What Does the Hlinka Gretzky Cup Provide for NHL Scouts and Evaluators?

The first focused look at the prospects who will create buzz for the 2024 NHL draft next June is halfway over as we get to the semifinals of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. 

Every scouting director or GM that has joined the broadcast during intermissions has made one thing clear: it’s good to be back and getting to work on gauging the talent level of the players eligible for not only this year’s draft but next year’s as well.

Many of these players have been on NHL teams’ radars for a number of years now. Canada’s Michael Misa was granted exceptional status and scored at a rate no other 15-year-old has ever matched in the OHL. Not John Tavares. Not Shane Wright. Not Connor McDavid. Watching him tied for the tournament lead in scoring thus far at an international event against players a year ahead of him developmentally has already made scouts excited for the 2025 NHL draft.

The unfortunate thing for this year’s Hlinka tournament is that many of the names that seem to be in the running for first overall at this point – Macklin Celebrini, Cole Eiserman, Aron Kiviharju, Ivan Demidov – are not participating in the event for one reason or another. This does, however, give an opportunity to players in the next tier or outside of the first-round scope to make an impact.

It also gives players in Misa’s 2025 draft class a chance to shine and get their name out there a year ahead of when many in the hockey world would even begin thinking about them. Czechia’s Adam Benak and Slovakia’s Tomas Pobezal have been game-breakers at times for their respective squads despite being among the youngest players on their teams.

International tournaments are excellent showcases for talent, but they also shouldn’t be where definitive opinions are formed. Whether it’s the Hlinka, the World Junior Championship, the Under-18 World Championship, or a smaller Four or Five Nations event, the players that stand out should be noted and checked back on.

If a player has a standout tournament – Adam Titlbach on Czechia, for example – then evaluators should make sure to follow up after the event to see if the habits and traits that made him successful carry over to the player’s club team. With the Hlinka coming at the beginning of the year, it’s an excellent time to review preliminary lists or master lists of all of the draft-eligible players and add names that stand out.

It also gives an early look at how some Europeans look against their age group because many of the best European draft-eligible players will spend a great deal of their season playing pro hockey against men. That can be a difficult task for a 17- or 18-year-old player, so their production will surely suffer. Adam Jiricek would almost certainly explode offensively in a junior league, but scouts will be watching to see if the traits that have made him one of the Hlinka’s best defenders carry over to the Czech men’s league.

Do they have the same habits when they get there? Is the process of their game and how they use their tools to advance play still evident? Despite being outmatched from a strength perspective, do they have the adaptability to get by without being the strongest or biggest kid on the ice now that they aren’t?

European players use the Hlinka as a jumping-off point to start their draft year. The reality of it all is that NHL clubs scout North America more because that’s where they are based, but the best value at the draft is often found in Europe. This means the teams that invest in European scouting are able to find some of the most effective players later in the draft. The Hlinka is often where they see many of these players for the first time. Daniil Ustinkov from the Swiss team or Finland’s Tuomas Suoniemi have had fantastic tournaments and surely earned more eyes throughout the season, but they will have to perform now that they have them.

It is also an opportunity for players such as Canada’s Berkly Catton or American William Felicio to play in an environment with higher-end players than their junior clubs. How does a player adapt or alter their game when they have help alongside them? Will a player revert to hero hockey, or do they use their teammates to enhance their game? We’ve seen Catton and Felicio excel at this tournament because they have been exceptional at just that. Neither has allowed themselves to feel the weight of the moment, and they’ve brought others along with them.

For the American squad in general, we are treated to a first viewing of the “best of the rest” with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program not participating at the Hlinka. It gives Americans on USHL or prep teams a chance to put their names on the map and ensure that NHL clubs know who they are. Trevor Connelly, Mac Swanson, and Will Zellers are all players with the talent to be among many of the best American-born players, and the Hlinka gives them a platform to shine while representing their nation.

We head into the semifinals on Friday with the Canadians taking on the American squad while Finland and the host Czechs do battle. The pressure-packed games of the elimination round add another element to the mix. How do the top players in this age group handle the biggest stage?

Can a player like Canada’s Roger McQueen continue to perform when the heat is turned up? How does Aidan Park help the U.S. as they look to medal for the first time since 2016? Will Emil Hemming shoulder as much of the offensive load for Finland? Who can step up for Czechia outside of Benak and Titlbach when it matters most?

At the end of the day, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup is just a small piece of the puzzle when it comes to building a profile on a draft-eligible prospect. The tournament is the framework for one of the most important years in a young player’s life, but it’s not the be-all-and-end-all. There will still be plenty of work to do for the players at this event and just as much for the players who weren’t at the Hlinka. The scouting season is just starting, and the Hlinka is where it starts.