| Adam Klapka | Tri City Storm | USHL | R | F | 6’8″ | 247 | Praha, CZE | 2000 | 2020-2021: College Free Agent |
USHL: Waterloo vs Tri-City, March 22, 2021: Klapka is a big bodied forward who uses his frame to his advantage and does great work in the offensive zone. He is extremely strong on his stick and uses his strength to win battles low in the offensive zone and in front of the net. With the puck on his stick he has decent skills and can make creative plays. However, as evidenced by his goal in the contest, he is most effective around the net where he establishes a presence and there’s not much opponents could do about it. On his goal, Klapka won a puck race and muscled his way to the net, protecting the puck and then finishing nicely. For such a big player he does skate fairly well and has the skills to be an offensive threat, both as a goal scorer and playmaker. Overall, Klapka is a presence on the ice and he utilizes his size to his advantage and combines it with good offensive abilities to create real problems for opponents. Grade: A-
Neutral Zone NHL Ian Moran’s comments, January 2020: Adam Klapka is a massive right shot forward who played for Team Czech in The World Jr A Challenge and finished the season playing for the Tri-City Storm. And by massive we mean MASSIVE. He is 6’8″ 248LBS. That’s not a misprint… 6’8 248. He moves pretty well for such an enormous kid and he is worth watching more closely. As a late 2000 he’s been passed over in previous drafts, but as we’ve stated before… bigger kids take longer to put it all together. And, Klapka falls into the “bigger kid” category. He has soft hands, sees the ice well and would be very effective in North America if he is willing to play a chip and chase game. On Team Czech’s power play Klapka is their primary net front presence and has the agility to slide along the goal line to make passing plays into the slot. We would like to see him play with more aggression as there is no doubt that a mean streak would open up the ice for him. He shoots the puck well, has the stick skills to make touch plays in tight areas (he tried the Michigan move against Team USA & we saw him go between his legs on a rebound) and one touches tape to tape passes with confidence. In the defensive zone he is patient as a weak side winger while providing support and makes good decisions in quick transition breakouts. We do not feel he has the foot speed to be a high level penalty killer, but that is something that he maybe able to develop with proper training. His stick skills and size make him a natural net front presence on any power play in any league. We feel Klapka is a long shot to be drafted, but a team with multiple late round picks (And possibly a retired Czech player involved in a Player Development role) would be smart to get to know Adam Klapka better, because if he has the internal make-up to be willing to run into people, Yes Run Into People, then you will have an incredibly intriguing prospect to work with.
(1) Brain – He is big and clever. Adam knows where he is supposed to be on the ice and he gets there.
(2) Vision & Poise – Very poised with the puck and has a very low panic point. He also is fearless with the puck and confident.
(3) Feet – Adam needs to continue developing his first step and lateral agility. He has good straight ahead speed once he gets going and we have all seen 6’8 athletes in other sports be athletic, explosive and agile, but the question is whether he will put in the time training and an NHL team will put in the work required to develop him.
(4) Compete & Effort – No issues from us. He is a big European who is adjusting to life in the USHL. We think he’s had a whirlwind season and doing fine.
(5) Contact or Physicality – He can protect the puck for days and everyone bounces off of him.
(6) Release – Adam has a canon. He absolutely rips it and goalies have a very difficult time controlling the rebounds.
(7) One Timer Ability – Again he can rip it. Adam does not need a perfect pass and his shooting area is enormous.
(8) Body Language – No issues.
(9) Special Teams Potential – Adam has a very good first touch and puck skills. Growing up playing in Czech he has a very good understanding of power play concepts and player movement. He has everything you want in a net front presence.
(10) Intangibles – It all comes down to his feet and willingness to work hard developing them off of the ice.
