With the No. 56 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers could select… Alex Čiernik?
1 year ago
We all like fast, skilled forwards, right?
Today we’ll be looking at Alex Čiernik, an 18-year-old left-winger that was born in Germany, raised in Sweden, and plays for the Slovakian national team.
The Oilers have a few left wings in the system. The most notable is Dylan Holloway, who also plays centre. Matvey Petrov is an excellent scorer who has played for the North Bay Battalion for the past two seasons and is likely to play for the Bakersfield Condors next season.
Carter Savoie (not to be confused with Raphael Lavoie) had a rough season in his first full American Hockey League season, scoring eight goals and 11 points in 44 games. In 2021, they drafted a United States Hockey League player named Shane LaChance, who is committed to Boston University.
The Oilers also drafted two overseas players in the 2020 draft. One of which is Jeremias Lindewall, who played against Čiernik in the HockeyAllsvenskan and scored two goals and six points in 35 games. The other 2020 draftee is Maxim Berezkin, who had seven goals and 26 points in 52 games in the Kontinental Hockey League.
So next to Holloway and maybe Petrov, the Oilers don’t have a lot of future middle six or better left wings in the system. Could Čiernik change that?
NHL DRAFT CONTENT PRESENTED BY BETWAY
Alex Čiernik Scouting Report and Profile
Position: Left / Right Wing
Shoots: Left
Nationality: Slovakia
Date of Birth: October 8, 2004
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 179 lbs
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Čiernik had a great first full season in the Swedish Junior League, scoring 20 goals and adding 47 points in 43 games. In fact, this gave him an opportunity to play in the HockeyAllsvenskan, the second division of Swedish hockey. He played 11 games and finished the season with a -2.
He once again played well in the Swedish Junior League, scoring nine goals and 21 points in just 18 games. Like the previous season, Čiernik had the opportunity to play in HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-best professional league, where he scored three goals and 12 assists playing between Södertälje SK and Västerviks IK.
Čiernik was also a part of the u-20 Slovakian World Junior team that took Canada to overtime in the gold medal game. He had two goals and an assist in the five games he played.
As for his best attributes, Čiernik is well known for his skating ability. In fact, scouts believe that he could be one of the best skaters in the 2023 class as he has the ability to get around traffic effortlessly. Čiernik also has great instincts, with great intelligence and vision to find open teammates. Furthermore, he has great hands and puck control, keeping the puck on his stick. As for his shot, it’s considered strong and quick.
At 5’10”, Čiernik is rather small on the ice. He’s not afraid to be hit, but he’ll need to go stronger as he moves to North America. He’ll also need to work on his defence and play away from the puck, as The Hockey Writers noted “he can easily fade into the background without the puck.”
With that being said, if the Oilers were to draft Čiernik with the 56th overall pick, they’d be picking a fast, skilled, and creative player with some holes in his game.
Previously in this series…
- With the No. 56 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers could select… Felix Unger Sörum?
- With the No. 56 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers could select… Caden Price?
- With the No. 56 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers could select… Hunter Brzustewicz?
- With the No. 56 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers could select… Scott Ratzlaff?
- With the No. 56 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers could select… Carey Terrance?
- With the No. 56 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers could select… Luca Cagnoni?
- With the No. 56 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers could select… Jacob Fowler?
If you enjoy my content, you can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D. This was a rather interesting article to write because as you may know, I also cover Blue Jays prospects for Blue Jays Nation. Čiernik has a similar story to Jays’ prospect Adam Macko, who is Slovakian-born, grew up in Ireland, and played high school baseball in Vauxhall.
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