Sotek is in his second year of NHL Draft eligibility
| Alex Sotek | HC Slovan Bratislava | Slovakia | R | RW | 6’0″ | 176 | Poprad, SVK | 2004 | 2022-2023: B-2021-2022: C+ |
U20 World Jr. Championships: Slovakia vs Canada, January 2, 2023: Sotek totaled 10:17 in ice time. He did not play on the power play or penalty kill units. He played a very direct in your face forth line 5on5 minutes. He did generate 3 shots including a beautiful weakside dot-lane sweeping one-timer off a line rush where he showed the awareness to break down his skating to let the Canadian backchecker blow by him so he had an open pass receiving lane. He finished the game even with 0 points, 1 grade “A”, 0 hits, received 1 hard body check, 6 giveaways, 2 takeaways and he won 67% of his 3 puck battles.
U20 World Jr. Championships: Slovakia vs Switzerland, December 31, 2022: Sotek totaled 12:18 in ice time including 0:22 while shorthanded. Unfortunately he was most noticeable on Switzerland’s second goal of the game where he stopped skating on a backcheck and the eventual goal scorer filled the lane he was supposed to be in to go in alone and bury it. He finished the game -1 with 0 points, 1 hit, 2 giveaways, 5 takeaways and he won 50% of his 10 puck battles.
U20 World Jr. Championships: Slovakia vs Latvia, December 30, 2022: Sotek totaled 9:15 in ice time including 2:02 while shorthanded. As a penalty killer he showed a nice active stick, attention to details away from the puck and he had one 200′ clear. He finished the game even with 0 points, 0 shots, 2 hit, 2 giveaways, 1 takeaway and he won 100% of his 3 puck battles.
U20 World Jr. Championships: Slovakia vs USA, December 28, 2022: Sotek totaled 5:48 in ice time including 0:03 while on the power play. The right shot 2004 played forth line minutes, but picked up a secondary assist on Slovakia’s forth goal. On the play he controlled a bouncing puck in the neutral zone, drove the USA defenseman wide until he did an escape below the wide hash marks and found his defenseman at the the strong side point. He finished the game +2 with 1 assist, 3 shots including a very athletic play where he corralled a bouncing puck with his right skate and fired a quick stick that forced a beautiful glove save, 3 hits, received 1 hard body check, 1 giveaway, 1 takeaway and he won 100% of his puck battles.
U20: Slovakia vs Switzerland, November 11, 2022: Sotek totaled 13:45 in ice time including 3:06 while on the power play. Sotek is a right shot right wing with an inside edge skating style who can fly. He is skating posture is not an “A” frame, but he is constantly on his inside edges looking to pop in any direction. Early in the first he showed real speed as he chased down a potential icing which forced the Swiss defender to throw the puck away and led to the his linemate having a quick scoring opportunity. On Slovakia’s power play he was primarily positioned as the extended goal line option, but he did slid into the bumper and he showed the hand eye coordination to get his stick blade on a high tip off a one-timer. He was -1 on a goal that happened immediately after he failed to get the puck out along the wall after rimmed breakout pass. Yes it was a bouncing puck, but NHL coaches will demand that he use his body to protect the puck rather trying to hack the puck out of the zone. On the night he finished -1 with 0 points, 1 shot (the PP high tip), 1 PP shot, 1 hit, received 2 hard body checks, 5 giveaways, 1 takeaway and he won 50% of his 2 puck battles.
Ian Moran’s Thoughts: Sotek is a high-energy winger who brings it every shift. On the forecheck he is a very aggressive F1 who shows the foot speed to win races for loose pucks and the fearlessness to throw his body into the mix. I like the spacing and awareness he shows as an F2 or F3 because you rarely see him getting trapped on the wrong side of the opposing forwards or going the wrong way on a clean breakout pass. As a puck carrier, Sotek is not slowed down by the puck and he has the type of puck-carrying ease that makes defenders fear being beaten wide. Although he did not produce much offensively in the Slovakian professional league, Sotek has good numbers in the U20 age group with 63 points in 55 games over the past 3 seasons. To me his pace of play and awareness away from the puck make him an ideal late-round pick who heads to the Major Junior next year to blossom. (May 2022)
Neutral Zone NHL Draft: Why a draft pick, He has played 45 games in Slovakia’s top league and 96 total games against men in Slovakia. He has averaged 1.10 points per game while playing against his peers in Slovakia. 66% of his shots hit the net. He plays a high energy annoying game that leads to him drawing penalties. Why not a draft pick, During the 2021/22 season, he won 40% of his puck battles which was down from 56% during the 2020/21 season. Yes, he played significantly more games in Slovakia’s top men’s league, but this highlights his need to gain strength to play his style in the NHL. He had two points in four games at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He is a right-shot forward who generates his offense from the right dot lane.