearless, against NHLers if it doesn't. That even though, as Ward said, he's still a 'boy,' his dad Václav, a longtime pro defenseman in Czechia, is only 5-foot-9. Advertisement But his proponents disagree, or argue that even if it doesn't ever come that he's still a legit — if singular — NHL prospect. 'I don't even think he has scratched the surface, to be honest, with how good he can be,' Deskins said. 'And I think that you're starting to see it now, but it's only going to continue to grow as he keeps putting the work in, and he's a very hard worker, so I'm not concerned about that.'
