FRISCO, Texas — “He’s the smartest player I’ve ever coached.”
“One of the best skaters I’ve ever seen.”
That’s Ryan Ward talking, twice, about Adam Benák.
Ward has been a head coach in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms, an assistant coach in the OHL with the Soo Greyhounds and a video coach in the NHL with the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs.
In Youngstown, he has coached Sascha Boumedienne, one of the best skaters in the 2025 NHL Draft, and previous draft picks such as Brandon Svoboda, Martin Misiak, William Whitelaw and James Fisher, each standout skaters in different ways.
In Sault Ste. Marie, he coached first-rounders such as Morgan Frost, Rasmus Sandin and Barrett Hayton, each lauded for their smarts, as well as high-end skaters such as Mac Hollowell.
But it’s Benák, he’ll say unequivocally, who is the smartest and fastest.
It’s also Benák who holds the Hlinka Gretzky Cup’s all-time points record with 21 points in 10 games across two tournaments — two tournaments in which he led the Czechs to silver medals.
It’s also Benák who registered 14 points in 14 games at two U17 worlds.
It’s also Benák who, as a rookie with Youngstown in the USHL this season, registered 59 points in 56 games to lead the Phantoms in scoring by six points. He led all U18 skaters in league scoring, too.
This week, at U18 worlds in Texas, it was Benák who showed up late to join the Czechs, played 23:44 shortly after landing, was immediately given a letter on his jersey and had primary assists on all three of Czechia’s goals in a 4-3 overtime loss to Germany. On Saturday, he added a fourth primary point in two games when he ripped a shot under the bar from the right-wing faceoff circle on the power play to give the Czechs a 2-0 lead over Switzerland, and a fifth with a primary assist on the empty-netter that sealed it 4-2.
Nekompromisní rána Adama Benáka znamená vedení o dvě branky! 🔥
🇨🇭⚔️🇨🇿 0:2#SUICZE #U18MensWorlds #narodnitym pic.twitter.com/beEMlVqDDn
— Český hokej (@czehockey) April 26, 2025
But then there’s this: 5-foot-7.25, 164 pounds.
That’s his listing with NHL Central Scouting, which ranked him 58th among North American skaters on its final list for the 2025 NHL Draft.
And it makes him one of the most interesting and also difficult case studies in the class.
That won’t stop his believers from making his case, though.
Adam Benák’s size won’t stop his believers from making his case as an elite prospect. (Scott Galvin / Youngstown Phantoms)
Ask Ward or Youngstown co-general managers Jason Deskins and Ryan Kosecki about Benák’s size and they’ll tell you why he’s going to beat it.
“Just wait until he hits puberty. He’s still a boy. People that look at his size should think twice. He’s a special player. Just give him some time,” Ward said. “He’s an extraordinary hockey player. So competitive, so smart, unbelievable passer.”
Deskins refers to him as a “bulldog.”
“He doesn’t really care how big you are, he’s going to play the same way all the time and he gives you second and third efforts and competes on pucks. And even when he gets knocked off pucks, he’s going to work and keep going at it,” Deskins said.
Kosecki, as he begins to make his case, says Benák’s “not afraid of guys.”
“He plays the body, he’s physical, he can play wing or center. I know everyone wants big centers in the NHL right now so he’ll probably have to play wing in the NHL, but IQ is the most important thing in hockey and he’s got it coming out of his ears, and he’s such a fun kid and he immerses himself in hockey, so for that I think he’ll have tons of success,” Kosecki continued.
In his introduction to Benák in exhibition games against the NTDP in September, Ward said he was “dominant” and “could’ve had nine points a game.”
Deskins argues people don’t realize how good the USHL is and how hard it is to be dominant as a 17-year-old, to strengthen Benák’s case.
“I think people assume that it might not be what the CHL is and I can just tell you that this league is an absolute bear and it’s really, really hard to score in, especially at a young age,” Deskins said. “So I think sometimes these young kids come in and their expectations or somebody else’s expectations from the outside might be that they’re going to have 100 points and it just doesn’t work that way. With Adam, the one thing that I’ve been really pleased with is just that he continually got better. Every single week, you look at him and he starts doing little things that you would hope for and taking steps.”
Adam Benák is determined to prove that his size isn’t a concern. (Steven Ellis / Daily Faceoff)
When people ask Benák about his size and why he thinks he’s going to make it in spite of it, he tells them the following: “I think my work ethic is the biggest difference. I know I’m smaller, but you don’t have to be the biggest guy if you’re the hardest worker. So that’s what I’m trying to do, and show people that size doesn’t matter for me.”
He has made changes to his style of play this year to show them, too, making an effort to play a much more physical style than he used to. It’s a style he said he has really enjoyed in North America.
After what he said was an adjustment in the first half, he’s really happy with the way he has played in the second half.
And he’ll always have the speed and the smarts to fall back on. He says both were developed by playing competitive soccer and floorball growing up. But the skating has also come from hard work.
“I was always smaller so I knew I needed to be fast to be faster than the bigger guys, and it’s something that I’ve worked at every day of my life. I know I need to be faster than everyone if I want to play in the NHL,” Benák said.
His impact on the Czech team was felt immediately, despite the travel day and a bit of jet lag. Jaroslav Nedved, Czechia’s assistant coach, calls him “one of the best players in his age group” regardless of country.
“He gives us speed, he gives us finesse, he sees the game,” Nedved said. “He’s a big part of our group. For us, he’s the biggest impact on our game. With his speed and hockey IQ, he sees the game one step ahead of everybody else. He can skate one way to bring the defenceman in and then he can pass it or delay it and put it to the second wave. And he knows what’s going to happen before everybody else knows. If he goes to the right or left side of the rink with the puck, it’s for a reason. How do you say it in music? He’s the conductor, or the orchestrator. He orchestrates his teammates.”
Despite it all, scouts worry that the height will never come and wonder if he’ll be able to play his style, however smart and fast and fearless, against NHLers if it doesn’t. That even though, as Ward said, he’s still a “boy,” his dad Václav, a longtime pro defenseman in Czechia, is only 5-foot-9.
But his proponents disagree, or argue that even if it doesn’t ever come that he’s still a legit — if singular — NHL prospect.
“I don’t even think he has scratched the surface, to be honest, with how good he can be,” Deskins said. “And I think that you’re starting to see it now, but it’s only going to continue to grow as he keeps putting the work in, and he’s a very hard worker, so I’m not concerned about that.”
(Top photo: Scott Galvin / Courtesy of Youngstown Phantoms)