![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Tomas-Chrenko-scaled-e1762204241927.jpg\")
Tom\u00e1\u0161 Chrenko<\/p>\n\t\tTom\u00e1\u0161 Chrenko<\/p>\n
Time for another series at McKeen\u2019s from our scouting staff. The 2026 NHL Draft season is well under way and our scouts have been busy soaking in the action around the globe. Analyzing early season play can be difficult; perhaps even a bit of a ruse. Hot starts aren\u2019t always sustainable and cold starts are not always indicative. However, players can still catch our attention in positive ways and that\u2019s what this series intends to highlight.<\/p>\n
This is CENTRAL EUROPE<\/p>\n
Matej Deraj \u2013 Regional Central European Scout
\nTom\u00e1\u0161 Chrenko
\nCenter\/Right Wing \u2013 HK Nitra (Slovakia)
\n5-foot-11, 170 pounds, Shoots: R<\/p>\n
Chrenko is probably the highest-touted Slovak prospect for the upcoming draft, having been noted as a potential first round talent. He\u00b4s playing in the highest Slovak division with solid production, even playing some minutes on the powerplay. The even strength deployment is not amazing, since he’s been playing on the fourth line for essentially the whole season (usually 11 to 14 minutes a game), but the powerplay usage is encouraging.<\/p>\n
Chrenko is mostly known for his hockey IQ. He\u00b4s smart and creative with the puck, creates a lot of chances for his teammates and controls the pace of the play. He\u00b4s able to use his smarts against men in a professional league. Although the production isn\u00b4t amazing (approximately a 0.5 point per game), it\u00b4s still decent. He\u00b4s a confident playmaker with soft hands.<\/p>\n
Skating is one of his biggest strengths, he\u00b4s quick and agile, smooth on the edges, uses his speed to escape the pressure and create chances. It obviously comes with the bigger ice advantage in Europe \u2013 he may not be able to use his feet to gain speed in the neutral zone so much when playing in North America, but he\u00b4s agile and elusive, so he has no problem with his movement.<\/p>\n
As an offensive forward, Chrenko should work on his defensive effort, and the main concern with him is the lack of size. Even though he does have some bite to his game, he\u00b4s an undersized center who ideally profiles as a top-six player, which is not a very popular archetype. He does have the potential to become an important player in the NHL one day, but he\u00b4s fighting an uphill battle. Nevertheless, the potential is immense and should be an early round pick.<\/p>\n
#29 in blue<\/p>\n
Chrenko slips past defenders and finds an open space for him, receives a pass and goes to the net. At the last moment, he passes the puck to an open teammate who has no problem scoring. Great selfless play, this is what happens when you give Chrenko so much time and space.<\/p>\n
#29 in white<\/p>\n
Chrenko competes hard for the puck, but his smaller frame is not giving him any favors. When his team gains possession, he loses the puck and Nitra faces a 3-on-2 breakaway, but Chrenko is able to match the F3 to even the situation. The clip ends with him getting in the face of an opposing player who boarded one of his teammates, so a very welcoming display of feistiness.<\/p>\n
#29 in blue<\/p>\n
Chrenko can do so much when given open space, but he\u00b4s also able to overcome more difficult situations. He quickly gains speed in this clip, makes a nice move to lose the first opponent and enters the zone, then shoots the puck from distance trying to surprise the goalie and even tracks the rebound at the boards.<\/p>\n
#29 in blue<\/p>\n
He stands out due to his hockey IQ and quick thinking. In this clip, he supports the puck-carrying forward, gets the puck and makes a quick turn. He immediately identifies a potential scoring chance and sends the puck to a teammate, who doesn\u00b4t bury it.<\/p>\n
Adam Nemec
\nLeft Wing \u2013 HK Nitra (Slovakia)
\n6-foot-1, 176 pounds, Shoots: L<\/p>\n
Adam Nemec is the younger brother of Devils\u00b4 defenseman \u0160imon Nemec and just like his sibling, he\u00b4s also a talented player for Slovakia. Unlike his brother, Adam is a forward, and most likely won\u00b4t be the second overall pick. Nevertheless, he\u00b4s still an intriguing player. He’s playing on HK Nitra\u00b4s fourth line along other 2026 prospect Tom\u00e1\u0161 Chrenko and gets some shorthanded minutes.<\/p>\n
Nemec is a smart winger who won\u00b4t amaze you on the first sight with his hockey IQ, but he plays a detail-oriented game and does a lot of small things right. He has great space awareness in the offensive zone and gets himself in dangerous areas to score from. He\u00b4s more of a shooter than a playmaker and scores even from the net front area, although he’s not the biggest player at 6-foot-1 he\u00b4s still a bit lanky and will add more muscle in the future.<\/p>\n
Nemec has had issues with his skating in the past but continues to improve his movement and now he\u00b4s able to play in a faster system, although I still wouldn\u00b4t consider his skating as a main asset. His effort level is great, he\u00b4s dangerous on the forecheck, finishes his checks and works well in the defensive zone. He plays with enough physicality and intensity, and it will be even better when he adds more muscle to his frame.<\/p>\n
There might be some questions about his projection. He\u00b4s a versatile player who doesn\u00b4t necessarily excel in any area, but competes high, has a decent hockey IQ and can provide a team with enough scoring. I see a middle-six winger able to play on both special teams in Adam Nemec.<\/p>\n
#18 in blue<\/p>\n
Nemec helps his team to gain the puck with a couple of stick checks and then sprints towards the goal. Suddenly it\u00b4s a 2-on-1 breakaway when he absolutely loses the backchecking forward. He receives the pass and is able to put the puck behind the goalie even with his skate. It\u00b4s mostly the things he has done before the goal that I appreciate.<\/p>\n
#21 in blue<\/p>\n
I like this goal from Nemec. Nothing overly complicated \u2013 he waits for the puck in the right spot and gets it. Quick turn, quick shot and it\u00b4s a goal.<\/p>\n
#18 in blue<\/p>\n
Good stint in the offensive zone. Nemec goes to the net, is able to retrieve the puck and then waits in line to tip the shot from the blue line. Later, he\u00b4s again able to retrieve it along the boards and goes to position himself in front of the net. Good movement in the offensive zone.<\/p>\n
#18 in blue<\/p>\n
Nemec has the potential to be a physical forward but needs to gain a lot of muscle. In this clip, he competes and takes the puck on the forecheck, but even a slight contact along the boards can throw him off.<\/p>\n
Adam Goljer
\nDefenseman \u2013 Dukla Tren\u010d\u00edn (Slovakia)
\n6-foot-3, 194 pounds, Shoots: R<\/p>\n
Goljer is a prospect who doesn’t get the same attention as other top 2026 names from Slovakia – Tom\u00e1\u0161 Chrenko, Adam Nemec or Tobias Tom\u00edk \u2013 but he\u00b4s an intriguing player with great tools. As a 6-foot-3 right-handed defenseman who plays well with the puck and displays some leadership qualities, he should get a lot of interest from NHL teams. He’s playing in Slovak top tier league with Dukla Tren\u010d\u00edn, usually skating about 15 minutes a night.<\/p>\n
Goljer displays a lot of confidence in his game, especially with the puck on his stick. He\u00b4s calm, doesn\u00b4t throw pucks away, but tries to create plays and support the offense. A strong player on the breakouts and retrievals. He likes to jump to the rush or create plays while skating from his own zone. Defensively, he works well with his stick and uses his reach. He plays as a typical two-way defenseman.<\/p>\n
His size (6-foot-3, 194 pounds) is definitely an advantage, but he\u00b4s not an overly physical player \u2013 that\u00b4s an aspect of his game he can work on, because he definitely has the potential. Goljer competes hard enough, has some bite to his game and wins battles, but adding more physical edge to his game would make him even tougher to play against.<\/p>\n
Goljer is not a flashy prospect as aforementioned Chrenko or Nemec, but his profile might be even more intriguing. There have been some defensemen in Slovakia with his size and handiness, but Goljer has far more superior puck skills, skating and smarts to his game. He is a very projectable defenseman and has a lot of tools NHL teams like. He could grow into a reliable bottom-four blueliner with solid two-way skills.<\/p>\n
#8 in maroon<\/p>\n
Goljer gets to the puck behind his net first, retrieves it and withstands all attempts from the forechecking forward to strip him of the puck. He gains some space and passes to a teammate, then continues to the offensive zone while being supported from the back.<\/p>\n
#8 in yellow<\/p>\n
Goljer displays good awareness and solid puck skills in this clip, he gets the puck, makes a quick turn and sends it to his teammate, and it\u00b4s suddenly a 2-on-1 chance. Good thinking on Goljer\u00b4s side, simple play which helps to create a potentially dangerous chance.<\/p>\n
#22 in white<\/p>\n
Goljer uses his reach and long stick well. In this clip, he has the advantage since the opposing forward had no chance to gain speed directly after the draw. Goljer uses his stick and then the size advantage to pin the smaller opponent against the boards.<\/p>\n
#22 in white<\/p>\n
While I admire Goljer\u00b4s confidence and effort to try hold the puck and create something, sometimes, he overcomplicates situations and that can lead to preventable puck losses, just like in this case. Combine it with poor defensive effort and you basically stripped yourself of the puck.<\/p>\n
Chapin Landvogt – Central European Regional Scout
\nSimas Ignatavicius
\nCenter\/Wing – Gen\u00e8ve-Servette HC (NL)
\n6-foot-3, 180 pounds<\/p>\n
As the season unfolds this fall on the Central European front, there\u2019s no one player we\u2019re more enamored with than Geneva\u2019s recently turned 17-year-old forward Simas Ignatavicius. Yes, as international a place as Switzerland is, even that name is one foreign to the natives, as Ignatavicius hails from Lithuania, granted this is his sixth season playing in Switzerland. In fact, he was actually born in Memphis, Tennessee, but that\u2019s a story for another day.<\/p>\n
The most important thing you need to know is that he\u2019s already 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds and has surprisingly made his way onto an NL roster at the age of 16, doing so in a matter that has surely put a smirk on the face of plenty of scouts.<\/p>\n
Why is that you might ask?<\/p>\n
Put simply, Ignatavicius (#80) has been running around out there throwing his weight all over the place, often with reckless abandon. Case in point, this recent shift in which he charged (yes, that might be grounds for charging in many a league) his way across a great distance at the end of his shift in order to nail an opponent, only to give it to the guy again seconds later.<\/p>\n
Heck, in this scenario, he\u2019s given a breakout pass in transition and moves up the ice looking like a prime take-me-out target only to dump the puck in the opposition zone in the nick of time and then toss his would-be checker. Dandy!<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve also loved that he\u2019s quickly shown himself to be ready to do anything to stick in the line-up. With shot-blocks like these, it\u2019s no wonder he\u2019s been seeing his minutes go from fourth to third line TOIs in recent games.<\/p>\n
Curiously though, he caught our eyes already last season while playing for the club\u2019s U21 team and at the DIIA U20 Worlds, where, as a 16-year-old, he collected a gaudy six goals and 14 points in five games, wiping out the competition. That tournament alone is a highlight reel of his abilities, but a key is to know that he\u2019s just recently started putting them on display at the NL level, having collected three points in his last four games. They certainly haven\u2019t all been beauties, but this assist came at a vital juncture in the game and was indicative of the plays we\u2019re becoming accustomed to.<\/p>\n
Already at the junior level last season (#17), he started making a name for himself as a clutch player in overtime. This tally wasn\u2019t his best but we feel it\u2019s a bit indicative of why he\u2019s not only been given the Ovechkin spot on the power play in recent years but also carries the moniker of being more a sniper than anything else, even if he usually has as many assists as goals when all is said and done.<\/p>\n
Maxim Eliseev
\nWing – RB Hockey Juniors (AlpsHL)
\n5-foot-10, 180 pounds<\/p>\n
Now, it wasn\u2019t all that many years ago that we were gushing about German forward Julian Lutz as an underager at the Red Bull Academy in Salzburg, playing – and scoring – against men in the AlpsHL. He has since become an early draft pick of the, well, Utah Mammoths organization and is currently plying his trade in the AHL. Since then, we\u2019ve watched a number of other talents there we\u2019ve liked, with particularly Maks Szuber and Vitali Zelenov jumping out at us, both of whom become late round NHL picks (Utah and Buffalo respectively).<\/p>\n
Alas, it hasn\u2019t been since Lutz that we were so enamored with an RB Juniors forward than we are now with current overager Maxim Eliseev. Yes, he\u2019s an overager and is a Finnish player of Russian descent. And yes, he\u2019s turning 20 in just a couple of weeks, so he\u2019s apparently been around. But what we\u2019ve been seeing has really caught our attention as the 19-year-old is leading the league in goals (11) and points (20) while just one point behind the league leader in +\/- (+11). And the way he\u2019s gone about collecting those points has been more fantastic and authoritative than not. He\u2019s been a highlight reel machine.<\/p>\n
The beauty of it is that he played for Finland at the 2023 U18 Worlds in Germany and then proceeded to rack up two nice, but unspectacular U20-league seasons in Finland, coming into this season with just eight games of pro play experience (4 points) in the Mestis, Finland\u2019s second tier pro circuit. We don\u2019t know what he\u2019s done this summer or if there\u2019s just been some magic in that Austrian water, because he\u2019s been playing absolutely electric for weeks now.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a bit of what we are seeing on a day-in, day-out basis.<\/p>\n
Eliseev dangles. He doesn\u2019t just give away the puck; he looks to go as far as he can. And he\u2019s getting away with it more and more.<\/p>\n
As could be seen, in the previous highlight, he doesn\u2019t hesitate to shoot. And as can be seen in his statline, he often hits the net. This kind of thing just looked too doggone easy, and it came off a wicked wrist shot from just about the blueline no less.<\/p>\n
Making opponents look silly this easily will rightfully have you questioning the quality of league play but this doesn\u2019t detract from his shiftiness and the agility to viably change lanes before wickedly sniping the biscuit.<\/p>\n
Moreover, this one-timer in the slot capped off a recent hattrick but also serves exemplary for a number of his goals this season (and in the preseason). He loves to let it rip as it arrives. It\u2019s his go-to shot, to be honest.<\/p>\n
Naturally, going on 20 and being of just average size, Eliseev will have to keep up this pace all season long to truly put himself into the draft discussion but even in the AlpsHL, it\u2019s completely unusual to have a player this young showing this level of explosive effectiveness. We\u2019re definitely going to be following this story.<\/p>\n
Tobias Kr\u00e4mer
\nDefense – Jungadler Mannheim U20 (DNL U20)
\n6-foot-6, 210 pounds<\/p>\n
As much as we\u2019re looking forward to a very fascinating and perhaps surprisingly strong WJC performance from Germany this winter, we\u2019ve entered the season well aware of Germany serving as a somewhat barren landscape for the 2026 draft. Not only did we see top prospect Darian Rolsing as a bit of a long shot, but he\u2019s over in North America with just about every non-drafted prospect of interest, a few overagers included.<\/p>\n
But in situations like this, we\u2019re always happy to find a few surprises and after early season showings, a Czech German with the very German name of Tobias Kr\u00e4mer is raising a few eyebrows. He does indeed play for Mannheim\u2019s powerhouse DNL team, and the league is tough to scout as there\u2019s plenty of sloppy and unimpressive ice hockey to be seen there. And although he\u2019s got nine assists in 14 games, that\u2019s rarely ever been anything worth denoting.<\/p>\n
However, he\u2019s an RHD and already 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds. And he hits. He\u2019s one of the league\u2019s most physical players and displays not only a very simple game, but a suffocating one at that. Despite throwing his weight around in a manner that has left several opponents lying around on the ice, he\u2019s gotten one two-minute penalty all season. The checks are valid and well-timed.<\/p>\n
His game is not perfect – especially gap control – but he (#33) has been showing how he turns even that to his advantage as he is brutally effective at edging out attacking opponents.<\/p>\n
The force of hits is evident time and time again. Even if – as already mentioned – one could argue about gap control, we are seeing board work like this in each and every game.<\/p>\n
And when things don\u2019t go his way, he still applies his body to put things in perspective, as seen here where he perhaps tries one move too many but still makes someone pay for it.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, his physical presence isn\u2019t the only thing he brings to the table. We can\u2019t wait to see what it\u2019ll mean with some play at the pro level, but he does rush the puck and has made his way to the opposition net on his own accord plenty of times in recent years. This is one of many excursions we\u2019ve seen him make.<\/p>\n
Finally, his nine assists haven\u2019t just been pure byproducts. He is being entrusted with minutes at important times and has shown a modicum of playmaking ability, as seen in this overtime assist.<\/p>\n
There are issues to be dealt with and his shots from the point aren\u2019t exactly a strength to date, but Kr\u00e4mer is proving to be an exciting possibility moving forward and we\u2019re happy that he\u2019s got plenty of time this season to keep grabbing our attention.<\/p>\n
Simon Johansson – European Video Scout
\nFilip Novak
\nLeft wing \/ Center – HC Sparta Praha U20
\n6-foot-1, 198 pounds<\/p>\n
Last season was an injury riddled one for Filip Novak. Only played a total of 21 games between his international, U17 and U20 team. He really impressed in his D-2 in the U17 team but was not able to continue that success into his D-1. This year Filip is looking to dominate the juniors and have even gotten to suit up for a game with HC Sparta Praha men\u2019s team in the highest Czechian league.<\/p>\n
Filip is a big, skilled forward that likes to have the puck on his stick. He drives play by skating with the puck along the boards, using his big body to shield himself from incoming forecheckers, getting the puck to his defensemen who can then put shots towards the net. Filip often tries to stay out of the perimeter and likes to drive the middle for better looks. He is moving constantly in his own end to either help dig out pucks with his defensemen or being a passing option for breakouts. When the puck gets out of his own end, Filip will want to build up speed through the neutral zone to then create a lot of rush chances.<\/p>\n
Watching some tape of the big winger you\u2019ll notice that he has some finesse with the puck as well. He\u2019ll lure in stick checks only to quickly pull back and get the defenders off balance or combine stickhandling with skating at high speeds, weaving in crossovers evading pressure.<\/p>\n
While Filip has been point-per-game at the junior level, there\u2019s also a lot of chances that go to waste. He drives play well as mentioned before but lacks a bit of finishing ability in his goalscoring and playmaking. It\u2019ll be interesting to see if he can stick around in the pros and establish a role there, hopefully in a top 9 line as Filip is definitely more of a scorer than a two-way player. It\u2019s still very early in the season and we have to remember that he missed a lot of time from last year. With more games played this year, there\u2019s a good chance to see a different kind of player compared to where we are right now.<\/p>\n
VIDEOS<\/p>\n
#18 in the clip
Jumps on the puck in the neutral zone to then drive play in the offensive zone, eventually getting the puck to one of his defensemen. Also highlights some nice dangles in getting the puck up high.<\/p>\n
#18 in the clip<\/p>\n
Another clip of Filip driving play in the offensive zone. After he leaves the puck for a teammate, he immediately tries to find new space, getting the defense moving and opening up passing lanes.<\/p>\n
#18 in the clip<\/p>\n
Here he makes a good zone entry by combining stickhandling and weaving crossovers.<\/p>\n
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