2021 Flames Top 25 Under 25: #19 – Martin Pospisil

#19 – Martin Pospisil

Position: Centre/Right Wing

Age: 21

Team: HC Kosice (Tipos Extraliga), Stockton Heat (AHL)

Stats: 9G, 8A, 17 points in 22 games (Slovakia), 5G, 6A, 11 points in 14 games (AHL)

Drafted in 2018, Round 4, Pick 105

2020 Ranking: #31 (+12)

Don’t look now, but the Flames may have themselves another 4th round gem. Selected just one spot after Johnny Gaudreau’s notorious 104th overall selection, Martin Pospisil continues to develop at a very promising rate. In his draft +1 season in 2018-19, he near doubled his USHL production, jumping from 37 points in 49 games, to 63 in 44.

2019-20 saw him promoted to the AHL, but an early season fight with the late Colby Cave forced him to miss the majority of his rookie season with concussion symptoms. Like many Heat players this season, he started off red-hot offensively. Unfortunately for him, an ugly, dirty knee-on-knee collision would end his season prematurely.

Pospisil finished the season with 11 points in 14 games, after only managing 10 in 26 the season prior. He plays such a physical, aggressive game that he seems almost destined to slot into the Flames bottom-six at some point, and his growing offensive numbers hint that he could be a very well rounded player. He also started this past season off in his native country of Slovakia, where he put up some equally impressive numbers in the Tipos Extraliga.

Recovering from some severe ligament tears was his priority this off-season, and he will undoubtedly return with a vengeance in 2021-22.

by Gordie Taylor