In a stretch of under a month, the goal crease for the Ontario Hockey League’s Soo Greyhounds got a little more crowded.
As the Canadian Hockey League held its annual Import Draft on Thursday, the Greyhounds used its lone pick to select goaltender Nick Malik with the 50th pick.
A product of the Czech Republic, Malik has represented his country internationally and split the 2018-19 season between HC Ocelari Trinec U19 and HC Frydek-Mistek of the Czech second league.
The Greyhounds are high on the 17-year-old.
“He’s a big goaltender that’s very calm and very polished for his age,” said Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis. “He can handle the puck really well. When you look at the crop of ’02 (birthyear) goaltenders, he’s at the top of the list.”
Independent scouting service HockeyProspect called Malik “a highly reflexive goaltender that has a lot of talent.”
“His athleticism is the most prominent trait that’s featured in his game; when breaking down his athletic ability, his reaction time stands out the most. He processes play-types well in tight to the net and has the ability to fully extend, producing impressive saves as a result. His butterfly mechanics are a plus and he has good overall mobility.”
The Greyhounds had an import spot open up after deciding to part ways with Roman Pucek this summer.
While Malik joining the Greyhounds is not a guarantee yet, Raftis said there is interest in the netminder joining the team.
“There’s definitely an interest level on his side of things,” Raftis said.
Malik, who was also selected in the United States Hockey League's draft by the Muskegon Lumberjacks, would join highly-touted forward Jaromir Pytlik as the Greyhounds two import players in 2019-20.
With the Greyhounds recent acquisition of goaltender Christian Propp from North Bay and returnee Ethan Taylor coming off his first season with the club, the addition of Malik adds potential depth to the position, should he decide to join the team.
“Like anything, we’re trying to be deep in all positions, that’s the goal,” Raftis said. “For us, it was about adding depth to each position. There’s no guarantee that a player is coming over or a player is going to take that step and be where they need to be. Strong goaltending is usually a sign of great teams. For us, that was something that we wanted to acquire as much as we could.
“There’s definitely opportunity (in goal),” Raftis added.
Malik’s father Marek played 691 NHL games split between the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning. His brother Zack split the 2018-19 season between the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves and North Bay Battalion.