For the first time in 22 years, Poland is playing in the top division of the World Championship. It is a huge accomplishment for Polish hockey and a massive opportunity for the players. The World Championship allows players to make a huge impression on the national stage. Polish players haven’t seen a spotlight like this in a while. That plays a part in why so few Polish players have signed abroad in stronger leagues. 

Poland is mostly a veteran-led team and has the oldest average age at the tournament. Despite that, there are still plenty of young players and veterans with enough gas in the tank to potentially use the event to jump-start their careers or even up their value back home. 

Dominik Pas 

Pas is an excellent two-way player and a massive impact driver for the Polish national team. He is an extremely hard worker and intelligent on the ice. The 24-year-old is not the biggest, but it never stops him from getting physical when needed. He has so many tools to be successful at a higher level. I wish he would have gone abroad during his junior days. He has tried his hand at playing abroad once in the Chance Liga but it got slightly impaired by an offseason injury. He would only end up playing in 21 games, recording two goals and four assists. Pas is coming into the event a free agent with plenty of interest around Poland. I could see him attracting interest outside Poland if he continues to elevate his play during international tournaments. 

Krzysztof Macias 

The most obvious pick here is the youngest member of the roster and Poland’s prized prospect. Macias will turn 20 shortly after the event kicks off. After performing well in the Czech junior system, the Prince Albert Raiders selected Macias in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) import draft. Macias was the first Polish player selected in the CHL import draft since 2003, when the Vancouver Giants selected his now World Championship teammate Marcin Kolusz. There was an adjustment period in the WHL, but Macias improved as the year progressed. He had a .56 point per game average in the first half of the season, then shot up to .81 in the year’s second half. His 47 points rank tied for 33rd among WHL forwards in their draft plus two seasons. 

That production likely won’t be good enough for a NHL team to use a pick on Macias. A strong World Championship could boost his stock for the upcoming draft and his future professional career. This is common for young players on squads like Poland at the World Championship. Great Britain national team forward Liam Kirk was an Arizona Coyotes draft pick, but it didn’t seem like the now-defunct NHL team was interested in signing him. In 2020, Kirk split his year between Sweden’s third level and a tournament in Britain to replace the suspended EIHL season. At the Worlds, Kirk took his game to a new level, scoring seven goals and assisting on two in seven games. His seven goals led the tournament and earned him the Top 3 and All-Star team honors. With plenty of other NHL clubs interested, it basically forced the Arizona Coyotes to finally hand over an entry deal. Another example of this was undrafted Hungarian goalie Adam Way. The then 22-year-old turned a strong performance against Canada and a solid tournament into an entry-league deal with the Minnesota Wild. 

Alan Lyszczarczyk

We now go from the current top Polish prospect to the former prince of Poland. Lyszczarczyk had a strong junior career in the Ontario Hockey League before also putting up two solid years in the ECHL. He would return to Europe in 2022, signing a two-way deal with HC Oceláři Třinec. During his time there, he mostly played in the second level of Czechia with HC Frýdek-Místek, recording 76 points (29G-47A-76PTS) in 78 games. He would only play in 16 Extraliga games with Třinec, scoring once. He returned to Poland to end the 2023 season and played with Tychy last year. He was well above a point-per-game player in Poland with 52 points (11G-41A-52PTS) in 42 games. The Nowy Targ native showed he is one of the best playmakers in the country. With no contract signed yet for 2025, Lyszczarczyk is one of the few players with experience outside Poland on this squad. If he can show that dynamic playmaking skill, a few European teams might want to see if is he willing to give playing outside Poland another chance. 

Pawel Zygmunt

Zygmunt worked quietly in Poland, and the entire time he did that, Czech club HC Litvínov kept tabs. During the 2019 offseason, the club offered him a tryout at 20 years old. It was successful and he has spent the past five seasons with the club, playing in 209 matches. The only Polish player that currently plays in another country’s top league full-time. His ice time has always been limited, and this year was his lowest in terms of production, with four goals and one assist in 50 games. While the club congratulated him on his appointment to Poland, he has yet to be re-signed for the upcoming season. They have invested five years into his development, so who knows how long they will want to continue? The Worlds could be a chance to show HC Litvínov that it is paying off and he is ready for a more significant role or it can be an opportunity to audition for a new challenge. 

Pawel Dronia

The final player we are looking at is 34-year-old, soon to be 35, Pawel Dronia. Dronia is a veteran of the second level of Germany, the DEL2. He is a three-time league champion who has played 532 games over ten seasons. The defenseman initially left Poland in 2014 after signing a deal with the DEL club Schwenninger Wild Wings and would play a lone season at the top of the German professional system. Dronia has already announced he will not return to the Ravensburg Towerstars, whom he represented for the past six seasons. While it seems likely that he may return to Poland to finish his career, there are reportedly offers from Germany and Poland. I know it sounds wild given his age, but his teammate Marcin Kolusz earned a deal in the Liiga at 36 while playing in Division 1 Group B. Another more significant example is future opponent Pierre-Édouard Bellemare. The French forward turned a solid season in Sweden and a point-per-game World Championship into an NHL contract with the Philadelphia Flyers at 30. I’m not saying Dronia has a great chance of anything like the NHL, but this could be an opportunity for him to earn one last shot in the DEL or a comparable league around Europe.

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