Servac Petrovsky
2021-22 Team: Owen Sound Attack (OHL)
Date of Birth: Aug. 10, 2004
Place of Birth: Velky Saris, SVK
Ht: 6-foot-0 Wt: 174 pounds
Shoots: Left
Position: Centre
NHL Draft Eligibility: 2022 first-year eligible
Rankings
NHL Central Scouting: 58 (amongst NA skaters)
TSN/Craig Button: 84
The Hockey Writers (Forbes): 94
The Hockey Writers (Zator): 91
The Hockey Writers (Baracchini): 95
Born in Slovakia and having spent most of his youth playing in Czechia before committing to the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Owen Sound Attack, Servac Petrovsky is no stranger to playing in different parts of the world. The 6-foot centre was a point-per-game player at just about every youth level he played at. In fact, he had a whopping 26 goals and 36 points in 33 games playing U17 hockey in Czechia until the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to the 2019-20 season.
With hockey on hold for a couple of months, Petrovsky returned to his native Slovakia and resumed his playing career there once the season started back up. He impressed playing second-tier pro hockey for Team Slovakia’s U18 team, scoring 16 goals and 16 assists in 26 games. From there, he caught the eyes of scouts for the Attack across the pond.
Joining a very young Attack team after the OHL skipped the 2020-21 season due to COVID, Petrovsky instantly fit right in alongside fellow draft hopefuls such as Cedrick Guindon, Owen Sound’s first-round pick in 2020, and Colby Barlow, their first-round pick in 2021, who is already making his case to be a top prospect in the 2023 NHL Draft. Petrovsky finished the season with 28 goals and 54 points in 65 games, good for third on the team behind only Guindon and 2003-born Deni Goure. The Attack finished sixth in the Western Conference, and Petrovsky followed up his regular-season performance with six points in seven playoff games.
There is a lot to like about Petrovsky’s game. He wasn’t playing high in the Attack’s lineup to start the season, which could factor into why he’s missing from so many draft rankings, but he got the opportunity to showcase his skills more as the season went on. If you look at the trajectory of his career so far, you’ll notice one common trend in each of his season-by-season stat lines: he loves to score goals. He’s very good at opening up space for himself and getting himself into position for a one-timer. But he’s also not afraid to get in tight to the net and score the dirty goals. If it shows up on the stat sheet, he’s on the board.
There’s more to his game than goal-scoring, though. Petrovsky will find ways to reach his linemates and set them up for goals as well, and he also has incredibly quick hands. His deceptive speed followed by a quick deke has made defensemen look foolish at times, and he’s also good in his own end. He could use some work in the faceoff dot, but at this point, we’re nitpicking. If you’re known as a good two-way forward at the junior level, it usually leads to a quicker path to the pro level.
The one true fallback to Petrovsky’s game this season was his consistency. A few times, he went three or four games without registering a point. On the other hand, he always followed up these mini-slumps with a two or three-point effort, which is why he still finished close to a point-per-game average. Maybe this was just the result of having to get used to the North American ice surface, but it’s an issue that can be fixed in the early development stages of a player’s career.
Other THW Draft Profiles
Servac Petrovsky – Draft Projection
All of the draft rankings I found have Petrovsky ranked in the 80s or 90s, so if we’re basing his projection off that then I would say, he will go somewhere in the third or fourth round. Having said that, I’m very high on his game, and I think he could be a sneaky good pick for a team as high as the second round. There’s already lots to like about what he brings to the table, and there’s lots of potential for further improvement.
Quotables
“Servác is a smooth-skating, high-skilled forward who has always done extremely well against his peer group and same age. He will bring an offensive flair to his game.” –Dale DeGray, Owen Sound Attack General Manager
“Petrovsky showed a decently well-played game. He had good stick prep and was able to get in the way of and under his opponent’s stick to try and take possession. He had pretty good speed throughout the game, controlled the puck well and had good puck handling abilities where he was successful in keeping the puck away from his opponent.” -Olivia McArter, FC Hockey (from 22792: Owen Sound vs. Kitchener (Nov 15/21)
Strengths
- Shot
- Puckhandling
- Defensive Awareness
- Vision
- Skating
Under Construction – Improvements to Make
- Consistency
NHL Potential
Like all junior players, his true ceiling will depend on the development he gets along the way. But, assuming all goes according to plan, I see Petrovsky becoming a two-way, middle-six forward at the NHL level with a good scoring touch. In the best-case scenario, he ends up as a high-end top-six forward.
Risk/Reward Potential
Risk 2/5, Reward 3/5
Fantasy Hockey Potential
Offense 7/10, Defense 7/10
Awards/Achievements
Petrovsky won a silver medal with Team Slovakia at the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.