Tomas Poletin has been one of the top Czech names for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft for a while now. This attacker has developed primarily at the LW position, although, he can also play RW. In the 2023-24 season, he left the HC Slavia Praha system to continue his development within the junior ranks of Liiga’s Pelicans. In his first season in Finland, he scored 12 points in 10 games with Pelicans U18 and 14 points in 21 games with Pelicans U20. Poletin’s best numbers and performances have been in the Czech jersey in international tournaments. In the last Hlinka Gretzky Cup, he scored 4 points in 5 games and won the silver medal with his national team. Let’s take a look at his profile and what to expect from this young player.
Team: Pelicans (Liiga)
Date of Birth: Apr 30, 2007 – Praha, CZE
Height: 185 cm / 6’1″
Weight: 89 kg / 196 lbs
Position: LW
Shoots: Left
Skating
Poletin is a player who has an effective and smart style of play thanks to his spatial positioning on the ice. To do this, he must be explosive and agile to activate at the right time. His speed may not be among the highest of the players available for the 2025 NHL Draft, but it is definitely effective, and he uses it to beat opponents. Tomas Poletin is currently playing preseason with the Pelicans’ first team and has shown good crossover usage, in-motion plays, and cutbacks in the friendly games. This preseason, he has not been out of tune, playing against regular Liiga players. If he manages to get a spot to play in the Champions Hockey League, he could have a good stage to show his skating skills against other top-level European rivals.
Offensive Ability
Poletin is synonymous with a great presence in front of the goal crease. Many of Poletin’s goals come from this area of the ice. Poletin brings his physical presence and intelligence to bear on opponents and he becomes a headache for goalies. He has a great ability to deflect pucks and score goals with tricky shots.
This attacker has been able to impose this attribute of his game at every level he has played, including competitions against international rivals. His presence in this area of the ice not only functions as a scoring threat, but from this position, he is equally capable of assisting teammates or keeping scoring chances alive.
Defensive Ability
Tomas Poletin’s defensive skills are very effective in high-intensity games such as in the last USA U18 vs Czechia U18 of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Poletin is capable of being a big piece when it comes to forechecking. He has an active stick which, along with his good reach, makes his presence felt when looking to recover pucks in the neutral zone, defensive zone, and offensive zone. Additionally, thanks to his good spatial intelligence profile and three-step explosiveness when skating, he is able to recover pucks when intercepting passes from opponents. Furthermore, Poletin is a player who does not shy away from physical play on the boards and is able to gain possession of the puck in those duels.
Conclusion
Tomas Poletin is an intelligent player with the technical skills to collaborate defensively, in transition, and in attack. His game is highly useful when he does not have possession of the puck, as he has the natural talent to take advantage of any mistake of the opponent to get an advantage for his team. His offensive presence in front of the goalie is outstanding, and if he can effectively translate this ability to the Liiga level, he could earn a place in the top level of Finnish hockey. Poletin has many interesting qualities to work on to solidify his name for the 2025 NHL Draft.
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Featured Image Credit: Tomas Zubrus
