Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day our LWOS Prospects Writers will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow Ben Kerr, and Frederik Frandsen on Twitter, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! Last Word On Hockey Prospects is your new headquarters for everything “NHL Draft”! Today we bring you our Dominik Badinka Scouting Report.
Dominik Badinkas’ season was one of two halves. At the start of the season, he was extremely disappointing. He looked overwhelmed and unable to adjust to the SHL game. This saw him drop down a lot of boards. However, after a strong second half of the season, he regained his spot. He refound his swagger and composure and played well in the SHL after a stint in the J20 Nationell. In the Swedish junior leagues, the big Czech defenceman had 13 points in 17 games while getting four in 33 SHL games. He also ended the SHL season averaging around 15 minutes per game for Malmö Redhawks. A testament to his turnaround as he was trusted in more and more critical situations toward the end of the season.
Dominik Badinka 2024 NHL Draft Scouting Report
Defenceman — Shoots Right
Born November 27th, 2005 — Chomutov, CZE
Height 6’3″ — Weight 185 lbs [190 cm / 84 kg]
Skating
For a 6-foot-3 player, Dominik Badinka is a great puckmoving defenceman. He is extremely mobile and has great straight-line speed. Badinka always keeps his feet moving and his edges are strong, which allows him to make the most of both his size and great work rate. He is another great example of the European two-way defenceman, who is mobile, and composed no matter what. Be it in transition or defence, the mobility allows him to have a chance to make a play.
In transition, his mobility is especially noticeable, as it’s often him who retrieves the puck in his own zone, but keeps his feet moving to get away from pressure. From there he has both the ability to carry the puck up ice himself or make a strong breakout pass. Showcasing his skating and maturity of Badinkas’ game.
Offensive Game
As a two-way defender, one of the areas that does need improvements for Dominik Badinka is the offensive production. The main limitation to him is his lacklustre stick handling, which prevents him from being able to control the play from the point. His skating is good enough to allow him to dance on the blue line, but his puck handling needs significant improvements. It often feels like he is fighting the puck more than the pressure of the opponents when having the puck on his stick.
However, the potential is there and his passing is great. So is his vision and IQ, as he reads the game at such a high level. He has a great ability to keep the puck moving offensively and not slowing down the game. His shot isn’t great and is mostly just simply shots from low-scoring areas. However, if he can improve his ability to work the blue line, the vision and skating could see him be a quarterback on a potential second powerplay unit in the NHL.
Defensive game:
Along with his skating, the work in his own zone is Dominik Badinkas’ main asset. He is an extremely reasonable player, who can be trusted in most situations. One of the main reasons for this is his ability to keep things simple. Badinka will often make the smart and effective play without much drama about it. Be it with how he controls the gap during the rush or intercepts a pass, it’s done with highly intelligent movement. Towards the end of the season, it was clear to see how extremely unfazed he was by the SHL forwards, as he often would be able to battle and use his size to win battles despite the limited experience. All in all there arent many flaws defensively for a player like Badinka. The biggest negative is that he doesn’t have any elite skills defensively, but is just good at everything.
Projection and Comparison
Dominik Badinka is an interesting player to watch. Being a very mobile defenceman with size and good two-way skill, he should be going early. However, his limited offensive toolset and only four SHL points do warrant him going later. He is mature, has a lot of readiness and could be one that plays in the NHL late next season. Having a high floor as a player who can be trusted defensively. However, he will need to work on his puck handling to reach the ceiling.
As a comparison, he reminds me of Damon Severson. A player who can play a role on the second powerplay, but ultimately is best as a puck mover, while being defensively responsible.
Main Photo: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
