The Tigers draft Adam Sykora 1st Overall
Sykora is listed as 5'11 174 lbs and plays Centre/Left Wing. Last season he played in the Slovakia's mens league, recording 17 points in 46 games and added 5 points in 19 games in the playoffs. His team lost in the Slovakian Finals last season. Sykora will be in his 18 year old season next year.
He has not signed with the Tigers and hasn't committed. He is on record saying he will play where the NHL team that drafts him wants him to play.
NHL Draft
Adam Sykora was picked late in the 2nd round 63rd overall by the New York Rangers.
Scouting Report
Sykora's scouting report says he is an in your face, speedy defensive forward with an insane work ethic. He is great on the Penalty Kill. A "pain in the butt" type player and he models his game after Boston Bruins Brad Marchand. He creates a lot of little turnovers from stealing the puck away from opponents.
A type of player you hate to play against, but teammates love him and are thankful when he is on your team.
I guess we could compare him to former Tiger Derek Dorsett, however Sykora doesn't take many penalties. The scouting reports says Adam Sykora has an elite level work ethic and compete level. He excels in creating turnovers and hunting the puck down from oppositions top players. He could improve his passing decisions and physical strength, but he is reliable getting the puck out of his end.
He is listed as on the "raw side" with the online scouts predicting a bottom 6 potential in the NHL due to his offensive game being a bit raw. His compete level alone could see him playing in the NHL one day.
Important Intangible's
Because Sykora was not signed by the Tigers he isn't under the CHL-NHL agreement. That means he can play AHL at 19. Like I mentioned in the previous post, Picking a player who is 18 next season came with the risk of having a 1 year player who is gone at 19.
Since Sykora's scouting reports list him as raw and a defensive forward, it seems unlikely he would make a jump to the Pro's at 19. The Rangers traditionally give their prospects lots of development time.
The Tigers have had a couple Imports drafted by the Rangers and they have played with the Tigers as 20 year old Imports (Roman Psurny 5th round, and Tomas Kundratek 3rd round). Kundratek played 30 games in the NHL with washington and played 5 seasons in the AHL.
Derek Dorsett a former Ranger seems to be the most comparable Tiger to Sykora with the compete level, although Sykora doesn't take many penalties.
Where Will the Rangers Send Him?
Willie Desjardins - He is known for developing small, fast speedy players. This seems like a match made in heaven for Sykora.
We don't know yet where he will go. It sounds like he will look for a recommendation from the Rangers and go where they recommend.
The Slovakian's Mens' league used to be highly rated, just behind the swedish elite and german elite leagues but that was prior to the KHL. The hockeywriters.com website lists the AHL and OHL as higher quality leagues now.
If you look at the slovakian leagues top canadian players you see a couple former CHL'ers who were mostly 2nd/3rd line players and some players who played Junior A and went the NCAA route. Their are a few players who had good points in the CHL but they've also hopped leagues every couple years with most of them not playing in the swedish/german/russian elite leagues or minor pro in the AHL.
I would think playing in the WHL would give him a better opportunity to develop this offensive game and strength but we will see what the Rangers recommend to him.
Sykora has only played in the Slovakian Junior and men's league within the HK Nitra organization so having him branch out to a different organization could be a good thing for adaptation to the pro's.
The New York Rangers Development Camp
The Rangers just announced their prospect development camp and Sykora is listed on the Roster. We may find out more information after camp on where they want Sykora to play.
I think the chances he comes over are very high. Their Prospect camp concludes July 15th, so it's very possible we'll know more information about this immediate future after camp.
