Hmm. Tricky spot for me here. I have been a little leery of prospects like this in the past. The thing for me is that Necas is a 100% full tilt kind of hockey player. Tremendous effort and competitiveness. The Czech league is incredibly hard to project because as compared to leagues like the SHL for example, it's not as competitive. It's a little easier for younger players to play in the Senior team. While the U20 squad would have been far too easy, the Czech Men's league was probably a little ambitious at his level of development. I think if he played in Sweden, he wouldn't have been a full time SHL player last year. The effort level is a huge plus, but it can also indicate that a player is playing closer to maximum output. The thing that usually mitigates that concern for me is looking at how he produces in tournaments, because there can be no question that the player wasn't outmatched from an age perspective or skill perspective. You'll hear a lot of people say that the emphasis on the U18 and U20 for draft prospects is too much, but really it's one of the only times you get to see these guys competing against equal talent. Especially the Euro prospects who play in Senior leagues. The tournament results are less than encouraging in terms of projecting Necas. His U18 tournament was incredibly mediocre for a guy of his skill and expectations. His U20 was better but still kind of middle of the road in terms of what you'd expect to see out of a lottery pick playing for a smaller country and therefore getting more of an opportunity. I just don't know. There was nothing in his tape that really blew me away in terms of being like, wow... this dude has a crazy ceiling. Certainly not the way it did with Aho once I got over my incredulity and started to do proper research into him.
I think he's probably safer in the traditional sense than a lot of the players taken around him because he competes so hard and skates so well, but I do worry about the finishing ability and his ultimate upside as a scoring threat. It makes me curious as to the route we decide to take with him. Do we put him in the AHL next season or do we allow him to stay in the Czech league and see how he does? There's probably good considerations on both sides. It doesn't seem as if anyone owns his CHL rights, so that's probably not on the table presently. Very unlikely he gets NHL consideration next season due to the strength concerns and being so slightly built. He needs a year of being an absolute force wherever he goes so that we can see some production to match the effort. He needs to build his profile as being leaned upon to be a primary scorer wherever he plays next season and not utilized as a complimentary piece. I think that would be a hindrance to his development.
In truth, still a little disappointed that Vilardi wasn't available here. The Kings got an absolute bargain because most everyone else had already talked themselves into their picks by the time he started sliding. It's hard to get a table of scouts off a player once they've reached consensus.