New Jersey Devils: Jaromir Pytlik Is Headed To World Juniors

New Jersey Devils prospect Jaromír Pytlík is headed to the World Juniors.

The New Jersey Devils have a lot of great young prospects in the organization. Over the past week or two, the Prospect Pyramid has been our way of looking at how the organization looks at the current young people in it. One player who was on there in tier-five was Jaromir Pytlik. He is a good young prospect but has a lot of work to do in his development. He is in the news now because he was just invited to be a part of Team Czech Republic  for the World Junior Classic.

Jaromír Pytlík was selected by New Jersey in the 4th round (99th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft. Of course, he is a Czech native who is a 19-year-old centerman that can also play wing. He is a bigger kid for being 19 at 6’3″ and 201 lbs. He could grow into his body with his skill and become a great pro hockey player one day.

There are a lot of scouts out there who really like his game. He is credited with being a great skater, having lots of skill, and knows how to work well in traffic. Those are all the things a good pro hockey player needs but it might take some time for him.

Pytlik played for the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL in 2019-20. Before COVID-19 shut that season down, he had 22 goals and 28 assists for 50 points in 56 games. That is phenomenal production for an 18-year-old playing his first full OHL season. Hopefully, things are able to pick back up in the OHL when he gets back from the tournament.

This trip to the World Juniors is going to be very good for Pytlik. He is going to be on the Czech team who probably isn’t a favorite these days but they should still have a competitive team that has a lot of good players. He will also be playing against teams like Canada and the United States who have players who will have players in the NHL as soon as next season.

There are other NHL prospects on Team Czech as well so this is a great opportunity for Pytlik. New Jersey has a long way to go before he has a chance with Binghamton or the NHL club but this is a great first step after being drafted.