Despite all that seems to go wrong in Polish hockey the light at the end of the tunnel has been the amount of great young talent that Poland has in their system right now. This is the deepest depth of young talent Poland has had this century. Regardless of what happens in regards to management and coaching with the talent that Poland has coming, they should be able to push forward. In this list, I wanted to rank Poland’s young talent to create a better picture of what the future look likes. This is part 2 of the series as we look at the players ranked 44 through 39.

Players 50-45

Rank – Player Name (Position), Age During Next Hockey Season, Team

#44 – Jan Krzyzek (F), 18, SMS PZHL Katowice. Krzyek was one of the biggest risers this hockey season. A huge part of that was his stellar performance with SMS and a great showing at the U18s. He was tied for the lead in points on SMS at 29 (13G, 16A). He has a lot of good offensive skills that if he just continues to improve, could become lethal. I hope he has done enough to earn a chance to appear in the PHL next year for PZHL u23, as he has proven to be too good for the 2nd league.

#43 – Szymon Dobosz (F), 17, KH 58 Sanok. One of the reasons I like the Sanok team in Slovakia’s 3rd league is that fact that young talent gets a lot of chances in the men’s league. While yes the opposing talent isn’t that strong it still is a valuable experience of the players. One player who impressed in Sanok this year was Dobosz. The 16-year-old had 14 points (3G, 11A) in 15 games with Sanok. He was also a member of Poland’s U18 gold medal squad, where was the second young player on the team. In 5 U18 games, he recorded a goal and an assist. Dobosz has some great hands which really contribute to his strong scoring and playmaking ability.

 

 

 

 

 

#42 – Adrian Pawel Slowakiewicz (C/LW), 20, Podhale Nowy Targ. Slowakiewicz returned to Poland this year after starting off the season in the Slovak junior leagues. Slowakiewicz came to Poland and would be under the watch of Tomek Valtonen. He didn’t really get many chances from the team though. He was described by Valtonen as having the potential to be a good player, but he has to play.  Which was odd based on Valtonen used him. Slowakiewicz was hot coming into the season after having a good year with Bodens HF J20 in Sweden, but it was a step back of a year. Everyone sees potential in him, but he has to unlock it. 

#41 – Milosz Noworyta (D), 20, Unia Oswiecim. Noworyta is a solid defenseman and has a defensive first game. In a Poland future that is filled with defensemen that do like to rush the puck, there is a value in the stay home guys like Noworyta, especially at the young ages when players are still learning when to rush or pinch at the right time. He was able to handle 2 on 1s really well, cutting down angles at the U20s. Noworyta is also pretty good at breaking out the puck. He does sometimes make some unforced mistakes, but those should go away as he gets more and more experience. He really needs to play more in the top league with a solid team around him.

#40 – Jakub Prokurat (F), 18, Krefelder EV 1981 U20. Prokurat is a great offensive talent for Poland but had a bit of a rough season. The previous year, Prokurat established himself as potentially one of the top offensive players in Poland’s system. At 16 he tore up the Poland U20 league with 48 points (25G, 23A) in 26 games. He earned a spot on the Polish U18 squad and finished 4th on the team in points with 8 (3G, 5A). His great year earned him a spot with the Krefelder EV 1981 U20 in Germany. This team had two fellow top polish players; Maciej Rutkowski and Adam Kiedewicz. Prokurat only ended up playing 11 games with Krefelder this year, but still had time to show off his offensive skills with 1 goal and 6 assist in those games. He was then at the U18s for Poland again, where he recorded 3 assist in 5 games. While maybe a bit of rust from not getting to play that much. Prokurat still has a lot of potential and I hope to see him play more. One attribute that didn’t affect my rankings, but I wanted to point for Porkurat is that the kid seems to be a natural leader.

#39 – Jakub Blanik (F), 18, JKH GKS Jastrzebie. Speaking of leaders, Blanik was the captain for Poland at the U18s this year. Blanik has been tearing it up in the Poland U20 league. In the 2017-18 season, he led the league in points with 60 (25G, 35) in 28 games. This year he finished second, one behind the leader Filip Mazurkiewicz, with 62 (26G, 36) in 27 games. Blanik also had a 12 game run with PZHL u23, where he recorded one assist. The big key for Blanik next year is to continue playing against senior teams. He isn’t going to get better playing in the U20 league anymore, he needs stronger competition.

Players 38-33     Players 16-13

Players 32-27     Players 12-10

Players 26-21     Players 9-8

Players 20-17

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