09-11-2020, 03:43 PM(This post was last modified: 09-14-2020, 11:41 AM by StamkosFan.)
The expansion franchise Quebec City Citadelles entered the Season 55 Simulation Major Junior Hockey League Draft with the first overall pick. They used that draft pick, the first in franchise history, to select Slovakian forward Zdenko Beranek.
How did Beranek, the son of former Premier Hockey League defenseman Roman Beranek, fare in his first professional season? What should SHL teams expect from the forward? Let’s take a closer look.
Primary Position: Right Wing Shoots: Left Height/Weight: 5’10”, 175 lbs From: Kosice, Slovakia
Season Overview: Beranek finished third among rookies in assists, and sixth in scoring despite only six goals in his rookie season. While the scoring touch eluded Beranek, he proved to have impressive offensive vision and developed chemistry with Stan Q. Next in particular, which could make for an interesting season if they both return to Quebec in Season 56.
The Good: With his lightning speed and vision ,Beranek proved he is a player capable of leading an offense in the near future. If Beranek is able to sharpen up a bit, he will be the kind of game-changing offensive dynamo that leaves general managers salivating.
Beranek’s speed gives teams options on how to employ him. He can either push the tempo and operate as a setup man, creating odd man opportunities and then picking out teammates for easy scores. That speed also helps him in transition, making him a solid two-way forward with strong counterattacking abilities.
The Bad: While not awful or a complete liability, Beranek still has some learning to do on the defensive end of the ice. His speed allows him to get in the right places – and recover from mistakes – but he is still prone to mistakes which can lead to scoring opportunities in the other direction.
In general, you’d like to see better possession stats out of Beranek. He had 24 takeaways, compared to 27 giveaways, putting him on the wrong side of that ratio.
While clearly not a volume shooter, it would also be nice to see Beranek sharpen his finishing ability to truly capitalize on his speed. Being able to bury his own scoring chances as well as set up his teammates would make him a truly dangerous player in the offensive end.
The Question Marks: Advanced statistics paint an unflattering picture, with negatives ratings in both Relative Corsi (-0.9) and Relative Fenwick (-1.2) for Beranek. However, how much of that is personal indictment and how much of that is a byproduct of playing for an expansion franchise that was outshot dramatically throughout the season remains to be seen.
Some scouts have also suggested Beranek may be lacking in work ethic, lagging behind others in his draft class in development. While Beranek has brushed off these concerns, Beranek’s agent, former Simulation Hockey League Hall of Famer Zach Evans, insisted his client is a hard worker and that whether or not he took the time to write 1,000 words about fake hockey on his first day off of work in two weeks is not indicative of Beranek’s shortcomings.
Where did that fourth wall go, anyways? It was right there a second ago!
The Bottom Line: With both a professional hockey pedigree and the backing of a Hall of Fame agent, Zdenko Beranek has the potential to be drafted as early as any other prospect, just like he was in the SMJHL Draft. However, with work ethic concerns – well-founded or otherwise – swirling around the Slovakian, mocks have him placed anywhere from the 11th pick to outside of the first two rounds altogether.
Ultimately, general managers will have to decide if the dynamic playmaking forward is willing to put in the work to live up to his clearly remarkable potential.
ztevans![[Image: cBHvvi2.png]](https://i.imgur.com/cBHvvi2.png)
