| Bogdans Hodass | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | L | D | 6’3″ | 207 | Medicine Hat Tigers | 2021 | Jelgave, LAT | 2003 | 2022-2023: B-2021-2022: C+ |
Neutral Zone’s Ian Moran: Hodass is a big strong defender who’s eligible for the third time. He may be 6’3″ 207lbs, but he still looks light or lean and I feel with his skating posture that he can add 10-12 pounds of muscle and still keep his explosiveness and four way mobility. There’s no doubt he has a deceptive release and he has a heater of a one-timer that seams to explode off his stick. In the defensive zone there are times when he can be a bit of a puck watcher when the puck is at the point, but when he’s physically engaged he shows the strength and leg drive to move forwards out of the shooting lane. He has a hard strong poke check that he hides pretty well, but there times that he can get his shoulders out over his toes and lean a little far. That may be nit picking but NHL forwards can sniff out a leaning defender and pass through his feet or the triangle. For me he’s performed well for Latvia in International competition and has 59.5% puck battle winning percentage in the WHL so I would seriously think about taking him in the third or forth round. I’d then bring him to development camp, training camp and then let him figure things out in the minors. It’s a tough road for a third or forth rounder to make it, but he’s played quality minutes in two World Junior’s and is averaging over 20 minutes per game for Medicine Hat this year so I think he’s worth a middle round selection.
Neutral Zone NHL. July 4 2022: Why a draft pick, he is a 6’3″ 203 pounds left-shot defender who won 59% of his puck battles during his rookie year in the WHL. He played key special teams minutes for Medicine Hat. His straight forward mentality might not lead to running an NHL power-play, but we feel it is dependable style that NHL organizations like to have on their depth charts. Why not an NHL draft pick, during 2021/22 he attempted 234 total shots from the power point. He had 86 of them blocked with 31 of those blocks coming while his team was on the power-play.
Neutral Zone evaluations:
WHL: Medicine Hat Tigers vs Regina Pats, March 18, 2022: Hodass played a steady two-way game. He got off to a slow start by making an indirect pass to a teammate who was standing still in the neutral zone which led to a Tiger’s penalty, but from that point on he played a steady no frills game that coaches love. In defensive transition he gapped with his hips and stick to the middle forcing the play wide. He maintained tight gaps and did not need to crossover to move laterally while defending. We liked how he played every situation with his stick on the ice and he showed the awareness to poke the puck five or ten feet to his left or right to start transition off of a defensive zone scrum. His outlet passes were quick on the tape and when activating in the offensive zone into the high slot for a scoring opportunity his snap shot was a bullet. Hodass seemed to generate turnovers and create transition on almost every shift. He finished the game with zero points, but had three scoring opportunities and played in the 3 on 3 overtime.