| Dominik Badinka | Jokerit U20 | U20 SM | R | D | 6’2″ | 179 | Chomutov, CZE | 2005 | 2023-2024: B+ |
U18: Czechia vs Finland, December 27, 2022: Dominik Badinka totaled a game high 21:00 of ice time including a team high 1:03 while on the power play and a game high 3:50 while short handed. As a penalty killer he recognized “asses and eyes” very quickly showing an explosive first step when closing on an opponent who was bobbling the puck along the wall. During wall scrums we liked how he maintained defensive side positioning and when the puck moved to the point Badinka did not drift following the pass. Defensively we would like to see him work harder to set his gap as there were times when he was a passenger on a line rush and when Team Czechia turnover the puck over he was forced to sag off his lines too far. He finished the game +1 with 0 points, 0 shots, 0 hits, 5 giveaways, 3 takeaways and he won 75% of his 4 puck battles.
U18: 5 Nation Tournament, November 8-14, 2022: Dominik is a big bodied defenseman who stands at 6’2 already. As a late 2005 birthday his 6’2/180 pound frame may be larger in a year and a half by the time he is ready for the NHL draft. We liked his backwards skating mobility and the way he could move to close off ice wide when needed. He was a very good combination of size, strength, skating and physical presence. He was very defensively aware, always cognizant of where he was positioned according to his man and quick to box out, move from net, or get into a corner and battle. He was used as a powerplay defenseman and he moves across and distributes the puck quite well. He has a cannon of a shot from the point, but we would like to see him use it more and he prefers to pass but can become predictable He needs to rip a few rockets just to keep the forwards from being able to guess his move. (Scout: Marlin Muylaert)
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images