F Adam Benák - Youngstown Phantoms, USHL (2025 Draft)

[Hockeyville USA]

Divver reporting Benak is getting NCAA interest from NCHC and B1G schools despite there being no clarity about if Benak is eligible (18 Czech league games last season). Hope this won't be a Samuel Sjolund situation, need to get some clarity on this soon.

 

[GettingYourMoms]

Round 2 is the earliest I can see him going no matter what he does this year. How much better numbers will be put up in the USHL than say Mac Swanson who did everything conceivable you can do in that league as a 17 year old yet still went in the 7th round?

Unless he sees a 3 inch growth spurt, he will not be seeing a first round selection. That’s the unfortunate reality of the NHL. The shift to size in the league real, and some people can’t comprehend it.

who the f is mac swanson?

 

[Hockeyville USA]

who the f is mac swanson?

7th round pick by the Penguins, tore up the USHL as a 16 and 17 year old, going to North Dakota this year, 5'7, doesn't play at a high enough pace for his size to project to the NHL well

 

[GettingYourMoms]

7th round pick by the Penguins, tore up the USHL as a 16 and 17 year old, going to North Dakota this year, 5'7, doesn't play at a high enough pace for his size to project to the NHL well

So the complete opposite of Benak, i see.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Marco Rossi was 176cm when he was drafted, there's a decent chance that Benak is 174cm by the time the draft rolls around. If he puts up 85+ points in the USHL, he has a chance to go in the 1st round. I think he can do it.

That was the difference between Rossi and Brindley, who I thought had a lot of similarities, and Brindley went 34.

I think when you’re 5’8 (like Stankoven or Brindley) teams will start considering you once it gets to round 2. It sounds stupid, but that’s the data we have.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I'm leaning towards early second/late first round for Benak as of this moment. I've seen several people comparing Benak to Swanson and I don't really see it. Just from watching some of Swanson's tape - yes, like Benak, he's a superb playmaker and passer, but to me Benak looks immeasurably more dynamic in every other way - be it his puckhandling, skating, play off the puck, tenacity in battles or general compete. Lots of projectable stuff that scouts will take into account. But I might be wrong, haven't really seen a ton of Swanson.

I think you’re right. Benak is the more well rounded player in many areas. Where I would give Swanson an advantage is pure scoring attributes. Better shot, better passing, and quicker decision making. I think Benak will go ahead of Swanson, but I don’t know if Benak will really put up as good of a draft season in the USHL. The bar is so high. Benak will have to be the best player in the league just to make it a discussion. Thats a lot to ask of anyone.

Fair or not, I don’t think teams will consider Benak in the first round unless he’s 5’9. And he’ll need to have a pretty great season to go second round. If he takes some time to adjust, he could easily be round 3, 4, 5. Don’t see him falling to round 7, like Swanson did. Swanson fell so much because NHL teams didn’t think his game would translate. Benak has more attributes that teams will like, whether they believe the offensive game is as good.

 

[kudla]

I think you’re right. Benak is the more well rounded player in many areas. Where I would give Swanson an advantage is pure scoring attributes. Better shot, better passing, and quicker decision making. I think Benak will go ahead of Swanson, but I don’t know if Benak will really put up as good of a draft season in the USHL. The bar is so high. Benak will have to be the best player in the league just to make it a discussion. Thats a lot to ask of anyone.

Fair or not, I don’t think teams will consider Benak in the first round unless he’s 5’9. And he’ll need to have a pretty great season to go second round. If he takes some time to adjust, he could easily be round 3, 4, 5. Don’t see him falling to round 7, like Swanson did. Swanson fell so much because NHL teams didn’t think his game would translate. Benak has more attributes that teams will like, whether they believe the offensive game is as good.

Benak is just a better player than Swanson. Not the best comparison for me.

Caufield is Benak's size and went 15th. I know they are completely different players, but just how much more talented is Caufield compared to Benak, if at all? I don't know why people seem to be sure that Benak won't be a first rounder if Caufield made it into top 15. My best guess though, is that he will go in the second round when the day comes.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Benak is just a better player than Swanson. Not the best comparison for me.

Caufield is Benak's size and went 15th. I know they are completely different players, but just how much more talented is Caufield compared to Benak, if at all? I don't know why people seem to be sure that Benak won't be a first rounder if Caufield made it into top 15. My best guess though, is that he will go in the second round when the day comes.

Swanson was the USHL Player of the Year as a U18. One of the best junior hockey players in the 2006 age group around the world. Let's see if Benak can win USHL Player of the Year before declaring he's just a better hockey player.

And you could've compared Swanson's junior accomplishments to Caufield too at the same point. NHL teams didn't agree with doing so, evidenced by Swanson's draft position. Most likely Benak won't be viewed as a Caufield range player either. Caufield has been the only recent small forward to be granted this exceptional status by NHL teams. I doubt teams will twist themselves into knots. If Benak measures in at 5'9 or taller, he has a chance at first round. If he doesn't, he won't. I think it'll be as simple as that.

 

[martygod12]

Swanson was the USHL Player of the Year as a U18. One of the best junior hockey players in the 2006 age group around the world. Let's see if Benak can win USHL Player of the Year before declaring he's just a better hockey player.

And you could've compared Swanson's junior accomplishments to Caufield too at the same point. NHL teams didn't agree with doing so, evidenced by Swanson's draft position. Most likely Benak won't be viewed as a Caufield range player either. Caufield has been the only recent small forward to be granted this exceptional status by NHL teams. I doubt teams will twist themselves into knots. If Benak measures in at 5'9 or taller, he has a chance at first round. If he doesn't, he won't. I think it'll be as simple as that.

Oh what a beautiful times of hockey, when players skill is not important anymore as long as they have 2meters and 100kg

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Oh what a beautiful times of hockey, when players skill is not important anymore as long as they have 2meters and 100kg

I don’t like it, but I think this is the way the sport works. Benak is a better hockey player than Mrtka, but they have an easier time envisioning a role for Mrtka. NHL teams are very safe with how they build teams. They are afraid to go outside the box and create a team of smaller and more skilled players. When in doubt, they default to size.

 

[GettingYourMoms]

Benak is just a better player than Swanson. Not the best comparison for me.

Caufield is Benak's size and went 15th. I know they are completely different players, but just how much more talented is Caufield compared to Benak, if at all? I don't know why people seem to be sure that Benak won't be a first rounder if Caufield made it into top 15. My best guess though, is that he will go in the second round when the day comes.

Because this is strongest draft year in last 50 years, thats why Benak is not going to be 1st rounder.

 

[BKarchitect]

Oh what a beautiful times of hockey, when players skill is not important anymore as long as they have 2meters and 100kg

I think the draft position comments have less to do with Benak as a prospect and more to do with the trends of the draft.

Loads of people have become huge fans of Benak…people musing about him as a 2nd/3rd round prospect doesn’t mean they think he deserves to be drafted there. It’s possible to say “the way the draft is trending, I see him as a 2nd round at best but I think he’s actually deserving of a top 20 selection and will make teams look stupid for passing on him.”

But even given trends, I still wouldn’t completely rule out a 1st round potential if Benak destroys the USHL this year. All it takes is one team, one scouting group pounding the table. The NFL saw a historically small QB in Bryce Young taken #1 overall in their draft. I think later in the 1st…it wouldn’t be impossible for a good team who isn’t banking on this pick helping for years anyways saying “hey, let’s shoot for the moon here…if this guy hits, it could seriously extend the window”. Or a team with multiple 1st rounders saying “we went big and safe with our first pick, we can shoot for upside with the second”.

 

[Martinez89]

Benak is just a better player than Swanson. Not the best comparison for me.

Caufield is Benak's size and went 15th. I know they are completely different players, but just how much more talented is Caufield compared to Benak, if at all? I don't know why people seem to be sure that Benak won't be a first rounder if Caufield made it into top 15. My best guess though, is that he will go in the second round when the day comes.

Sure, Benak is much better playmaker than Caufield but Caufield has much much better shot and also his body is builded physically stronger. We can compare their D-1 seasons so far only and Caufield had better .ppg in USHL than Benak in Czech junior league. I think it's all said and done here.

Despite Benak is extremely talented player with the puck on his stick and is also dynamic enough I can't imagine him to be drafted in 1st. His 3+2 against U18 German players is nice but it tells me nothing about how his game will translate to the NHL.

So, the one and the only Czech 1st rounder for this draft is Radim Mrtka. Size matters and he's good! Just my opinion.

 

[LeProspector]

Sure, Benak is much better playmaker than Caufield but Caufield has much much better shot and also his body is builded physically stronger. We can compare their D-1 seasons so far only and Caufield had better .ppg in USHL than Benak in Czech junior league. I think it's all said and done here.

Despite Benak is extremely talented player with the puck on his stick and is also dynamic enough I can't imagine him to be drafted in 1st. His 3+2 against U18 German players is nice but it tells me nothing about how his game will translate to the NHL.

So, the one and the only Czech 1st rounder for this draft is Radim Mrtka. Size matters and he's good! Just my opinion.

You’re one of the best posters on this site.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I think with a strong USHL season and playoffs, he can definitely go round 1 - he's been on the radar for awhile, he's talented and he isn't offense only, even if there will be limitations due to his size going forward.

He won't go as high as his offensive talent dictates it should but I can still see that he gets selected near the end of round 1, but let's see how the season goes.

 

[jtechkid]

benák has lot more pace than swanson - swanson was on massive loaded fargo team too -

 

[Speyer]

Is Yamamoto a good comparable? They have almost identical size per EP. Yamamoto went 22nd overall back in 17. But he hasnt quite lived up to expectations. And size seems to be a draft factor that its getting more important again based on this years draft.

 

[Speyer]

double post

 

[Bounces R Way]

Is Yamamoto a good comparable? They have almost identical size per EP. Yamamoto went 22nd overall back in 17. But he hasnt quite lived up to expectations. And size seems to be a draft factor that its getting more more important again based on this years draft.

In some ways maybe, Yamamoto made the NHL being a tenacious forechecker. I believe Benak to be much more skilled and much faster but he definitely has the same kind of dig Yamamoto did. Spins off contact better too, his edgework looks to be among the best in his draft class.

His potential to be an offensive catalyst at the next level I think is a lot better just based on his skating.

 

[Bounces R Way]

I mean....

https://x.com/i/web/status/1822039484550017363

https://x.com/i/web/status/1822044960021213303

(also drew the 5 on 3 penalty with a move and a nice net drive)

Just in one period to add to his all time leading tournament scoring record. Think NHL teams would be nuts to let him slip passed round 1.

 

[GettingYourMoms]

Best player on this tournament, every A grade prospect on ice can´t come even close, can´t even look in his direction. There is literary zero chance that anybody passes on him in top5, zilch.

 

[BKarchitect]

He’s just so fun. I still would not feel safe betting the house on him as a first rounder - but at the same time, I can’t get get behind the notion that “there is no chance he’s too small”. I think that’s shortsighted at this point. Trends are trends for a reason but there are also always outliers. I sure hope my team’s scouts aren’t just looking at his EP page and immediately scratching him because they see “171 cm”.

As fabulous as he is in international tournaments - this will still come down to adaptation and production in the USHL season. He needs a special season. He just might be capable of it.

In a way, I think there is potential here for him to be a forward version of Lane Hutson…he’s even smaller (at this stage), but size deficiencies can generally be hidden better up front. I think he’s got that spectacular hockey sense that Hutson has that simply can’t be ignored, no matter how you want to dissect the size. And I think the energy he brings is elite. He’s can play like Nathan Gerbe with the energy and two-way effort and he’s got 3 inches and a completely different class of vision over Gerbe at age 17. Gerbe played 435 games in the NHL. He’s also not any smaller than Gionta or Fleury. Like all three of those guys, he seems to possess the requisite battle and effort to outplay his physical dimensions.

 

[SlafySZN]

So fun to watch.

 

[Speyer]

In some ways maybe, Yamamoto made the NHL being a tenacious forechecker. I believe Benak to be much more skilled and much faster but he definitely has the same kind of dig Yamamoto did. Spins off contact better too, his edgework looks to be among the best in his draft class.

His potential to be an offensive catalyst at the next level I think is a lot better just based on his skating.

I mean i am not deying that Benak looks more dynamic out there but i am not sure if he is really "much more skilled". Yamamoto had a better ppg in the CHL than Benak in the Czech U20 league in his draft minus 1 season. Yes, he was a bit older ath the time but still, the difference in level of competition between those two leagues is huge. Then he but up big numbers at the Ivan Hlinka and especially at the WJC U18 as well.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Last year Benak was already very strong in this tournament, so no surprise to see him very strong this year.

It was very complicated last year afterwards.

It's a friendly summer tournament. Many players are not at their maximum and do not reveal their true level. McKenna is the most obvious example. Ihs Wozniak doesn't seem to be at full strength either. Those who have nothing to prove in this tournament.

It is the performance in the USHL that will determine his rank. And it will take exceptional performance (1.5PPG) with outstanding gaming characteristic

The best expected for the 2025 draft are not there. Hagens, Martone, Ryabkin, Misa, Hensler, Frondell, Trethewey, McQueen and Moore are not there. Impossible for Benak to be in front of these guys.

Small guys wingers who have his level, there are 3 others (Schmidt, Potter, Mooney). And next to them, there are Martone, Spence, Guite, Reschny. Without forgetting all the centers and defenders.

The guys here have been on the site for years. So I expect the draft lessons have been learned.

Caufield was selected 15th with his exceptional goalscoring quality. Supporter of Montreal, he is satisfied but his profile requires the coach to adapt according to him and a 2nd Caufield is really not desired in Montreal.

Yamamoto, we're talking about a guy currently without a contract even though he hasn't reached 26 years old.

And then, no one of this size has been chosen in the 1st round in the last 10 years.

Top 20 is currently out of reach for Benak.