F - Nela Lopusanova - Vlci Zilina (2026 NHL Draft)

[The Gr8 Dane]

lol she's so good look at this play. Wow.

Ewwwwwwwwww

 

[Erikfromfin]

Cool story for sure and interesting to watch. But for context, Hayley Wickenheiser, probably the GOAT for women, only managed to play in Suomi-Sarja with men. Tier 3 - Finland.

Comparing her to men at this point is not relevant. How she stacks up against her Canadian and American female counterparts is the more interesting analysis. Will be fun to see if she propels Slovakia into Women's hockey relevance.

Love the women's game and will be watching Canada vs US today!

Hayley also played Mestis tier2 Finland. I went to see one game live.

 

[theslatcher]

Hayley also played Mestis tier2 Finland. I went to see one game live.

Also played a little in Swedish tier 3, HockeyEttan(or Division 1 as it was called back then).

 

[austin63867]

Another ridiculous goal

 

[llwyd]

She is bloody impressive!

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

 

[peto10]

holy s***

 

[Vasilevskiy]

that was so neatly done lol

 

[austin63867]

holy s***

That's such a good goal

 

[LeProspector]

Her skating is brutal. Definitely something that needs to improve going forward.

Also she cherry picks a lot. But it works for her so good on her.

best of luck to her moving forward - hopefully she can play in the ECHL one day or an equivalent league.

 

[kudla]

14 years old

 

[theslatcher]

Currently leading the U18s in goals, points, & ppg. Ends it with double the points of Slovakia's #2 scorer.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Would have been nice to see her get to play against Canada or the US see how it translates against the top teams.

 

[Lavar Ball]

The Greater One

 

[theslatcher]

Would have been nice to see her get to play against Canada or the US see how it translates against the top teams.

She got to play Sweden and looked pretty good in that game.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Better than half of NHL players.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

She got to play Sweden and looked pretty good in that game.

Fair. Didn't realize this Swedish team was pretty good.

 

[vlady]

A highlight reel machine. Michigan? No problem. Mid air bat? Sure. Between the legs top shelf? Piece of cake.

She's in some elite company already.

 

[HeartAttack]

Fixed

Could you please change the thread title once again? Mshkm Žilina is old name of the club...now its Vlci Žilina, in her case Vlci Žilina youth team

Btw club is selling her jersey so if you think she is next GOAT and this could be nice collectors item, proceed here:

Dres mladých Vlkov - Nela Lopušanová - VLCI ŽILINA, a. s.

Pre záujem o dresy zo zahraničia začína popis produktu v anglickom preklade, slovenský popis taktiež pod galériou produktu. ENG: Support the parent team of the most productive player of the U18 Women's World Championship, Nela Lopušanová ! We offer Nela's jersey of the youth organization Vlci...

eshop.vlcizilina.sk

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Could you please change the thread title once again? Mshkm Žilina is old name of the club...now its Vlci Žilina, in her case Vlci Žilina youth team

Btw club is selling her jersey so if you think she is next GOAT and this could be nice collectors item, proceed here:

Dres mladých Vlkov - Nela Lopušanová - VLCI ŽILINA, a. s.

Pre záujem o dresy zo zahraničia začína popis produktu v anglickom preklade, slovenský popis taktiež pod galériou produktu. ENG: Support the parent team of the most productive player of the U18 Women's World Championship, Nela Lopušanová ! We offer Nela's jersey of the youth organization Vlci...

eshop.vlcizilina.sk

Ownership is trying to profit off the hype.

lol

 

[Killerjas]

...With the 225th overall pick in the 2026 NHL, the Detroit Red Wings select, from Zilina in the Slovakian women league.... Nela Lopusanova!

 

[austin63867]

...With the 225th overall pick in the 2026 NHL, the Detroit Red Wings select, from Zilina in the Slovakian women league.... Nela Lopusanova!

If she's taken by Detroit she'll probably end up good. Being Slovak, watch her be a Hab.

 

[ijuka]

Yeah, it's true the skating's not very good at all but she's very impressive. Honestly, for Women's hockey I don't recall ever seeing anyone nearly as impressive. She was on a terrible team and still accomplished so much. Hopefully she pans out and then gets to play in a real professional league somewhere.

I generally don't follow women's hockey but perhaps I'll need to pay some attention to her.

 

[austin63867]

Yeah, it's true the skating's not very good at all but she's very impressive. Honestly, for Women's hockey I don't recall ever seeing anyone nearly as impressive.

I generally don't follow women's hockey but perhaps I'll need to pay some attention to her.

There's time her skating is alright. The only time she slows down is when she has the puck, which might be her having too much faith in her own skill. I think she needs to work on having a more intense game. She dominates so much that she doesn't even try, but she should to have a chance at a higher level.

 

[ijuka]

There's time her skating is alright. The only time she slows down is when she has the puck, which might be her having too much faith in her own skill. I think she needs to work on having a more intense game. She dominates so much that she doesn't even try, but she should to have a chance at a higher level.

Yeah, it could also be a lack of intensity, I don't follow women's hockey so much so I don't have great benchmarks. Still just on a general level and looking at the field, I wouldn't exactly call her fast. But being 14, she has a disadvantage there as well.

Nevertheless, easily the biggest talent of the tournament.