Jasek Czechs in at No. 10 on prospect countdown
If it feels like Lukas Jasek arrived overnight in the Canucks’ system it’s because, in some ways, he did.
When he exploded late in the season with the Utica Comets, no one saw it coming. At least, not that quickly. He put up seven points in his first six North American games and it all started with a coach’s gut call, and it’s one that really came out of nowhere.
“To be totally transparent, he arrived just in time for a Friday game and the plan was to get him some practice time in before he played,” said Comets GM Ryan Johnson. “The next day we were going to Springfield and I wanted him to come just to experience it, and get on the ice in the morning.
“I said to (Utica head coach) Trent Cull, ‘Lets give him a few days. He just travelled overseas. The American league is new to him. This is a step up. I don’t want to overwhelm the kid. I want to give him a chance to succeed out of the gate. I don’t want to throw him to the wolves.’ ”
Jasek essentially had been trying to get to North America since he was a sixth-round pick in 2015, but was tied to the Czech Republic’s top league. He finally got here on an amateur tryout contract designed to give him a shot at earning a professional deal. So, for him, every minute played mattered.
As so often happened this season, however, Utica’s most wellmeaning plans were diverted by injuries. And just as Jasek was taking the morning skate on his first day, and being told by an assistant coach he’d be eased into the lineup later after some practice, Cull was in the coach’s room throwing a curveball.
“He walked around a corner and said: ‘I’m going to play the kid,’ ” Johnson recalled, laughing.
Cull would soon make some promises to Jasek. He told him the pressure was off. He vowed there would be no evaluation for his first game and zero expectations. Jasek was told to go out and run with those wolves to have some fun. He sure nailed the last part. “Fast forward to eight hours later and he has a goal and two assists. He scored the goal to tie it at 5-5 with (2:11) left and we won it with 40 seconds left,” Johnson said.
“It really didn’t happen the way we drew it up. But he was off and running.”
Jasek didn’t stop either until he was injured early in Utica’s firstround playoff series with the Toronto Marlies, which they eventually lost in five games.
“We really could have used him,” Johnson said. “The difference with him and some other prospects is that he’s really a professional,” Johnson said. “He came in here and has a routine that shows you he’s been around men playing in a pro league, where they know how to prepare the right way.
“It doesn’t shock me he had the success he did.
“I wouldn’t call him a flashy player. But he skates very well, he’s smart and has really good puck protection.”
How good is his skating? Canucks GM Jim Benning came up with an interesting comparison.
“He kind of reminds me a little bit of Michael Grabner as a kid,” Benning said.
Grabner, of course, has wheels for days and used that speed to score 27 goals in each of the past two seasons. For Jasek, the skating can get there, though few are predicting he could score that number of goals.
“I think he’s going to be a bottomsix forward,” Benning said. “He has a chance to be a third-line guy. He can give up speed. He’ll kill penalties and he could chip in some offence. I don’t see him as a top-six guy with pure skill who is going to put up huge numbers.
“But he’s relentless in his work, and could be able to get good back pressure with his speed.”
Asked who he’d compare Jasek to, Jasek’s agent Allan Walsh said: “He reminds me a little bit of a guy like Martin Havlat.
“When Havlat came over as a first-round pick for Ottawa, he had a great development camp and everyone expected he was going to play in the AHL. He was a great skater, hungry and eager and wanting to succeed.
“Jasek has a lot of the same qualities I recognized in representing Havlat his whole career.”