RW Christopher Tayler Podkonicky - HKM Zvolen U18, Slovakia U18 (Draft 2028)

[Martinez89]

Late 2009 born big winger, so still 14 y.o. and already captain of Slovak national U16 team. He is a member of a big hockey family (grandfather, dad, brother are/were hockey players) where especially his dad Andrej Podkonicky was successful in hockey. He played 3 World Championships for Slovakia and also got the taste of the NHL - scored 1 goal in 8 games.

Christopher Tayler is off to good start in the league this season (8 points in 4 games) but points in Slovak U18 means almost nothing so it´s mainly his combination of very rare skills for Slovak prospect what makes him very interesting in my eyes. He´s still very raw but owns the combination of almost all the most important skills for success at higher levels. He has the size, is really excellent skater for his size and age and is competitive and has passion for the game. And what I like about him is more - his stickhandling is good, he has "it" factor and often you can see nifty plays from him, he has a long reach and is very good in forcing turnovers with his long stick or his shot is really hard.

He´s a bit proven on international stage also. Five months ago he led the Slovak U15 team (without Ozogany and Valek) to winning tournament in Salzburg (they beat Czechs in the final) as a most productive player or last month he looked good in U16 4 Nations tournament in Fussen. He was over .ppg there and was our 2nd best player after Matus Valek, but is also 9 months younger than him. Interesting thing is that in national team he plays 1C and in his club plays winger.

But of course, not everything is great with him. Obviously, there is no such young prospect without question marks. Is his dominance over his peers caused mainly by his better physical development so far? Or will he be able to process the game when the game-speed will be higher? Because it´s fair to say his hockey IQ is just mediocre at this point of his career. You often see him shooting from non-dangerous areas or sometimes passes to his teammates into the pressure positions.

Strengths : size, skating, speed, work ethic, stickhandling, shot power, competitiveness

Room for improvement : hockey IQ - decision making, consistency

Stylistic comparision : Quinton Byfield

Christopher Tayler Podkonicky - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

To be honest, last year I wasn´t very high on him and I was unable to recognize his full potential. Probably my fault, because right now it´s the more I watch him the more I like him.

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[Martinez89]

He will make his debut for Zvolen in Extraliga tomorrow as the youngest player in history. Ironically, he´ll break the record held by his own father for more than 30 years...