Michal Pradal is tied for USHL lead with three shutouts
Through 30 games, the Tri-City Storm find themselves sitting at 11-15-3-1, good for fifth place in the United States Hockey League’s Western Conference. Overall, the Storm sit 12th out of the 15 teams, as they look to put together a strong second half. Not to be lost in the first half struggles is the strong play of goaltender Michal Pradel.
Pradel is currently in the midst of his second season with the Storm, after playing all of his previous years in his home country of Slovakia. Pradel has started 23 of the Storm’s first 30 games and has posted a 9-9-3 record, 2.46 goals-against average and a 0.916 save percentage. The numbers are tracking towards bettering Pradel’s first season in North America, where the netminder went 9-4-0 with a 2.41 goals-against average and had a save percentage of 0.899 after coming over halfway through the season. The 6-foot-5 goaltender earned a spot on the USHL’s Second All-Rookie Team for his efforts.
After a strong first season with the Storm, Pradel was selected in the third round of the 2025 National Hockey League entry draft by the Detroit Red Wings. Pradel was the sixth goalie to be selected in 2025, when the Red Wings called his name with the 75th overall pick.
Red Wings Select Goaltender Michal Pradel With 3rd-Round Pick
The Detroit Red Wings selected Slovakian goaltender Michal Pradel with their third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Amongst all goaltenders in the USHL this season, Pradel has received the most starts with his 23, sits seventh overall in goals-against average and comes in at third overall in save percentage. Pradel is also tied with Lincoln Stars goaltender William Prowse in shutouts with three.
In the Storm's final two games prior to the holiday break, Pradel posted back-to-back shutouts against the Muskegon Lumberjacks, turning aside all 45 shots he faced over the course of the two games. The weekend performance earned Pradel, Player of the Week honours from Dec. 8, to Dec. 14.
Pradel is going to get the chance to become a household name over the holidays, after being selected to represent Team Slovakia at the upcoming 2026 World Juniors that will begin on Boxing Day in Minnesota. The World Juniors have not been kind to the Slovaks in recent years, having failed to secure a medal since 2015 when they upset Sweden for bronze. The goaltender that year was Denis Godla, who won tournament Most Valuable Player, the Best Goalie of the tournament honors and earned a spot on the All-Star team.
International competition is not new to Pradel, who competed at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 World Championship and performed strongly, posting a 2.46 goals-against average and 0.914 save percentage across seven starts, being named one of Slovakia’s top three players in the tournament.
Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis was impressed by what he saw from Pradel at the U-18s and felt he did a lot of the heavy lifting for the Slovakian team.
“Pradel was one of the best goaltenders from start to finish at the U-18s, and a big reason why the Slovaks played for a medal for the third straight year,” Ellis said. “He was applauded for his ability to steal games in the USHL and he carried that over to this tournament too.”
With half a season left with the Storm and an upcoming World Junior tournament, many eyes are going to be on the net-minder Pradel as he looks to continue on the strong start he has had to his young career.
Slovakia opens their tournament on Boxing Day at 1 p.m. EST against Team Sweden.