Progress Reports: HC Moeller Pardubice juniors

We continue our look at the progress of various Czech prospects with players from HC Moeller Pardubice. Included in this batch: Vladislav Koutsky could be a goaltender that draws some interest in the later rounds; Jan Stary has shown some improvement, but is likely not headed to the NHL; and Michal Klejna has shown pro potential and is one to watch for 2006.

Jan Kolar (2005), D

Impresses at first look with his decent size .. possesses an adequate stride and

solid balance, but looks "heavy-footed" on his skates .. needs to upgrade on his

acceleration .. picking up on a quicker first step and backwards speed is important in his progress.. has problems with the speed of quick forwards and isn't at his best when they can make him moving laterally .. a solid force in his own end .. spots his man quickly and takes him out of the play .. possesses a good reach and focuses on playing the opponent in one-on-one situations .. doesn't make many positional mistakes and works hard down low .. an average stick-handler .. displays trouble with handling of difficult passes, especially when asked to use the backhand side of the stick blade .. plays a simple game with the puck, but during this season he got better at recognizing passing lanes and he is now an adequate passer .. fires a hard shot from the point which he can get off quickly, but needs to upgrade on accuracy and keep it lower .. a resistant player willing to use his frame, but needs to learn how to use it to his advantage and become a more constant physical presence .. a solid hitter in one game before playing very "friendly" along the boards in the next game .. a late '86 born player .. a fringe NHL prospect.

Vaclav Lesak (2005), D

An average skater who has trouble with fast-paced games thanks to his slower lateral movement and agility .. possesses a solid balance and lower-body strength .. shows decent straightaway speed and showed progress in his first-step acceleration during the last two seasons, but still needs to be faster .. needs to gain more maturity and recognize when to stay back and when to join the rush .. an adequate puck-handler and makes solid short passes .. longer passes can cause trouble for him, as

occasional breakdowns lead to some risky plays .. his slap shot is hard, but needs to keep it lower so it can be more easily tipped .. his defensive game is affected by his lack of skating skills and a penchant for the odd positional breakdown when the play gets fast or when he misreads the need to join the rush .. when on his game, he can be a solid force along the boards and throws okay hits, but he keeps his mean streak hidden in numerous games .. is adequate in clearing the crease and playing in one-on-one situations, but gets beaten wide .. an outside shot at best to get drafted.

Daniel Rakos (2005), C

A decent skater with a solid acceleration and balance .. possesses okay lower-body strength, but a bigger top-end speed is still a must for him .. shows reserves in his agility .. a belligerent player who works hard in all three zones .. is willing to dig for the pucks in the corners and play in traffic .. emerges as a decent hitter

when willing to show his mean streak, but doesn't finish all of his checks .. shows a solid defensive awareness as he returns to his own end in time to help out the defense and block the opposing passing lanes .. the main knock against him is his lack of offensive instincts and game thought .. doesn't read the plays well and isn't an effective passer .. an average stick-handler who can't dangle the puck in

traffic .. doesn't have a good hand-eye coordination, which limits his potential .. hands and handling of passes have a way to go before they can be called good .. possesses an adequate variety of shots, but needs to upgrade on his in-close finishing skills .. fires a snap shot which is mildly hard, but not very accurate .. needs to use his slap shot to a bigger extent .. won't get drafted.

Milos Havrda (2005), D

An adequate skater for a player of his size, but lacks an extra gear and first-step quickness .. good balance and lower-body strength .. needs to upgrade on his turns and lateral movement .. a defense-first blueliner .. focuses on the play in his own end and doesn't look flashy .. conscientious defensive play, stays with his man .. average stick-handling skills .. deals solidly with passes, but doesn't look smooth working with the puck .. once on the puck looks for the safe play, rather dishing it off and trying to find a possible passing lane .. limited offensive potential because of average vision and reading of plays .. solid, hard shot from the point needs to be kept lower on the ice .. even if he is blessed with decent size, he doesn't use it to his advantage .. doesn't hit the players hard along the boards and is only an average crease-clearer .. a late '86 born player .. won't be selected in the draft.

Michal Rejzek (2005), D

A decent skater, but a smallish blueliner like him still could use better wheels .. uses a short quick stride which can make him move fast, but top-end speed doesn't stand out .. okay agility and lateral movement .. solid turns .. sub-par balance, gets knocked off his feet too often .. average puckhandling ability .. doesn't move the puck out of his own end very often .. solid passer in close, but misses long passing lanes in order to make the safe play .. shot from the point needs to be harder .. prone to fuzzy positional play in his own end .. should stay with his man and not try to be everywhere .. gets out-powered because of his lack of size and shows trouble when battling sized opponents .. plays more of a finesse style .. doesn't have the talent to be considered for the draft.

Jakub Nakladal (2006), D

A solid skater who displays decent speed and a solid stride .. lateral movement and agility are at a level where he can handle most opposing forwards well .. could still use more balance and lower-body strength in his play .. possesses a solid offensive flair and doesn't hesitate to join the rush .. a solid right-shooting stick-handler who can make passes from both sides of his stick. .. defensive stick-handling is solid and he is decent at pinching the pucks from the opponents .. has adequate vision which enables him to make solid passes .. needs to work on his positional play and stay with his man all the way .. fires an accurate shot from the point, but it has to be harder .. the biggest knock against him is his lack of physical assertiveness .. doesn't play a tough style and relies on his finesse way more than on toughness .. big forwards cause him trouble as he doesn't have the strength to outmuscle them yet .. needs to upgrade on his crease-clearing abilities and work harder down low .. a late 1987 born defenseman .. shoots right .. a fringe

NHL prospect.

Michal Klejna (2006), RW

An offensive winger with good skating skills .. possesses a fluid stride and solid bursts of speed .. shows an okay first-step quickness and top-end speed along with solid agility .. could use more balance on his skates as he is still gets knocked down too easily .. a tricky puck-handler with solid hand-eye coordination .. handles the puck smoothly and is an okay force in one-on-one situations .. more of a selfish player who needs to learn how to use his linemates more often .. even if he is capable of crisp accurate passes, he is greedy when it comes to puck possession during too many shifts and he tries to deke his way to the opposing goal .. unleashes primarily a quick accurate wrist shot, but has a solid variety of shots .. doesn't show a commitment to defensive play and needs to mark his man faster in the defensive zone .. doesn't have visible problems with the opponents playing his body, but isn't a player who throws hits every shift .. a late '87 born player .. overall he is a prospect who shows pro potential and is a player to watch in the next season.

Ondrej Sula (2006), RW

A diminutive right winger .. above-average skating skills .. keeps his feet moving and shows solid bursts of speed .. sharp agility .. okay top-end speed .. average balance, tends to get pushed around by bigger players .. a swift puck-handler who likes to make numerous dekes against opposing players .. more of a passer than a shooter .. needs to be more calm once in the offensive zone and avoid precipitous and inaccurate passes .. should fire the pucks more often .. uses primarily the wrist or snap shot over the slap shot .. a quick release on his wrist shot helps him get the drop on the defender .. sub-par defensive play .. intensity and interest drops in his own end .. marks his man slowly .. doesn't thrive in heavy traffic .. isn't the same force when opponents start to play his body .. a finesse winger who doesn't finish his checks .. a late '87 born player .. has some flashy skills, but the sum of the parts looks to be too soft

for the NHL.

Jan Stary (undrafted), C

The main knock against him is his below average skating skills, even if he was able to pick it up a bit over the summer and upgrade on agility and acceleration .. still needs a more effective stride and a higher top-end speed .. skating has a long way to go before it could be called NHL-caliber .. his strongest assets are his soft hands and a smooth ability to control the puck .. a playmaking forward with solid vision and a good passer .. needs to learn not to over-handle the puck and also stay more in his position .. can bring the opposing defensemen out of position with his nifty moves and possesses a good awareness of his linemates on the ice .. fires an accurate wrist shot which he can get off quickly .. slap shot needs to be harder and more accurate and he should generally use it more often .. solid in the face-off circle and is used by his coach to take all the key draws .. adequate in filling his defensive duties, but still needs to mark his man more quickly and play a better positional game in his own end .. isn't a player who would crash the net or initiate lots of physical contact .. relies more on his skills than toughness .. doesn't get very rattled when the opponents play his body .. has shown improvement, but looks to be Europe-bound.

Vladislav Koutsky (undrafted), G

A poised goaltender with solid size .. plays more of an unorthodox style, using every part of the body to stop the puck .. won't jump at you with blistering dexterity, but finds a way to make the solid save .. a solid skater with decent lateral movement .. needs to learn how to stay square to the shooter more often and play better in position .. possesses strong reflexes and is solid at anticipating the plays .. tough to beat on the initial shot and displays a solid control of the rebounds .. needs to work on his stick-handling skills as he doesn't move the puck very often and focuses on just stopping the puck ..has done a nice job of improving his focus over recent years and not only doesn't let a bad goal bother him, but he's also stepping up in key situations.. a prospect to look at in the late rounds of the draft.