F Sebastian Taliga - Lukko-U16, Finland (Draft 2027)

[czech]

Slovak forward, playing in Finland for the Lukko-08 team, being born in 09. He also always plays effectively for the Czech Select.
I don’t lose hope that, having grown up, he associates himself with the Czech team (there is information that he may be considering such an opportunity and there are reasons for this - he played for the Czech Trinec for quite a long time before heading to Finland).

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[Kahvi]

Slovak forward, playing in Finland for the Lukko-08 team, being born in 09. He also always plays effectively for the Czech Select.
I don’t lose hope that, having grown up, he associates himself with the Czech team (there is information that he may be considering such an opportunity and there are reasons for this - he played for the Czech Trinec for quite a long time before heading to Finland).

Do you know why he moved to Finland? I understand if 17-18 yo guys move abroad to play, but he's only 14.

 

[JustAPleb]

Do you know why he moved to Finland? I understand if 17-18 yo guys move abroad to play, but he's only 14.

He's dad wanted him to play this season in Finland or Sweden. Sebastian joined then Lukko after try-out in summer.

He is currently 168-170 cm so not maybe Slovaks best talent from his age group because of small size. Solid player still.

 

[Kahvi]

He's dad wanted him to play this season in Finland or Sweden. Sebastian joined then Lukko after try-out in summer.

He is currently 168-170 cm so not maybe Slovaks best talent from his age group because of small size. Solid player still.

Such a young kid playing abroad far away from home, hopefully Lukko has arranged a good host family for him.

 

[JustAPleb]

Such a young kid playing abroad far away from home, hopefully Lukko has arranged a good host family for him.

I think he lives with mother in Rauma. You can see his mother weekly at the games.

 

[Pazucha]

(Translation) The Martin native Sebastian Taliga (2009) is currently leading the scoring in the top Finnish U16 league He has yet to make an appearance for the Slovak national team, although the coaches for the 2009 age group have already tried over 70 players. So far, they haven’t invited anyone from abroad and are only developing players from domestic competitions...

 

[JustAPleb]

(Translation) The Martin native Sebastian Taliga (2009) is currently leading the scoring in the top Finnish U16 league He has yet to make an appearance for the Slovak national team, although the coaches for the 2009 age group have already tried over 70 players. So far, they haven’t invited anyone from abroad and are only developing players from domestic competitions...

He has been by far the most important player for Lukko U16. He handles the puck well, is a fast skater, positions himself on the ice very well to get a lot of puck and has scored many goals with accurate shots. His hockey IQ isn’t his biggest strength cause he often ends up making the wrong decisions, but it’s not a too big weakness either. However, his size is the biggest weakness when thinking about the future.

He played decent on the U18 team during the preseason also, but he didn't really get to use his strengths in the U18 level yet. Just basic stuff, nothing remarkable.

 

[wetcoast]

Also the best 15 year olds are playing up in the U18s so it's hard to say exactly how he stacks up but probably not as well as his U16 stats suggest.

 

[Pazucha]

Looks like its official Sebastian Taliga decided that he will represent Czechia in the future.

Reason no interest from the Slovak side. (Players playing abroad are not allowed to represent Slovakia)

"At the beginning of the summer, Vladimír Dravecký Jr. joined the Czech national under-18 team. The U16 squad can now benefit from Sebastian Taliga, who is making waves in Finland. The forward grew up in Třinec and Plzeň, and since Slovakia doesn't invite young players from abroad to its national team, this influenced the thinking of both the player and his family toward the Czech Republic. "Nobody spoke to us, so we decided to take a different path," explains the forward's father, Michal Taliga."

@Czechboy

 

[dryz]

It's confirmed that he already applied for Czech citizenship.

 

[Czechboy]

Looks like its official Sebastian Taliga decided that he will represent Czechia in the future.

Reason no interest from the Slovak side. (Players playing abroad are not allowed to represent Slovakia)

"At the beginning of the summer, Vladimír Dravecký Jr. joined the Czech national under-18 team. The U16 squad can now benefit from Sebastian Taliga, who is making waves in Finland. The forward grew up in Třinec and Plzeň, and since Slovakia doesn't invite young players from abroad to its national team, this influenced the thinking of both the player and his family toward the Czech Republic. "Nobody spoke to us, so we decided to take a different path," explains the forward's father, Michal Taliga."

@Czechboy

Honestly, that sucks. I'd rather Dravecky and Taliga continue with Slovakia, make NHL and help the Slovak NT. I get both sides... he wants to develop elsewhere and Slovakia won't reward that it seems. Rock and a hard place!

I do know Czechs tried this approach 20 years ago when all our guys went to CHL and they'd purposely leave off the ones that left. It resulted in consistent 6-0 quarterfinal losses.lol Now the Czechs embrace absolutely everybody... hell, in 2 years we will have 2 Slovaks, a USHLer, an NCAAer, CHLer, Liiga, SHL and Extraliga guys. I doubt a NT will have more leagues represented than us.lol

 

[kudla]

Slovak hockey destructing itself, great for international hockey. And maybe czech federation could stop trying to snatch every slovak that has played there.

 

[Antiillafire]

It's confirmed that he already applied for Czech citizenship.

I’m sure if he was playing in the Russian junior league, he would be #1 priority for Slovak federation to represent Slovakia

 

[salwan]

"The Slovak Hockey Federation has not issued any official document stating that it is not interested in young players from abroad. They have simply stopped nominating talented players, who chose to improve outside Slovakia, for the U16 selection. This sends a certain message to their own movement: everyone should stay at home, or else they will be left out at the national level."

galaxy brain policy from satan. great job, thank you.

 

[martygod12]

Honestly, that sucks. I'd rather Dravecky and Taliga continue with Slovakia, make NHL and help the Slovak NT. I get both sides... he wants to develop elsewhere and Slovakia won't reward that it seems. Rock and a hard place!

I do know Czechs tried this approach 20 years ago when all our guys went to CHL and they'd purposely leave off the ones that left. It resulted in consistent 6-0 quarterfinal losses.lol Now the Czechs embrace absolutely everybody... hell, in 2 years we will have 2 Slovaks, a USHLer, an NCAAer, CHLer, Liiga, SHL and Extraliga guys. I doubt a NT will have more leagues represented than us.lol

I mean I like Slovak prospects are getting good again, but I certainly dont mind stealing some of them lol. We also really dont have so many great prospects to just overlook this and be like "cmon guys dont do it, let also the smaller nation have a chance" .. we are still the smaller nation who are behind, so I welcome any prospect who will represent Czechia and has potential to be an NHLer, dont care if he is Czech, Slovak, Hungarian or freakin Australian, the more the merrier lol.

This guy certainly looks very interesting, so great news for us, sucks for Slovaks, but it is what is is. I dont have to write here how many interesting Czech prospects Canadians and Americans stole already lol.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Is he a big loss for Slovakia? I get that he may be able to improve on the players they have, but it doesn’t seem to me like he’s trending towards being a high draft pick in 2027, if he even is to get picked.

 

[Pazucha]

Is he a big loss for Slovakia? I get that he may be able to improve on the players they have, but it doesn’t seem to me like he’s trending towards being a high draft pick in 2027, if he even is to get picked.

Any loss is a big loss for Slovakia. We cant afford losing players even if they never make it to the nhl.