By Tony Abbott -
With no first-round pick and a play-it-safe mentality from the Minnesota Wild at the 2025 Draft, it felt like fans had to look hard for any hype to cling to. Those hopes for a secret star have coalesced around Adam Benák, a fourth-round winger who profiled as shifty, skilled, and smart.
Was he intriguing? Sure. But even as he made Hockey Wilderness' recent Top-11 prospects series, it was tough not to harbor some skepticism.
Benák weighed into the combine at 5-foot-7.25, 164 pounds, which sent him into the fourth round, but it wasn't just the size. Despite loving his energy and pace of play, Elite Prospects graded his skating at a 4.5 on their 1-to-9 scale, or below-average. His production with the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms (59 points in 56 games) was solid, but not head-turning.
It's essential to note that Benák had his fans at the time of the draft, but the odds are also fantastically stacked against a player with his profile. Benák can't make it to the NHL by being merely a good junior player, then a good AHL player. Lots of good junior players and good AHL players at his size simply never get a crack at the NHL. He has to be undeniable.
This weekend, Benák looked pretty damn undeniable.
Benák took the ice at the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase on Friday night while facing a battery of St. Louis Blues first-rounders in Justin Carbonneau, Adam Jiříček, Dalibor Dvorský, and Otto Stenberg. He had Zeev Buium and Danila Yurov on his side, but 60 minutes and three assists later, Benák came away looking like the top player on the ice.
Then on Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks, Benák again stole the show, making a steal on the forecheck to set up Rasmus Kumpulainen's game-winning goal with 61 seconds remaining.
"That goal was all [Benák]," Kumpulainen said after the game, marveling at his teammate's game. "He's really shifty out there, his hands are unreal, and he's so small [that] no one can get to him."
Benák got the points this weekend, but his weekend was about more than the assists. He was all around the puck for the entirety of Friday, in particular. Once he had the puck, he seemed in complete control of the pace of the game, weaving around players and finding seams to dish to teammates.
Not only did Benák thrive against players with a higher pedigree than a fourth-round pick, but he was also facing an age gap between most of his competition. An April 2007 birthdate, Benák was one of the five youngest players in the tournament. Jiříček is a year older, entering his age-19 season. Dvorský and Stenberg are age-20. The Blackhawks drafted prospects Martin Misiak and Nick Lardis three years ago.
It's important to keep things in perspective. This was an opening statement for Benák in his career, and a player passed over for three rounds might have come into the weekend with a bigger chip on his shoulder than the top prospects, whose sights are set on making NHL rosters. One prospect tournament doesn't make a career.
But this isn't the first time Benák has balled out in a prospect tournament, either. In last year's Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, he led Team Czechia to a Silver Medal, tied for the tournament lead in goals (4) and second in points (11), cementing the all-time lead in points for the tournament. At this spring's U-18 World Championship, Benák registered 2 goals and 7 points in just four games. Put him against his best peers in these showcases, and Benák's money.
He'll play this year in the OHL for the Brantford Bulldogs, but you can tell that Greg Cronin -- Benák's bench boss for the weekend -- can't wait to get his hands on him with the Iowa Wild.
"He was a dog on a bone, he was fearless, he goes to the net. For me, he was our best forward," the coach praised. "He's a quiet kid, but he listens intently to everything you tell him. He tries to apply it... and that's what coachability is."
It's going to be a long climb to the NHL, still. Benák is going to need to keep impressing at the OHL level, where he could spend the next two years. After that, he's going to have to show that he can thrive in the AHL, and that could take two or three years. But Benák can only prove himself with the challenges he's given, and he aced this first test. Doing so against professional players means that it's time to put away skepticism and get excited about his potential as a prospect.
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