Simon Latkoczy #30 (Right Glove, G, 5’11 165, Madison Capitols USHL, 2002): (4 Star Amateur Rating, NHL Grade – C) Goalie
USHL – Madison Capitals NHL Prospects, December, 2019: It’s tough to think a goalie had a good night when he gave up 6 goals, but Simon battled and was ready to play from the moment the puck was dropped facing 25 shots in the first period and another 20 in the second. He tracked pucks well making a number of high quality saves on pucks that were tipped late or on second and even third opportunities. He is not the prototypical NHL goalie, but he is a competitor who kept Madison in the game for 2 periods. Other Madison players evaluated: Carson Bantle, Reid Pabich, Patrick Schmiedlin and Ryan Kirwan.
USHL Goalies – Reports & Rankings, November 2019: Latkoczy is a very intriguing prospect as he comes to Madison from Slovakia after having international success and he showed why in his contests at the USHL Fall Classic as the 2002 net minder has great feet, a quick glove and very smart instincts in reading the play. Latkoczy will push and c cut across his crease to challenge shooters while also being aggressive and getting his feet out on top of his crease. He’s a butterfly goalie and sets his hands very low, he’s always square to the puck and never was off his angles but he’s aggressive so he forces himself to recover a lot on certain plays. Latkoczy just flat out competes, Madison was heavily outplayed for most of the game against Dubuque, he made saves on multiple grade A chances and kept his team in it the whole game. One play in particular at the end of the 2nd while down 4-2, he made a desperation toe save off a 2v1 out of the corner and then immediately got to his feet and poke checked the puck to the corner safely as his defenseman were lost in the zone, just a really smart play. Latkoczy started to get better and better each period as he gained confidence, he’s a very quick goalie whose technically sound and has a great stick. He needs to work on his rebound control a bit to where he’s absorbing pucks better but he possesses that ability to recover and make game changing saves that can sway momentum for his team. Latkoczy isn’t your 6’4 goalie who sits back and relies on positioning but rather plays that Jonathan Quick style where he cuts down angles quickly, can fly around his crease and give your team some energy off of his play. Very interesting prospect that NHL teams should keep an eye on as he can really rise his stock with a good year in the USHL. Goalies evaluated in this report: Ryan Mcinchak, Noah Giesbrecht, Gavin Enright, Kyle McClellan, Shamil Shmakov, Garrett Mackay, Gabriel Carriere, Akira Schmid, Erik Portillo, Nicholas Grabko, Victor Ostman, Christian Stoever, Nathan Reid, Daniel Allin, Grant Adams, Jacob Mucitelli, Ian Shane, Ethan Haider, Derek Mullahy, Cole Brady, Aidan McCarthy, Dominic Basse, Cameron Rowe, Joe Sharib, Drew Commesso, Colin Purcell and Noah Grannan.