Right-handed defenseman Dominik Badinka has had quite a developmental journey in the last few years, physically speaking. Three seasons ago, he was playing in Czechia. One year later, he ended up playing for Jokerit in Finland, and in his 18-year-old season, he moved to Sweden to play in the J20 Nationell and eventually the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He bounced between the two leagues, eventually playing almost double (33) the number of games in the SHL than the J20 Nationell (17). In those 17 J20 games, he put up two goals and 11 assists for a total of 13 points, and in the SHL he compiled one goal and four total points.
Related: THW’s 2024 NHL Draft Guide
Despite not putting up huge numbers against men in the SHL, Badinka played around 15 minutes per night on the back end for the Malmö Redhawks, an accomplishment in and of itself for his age. He was awarded this playing time for a few key facets of his game: his mobility, poise, and IQ. At 6-foot-3, Badinka has good size but still moves exceptionally well. His straight-line speed is among the best among defensemen in the entire draft class, though admittedly that can be canceled out by a lack of high-end stickhandling ability. On top of that, he is able to remain extremely calm under pressure in his own end, refraining from panicking with the puck on his stick — which is fantastic considering how often he likes it on his stick.
In addition to that, his hockey sense is top-notch. He sees the ice extremely well, aiding in his first pass up the ice. In the offensive zone, his vision allows him to find open teammates and set up scoring chances at will, while his ability to draw attention to himself allows his teammates to find open space that much easier. On the other end of transition, he is able to read plays and opposing breakouts extremely well, solidifying his two-way abilities as projectably above NHL average.
