In the 2023 NHL Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers took a chance on a forward out of Slovakia. With one of their multiple fourth-round selections, they opted for the potential high upside of Alex Ciernik. The 5-foot-10 winger has made some strides in the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan league and is putting his game on a wider display in the 2024 World Junior Championship (WJC). Throughout the entirety of 2023-24, he has been impressive and both his talent and early production in HockeyAllsvenskan give him the potential to be an impactful future NHLer.
Ciernik’s Draft Season
Last season, Ciernik spent time split between both professional and junior hockey. From his nine goals and 21 points in just 18 games with players his age, it became clear that he was above that talent level. In HockeyAllsvenskan, he played some good hockey as a draft-eligible player with 12 points in 25 regular season games.
While that number doesn’t look particularly good on paper — especially considering HockeyAllsvenskan is only the second-best league in Sweden — he was up there in production with the best players his age. Former 16th-overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft — was a whole season before Ciernik was selected — forward Noah Ostlund had 26 points in 37 HockeyAllsvenskan games — not too far ahead of where Ciernik was at that time. The difference of a full season for a teenage hockey player is massive in terms of development.
Even more impressive, the 10th-overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, Dalibor Dvorsky, had just 14 points in 38 games. Outperforming a top player in the class in terms of points in the same league, Ciernik became a sneaky-good option for the Flyers in the fourth round of the draft. Despite the impressive production, his intangibles are likely what excited the Flyers the most.
Just for Ciernik’s points alone, he was a steal in the fourth round for Philadelphia. When his elite speed is added to the equation, it becomes clear why the Flyers liked him so much.
Ciernik being a fast player was not a new revelation. He was always one of the deadliest players on the ice despite playing with professionals for most of the season, and speed kills at any level of organized hockey. It is typical for a mid-round selection to have the points but not elite skill, or vice versa. In his case, he has both.
It’s immensely difficult to get flashy players after the first few picks of the first round in most drafts, but the Flyers were able to land an undervalued player. He’s a bit smaller, so that might have contributed to him falling on some boards despite his skill. With solid playmaking ability in addition to his blistering end-to-end speed, the Flyers knew they got a great player in theory. His 2023-24 campaign was going to be vital in seeing if that were the case. So far, he has only gotten better.
Ciernik Having Strong 2023-24
Now in his 2023-24 campaign and playing in HockeyAllsvenskan full-time, Ciernik has only advanced his production. With 12 points in 19 games, he is third in his league among teenage players in points per game.
Related: Flyers Prospects Report: Čiernik, Sulku, Zanetti, & Tomek
Going back to Ostlund, Ciernik is around where a first-round pick was in terms of point-per-game production. Points aren’t everything, but they are generally a good indicator of where a player is at. Right now, the former fourth-round pick is vastly exceeding expectations based on where he fell in the draft.
In terms of NHL equivalency (NHLe), which is a metric that uses a mathematical formula to adjust points from other leagues into what a specific player would produce in the NHL, Ciernik has the eighth-best total on the Flyers with 48. Essentially, he projects to be a solid middle-six player just off of points alone. Only 19 years old, he still has some time before that happens.
More recently, Ciernik appeared in the WJC for Slovakia as one of their premier players. Even though he didn’t get any points in their first win, he showed the North American crowd why he’s so dangerous. Skating past every player on Czechia on a rush, his speed is simply sensational.
Ciernik had three points in five games in last year’s tournament, so eyes will be on him for the rest of the way. Considering his team dismantled Czechia 6-2 in their first game, he might be set to have a relatively-deep run in the WJC. If that’s the case, it’ll just be an even bigger opportunity for him.
What We Could See in the Future
Things will certainly change from now until Ciernik is ready to take a stab at NHL hockey — assuming he reaches that level — but his game directly aligns with what the Flyers currently preach. Their best scorers are those with speed and who are dominant in transition. The youngster is no different.
Head coach John Tortorella and the rest of the staff might not be around by the time Ciernik would theoretically make the NHL, so their strategies and what they preach overall could change drastically. Nevertheless, his skills are exactly what the Flyers’ best athletes are good at.
It might be a bit premature to project that a fourth-round selection in a draft from just a few months ago could be a regular in an NHL top-nine, but that’s what the future could hold for Ciernik if he continues to elevate his game. He might end up being the Flyers’ best transitional player in some time.
Ciernik will have to develop and round out his game for what could be a few more seasons unless there is a massive boost in his play, but he has the makings of a future NHL player. If everything goes right, the Flyers’ 2023 NHL Draft class might end up being one of their best ever.
