Red Wings goalie prospect turns heads at World Junior Championships with standout performance for Slovakia.
Several teams at the World Junior Championships faced a demanding schedule Saturday, playing the second half of a back-to-back after competing Friday. The condensed turnaround forced coaches to lean heavily on their depth, particularly in goal, a situation that caught the attention of Detroit Red Wings fans watching one of the organization’s recent draft picks make his tournament debut.
Slovakia turned to backup goaltender Michal Pradel, Detroit’s 2025 third-round pick, in a critical matchup against a rising German squad. Slovakia entered the game coming off a hard-fought 3–2 loss to Sweden the night before and needed a strong response to stay on track.
Pradel delivered in a big way, standing tall under pressure and stopping 34 of 35 shots to backstop Slovakia to a convincing 4–1 victory. The six-foot-five netminder’s performance was one of the surprises of the day and could prompt Slovakia’s coaching staff to ride the hot hand when the team returns to action Monday against the defending back-to-back gold medalist United States.
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
This is Pradel's second stint with the World Junior team as he was apart of the 2025 team but did not play a game. He was also apart of the national team for the U18 World Championships and did far better against kids his age with a 4-3-0 record held up by a 2.46 goals against average. Outside of internation play, Pradel plays with the Tri-City Storm in the USHL and has produced solid numbers despite a 9-9-3 record with a 2.46 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.
Another Red Wings prospect also made an impact in the Slovakia win with Michal Švrček, Detroit’s 2025 fourth-round pick. The 18-year-old logged just under 15 minutes of ice time but made the most of it by recording two shots on goal and an assist on Slovakia’s third goal, which came on the power play. Elsewhere in the tournament, Red Wings 2024 second-round pick Max Plante had a quieter outing for Team USA. Plante finished minus-one with one shot on goal in 17:35 of ice time as the Americans edged Switzerland 2–1 in a tight contest.
Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.