Maple Leafs select centre Miroslav Holinka with 151st pick of the 2024 NHL Draft
By Alex Hobson
4 days agoThe Toronto Maple Leafs have selected forward Miroslav Holinka from HC Ocelari Trinec U20 of Czechia’s U20 league with the 151st pick of the 2024 NHL Draft.
It was their first of three picks in the fifth round of the draft, selecting Russian forward Alexander Plesovskikh with the 152nd pick and Russian goaltender Timofei Obvintsev with the 157th pick.
A native of Kromeriz, Czechia, Holinka tallied 20 goals and 41 points in 29 U20 Czechia games. He also appeared in 16 games for HC Ocelari’s pro team, tallying three points with a single goal.
Standing at 6-foot-1 and 183 pounds, Holinka can play centre and right wing and was ranked 31st out of all European skaters on NHL’s Central Scouting rankings. Here’s what EliteProspects’ draft guide had to say about him.
Miroslav Holinka finished in the top-10 in scoring of Czechia’s U20 league, with 41 in 29 games. This season, he was mostly an in-betweener: too good for the junior league, but not refined enough to play regularly with HC Oceláři Třinec in the professional league. Holinka headed straight at defenders to dangle them in the U20 circuit. He succeeded more often than not, pulling off impressive toe-drag and backhand moves in the process. He worked around the net, getting more than his share of far-post tap-in goals, and he also showed a talent to beat the defence off the mark. His early drives up ice on breakouts enabled him to get past opponents and earn breakaways. He also safeguards his team well off the rush, too, replacing defenders and cutting passing plays of the opposition. To become just as effective at the professional level, Holinka will have to develop a more dynamic skating ability and increase the pace to his game. Adding some crossovers to his rushes would make him more deceptive 1-on-1. He also needs to develop his awareness, puck protection ability, and short-passing game.
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