| Tomas Galvas | HC Olomouc | International | L | D | 5’10” | 141 | Olomouc, CZE | 2006 | 2023-2024: B- |
Game Grade: B
Comments: We are bigs fan of Galvas. He is a bit undersized but his skating ability and smart reads on both sides of the puck make him a fantastic player. He is great on his edges and makes hard cuts/turns away from pressure with the puck. He is very confident and charges up ice with speed. Galvas is patient with the puck in his own end and waits until he is sure he has found a good pass option before moving the puck. He does not rush under pressure and completes tough stretch passes onto the tape of cutting teammates. He is also great at retrieving the puck. He pushes hard to win races and makes scans before scooping up the puck so that he can plan out exactly where he is going to cut with the puck and where his nearest open teammate is for a quick touch pass. He made 1 or 2 rough turnovers when trying to get fancy rushing up ice. He is responsible defensively and uses his skilled footwork and speed to stay in front of opponents and shut down plays. He is positionally sound and is very active/focused in his own end to shut down plays before they can fully develop. His best defensive play came in the second period when a teammate turned over the puck while Tomas was deep in the offensive zone. Galvas got on his horse and flew down ice on the back check, passing the man on the break, then gapped up and closed off his opponent’s lane which shut down his rush. Very speedy and skilled two-way defenseman with a great rush game and responsible defensive positioning. Likely a pick in the 2-3 round and projects as a potential middle six defenseman.
| Zeev Buium | Denver University | NCAA | L | D | 6’0″ | 183 | Denver | 2023 | Laguna Niguel, CA | 2005 | 2023-2024: A- |
Game Grade: B
Comments: Another good game for Zeev. He is incredibly mobile and used his skating ability as the base for every part of his game. He has a quick short stride but is able to generate great speed. He keeps his head up at all times when the puck is on his stick and is able to find and complete crisp passes up ice through tight lanes on the rush. He was given time quarterbacking the powerplay unit and he did a great job distributing the puck quickly to set up chances in the offensive zone. Neutral Zone really liked his movement when the puck was on his stick. He moved his feet to drag the opponents to the left then fired a quick pass to an open teammate on the far side to open up space for his team. He knows how to manipulate defenses through his skating to create lanes and space for his teammates to take advantage of. One of his best plays of the game was when he activated deep into the offensive zone, snuck back door, and opened up, creating a dangerous chance on the goal line. His defensive game still needs work; there were a few moments where he was able to read the play well but has some major flaws. He continues to watch a bit too much and is unaware of opponents behind him. He needs to complete more active scans and proactively shut down lanes to eliminate opportunities. He also drifts around a bit too much and cheats for offense at times. He was never burned because of it in this game but there were multiple times where he was pulled far out of position and left a man open on the other side of the zone. He did maintain a good gap in transition and made a couple of well-timed and angled step ups to shut play down towards the boards. Zeev is a mobile defenseman that is great on the breakout and a great playmaker. His defensive game will need some work, but he will likely be one of the first defensemen selected in the 2024 draft.
Scout: Henry Lawrence