Polish fans have become accustomed to the lack of Polish names being called at the NHL entry draft. Every year the draft had come and gone without a Polish player being selected since the fifth round of the 2003 NHL draft when the Minnesota Wild selected Marcin Kolusz after his rookie year in Nowy Targ. In the past couple of drafts, the lack of a Polish appearance has stung slightly more as Alan Łyszczarczyk failed to have his name selected. Poland once again has a chance to see a national team member reach the goal of every junior players’ dreams with Jakub Lewandowski. Lewandowski’s draft chances don’t seem that high, but even if he doesn’t, we will likely hear a Polish name selected, even if they don’t play for Poland. 

Adam Borzęcki was one of the last Polish players to make a large impact in North America. The physical stay-at-home defensemen was a strong presence in the Quebec Major Junior League. This eventually led to professional seasons in the American Hockey Leauge (AHL) and East Coast Hockey League. The team he spent the most time with in America was the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. Reaching the AHL’s heights was not the only notable achievement during his time in Syracuse, as his son Jakub Borzęcki was born in January of 2002. 

Jakub Borzęcki didn’t stay in America for long as his family followed were ever his dad’s playing career went. Starting in 2005, Adam Borzęcki played the rest of his career in Germany for various teams. The young Jakub sometimes swapped junior teams depending on what professional team his father played for. This included his dad’s final stop with the Bietigheim Steelers, where Jakub played for their U16 squad. In 2017 the elder Borzęcki would play his last hockey season while Jakub moved on to the Kölner EC junior system. He would only play a year for Kölner, before moving on to the Austrian super junior team RB Hockey Akademie. Jakub would play in the top Czechia junior league and make his IIHF debut for Germany at the U18s, winning the Division 1 Group A gold medal. 

Team Germany saw a lot in the young forward. He has been named the captain for both the U17 and U18 squad. He continued to improve on his performance in the Czech Republic as well. His performance on the International stage and with  RB Hockey Akademie earned him the 64th spot on NHL’s central scouting list for European skaters. COVID-19 canceled the U18s, where Borzęcki would have likely served as captain and enormously improved his draft stock. This upcoming season, the 6’1 forward has already appeared with the Germany U20 squad. He will also be making his professional debut for RB Hockey Juniors in the Alps Hockey League.  The Dubuque Fighting Saints saw enough to take Borzęcki in the sixth round of the 2020 USHL Draft. Something that could have also improved his draft stock if not for COVID-19. Jakub Borzęcki certainly shares some of his dad’s traits, with a strong two-way game while not afraid to get physical. His development could take some time, but he might develop into an excellent power forward for a team. Draft regardless, his future shows a lot of potential for a long professional career just like his father. 

Another promising RB Hockey Juniors player is Maksymilian Szuber. Szuber was born in Opole but left Poland at a very young age. He first gained attention playing for the Germany Selects U13 squad. He has spent most of his junior career with the RB Hockey Akademie, playing with the team since 2016.  Szuber is a talented defenseman with a lot of offensive flair. This skill was shown during his stint in the top Austrian U18 league, where he posted 29 points in 16 games, helping the RB Hockey Akademie to an EBJL championship. 

The following year, he would play full time to the RB hockey squad in Czech top junior leagues. He would be a vital part of team Germany winning gold at the 2018 division 1 group A U18s after posting five assists in five games. The 6’2 defensemen made his U20 debut this year in three non-IIHF games. He will also be getting his first taste of professional hockey playing in the Alps Hockey Leauge for the RB Hockey Juniors. Szuber has the size and offensive talent that scouts love, but his game still needs a lot of work. He has yet to appear on many draft boards. 

For the final player, we head to Sweden for Mateusz Szurowski. More people in Polish hockey may be more familiar with Damian Szurowski. Damian Szurowski has played in Poland since 2017, playing in 120 games between Cracovia Krakow and PKH Gdansk. The Szurowski brothers were both born in Sweden to Polish parents. They would visit Poland at least once a year growing up to see family. In Sweden, both showed potential for more while playing in the Bålsta HC system. For Damian, this was moving to Poland to start a strong professional career. For his younger brother, this meant joining the Linköping HC junior system in 2017. Linköping HC was a constant playoff team in the Swedish Hockey Leauge at the time. Recent high NHL draft picks, Calle Dahlström and Jakub Vrána passed through their system. 

In the Linköping HC system, Mateusz Szurowski flourished, posting above a point per game seasons with both of their U16 squads. He also made his first appearances for this Swedish U16 squad scoring one goal in three games. The following year would be pretty similar, another level up and now point per game seasons at the U18 level. He would make his debut for the Sweden U17 team at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, putting up one assist in six games. This past season, he spent most of his time with the Linköping HC J20 in the top Swedish U20 league. There he posted eight goals and eight assists in 36 games. He also notched another international achievement by making the Swedish U18 squad. He would have had a chance to make his IIHF U18 debut this season, if not for COVID. 

Of the group, Szurowski stands the highest probability of being drafted, earning quite a few high rankings. Number 50 on the NHL Central Scouting European skater list, #123 by McKeen’s Hockey, and #264 by Future Considerations. Szurowksi is a strong skater, always pushing for the puck on his stick to create unique scoring chances. His offensive vision has gotten him this far, but his overall game will need to continue to develop fast. 

These three players all stand a chance of hearing their name called in one of the most unique NHL drafts of all time. Especially as they have all have had a few more handful of games to improve their stock and a year older, both Borzęcki and Szuber were able to make their U20 squad debuts for Germany. In contrast, Szurowski has added a couple of goals in Sweden’s top junior league. There is no connection between these players and Polish hockey growth, but Polish fans will undoubtedly take pride in them just like they do Wojtek Wolski. They’ll do that with the hope that a player wearing red and white with an eagle on his chest joins them one day.

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