Apr 24, 2025 , 12:25 PM | Updated: 12:48 pm
Ryan Leonard #9 of Team USA skates with the puck towards goaltender Michael Hrabel #30 of Team Czechia in the first period of the semifinal match during the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship at Canadian Tire Centre on January 4, 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
(Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
COLE BAGLEY
SALT LAKE CITY – As the Utah Hockey Club’s inaugural NHL season comes to a close, the front office will now turn their attention to offseason affairs which includes the draft, free agency and prospect development. While many of their current prospects aren’t quite ready for the NHL, it’s important to understand the timelines, strengths, and areas of improvement for players like Michael Hrabal.
Hrabal is a 20-year-old goaltender from Prague, Czechia.
After being selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2023 NHL Draft, Hrabal has played the last two seasons for UMass in Hockey East.
As a freshman, Hrabal started in 30 games for the Minutemen with a .912 save percentage, 2.62 goals against average and a record of 16-12-1.
For his efforts, Hrabal was the first UMass rookie netminder to be named to the Hockey East Second Team All-Star squad.
As a sophomore this past season, Hrabal experienced improvements across the board with a .924 save percentage, 2.39 goals against average and a record of 19-12-5 in 36 games.
Notably, Hrabal also led Czechia to a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in January with 12 shootout stops against Sweden in their final game of the tournament.
Have a game, Michael Hrabal!! 🔥🇨🇿
The former @OmahaLancers goaltender stopped 25/26 shots in Czechia’s 5-1 win over Switzerland.#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/B5tMDDLDji
— USHL (@USHL) December 27, 2024
Standing 6-foot-7, Hrabal is simply massive between the pipes.
In addition to his towering size, long legs, and elite athleticism, Hrabal intimidates all shooters as he swiftly moves throughout his crease and tracks pucks with precision.
“He’s had a great year,” General Manager Bill Armstrong said. “From UMass that wasn’t picked as a contender at the start to where he ended up with the team in competing in the NCAA and stopping twelve breakaways in the shootout for Czech to get the bronze.”
“It was a huge moment and just a dominant performance for him.”
As demonstrated by his performance at the World Juniors and how critical he was for UMass in exceeding expectations this past season, Hrabal also doesn’t back down from big moments.
He’s hungry, confident, composed and wants to step up for his team as an impenetrable force in net during high-pressure situations.
Michael Hrabal has been the goalie to eliminate Canada from the World Juniors twice but that’s not enough for him 👀#WorldJuniors #WJC #IIHF pic.twitter.com/9ExeS71cW4
— FloHockey (@FloHockey) January 3, 2025
While Hrabal is very gifted, like any goaltender, getting to the next level simply takes more time than it does for regular skaters.
As a big man, he also needs to work on tightening up his gaps and holes as he moves.
With more time and development, that shouldn’t be an issue.
But as he works towards playing in the best league in the world, his technique has to be completely sound.
As of right now, Hrabal plans to attend UMass for his junior season as expected.
However, in the National Hockey League, players can actually become free agents after four seasons of college which would allow Hrabal to sign with someone other than Utah following his senior year.
For that reason, next summer will be very important and negotiations to bring Hrabal onboard will likely begin.
Does that mean he’ll play for Utah right away? No.
More time and development in the pipeline will likely be necessary.
But as one of Utah’s most important and talented prospects, Hrabal has the potential to be Utah’s franchise netminder of the future.
Following the conclusion of the Utah Hockey Club’s inaugural season, the next notable event will be the NHL Draft on June 27 and 28.
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