ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Sabres selected defenseman Radim Mrtka with the No. 9 pick in the first round of the NHL draft on Friday night.
Mrtka, a 6-foot-6 native of Czechia who played junior hockey with Seattle in the Western Hockey League, was the second defenseman off the board following top pick Matthew Schaefer. He joins No. 1 overall selections Rasmus Dahlin in 2018 and Owen Power in 2021 as blue-line players Buffalo has drafted with its first pick over the past dozen years.
Here are a few more things to know about the newest Sabre:
Right on target
Similar to the Sabres’ recent trade acquisition Michael Kesserling, the first-round pick fills an organizational need for a heavy, right-handed stick on defense.
“When you look at the blue line, the flavor of the month in Buffalo is find a right-shot defenseman,” Sabres Prospects analyst Kris Baker told WIVB News 4 before the draft. “Ryan Mrtka is a towering right-shot defenseman.”
Baker noted that, “the Sabres have a goaltending prospect in Seattle, Scott Raslav. He’s going to be turning pro this year. He didn’t get off to a great start statistically. But magically, his numbers improved one Mrtka came into that Seattle Thunderbirds lineup.”
‘High-character kid, high ceiling’
Sabres assistant general manager Jerry Forton praised Mrtka prior to the draft for his on-ice ability as well the maturity Mrtka showed in transitioning from the Czech professional league where he wasn’t playing very minutes to join the WHL midseason.
“Very unique package,” Forton said. “To be able to move the way he does at 6-foot-6. Almost more agile with the puck, if that’s possible. A smart player at both ends. I was over in the Czech Republic early in the year when he wasn’t getting a lot of playing time in the men’s league over there. To see what he was willing to do, to move to North America, comes from a background where he has very little in the way of resources for hockey or anything outside of hockey, uprooted. High-character kid, high ceiling.”
Following Dahlin
Mrtka could one day develop into a nice fit next to Buffalo’s captain Rasmus Dahlin, a player he mentioned as one of his hockey idols.
“I’m trying to look up and play like him,” Mrtka said. “So it’s going to be great to learn from him and play with him.”
Mrtka further praised the All-Star defenseman for “his calmness, his two-way game. He’s able to do everything for the team.”
Learning curve
Mrtka studied English in his home country but still found it difficult to communicate when he first arrived in Seattle to play junior hockey. “Was pretty hard for me,” he said. “I couldn’t speak English at the start, so nobody understood me.”
“We learned it in Czechia,” he elaborated, “and I always thought I was good in English. But then I arrived and I couldn’t understand and I couldn’t speak. I don’t know, it just came to me naturally. I just learned and get so much better during the year. Just learn it by listening.”
As for adjusting to North American hockey, Mrtka said, “it’s kind of heavier and faster. So those two things. Sometimes you have to take a hit to make a play.”
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.