The highly anticipated men’s Olympic hockey tournament is well underway in Italy and it’s already providing some intriguing results.
Over the course of the tournament, I’m going to provide some of my scouting notes on players who are catching my attention.
With that in mind, here’s my first scouting notebook from the tournament:
Does Italian goaltender Damian Clara have NHL upside?
Clara single-handedly kept Italy in their tournament-opening game against Sweden. Before leaving in the third period with an injury after stopping Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson on a breakaway, Clara had faced 49 shots and only allowed three goals against. The good news is Clara was healthy enough to be Italy’s backup for their second game on Friday, and even had to sub into the game for a few minutes.
Clara was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks 60th overall in 2023. A towering (6-foot-6, 214-pound) left catching goaltender, he plays for Brynas in Sweden’s top pro league the SHL, where he has started 30 games and posted a 2.49 GAA and .888 save percentage so far this season.
Clara’s development path has already included stops at the J20, Allsvenskan (Sweden’s second level pro), SHL, Liiga (Finland’s top pro league), the AHL and Italy’s national team. Anaheim has signed Clara to his entry-level contract and I’m expecting him to arrive in North America for seasoning at the AHL level on a full-time basis next fall.
Clara has NHL upside. He’s only 21 years old and still developing. When I watch Clara compete on the bigger ice in the SHL, it occurs to me that his hulking frame and crease composure are better suited for the NHL game. Clara rarely strays outside his posts when moving laterally and he has better than average agility and overall athleticism. The smaller width of the ice surface in North America will result in less lateral movement for Clara and more time to square up to shooters with his 6-foot-6 frame.
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Keep up with Olympic men’s hockey
The men’s hockey tournament at Milano Cortina 2026 runs from Feb. 11-22. Follow along with all the scores and standings.
Latvia’s impressive draft eligible defenceman
Alberts Smits is tracking towards being a top 10 pick in this year’s NHL Draft and he’s already logging significant minutes for Team Latvia at the Olympics. Smits was deployed at even strength and quarterbacked the power play for his country in their 5-1 loss to Team USA. He ended the game with 22 shifts, averaging 48 seconds each, and a total of 17:57 in ice time.
Smits is listed at 6-foot-4, 205 pounds and projects as a two-way, top four NHL defenceman in time. There are some scouts in the industry who are concerned about his ability to read and react to how plays are developing without taking too much risk. It’s a scout’s way of stating whether or not a prospect has the hockey sense to adjust his style of play.
I’m leaning the other way with Smits. You can’t teach size and Smits has better than average puck skill. His routes to kill plays defensively and dial things down are areas of his game that can be coached up as he matures.
In the meantime, Smits is only 18 years old and he will continue to benefit from the incredible experiences of playing pro in Finland (with Jukurit in Liiga), suiting up for Latvia at the world juniors over the holidays, and now representing his country on the Olympic stage.
Who is Slovakia netminder Samuel Hlavaj?
I feel like I’ve been monitoring the growth of Minnesota Wild goaltending prospect Samuel Hlavaj for a large chunk of my scouting career. I first laid eyes on Hlavaj back in 2017 when he was part of the Slovakian U18 national team. His journey has included stops in the USHL (Lincoln Stars), QMJHL (Sherbrooke Phoenix), first and second division pro in Czechia, the World Championship representing Slovakia, the AHL (Iowa Wild) and now the Olympics.
I appreciate Hlavaj’s size between the posts. At 6-foot-4, 218 pounds, he takes up a ton of net. But he’s had a bit of a streaky season in Iowa this year, posting a 3.33 GAA and .888 save percentage through 18 AHL games. Having said that, Hlavaj has the ability to steal games when he’s dialed in. He’s athletic, moves well laterally, and competes to make saves any way he can.
He won his first start of the Olympics 4-1 over Team Finland and stopped 39 of 40 shots in the process. The Wild have three of their goaltenders at the Olympics, with Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt representing Sweden.
It’s safe to say the Wild’s goaltending is in good shape for years to come.
