Marek Sklenicka – 2026 NHL Draft Prospect Profile – The Hockey Writers –

Marek Sklenicka

2025-26 Team: Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
Date of Birth: Aug. 27, 2008
Place of Birth: Litvinov, Czechia
Ht: 6-foot-4
Wt: 181 pounds
Catches: Left
Position: Goaltender
NHL Draft Eligibility: 2026 first-year eligible

Rankings

Czech goaltending is having a moment. Half of the top 10 draft-eligible netminders in 2026 are Czech-born, including Tobias Trejbal, Jan Larys, and Filip Ruzicka. Marek Sklenicka, ranked sixth among North American goalies by NHL Central Scouting in the final rankings, belongs in that conversation but has received less of it. His season with the Seattle Thunderbirds was the work of a goaltender figuring things out in real time, on a rebuilding team, in a league he had never played in before, and still emerging as a starter by the end of it.

Sklenicka was drafted 22nd overall by Seattle in the first round of the 2025 Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft. The pick reflected both projection and pedigree. He had spent the 2024-25 season with BK Mladá Boleslav’s U20 team, posting a 2.18 goals-against average (GAA) and .928 save percentage (SV%) in 15 games, though the team’s 5-10-0 record meant he was often on the wrong end of results that did not reflect his individual performance. His work for the Czechia U17 national team was more striking: two games, a 0.50 GAA, a .980 SV%, and a shutout.

The transition to the Western Hockey League (WHL) was not smooth, and the team around him made it harder. Seattle was not a contender in 2025-26. Sklenicka absorbed heavy workloads behind a roster that gave up shots in volume, and his early numbers reflected the growing pains. By the midterm rankings in February, he carried a 14-11-4 record with a .889 SV% and one shutout in 32 games, numbers that earned him an invitation to the 2026 WHL Prospects Game as an injury replacement for Wenatchee’s Tobias Tvrznik. By the end of the regular season, the line had improved: 42 games played, a 3.21 GAA, and a .902 SV%. The save percentage climbed three percentage points in the second half, a sign that the adaptation was taking hold.

Where Sklenicka’s season turned from solid to genuinely notable was international play. Czechia brought him to the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship in Bratislava alongside Drummondville Voltigeurs netminder Jan Larys, giving head coach Jan Tomajko two CHL-tested options.

He delivered. Sklenicka appeared in three games and posted a .921 SV% across the tournament. He started the bronze medal game against Latvia and stopped 21 of 22 shots in a 4-1 victory that gave Czechia its first U18 World Championship medal since 2014. That performance, the composure to close a medal game at 17 on home-region ice with the program’s drought on the line, is the kind of moment that sticks with scouts.

His game is built on quickness and reads. At 6-foot-4, Sklenicka does not have the sheer net coverage of a 6-foot-8 goaltender like Ruzicka, but he compensates with lateral speed and reactive athleticism that bigger netminders often lack. He tracks pucks through traffic effectively, stays square to shooters, and moves post-to-post with the kind of fluidity that suggests his skating foundation is genuinely strong rather than merely functional.

Canucks Army’s draft preview noted that his athleticism should help him overcome his biggest obstacle, which they identified as lateral movement and recovery after dropping to the ice, along with occasional early butterfly drops that leave him vulnerable.

The IIHF game recap against Germany in the preliminary round illustrated both the strengths and the areas for growth. Sklenicka faced 42 shots and kept Czechia ahead for most of the game, making a breakaway save on Max Calce that preserved the lead. But a screened long-range shot beat him in the first period, and a late scramble goal with 27 seconds remaining tied the game before Germany won on a penalty shot in overtime. Good goalies lose games like that. The question is whether the technical details that allowed the screen goal and the late rebound tighten over time. The athleticism to make the breakaway save already exists.

He grew up in Litvinov, the home of HC Litvínov, one of Czech hockey’s historic Extraliga clubs. Before joining Mladá Boleslav’s program, Sklenicka developed through the Czech youth system in a city where hockey culture runs deep. His path to North America mirrors the broader trend of Czech goaltenders seeking WHL and CHL exposure to accelerate their development on smaller ice surfaces. THW’s own Top 10 Goalies feature for the 2026 Draft listed Sklenicka among the notable Czech netminders just outside the top 10, reinforcing how deep the Czech pipeline runs in this class.

Marek Sklenicka – NHL Draft Projection

Sklenicka projects as a fourth-to-sixth round selection. NHL Central Scouting’s ranking of sixth among North American goalies places him firmly in the draftable range, and the bronze medal performance at the U18 Worlds will help his case. The 2026 goaltender class is deep and heavily Czech, which means teams have options, but Sklenicka’s combination of athletic ability, WHL experience, and international pedigree gives him a profile that separates from the back half of the goalie board.

He needs another year in the WHL to cement the gains he made in the second half and prove that his improved save percentage is sustainable. The team that drafts him is betting on the athletic foundation and the tournament moments, not the .902 SV% behind a rebuilding club.

Quotables

Marek is a goalie we liked during our evaluation for the CHL Import draft. He has a chance to be a very big part of what we believe is potentially very good team.

T-Birds Sign Marek Sklenicka – Bil La Forge, Seattle Thunderbirds GM (July 2025).

Strengths

• Athletic lateral movement and post-to-post speed; compensates for not being an oversized netminder with genuine quickness
• Strong puck tracking through traffic and screens; stays square and reads shots well
• Posted a .921 SV% at the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship, including starting the bronze medal game (21 of 22 saves)
• Save percentage improved from .889 at midterm to .902 by season’s end, demonstrating real-time adaptation to the WHL game
• Represented Czechia at the U17 level (2024-25) and U18 World Championship level (2025-26), earning trust in high-pressure moments
• Participated in the 2026 WHL Prospects Game

Under Construction – Needs Improvement

• A .902 SV% and 3.21 GAA are respectable for a first-year import goaltender, but leave room for significant improvement
• Lateral movement and recovery after dropping to the ice flagged as a primary area for development by multiple scouts
• Tendency to drop into the butterfly too early, leaving himself vulnerable to dekes and second-chance opportunities
• Played behind a rebuilding Seattle roster, which inflated shot volume but also makes it harder to evaluate his numbers in isolation
• At 6-foot-4 and 181 pounds, he will need to add strength to handle the physical demands of professional hockey

NHL Potential

Sklenicka’s development timeline is a standard goaltender runway: two to three more WHL seasons to refine his game, then a transition to professional hockey in North America or Europe. His athletic foundation is his most bankable asset. The lateral quickness and reactive saves are not teachable in the same way that positioning and rebound control are.

If the technical side of his game catches up to the physical tools, he has the profile of a backup-to-starter trajectory at the professional level. The bronze medal game in Bratislava showed what that looks like when it comes together: poised, efficient, and capable of winning a game that matters. The team that drafts him is buying the athlete and the upside, with the understanding that goaltender development is the longest and least predictable path in the sport.

Risk-Reward Analysis

Risk: 4/5, Reward: 2/5

Fantasy Hockey Potential

Goaltending: 4/10

Awards/Achievements

• Won a bronze medal with Czechia at the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship in Bratislava (first Czech U18 medal since 2014)
• Started the bronze medal game against Latvia, stopping 21 of 22 shots in a 4-1 victory
• Posted a .921 SV% in three games at the 2026 U18 Worlds
• Selected for the 2026 WHL Prospects Game (Team West)
• Posted a .980 SV% and a shutout in two games for Czechia U17 in 2024-25
• Drafted 22nd overall (first round) in the 2025 CHL Import Draft by Seattle

Interviews/Links

Marek Sklenicka Stats

Videos