After a whirlwind 12 months, Jakub Dvorak finally looking to be on schedule at the 2024 Rookie Faceoff

Let’s talk about a whirlwind of a 12 months. Perhaps no player within the Kings organization has had that statement apply to them more so than Jakub Dvorak.

His season began on a hectic note, as flight troubles saw him arrive barely in time to participate in the 2023 Rookie Faceoff in Vegas. He started last season on a full-time basis playing professional hockey in his native Czechia. He ended it playing major-junior hockey in a foreign country in Western Canada. Couldn’t script a crazier season for a young player.

That’s not a transition I envy. Even for an adult, that situation would present so many different challenges. Now, think about it if you were a 19-year-old. Moving away from home to transition from the only place you’ve known to a junior league across the globe. Can’t imagine that being easy and it wasn’t for Dvorak.

“To be honest, it was one of the toughest years I’ve ever had,” he admitted. “Half of the season in Czech, the other half in Canada and it wasn’t easy for me. I was looking for myself and trying to settle down somewhere. It was a big adjustment for me to completely change my life and go live in Canada, but that’s a part of our jobs.”

The personal element presented obvious challenges.

The hockey element was a different story.

With Liberec Bili Tygri HC, Dvorak was used largely in a depth role. Playing professionally, the stakes are a bit higher and we see the same things in the NHL. Younger players don’t always get thrown into high-leverage opportunities, even if they are playing against a higher level of competition. Dvorak found himself in and out of the lineup at times and when he was in, his minutes were limited to around 10 – 12 per night.

As Mark Yannetti discussed over the summer, when it comes to professional teams, they tend to lean on veterans during times of adversity. That presented a tough situation for Dvorak, who ultimately made the move to the WHL for the second half of the season. While he admitted it was challenging, he understood why it was a good move for him.

“It was good for me, even the social life and the hockey life,” he added. “I played a ton of minutes in Canada, so it was better for me to go there rather than stay in Czech.”

Still, that’s not to say it wasn’t without its hurdles. The game is not the same in North America as it is over in Europe.

Dvorak was used to playing in Czechia, where the ice is much wider. It emphasizes different parts of the games and the strategies are different. He had essentially no time to adjust, with the midseason transfer to the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos, slotting in almost immediately to playing games over here.

He returned home for the summer, as most players do, but spent most of his offseason working on the wider ice sheets once again.

“It’s a lot wider in Czech and I’m feeling it even now, because I spent my summer in Czech, so I was skating on the wider rink,” he said. “It’s pretty small here but it’s not a big deal, I think that every player gets used to it pretty quickly.”

#GoKingsGo prospect Jakub Dvorak nabs his first career Western League goal!@SCBroncos | @LAKings pic.twitter.com/b5FSdo4LQf

— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 17, 2024

Fast forward to this week and Dvorak is back in camp with the Kings, the team that selected him in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft, the team’s first selection last season in Nashville.

Dvorak fell on some draft boards due to concerns about his skating. The Kings did not share those concerns. Dvorak is a big player, standing at 6-5, but has shown over the last two games an ability to move pucks quickly. Players who play his style of hockey often do not stand out in these games. Those who know are watching, though.

“Devo, he’s an interesting kid, I really like him, I really liked him last year, the way he came in,” Head Coach Marco Sturm said before the tournament. “He could be a guy like, I don’t know, maybe like Mikey Anderson, he just doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He plays hard, always in the right position, I think he has the size already to be an AHL player so hopefully he can grab it.”

On top of his attributes, there is more of a comfort level for Dvorak that was not there last season.

There’s an adjustment curve for everyone in their first tournament, but for Dvorak, it was even more so. He missed the pre-tournament practice due to flight difficulties and was thrown right into it during his first event. Now, he’s gone through this once, so he knows what to expect. He arrived on time, which is helpful, and he’s familiar with everything that comes with an event like this. That goes a long way.

“I knew what to expect and I know the guys here, most of them,” he said. “It was easier for me to get here, I know the boys, I know the stuff here and all of the guys here.”

As Dvorak admitted, rookie games can be a bit of a scramble. There’s not a perfect science to playing in games that are essentially summer hockey, coming in with one practice and little cohesion between players used to playing a wide variety of systems. Typically, that leads to mistakes. For the Kings, they played three lower-scoring games. It wasn’t perfect for Dvorak, who took three minor penalties this weekend and was on the ice for the overtime goal against Utah on Saturday. There’s a lot there, but still a ways to go.

“Long-term, I believe he’s a good defenseman and he will be a good defenseman for us,” Sturm said. “You just have to almost guide them to the right track, whatever that is.”

As he continues to grow and develop, as he continues to get more comfortable as a player, his game should only continue to take steps forward.

“We just want him to get to another level,” Sturm added. “We want him to have success, we want him to play good. He’s okay [now], but I still think he can be more effective, he just has to get a little bit more comfortable too, I think that’s the kind of person he is. There’s more to it than just hockey.”

Looking ahead, this camp transitions into main camp next week, which Dvorak will attend in full.

Where he goes from there, though, is unknown.

Dvorak could stay in California, likely with the Ontario Reign, where he would be eligible to play this season at 19, since he comes from Czechia. He could also return to the WHL with Swift Current for a full season that could lend to a bit of stability as a high-usage player. You could see both sides to it.

“With Devo, yeah, that’s a little tricky one,” Sturm added. “He was not too happy at home and he was not too happy, I don’t know if that’s the right word, but with the Western Hockey League, not he was probably not too impressed, let’s put that way. So, I don’t know. I think he’s going to be the tricker one of all.”

He said that he understands the decision is not up to him at the end of the day. That falls with team management. What he’s focusing on is his own game, with one more opportunity tomorrow against the Ducks, before the level raises once again. For a player who has dealt with more adversity than most over the last 12 months, he’s well prepared to embrace it.