Swedish goalie Mikael Zajkowski

[Petey21]

There's a young goalie in Sweden called Mikael Zajkowski who plays for MoDo Hockey and is currently the backup behind Tommy Salo. He's born in 1983 but isn't drafted yet, I wonder if his size 5'9" and 170 lbs is a disadvantage for him? He's been playing for Team Sweden in the WJC and this season he has a GAA of 1.49 and has saved 95.49% of the shots so far (in 4 games only, but still). Does anyone think there's a chance he will get drafted soon? He deserves to be as he's really good and talented and in my opinion I think he can probably develop into a top goalie in the future.

The little videoclip below shows some highlights from last nights game between MoDo (playing in white) and Linköping, Linköping outshot MoDo 40-24 but thanks to Zajkowski and his 39 saves MoDo managed to win 2-1.

Highlights from last night's game, some Zajkowski (white jersey) saves

Zajkowski profile and stats

Click to read more...

 

[Preds666]

I think Zajkowski could be drafted, but seeing as he has been overlooked 4 times now, he will not be drafted until he is a star goaltender in the SEL (or at least an established starter).

Luleå's David Rautio on the other hand could get drafted next summer IMO, if he has a strong WJC tournament.

 

[BuppY]

I think he gets overlooked due to his size, today in the NHL, bigger Goalies are a bigger demand, and everyone wnats big Goalies.

 

[bruins4777*]

I think he gets overlooked due to his size, today in the NHL, bigger Goalies are a bigger demand, and everyone wnats big Goalies.

sad, but true.

 

[Petey21]

I think he gets overlooked due to his size, today in the NHL, bigger Goalies are a bigger demand, and everyone wnats big Goalies.

Why are big goalies so important nowadays? I can understand the need for big defensemen (and power forwards) since they need their size in their battles against opponents, but a goalie isn't supposed to deliver big hits, just stop the pucks. So if he is smaller but can do it with great reflexes and glove saves, and being overall agile and quick in the net (which is easier for a smaller guy anyway), what's the difference as he gets his job of stopping pucks done anyway?

 

[Sum]

I think he gets overlooked due to his size, today in the NHL, bigger Goalies are a bigger demand, and everyone wnats big Goalies.

On the contrary, his size can be an asset if he's very agile and everything IMO. A team maybe can choose to draft him in the late rounds even though most of the teams would only prefer big goalies. If he's that good and if he's efficient, big or not, he'll be drafted. But I guess he's not the only one to have great stats...