After Solid Rookie Season, Lukas Parik Adding Plethora of Promise to LA Kings’ Prospect Pool

(Photo credit: Candice Ward)

When they selected him in the third round (87th overall) in 2019, the Los Angeles Kings had shown that they were serious about bolstering their depth in goal. Drafting Lukas Parik, however, could have been seen as a calculated risk. After all, entering the 2019 Draft, the native of Czech Republic had yet to play on the smaller North American ice surface. The Kings were nonetheless excited by the youngster, and rightfully so.

Having just finished his first year in North America, though, Parik’s rookie season was a memorable one.

In 32 games for the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, the 19-year-old went 22-7-2 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. The rookie’s efforts — which even included scoring a goal — led the Chiefs to a 41-18-1 mark before the season was postponed due to COVID-19.

Still, for anyone who doubted Parik’s abilities on the smaller ice surface, they were proven mistaken. Parik even went back to the familiar larger ice surface when he returned home to represent his native Czech Republic at the World Juniors.

While there is definitely room for improvement in the youngster’s game, but let us not forget that Parik also has plenty of time on his side.

I recently spoke with Kings’ goalie development coach Matt Millar as well as Spokane associate coach Adam Maglio about Parik’s game this past season and what’s in store for the 6-for-4 netminder in preparation for the next level.

“Lukas, he’s a real driven young man,” Maglio emphasized. “He’s really hungry to develop and get better. It was evident from the first time we met Lukas at training camp, just how hard he competes, how hard he wants to succeed and win hockey games. So, his game really evolved as the year went on.”

As for the Kings’ goalie development coach, he credits the Spokane coaching staff to easing Parik’s transition to the North American game.

“The staff in Spokane was great all the way down from [head coach] Manny Viveiros to the two goalie coaches they had there,” Millar noted. “I have good contact with both of the goalie coaches there, so that has helped accelerate Lukas’s comfort level.

“For him, he was given the trust of the staff to be the starting goalie and I think once he felt that trust and felt the confidence from the coaching staff, he really took off.”

While rink size was an adjustment, Maglio noted another area where Parik had to focus on if he hoped for continued success with the Chiefs and beyond.

“There was a bit of an adjustment for him more so with angles than rink size, coming from Europe,” admitted the Spokane associate coach. “But once he was able to adjust to that and be in the game, certainly he was playing his best hockey at the end of the year.”

If there is anyone more suited to Parik’s situation in Spokane this past season, it’s Maglio.

Like Parik, 2019-20 was Maglio’s first in Spokane, coming over after two seasons as the head coach of the BCHL‘s Prince George Spruce Kings. The 33-year-old finished his latter season with the club, leading the Spruce Kings to the BCHL Championship and the Doyle Cup.

“For Lukas, the transition to hockey in North America was a huge area of growth for him,” Millar said. “The rink is a lot closer, the puck comes off the boards a lot quicker, there’s a lot of people in and around the net, a lot of traffic so if you get bumped into, you get knocked off your position. So, I think for Lukas in the future, he’s going to have to continue to refine that positioning. If he can do that a little bit more, it will help him to play a little bit more in and around the top of the crease. That will be something that if he has the mental composure, emotional composure to work through those things, he’s going to be a fantastic goalie.”

Millar continued, emphasizing similarities between Parik and another promising Kings prospect between the pipes.

“A lot of the work that we did with him is a little bit like Jacob [Ingham],” he noted. “He’s a big guy, he’s 6-foot-4, he skates really well and very athletic.”

In regards to his aforementioned showing at the World Juniors this past December, Lukas Parik and the Czech Republic, unfortunately, did not have a tournament to remember.

The Czechs only garnered one win while Parik’s GAA was over 6.00 and his save percentage was under .900.

This did not deter Parik, however. In fact, the experience only made him better.

“I actually think that [playing in the World Juniors] might have been a factor as well as to why Lukas was so strong at the end of the year,” Maglio noted. “Those are big accomplishments, to get invited to the camps and then make those teams and with the level of competition in those tournaments, it’s only going to help, especially goalies, really develop.”

“I think it’s a great honour any time you get to play for your country whether it’s [the World Juniors] or all the way up to the Olympics,” added Millar. “Being around your fellow countrymen and being able to play for something bigger than yourself like your country, and in a short tournament like that gaining the rapport and respect of your teammates and getting them to play hard in front of you; things you can do for your goalie in a short tournament like that as a forward or a defenseman from blocking shots to boxing guys out to making simple, smart plays in and around the front of the net. So, I think for Lukas to go in and be a key member of that team shows not only his growth throughout the season but what he can do in the future: getting his teammates to be respectful to him and want to play for him.”

So, impressive numbers aside, how was Maglio’s overall experience with Parik this past season?

“Very good,” beamed the Nelson, B.C., native. “He’s a high-energy young man. He’s a real joy to be around day-to-day. But, he came in, he was able to speak English quite well, so communication with him from day one was quite strong. We enjoyed being around him every day at the rink.”

From responding with great numbers in his first taste of major-junior hockey to having an infectiously energetic personality, it’s hard to argue that Lukas Parik could not have made a more auspicious first impression than he did with the Spokane Chiefs, Los Angeles Kings and even the North American hockey scene overall. There may be areas in his game that could see some improvement, but it is hard to fault Lukas Parik for being just 19 years old. Regardless, things are looking very good for the native of Neratovice, Czech Republic, and he has plenty of people on his side moving forward, including the aforementioned Matt Millar and Adam Maglio.

He may not be ready to crack the Kings’ lineup just yet but give the 6-foot-4, 185-pound netminder some time and he will have what it takes to add suspense to what should be an exciting goaltending battle within the Kings organization, whether in Los Angeles or up the road in Ontario.

Having already proven the Kings right for drafting him, there is no reason to believe that Lukas Parik shouldn’t continue to evolve as a solid, dependable netminder. The Los Angeles Kings will only be stronger for it in the very near future.

 

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