Today the Red Wings have announced that they have added HC Pardubice’s 2013-2014 lead scorer, Tomas Nosek to a two-year entry level deal.
The 21 year old, 6’2″ 201 lbs lefty center adds some needed depth down the middle in Detroit’s pool of prospects. Nosek had a fantastic 2013-2014 season in the Czech leagues scoring 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in 55 games. One of his career highlights was in 2011-2012 when he helped his team become Czech Extraliga Champions, as well as appearing in the World Juniors as “Captain Czech.” In addition to his tremendous regular season contributions, he provided his team with six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in 10 playoff games this season.
According to MLive, Nosek has been on Detroit’s radar for a number of years. They’re hoping he can crack into the lineup out of training camp, but if he cannot, he’ll be spending his rookie season with the Grand Rapids Griffins. There isn’t much film available to review his play(aside from the gif I created above), but he’s projected to be a third-line center. Alter your expectations, as you will.. He seems to lack strength, but has pretty nifty playmaking abilities as well as very good hockey sense.
I think this is a pretty great low-risk, (possible) high-reward pickup for Detroit. He’s obviously got some upside to him with moves like that, and he’s been commended for his two-way abilities. Doubtful that he makes the big roster anytime soon as we have so many centers that they are practically coming out of Mike Babcock’s nose, but he’d make an immediate impact in Grand Rapids if he’s able to make the cut. I have a feeling this has been a plan for Detroit since Calle Jarnkrok was traded for David Legwand, since there are reports Detroit has been interested in him for some time. We’ll see what Tomas Nosek can bring to the table. Also, how cool would it be to have a Tomas (Jurco) – Tomas (Nosek) – Tomas (Tatar) line? Sounds like fun to me.
