Jaromir Pytlik – Soo Greyhounds – Player Profile

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 192 pounds

Date of birth: September 25, 2001

Hometown: Dacice, Czech Republic

Position: Center/Wing

Shoots: Right

OHL Draft: Round 2, 118^th overall, 2018 CHL Import Draft

NHL Central Scouting Rankings

The Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds selected Jaromir Pytlik with the 118^th pick at the 2018 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft following an impressive early career in his native Czech Republic. But even more impressive is Pytlik’s international experience.

In his young career, Pytlik has represented the Czech Republic in 76 games that include the Hlinka/Gretzky, World Hockey Challenge Under-17, World Junior Championships Under-18 as well as several other international competitions. In total, Pytlik has scored 20 goals and added 23 helpers.

Last season, Pytlik joined the Greyhounds on January 11, 2019 and although it took him a few games to get accustomed, he never looked back. He would finish the season playing in 26 games scoring 11 goals and assisting on 8 others while finishing with a plus-14. He showed no drop off in the playoffs with the same .73 points-per-game on 4 goals and 4 assists in 11 games. Despite playing just one-third of the season, Pytlik finished ninth in goals by a rookie.

To date this season, Pytlik has 12 goals and 18 assists in 28 games.

Pytlik has good size and skates extremely well – he’s shown an improvement from last season, and I’m not so sure it needed improving as much as he needed to use the smaller ice surface differently then the European ice. He knows how to use his body and strength. He is a force down low, along the walls and in front of the goal and with his quick smooth hands, is dangerous in the goal area. He understands how to use his frame to protect the puck which makes him effective on the cycle and coming off the wall.

Pytlik is also a very intelligent player and one of the most complete players in his draft class. His attention to detail on defence is as important to him as offence. The coaching staff can trust him with big defensive responsibilities and is usually the first player over the boards in the last minute whether down a goal or up a goal. He can kill penalties and is a threat offensively on the PK.

Pytlik can play both center and wing, which is something NHL scouts covet. Here’s the thing: While he’s smart enough and more then capable of handling the defensive responsibilities to play in the middle, he needs some serious work on the faceoff dot. Not a big worry as it is something that can be improved, especially knowing he is willing to put in the work. And on the wing, I would like him to add another gear to is speed. Again, he’s worked on that and has shown improvement and if he continues to put the effort into improving, then it’s a no brainer.

NHL Central Scouting had him listed as a B-prospect on both their preseason and November lists – which means a second to third round pick. If things keep going as they are, and he continues to show improvement, he could be a very early second rounder and possibly garner some attention as a late first.

Fans either like him because of his physical, power game or don’t because he isn’t a flashy bring them out of their seat’s kind of player. But scouts do because of his all-around complete game.

OHL Stat page

Elite Prospects page