Martin Chromiak – Kingston Frontenacs – Player Profile

Height: 6’

Weight: 181 Pounds

Date of birth: August 20, 2002

Hometown: Ilava, Slovakia

Position: Left Wing

Shoots: Right

OHL Draft: Round 1, 2^nd overall, 2019 CHL Import Draft

NHL Central Scouting Rankings

Kingston Frontenacs winger Martin Chromiak has a history of playing above his age group. It began as a 14-year-old playing in an Under-18 League in his native Slovakia going back to the 2016-2017 season.

During the 2017-2018 season, Chromiak began the season in the Slovak Under-16 League, tearing it apart with 29 points in just 11 games, so up a level he went to HK Dukla Trencin Under-18 squad. In 22 games he scored 16 goals and 15 assists, then tallying 6 goals and 4 assists in 11 playoff games helping the Trencin capture Slovakia’s Under-18 Championship.

The 2018-2019 season saw Chromiak begin the hockey season with HK Dukla in Slovakia’s Under-18 League. After just 4 games in which he scored 3 goals and added 9 assists, it was evident that the competition was below his abilities. So, as a 16-year-old he joined HK Dukla Under-20.

Things weren’t much different moving up for Chromiak He laced up the skates for 39 games and potted 22 goals and 24 helpers playing against older players, then added 9 goals and 8 assists in 15 playoff games and helping lead the Trencin to the Under-20 Championship. He even got into 2 games in Slovakia’s Tipsport Liga (Extraliga), Slovakia’s top league.

Chromiak has had plenty of international experience. He has appeared in the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup on two occasions. 2018 saw him score 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games and in 2019 he scored 2 goals and 3 assists in 4 games. He’s also represented Slovakia in Under-16, Under-18 and Under-20 international competition.

This season saw Chromiak begin with HK Dukla Under-20 squad, but his offence took a nosedive to just 5 goals and 1 assist in 32 games. Maybe there was some complacency in his game. On December 28, 2019, Chromiak committed to joining the Frontenacs for the remainder of the OHL season and he did not disappoint, scoring 11 goals and 22 assists in 28 games.

Chromiak has superb vision to go along with high end passing abilities. He is excellent with the puck on his stick, protecting it well and an ability to slow things down and let plays develop or give his teammate the time to get to high danger areas and then set them up with a perfect tape-to-tape pass.

Chromiak can play both wings, but is most dangerous on the left side, especially on the powerplay where he can run things with his superb playmaking skills. But Chromiak is not just a playmaker. He has an excellent wrist shot and snap shot that is deadly accurate. However, if he is going to predominantly play the left side as a right shot, I would like to see him improve on his one-timer.

Technically, Chromiak is a good skater but I would like to see him continue to work on his acceleration – or separation gear to be precise. But that doesn’t keep him from challenging defenders one-on-one and he has some success in those situations. That said, he is so smart that he finds the areas he needs to on the ice and he gets there with or without the puck.

At 6’1” Chromiak has some good size and I would like to see him engage more physically along the walls battling for pucks and driving to the net with or without the puck. Defensively his game is a work in progress and as one of the youngest players in the draft, that is to be expected. But he has shown that he understands positioning and now it’s a matter of putting in the effort.

Chromiak has been a fast rider in this draft class, and with good reason: his dynamic offensive abilities. He’ll be in a good position with Kingston next season to further develop with a very good, young team.