Slovakian centreman Adam Sykora was picked first overall by the Medicine Hat Tigers in Friday's CHL Import Draft (Photo courtesy Western Hockey League)

By Scott Roblin

CHL Import Draft

Tigers select Slovak star Adam Sykora first overall in CHL Import Draft

Jul 1, 2022 | 9:33 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – One of hockey’s most promising international prospects is now a member of the Medicine Hat Tigers fold.

Holding the first overall pick in the 2022 CHL Import Draft on Friday, the Tigers added Slovak centreman Adam Sykora to their prospect pool.

The 17-year-old Sykora completed his first season in the Slovak Extraliga playing professional hockey with HK Nitra, where he posted 10 goals and 17 points in 46 games.

On the international stage, Sykora also excelled playing at the 2022 IIHF World Hockey Championships as one of the tournament’s youngest players, registering three points in six games with Team Slovakia.

In a release, Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins praised Sykora’s abilities with the puck and the type of player he could develop into.

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“Adam is a skilled offensive forward with a great motor and plays with intensity,” said Desjardins. “He takes away time and space, and is not afraid to be first to pucks and play in the dirty areas. He had an excellent World Championships as one of the youngest players in the tournament, and we expect him to be taken in the first few rounds of the NHL Draft next week. We are excited about the prospects of adding a player of his caliber and providing an environment where he can continue to improve and develop his game.”

Sykora is ranked 42nd by NHL Central Scouting among international skaters for the upcoming 2022 NHL Draft and is expected to be taken somewhere in the mid rounds.

He will join returning Tigers blueliner Bogdans Hodass as Medicine Hat’s two import protected players for the 2022-23 WHL season, however he has yet to commit to joining the club in the fall.

Sykora does have WHL bloodlines though, as his father Roman played in eight games with the Tri-City Americans in the 1997-98 WHL season.

Departing the Tigers organization will be defenceman Gleb Ivanov meanwhile, as he is returning home to Russia’s MHL with Chaika Nizhny Novgorod after contributing three goals and nine points in 48 games in his lone season in the WHL.

This was the first time Medicine Hat held the first overall pick in the CHL Import Draft since 1998, when they drafted Czech defender Vladimir Sicak with that selection.