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Written June 5th, 2025
Grading Overview:
Grading Overview:
The grades given are, of course, subjective. Instead of focusing the grading on what they did stats-wise this year, I am more worried about expectations. Are they taking steps in the right direction to become an impact player for the Blues? Now, is this probably unfair? Of course it is. However, it is important to give some credit to some of the guys who don’t get mentioned often for making tremendous strides while also calling attention to some flaws others may have. Below is the broad criteria of how I am judging each prospect. It’s a subjective grading system, but one that can at least be justified for each prospect.
A – Exceeded Expectations
B – Met Expectations
C – Below Expectations
D – Presence on ice impacted the team negatively
F – Better off not even being on the ice
Juraj Pekarcik
Juraj Pekarcik
Left Winger
Age – 19
Draft – 3.76 23’
Team – Moncton Wildcats
Summary:
Pekarcik started the year with plenty of questions. He played his 23/24 campaign with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL, which is fine for one season, but not long-term. His primary option was to head to the QMJHL and play for one of the worst teams in the league, Acadie-Bathurst, but the Titans would end up trading his draft rights to one of the best teams in the league, Moncton. With this move, Pekarcik paired up with a likely top ten pick in Caleb Desnoyers on the top Wildcat’s line, and they certainly dominated. He ended his regular season with the 17th highest point per game mark in the QMJHL and would go on as the favorite for the QMJHL championships. He would finish the playoffs with the 14th most points per game and would end up lifting the Gilles-Courteau Trophy. This gave Moncton a ticket to the Memorial Cup, in which Pekarcik probably had his best game of the year in a win-or-go-home clash vs. Rimouski, in which Pekarcik slotted in a goal and an assist. On the international side of things, Slovakia would once again be knocked out in the quarterfinals, but improvements to Pekarcik's game were noticeable, especially on the power play. He would end this tournament with the 8th-best points per game. Big question mark about Pekarcik's future. He signed an ELC with the Blues in May of 2024, so he has the opportunity to either go to Springfield or play one more year with Desnoyers and the Wildcats as an overeager. For now, we simply must wait for the decision.
Concerns:
A few concerns here with Pekarcik. Not sure if he can have these performances solo, as internationally he has relied on Dvorsky, and in Moncton he relied on Desnoyers. He also seems to lack explosiveness, and his defense could still greatly improve. I would also like to see him protect the puck a bit better.
Grade: B+
Reason: I enjoyed watching Pekarcik play this year, and he proved he can play in the Canadian junior system. His Hockey IQ took a step up this season. He still needs roughly two years to improve on all the things I touched on in the concerns section, but I could see Pekarcik becoming a middle-six winger for the Blues in time. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Blues use him as a trade chip, though, with the amount of LW currently in the Blues system.
Tomas Mrsic
Tomas Mrsic
Winger / Center
Age – 19
Draft – 4.113 24’
Team – Prince Albert Raiders
Summary:
The early-season story for Tomas Mrsic is essentially the opposite of Pekarcik's. Mrsic started the pre-season with the eventual WHL champions in the Medicine Hat Tigers, but couldn’t find a significant role with the team. He would get a chance to prove he belonged to the upper echelons of WHL talent when Medicine Hat decided to trade Mrsic to the below-average Prince Albert Raiders squad. Mrsic would be the team leader in points finishing as the 11th highest point getter in the WHL. The power play is where Mrsic shined this year, finishing the year at 14 power play goals and 27 power play assists, both being 6th best in the league. Although not called on often, Mrsic did play a few games at center this year, winning 76 faceoffs and having a respectable 56% win rate. Prince Albert would go on to play in the WHL playoffs, but Mrsic would be injured in game 5 vs the Edmonton Oil Kings and would sit out the remainder of the year. Overall, this is a season no one expected out of Mrsic.
Concerns:
The full extent of the injury is not yet known at this time for Mrsic, so that will be something to look out for. Mrsic is definitely on the small side when looking at the entire Blues' forwards prospect group, only clocking in at 6 feet and 170 pounds. Size will be a big contributor to whether or not Mrsic can hit that next milestone or not.
Grade: A
Reason: Mrsic is probably the closest forward to achieving the A+, but he still has some defensive improvements I would like to see. Overall, though, Mrsic went above and beyond this year.
Jakub Stancl
Jakub Stancl
Left Wing
Age – 20
Draft – 4.106 23’
Current Team – Springfield Thunderbirds
Summary:
If we want to look into Jakub Stancl, we have to look at his time at the World Juniors. Czechia hero in the 2024 contest, Stancl, was the highest point getter in the 2025 rendition, netting 10 points, which was the second most in the tournament. He also ended the WJC with the third highest points per game, only getting beaten out by top prospects in Dalibor Dvorsky and Cole Hutson. Clearly elite in the WJC, the question comes in league play. To be fair to Stancl, he was fairly impressive in the first half of the season when he consistently put up multiple points per game numbers. The problem came when Kelowna went on a selling spree, trading most of their top players, including Andrew Cristall. Even Stancl was expected to get traded during this phase to the Calgary Hitmen, but that trade never materialized. Stancl was stuck in a really bad Kelowna squad, and the numbers show that with Stancl only getting 13 points in his last 20 contests, significantly less than his over a point per game pace he was on consistently through the season. Even more concerning, Stancl time in Springfield. Just one assist in 10 games is not a good look when you are expected to play for that club the following season.
Concerns:
The biggest concern will be capable of playing in professional leagues like the NHL. Like I mentioned with Pekarcik, the competition at the LW spot is brutal, and if Stancl can’t figure it out fast, he might not make it in Springfield. Also needs to develop a little bit on the defensive side.
Grade B-
Reason: Take out the WJC, and it's an underwhelming season. He was put in a very unfortunate situation, coming back with so much WJC success and expectations, only to wind up in a broken team. However, when a roster is that thin offensively, you would’ve hoped that Stancl would’ve stepped up, but he simply didn’t. His Springfield debut is also very concerning.
Adam Jecho
Adam Jecho
Right Wing / Center
Age – 19
Draft – 3.95 24’
Team – Edmonton Oil Kings
Summary:
Speaking of last year's Czechia hero, time to look at this year's hero against Canada, Adam Jecho. Jecho is in a different situation than a lot of the other prospects I’ve touched on so far, as he is the only one who was on the same CHL team in the 2023/24 season and the 2024/25 season. For that reason, not much to say when it comes to transactions. However, there is still a lot to like about his game, which essentially screams Toropchenko. When you look at stats, both players only improved by a couple of points from their first CHL season to their second, but had double-digit +/- improvements from one year to the next. Games are also getting quite similar, with Jecho still not showing the skating ability Toropchenko has, but made quite the improvement this year. 100 points in 110 WHL games earned him an ELC in March. Playoff-wise, Jecho did fairly well with 3 points in 7 games, but you hope to see a little higher numbers, especially with an injury-riddled Prince Albert squad they faced in the first round. Overall, though, it is a solid season.
Concerns:
Same story again, as I would like to see Jecho's defense improve, specifically with his positioning this time. Skating could also use a bit more improvement, even though he made strides (literally and figuratively) this year.
Grade: B
Reason: He simply did everything that was expected of him this season. The biggest difference between him and Toropchenko is that Toropchenko never got a third CHL season. It’ll be interesting to see what sort of jump Jecho makes in his game if indeed he plays a third season, and also what he does in his final year of eligibility. I’d expect to see him on the top line for Czechia in January.
Ondrej Kos
Ondrej Kos
Left Wing
Age – 19
Draft – 3.81 24’
Current Team – Ilves (Liiga)
Summary:
Ending off here, another Czech and the only prospect to play outside of North America this season. Kos is an interesting case study, as he is essentially the opposite of everyone else. His defense was great this year, especially considering he’s younger than 20 and played most of his games in Finland's top league. A 10-goal year in all Finnish competition is still respectable on the offensive side of things but you always want to see more, considering all the LW competition. Biggest gripe with Kos will come from the WJC, as he played on the fourth line, which was clearly the worst line the Czechs had. Didn’t watch much Finnish hockey this season, so I’m going to leave it at that.
Concerns:
Kos is going to be a bottom-six forward, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but you have to physically mature if you want to make it as a two-way player in the NHL, and Kos simply doesn’t have that yet. His 176-pound frame has to increase next season. I’d also like to see those offensive numbers tick up a bit more next year with a full year of Liiga play.
Grade: B-
Reason: I don’t want to give him any lower than that because he’s the only prospect that had significant defensive improvements this year, especially playing in a much tougher league. His WJC has to improve next season, though, if he wants to ensure an ELC.
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