Slovaks of the NHL (July 1st update)

[Elvs]

Slovakia's demise (and hopefully soon turnaround) has become a big interest of mine. In this thread, we'll discuss Slovaks currently signed by NHL teams. Below is what the situation looks like prior to the 2024/2025 season:

Contracted players:

Pos	Name	Club	Born	Sho/Cat	Height	Weight	Salary & Term
C	Dalibor Dvorsky		2005	Left	185 cm	92 kg	$920k (2027 RFA)
C	Samuel Honzek		2004	Left	190 cm	82 kg	$920k (2027 RFA)
W	Martin Chromiak		2002	Right	183 cm	86 kg	$820k (2025 RFA)
W	Jakub Demek		2003	Left	193 cm	92 kg	$850k (2026 RFA)
W	Milos Kelemen		1999	Left	188 cm	96 kg	$775 (2025 UFA)
W	Filip Mesar		2004	Right	178 cm	78 kg	$890k (2027 RFA)
W	Martin Misiak		2004	Left	186 cm	91 kg	$880k (2027 RFA)
W	Oliver Okuliar		2000	Left	187 cm	86 kg	$870k (2025 RFA)
W	Juraj Pekarcik		2005	Left	187 cm	85 kg	870k (2027 RFA)
W	Martin Pospisil		1999	Left	188 cm	88 kg	$1.0 mil (2026 RFA)
W	Pavol Regenda		1999	Left	193 cm	96 kg	$775k (2025 UFA)
W	Juraj Slafkovsky		2004	Left	191 cm	108 kg	$7.6 mil (2033 UFA)
W	Adam Sykora		2004	Left	180 cm	78 kg	$810k (2027 RFA)
W	Tomas Tatar		1990	Left	179 cm	78 kg	$1.8 mil (2025 UFA)
D	Erik Cernak		1997	Right	192 cm	102 kg	$5.2 mil (2031 UFA)
D	Martin Fehervary		1999	Left	188 cm	92 kg	$2.7 mil (2026 RFA)
D	Samuel Knazko		2002	Left	186 cm	86 kg	$850k (2025 RFA)
D	Viliam Kmec		2004	Right	191 cm	95 kg	$833k (2027 RFA)
D	Patrik Koch		1996	Left	186 cm	86 kg	$775k (2025 UFA)
D	Simon Nemec		2004	Right	185 cm	86 kg	$920k (2026 RFA)
G	Samuel Hlavaj		2001	Left	193 cm	99 kg	$875k (2026 RFA)

Drafted prospects:

Position	Name	Club	Drafted	Born	Sho/Cat	Height	Weight
C	Servac Petrovsky		6th round 2022 (#185)	2004	Left	181 cm	86 kg
W	Alex Ciernik		4th round 2023 (#120)	2004	Left	178 cm	81 kg
W	Maros Jedlicka		7th round 2023 (#219)	2002	Left	189 cm	90 kg
W	Miroslav Satan		7th round 2024 (#212)	2006	Left	201 cm	86 kg
W	Adam Zlnka		7th round 2022 (#204)	2004	Right	183 cm	80 kg
D	Maxim Strbak		2nd round 2023 (#45)	2005	Right	187 cm	86 kg
G	Adam Gajan		2nd round 2023 (#35)	2004	Left	190 cm	85 kg

Click to read more...

 

[Elvs]

Not counting LTIR players Hossa and Gaborik, Slovakia had 16 players signed to NHL contracts in the beginning of the 2018/2019 season, though the number quickly dropped to 14 once Martin Bakos (Boston) and Michal Cajkovsky (Carolina) agreed to terminate their contracts and returned to Europe. So far this offseason Martin Pospisil, Adam Ruzicka and Adam Huska have been signed to ELC's. With a total of 11 players under contract currently, the final number should end up well above 14. Possibly, we're looking at the most amount of Slovaks signed in several years.

 

[MartinS82]

This is interesting.

Not long ago seemed like the "Golden Age" of Slovakian hockey: Hossa, Chara, Demitra, Satan, Palffy, Stumpel, Lubo, Handzus, Gaborik, Bondra, etc. (I know I am missing some, or they don't overlap, but this is off the top of my head). What happened?

 

[CH]

This is interesting.

Not long ago seemed like the "Golden Age" of Slovakian hockey: Hossa, Chara, Demitra, Satan, Palffy, Stumpel, Lubo, Handzus, Gaborik, Bondra, etc. (I know I am missing some, or they don't overlap, but this is off the top of my head). What happened?

I think the biggest thing that happened is Slovakia left Czechoslovakia. This stressed the finances of both countries and it hurt their minor hockey systems. It made the pipeline to the NHL much more leaky. The star players that you name were well on their path when that happened. The younger players who are came to the NHL over the last decade or so came to the NHL came through a weakened system. Add to this the KHL which gives the Slovak players a place to play closer to home. It has kept players from the NHL if they don't get the right position in the NHL. The HC Slovan Bratislava team gives them a place to play but it also gives them a place to grow young talent. That is why there are young players who are potentially coming to the NHL for next year.

 

[alko]

I think the biggest thing that happened is Slovakia left Czechoslovakia.

According to this theorem, at the beginning of the 90s we would have regular 30 - 40 NHL players. And how much we had? For example in the famous 92/93 season we had only 3 with more than 60 games and 5 overall.

So, what i want to say is, there are ups and downs. And now we are in the downs.

 

[MartinS82]

According to this theorem, at the beginning of the 90s we would have regular 30 - 40 NHL players. And how much we had? For example in the famous 92/93 season we had only 3 with more than 60 games and 5 overall.

So, what i want to say is, there are ups and downs. And now we are in the downs.

I am sure you guys know more on this subject -

But I know as late as 1990 (with Jagr and Nedved) that Czechoslovakia was still not allowing it's players to come to the NHL freely. So wouldn't it take a few years before these players started showing up in the NHL in larger numbers?

 

[SuperScript29]

I think the Slovakians in general might have benefited from being part of Czechoslovakia (In sports I'm talking). The best player drafted since the year 2000 is Tomas Tatar, let that sink in for a bit.

Oddly enough, my wife's cousin is married to a Slovakian woman, and this past week I spoke to one of her relatives in a birthday party who is a big hockey fan. He mentioned that there's some serious corruption in Slovakian hockey at the moment. He said that a lot of players come from rich families and they're paying their way to the top. Not sure how accurate that is, but sounded interesting nevertheless.

 

[Elvs]

I think the Slovakians in general might have benefited from being part of Czechoslovakia (In sports I'm talking). The best player drafted since the year 2000 is Tomas Tatar, let that sink in for a bit.

Oddly enough, my wife's cousin is married to a Slovakian woman, and this past week I spoke to one of her relatives in a birthday party who is a big hockey fan. He mentioned that there's some serious corruption in Slovakian hockey at the moment. He said that a lot of players come from rich families and they're paying their way to the top. Not sure how accurate that is, but sounded interesting nevertheless.

The corruption should hopefully be history now. The Slovak hockey federation has been replaced with a new one, and former players such as Miroslav Satan, Michal Handzus and Jan Lasak are involved in getting the development program back on track. But yes, there seems to have been systematic corruption recently. Even the local newspaper I work for in Sweden made a little story on it a handful of years ago. A slovak player, Alex Vyhonsky is his name, came here on a tryout and told how young Slovak players were seeking better oppurtunies in other counries because of corrupted leaders in Slovak hockey.

 

[alko]

I am sure you guys know more on this subject -

But I know as late as 1990 (with Jagr and Nedved) that Czechoslovakia was still not allowing it's players to come to the NHL freely. So wouldn't it take a few years before these players started showing up in the NHL in larger numbers?

No. It was (is) still about the quality.

I think the Slovakians in general might have benefited from being part of Czechoslovakia (In sports I'm talking). The best player drafted since the year 2000 is Tomas Tatar, let that sink in for a bit.

Oddly enough, my wife's cousin is married to a Slovakian woman, and this past week I spoke to one of her relatives in a birthday party who is a big hockey fan. He mentioned that there's some serious corruption in Slovakian hockey at the moment. He said that a lot of players come from rich families and they're paying their way to the top. Not sure how accurate that is, but sounded interesting nevertheless.

The corruption should hopefully be history now. The Slovak hockey federation has been replaced with a new one, and former players such as Miroslav Satan, Michal Handzus and Jan Lasak are involved in getting the development program back on track. But yes, there seems to have been systematic corruption recently. Even the local newspaper I work for in Sweden made a little story on it a handful of years ago. A slovak player, Alex Vyhonsky is his name, came here on a tryout and told how young Slovak players were seeking better oppurtunies in other counries because of corrupted leaders in Slovak hockey.

Corruption was, is and will be a issue. To say, that this problem is a history, is from fantasy land.

 

[stastny12]

Durny is already signed. Great resume, though.

 

[Elvs]

Durny is already signed. Great resume, though.

Not signed to an NHL contract. He signed an amateur try out deal with San Diego of the AHL

 

[traffic cone]

Such a clear and informational original post. And a good topic in general also.

I’m not Slovakian, but this is great work OP.

 

[slovakiasnextone]

The corruption should hopefully be history now. The Slovak hockey federation has been replaced with a new one, and former players such as Miroslav Satan, Michal Handzus and Jan Lasak are involved in getting the development program back on track. But yes, there seems to have been systematic corruption recently. Even the local newspaper I work for in Sweden made a little story on it a handful of years ago. A slovak player, Alex Vyhonsky is his name, came here on a tryout and told how young Slovak players were seeking better oppurtunies in other counries because of corrupted leaders in Slovak hockey.

Corruption will continue to be an issue, because it is not an issue that is on federation level only, but one that has much deeper roots not only in hockey or sports, but in society in general.

The current SZLH leadership's term will expire in June this year and it's not confirmed that they will continue yet.

They have done some good things in the past three years - brought foreign experts such as Ramsey or Tiikkaja in, there were some infrastructure improvements, improved marketing which brought new sponsors, new system of giving out money to the clubs based on merits that the clubs seem to consider pretty just, new IT system for player registration that the clubs like.

Still, they have not been without their scandals - see this years WJC. Also there seems to be a tendency to include former players in positions that would be better suited for experts to fill.

Also, they have not delivered on some of their biggest promises yet. It was not realistic to expect them to deliver in such a short time preiod, but it was them who said they would deliver.

One of their projects was building small rinks (with 20x40 ice surface) and they should have built dozens of them by now and they will only finish the first one this fall.

Same with hockey academies, pilot project in Trencin will start only in 2019/2020 next season and some other clubs see this as Trencin gaining an unfair advantage over them.

3 years was a short time for them anyway, and they would need several more years in order for us to see any results.

 

[Treb]

I still have some hope for Martin Reway. Even just the fact that he's still able to play professionnal hockey after what happened to him is impressive. Hopefully he can continue climbing back up to where he was in 2016.

 

[alko]

Even just the fact that he's still able to play professionnal hockey after what happened to him is impressive.

That is very questionable now. You can hear here and there some rumors, nothing confirmed, that his old demons dont disappeared. And we dont know, how fit he is. Maybe the guys from Tingsryds AIF know it, but they dont want to say it.

 

[MrThomas]

Slovakia is maybe not even top10 country in ice hockey yet. Hope the game will get bigger there also some day!

 

[alko]

Slovakia is maybe not even top10 country in ice hockey yet. Hope the game will get bigger there also some day!

Common, that is too harsh.

 

[SuperScript29]

Slovakia is maybe not even top10 country in ice hockey yet. Hope the game will get bigger there also some day!

They're definitely in the top-10, the following teams are obviously ahead of everyone by quite a bit:

Canada
USA
Russia
Sweden
Finland
Czech Rep

Then the next tier would be Slovakia, Switzerland, and Germany.

 

[beakerboy]

Still, they have not been without their scandals - see this years WJC. Also there seems to be a tendency to include former players in positions that would be better suited for experts to fill.

Prospect Info: - Martin Pospisil: 2018 4th round, 105th overall

I don't know if that link works, but there was some discussion of the scandal around the WJC where Martin Pospisil slammed the organization and coach on facebook after it ended.

 

[slovakiasnextone]

Prospect Info: - Martin Pospisil: 2018 4th round, 105th overall

I don't know if that link works, but there was some discussion of the scandal around the WJC where Martin Pospisil slammed the organization and coach on facebook after it ended.

Yeah, and it wasn't just him. Milos Fafrak also said similar things.

Some players have given up hockey for good after that tourney, one of them being D-man Martin Kupec. There was an interview with a person from the management of his Slovak home club Banska Bystrica and what they said was that they talked to him for hours trying to convince him not to give up, but didn't succeed. They said that Kupec has confirmed some things that Pospisil/Fafrak said, denied others.

Still, that doesn't speak very well about the atmosphere around the WJC team, especially when you compared it to the good atmosphere the same birth year seemed to have on home U18 IHWC 2 years ago.

 

[Outofbodyinhungary]

There always seems to be scandals in Slovak sport. Funny enough it’s always the players or the staff and those in charge. Never the fans. Sorry but I agree with @Jakub1904 on what he has been saying. This is all false hope. It’s like a magic show where the magician shows an illusion, and behind reveals the degeneration. Even the best Slovak prospects are miles behind the big 5, on pretty much every front. Instead of punishment, incompetence is rewarded here. Slovak players prefer to look good on the ice, rather than actually care about result of the game.

 

[slovakiasnextone]

There always seems to be scandals in Slovak sport. Funny enough it’s always the players or the staff and those in charge. Never the fans. Sorry but I agree with @Jakub1904 on what he has been saying. This is all false hope. It’s like a magic show where the magician shows an illusion, and behind reveals the degeneration. Even the best Slovak prospects are miles behind the big 5, on pretty much every front. Instead of punishment, incompetence is rewarded here. Slovak players prefer to look good on the ice, rather than actually care about result of the game.

Really? I am pretty sure it were some fans who were throwing bottles and whistling at Canadian anthem last week. And everyone acknowledged that.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

This is interesting.

Not long ago seemed like the "Golden Age" of Slovakian hockey: Hossa, Chara, Demitra, Satan, Palffy, Stumpel, Lubo, Handzus, Gaborik, Bondra, etc. (I know I am missing some, or they don't overlap, but this is off the top of my head). What happened?

TIL Bondra was/is Slovakian.

Whoops.

 

[karhukissa]

They're definitely in the top-10, the following teams are obviously ahead of everyone by quite a bit:

Canada
USA
Russia
Sweden
Finland
Czech Rep

Then the next tier would be Slovakia, Switzerland, and Germany.

It was a bit harsh from him, but in reality Slovakia barely is a top-10 country. Gap between countries like Denmark/Latvia and Slovakia is smaller than Slovakia and Czech for example. In my opinion:

Canada
USA
Russia
Sweden
Finland

Czech

Switzerland
Germany
Slovakia
Denmark

 

[Elvs]

It was a bit harsh from him, but in reality Slovakia barely is a top-10 country. Gap between countries like Denmark/Latvia and Slovakia is smaller than Slovakia and Czech for example. In my opinion:

Canada
USA
Russia
Sweden
Finland

Czech

Switzerland
Germany
Slovakia
Denmark

I'd take Slovakia at 8th still quite comfortably above Germany. They don't have a Draisaitl, but they are deeper on offence and a ton stronger on defence. Both nations are well off in net with Halak and Greiss/Grubauer.

This is of course if we are talking right now, best on best. Germany has a more promising future with better young core players at this point.