Thomas Novak
Offensive zone ability: B
Offensive transition ability: B
Puck movement and possession retention: B
Defensive transition ability: B-
Defensive zone ability: C+
Defense: positional
Offense: cerebral
Keywords, unique identity traits: playmaking, skill, vision, puck-support
Room for improvement: needs to fill out his frame, can be prone to forcing a pass in the offensive zone
Full analysis:
Thomas Novak is a mid sized center that still has room to fill out his frame, he displays high-end vision, puck-handling ability and plays as a playmaker on the line while also boasting good overall mobility and elusiveness. Despite being primarily a skilled playmaker, he also shows the ability to be a plus player in all three zones and isn't shy when getting his nose dirty, although it's not really his M.O. to be a grit player as he prefers to weave through traffic with his high-end puck skills and dictate the play with his playmaking, making passes to his teammates then getting open for a return pass.
As a playmaker he is capable of both making pinpoint accurate passes for scoring opportunities as well as supporting the play all over the ice by making simple plays that drive the play forward. In that respect he does show good understanding of the flow of the game and will make himself available as an easy passing option in all three zones by reading what the puck-carrier is doing and providing himself as an option to sustain zone time or to gain entry.
This is also evident in the defensive zone, where he comes back in to support his teammates and aid with the breakouts as he shows willingness to involve himself defensively and help out by reading and reacting with his hockey IQ. However, being mid-sized at best, he doesn't really have the capability to utilize his body to battle with bigger players at this point in time. That said, he has developed solid positioning and stick ability and does a good job of being helpful that way and can also create turnovers with his understanding of how the plays unfold on ice and his stick ability.
With the puck on his stick he will make simple plays that drive the play forward coming out of his zone by processing the game naturally and understanding whether he has to make a simple pass or by making a move himself if required. His vision and puck-handling ability in combination with elusiveness allow him to weave through opponents and move the play forward. He utilizes that same skill and vision to maintain zone time as he will use his teammates to make simple give-and-go plays that show off his ability to read the play and will intermix that with holding on to the puck for longer periods of time, as his elusiveness and skill allows him to do so if required.
He is capable of making the "final" pass into space or to his teammate for scoring opportunities when the space for a play like that opens up. However at this point he can still be prone to forcing a pass like that looking for scoring chances even when they might not be there, which can result in give-aways. While the occasional giveaway is natural for a player of his calibre, those plays can back-fire exponentially at higher levels of hockey. While he does show good elusiveness and puck-handling to fend off opponents, he still has room to grow and that should aid him with puck-protection at the next level. For his playmaking to work, it will also be beneficial for him to start thinking shot more often so that he can have more deception in his game, that is something that will probably be required at the next level, as pass only players can be too easy to play against if they never show the drive to be a scorer even if only to further open up ice.
I would say Novak probably projects as a 2nd line center at the high end of his potential, if not, a more conservative projection would be a middle six skilled playmaking forward that isn't deficient defensively. For him to be a 2nd line center at the NHL level, he would probably have to fill out his frame and display more drive to get his shot off on a consistent level.
Development focus: Developmentally for Novak, filling out his frame should really aid him as he transitions to higher levels of hockey as that will be required to keep sustaining his offensive zone time. He has good balance and elusiveness but a filled-out frame should help so that he doesn't get pushed around or too easily swatted off the puck at the wall as well as in battling defensively against bigger players. Even more importantly showing his shot more often would really benefit him and open ice up further both to pass as well as to actually shoot.
Projection: I'd project Novak as a middle six skilled playmaking forward, probably more a center than a winger and if he reaches the high-end of his potential, I'd say 2nd line center and PP option is a possibility.
