Between now and training camp, we’ll share the stories of several young prospects, who attended development camp in the summer and are approaching training camp in the fall with a variety of goals. Up next is forward Martin Chromiak, who is coming off a season spent in the AHL with the Ontario Reign. Chromiak had his hot streaks at that level and finished the season with 15 goals. At development camp, he stood out as a player who had played higher-level hockey and is hopeful to take that experience and make an impression at main camp in September.
In the worldwide sport of hockey, the Kings organization has just one Slovakian player in their system. His name is Martin Chromiak and you should absolutely keep an eye on the offensive juggernaut this coming year.
Hailing from Ilava, Slovakia, the Kings selected Chromiak with the 128th pick in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, which was far later than the right-handed winger was protected to go. Already, Chromiak has shown capabilities of elite goalscoring in multiple leagues and has an opportunity in front of him to continue riding in the Kings organization.
Chromiak came North America at the age of 17, joining the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL for the 2019-20 season and made an immediate impact. The OHL’s second-overall selection in the 2019 international draft notched 33 points (11-22-33) in 28 games before the pause and eventual cancellation of the remaining season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Another cancelled OHL season the following year kept Chromiak back playing in Slovakia before returning to the OHL for the 2021-22 season. Upon return, Chromiak had an outstanding season, ranking fifth in the OHL in goals (44) and put up 86 points (44-42-86) in 60 games.
With momentum and confidence, Chromiak went into the 2022 offseason with high hopes. To no fault of his own, the momentum was halted at the worst possible time and Chromiak was set back compared to his counterparts. Beginning with the Kings 2022 Development Camp, Chromiak was absent from the five-day summer event due to an illness, missing an opportunity amongst his peers to learn from the Kings’ Player Development staff and connect with his teammates. One step behind his counterparts, Chromiak got healthy and appeared back on track after a noteworthy showing at the late summer 2022 Rookie Showcase. Alongside notable teammates – forwards Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte, Francesco Pinelli and Akil Thomas – Chromiak was a positive standout and logged top line minutes at the showcase.
With the 2022-23 season set to ramp up, Chromiak suffered another setback, this his biggest yet. Leading up to the Ontario Reign’s season opener, Chromiak felt a horrible stomach pain he’d never felt before. Instead of a trip to the Inland Empire that night for a game, Chromiak was sent to the emergency room and had emergency appendectomy surgery, which kept him out of competitive hockey for a month.
Finally, after missing the first 11 games of the season, Chromiak made his debut with the Reign on November 13, 2022. From there, Chromiak played in 55 of the Reign’s 61 remaining regular season games and appeared in every playoff game.
His season was by no means traditional due to the late start. Adding to the complexity, Chromiak was a rookie last season and found himself learning the AHL game while his opponents were already in midseason mode. Fret not, he found his stride midway into the season. The self-admitted learning and adjustment period took Chromiak into the new year, 14 games in fact. Game 14 for Chromiak proved to be crucial as it was the game where the Slovak netted his first professional goal. Finally, having seen the puck go in the net, Chromiak went on a tear, scoring eight goals in the month of January as he fell just short of the AHL player of the Month honors.
Chromiak reflected on his 2022-23 season at the 2023 Development Camp, comfortably in English.
“I’m happy with how my first year went, it was a big positive,” he reflected. “Obviously, I was sick at the beginning of the season. I missed the first couple of weeks and that wasn’t easy being away from the team, but I think after Christmas, it went up a lot. Everything started going my way. At the end of the year, I was a full-time AHL player, playing every game in the regular season and in the playoffs. I really think it was a positive the season.”
Following the last day of development camp, Glenn Murray met with the media and touched on a number of topics, one of them being Chromiak.
“For him, it’s continuing to work towards a better engine, a better engine on and off ice,” Murray said. “He’s young, he was a young guy last year. We say this all the time and certain players don’t understand, but the American Hockey League is very hard. There are older guys there and they’re battling for the jobs. They’re not going to just give it to you and [Martin] found that out fairly quickly. He had a really good six weeks last year where he scored all his goals, but it’s hard, it’s a long season. You’re on the bus, you’re practicing every day, you’re used this someone taking care of you and now you’re here, now you’re a pro hockey player and have to depend on yourself, do your laundry, put gas in your car, whatever it may be. Sometimes it takes time, but I think he’s going the right way.”
Chromiak feels the same.
“I think the first year [in the AHL] is hard for everybody,” he said. “Especially coming from juniors, it’s always hard, but I think that first year gave me a lot of experience. I think I developed a lot and played with great players. I learned from them a lot. So, I think going into my second year, I know what to expect. I think I’ll be ready from the beginning.”
Chromiak’s development camp was impressive. As the player development staff continued to remind the media, the five-day showcase was not a try out. With that context in mind, Chromiak he stood out, though that was expected of him. As one of the elder and more experienced prospects in camp, Chromiak was continually around the puck, making plays and scoring goals in the scrimmages. It’s another step in the development process for the 20-year old as he will continue to grow, get stronger and learn.
“[For my next steps,] I just want to focus on the things the coaches told me after the season and in camp,” he said. “Areas of my game that I have to be better at, especially in the defensive zone and be a 200-foot player. That’s the thing I’m trying to improve at right now.”
As Chromiak continues to polish his game this summer, the next opportunity for him may come at this fall’s Rookie Showcase in mid-September. With rosters and exact timing yet to be finalized, much is still to be determined. Those decisions will come later down the road.
Regardless, Chromiak has a big upside with the tools in his toolkit. The goalscorer looks to be on the right track as he learns to sharpen those tools.
*P.S. I will personally be starting a petition to have Martin Chromiak be on the Kings 20-man roster for every game that the chrome helmets are worn. Be on the lookout for that on change.org or something.*
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