Let's Talk About the Hawks #35 Pick, Adam Gajan

A Slovakian goalie who turned heads at the World Juniors this season, he could be a solid goaltender for the Hawks soon enough.
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[@empire0]

He was great in the Jr tourney, he was absolutely exhausted when Bedard scored that insane winner. As a Hawks fan this whole week has been magical

[@rower1698]

Not to mention, the whole tournament he suffered from a pretty bad fever and still was able to be magical. I may be biased as a Slovak, but I am pretty high on Gajan

[@LeagueOfJared]

Dude was absolutely electric at the World Juniors, almost surprised he wasnt taken in the first round

[@Ryan-0413]

To be fair, there’s a lot of goalies at the World Juniors that are absolutely unreal, then suck in the NHL

[@AlexAnteroLammikko]

@@Ryan-0413 Goalies are just a weird bunch. Hard to predict.

[@jexywexy]

Kyle from Chicago I think goes up to a 5/10 hockey knowledge rating after this draft. Also, damn the hawks away sweaters are so clean still. Haven’t seen them since April.

[@oogaboooga69]

As a Slovak, I am very excited about Gajan. I really hope he can be a starter goalie in the NHL. Its kinda crazy that we produce so few NHL goalies.. Only Halak and Budaj are worth mentioning really. And since he was the first goalie picked, can I say we got back to back no.1 picks lol? Only this year in the goalie position. Anyway great content, subscribed!

[@fuuzzzy]

Exciting time to be a hawks fan. Can’t wait to see what the future holds

[@philipchoroser5284]

I work for a local tv station that covers the Steel. Gajan was even better than his numbers. Chippewa plays a very fast and loose style and as such Gajan was left out to dry a lot. He is the only young goalie I would feel confident in consistently stopping a 2 on 0 because I watched him do it so many times. Great video. Love the content

[@newschooler720]

Funny enough Gajan was the guy bedard scored that highlight reel goal on in the wjc, wonder if he apologized lol

[@sdgakatbk]

Best player overall, top goaltender; sounds like the Blackhawks won the draft.

[@valeriehowden471]

Looks like Kyle from Chicago does know a thing or 2 about hockey.

[@Kuffdad]

@@geoff3103let’s not and say that we did

[@Kuffdad]

@@geoff3103 I own a Hot Tub Time Machine and came back to your comment in real time to tell you that you shouldn’t worry bud. Maybe crack open a beer or two.

[@Kuffdad]

@@geoff3103 didn’t say we were but ok chief

[@dlphcoracl9645]

"How did he make that save?" "How did he keep that puck out of the net?" Very astute comments and analysis and that, in a nutshell, is why the Blackhawks went against conventional scouting wisdom and chose Adam Gajan over Michael Hrabal. Clearly, Chicago committed to selecting a goalie at #35 and debated this very carefully. Put a bit differently, Gajan's quickness and athleticism gives him the highest ceiling of the goalies in the 2023 NHL draft. He is a bit of a boom or bust pick but this is the goalie with the potential to win a Stanley Cup for you.

[@hamish_d]

I was just looking this kid up trying to find info - awesome stuff THG, cheers!

[@HomesByPatrick]

Good video, I was curious as to your opinion as he was picked above the other two prospects that you highlighted. I am part of a Chicago Blackhawks group here in Dallas and I begged the question did "Kyle from Chicago" know something the rest of us didn't about the goalie draft class?

[@mightymacaque]

Ganjaman looks promising

[@tybg-]

Franchise goalie . Unreal pick from chi

[@gsipp00]

Don't see the "White" Blackhawks Jersey that often but definitely takes me back to my youth...home games they wore the Whites so nice memories from the Old Chicago Stadium.

[@nathancrabb979]

Watching him in person with Green Bay, he is much better than his USHL numbers suggest. We had difficulties scoring goal this past season, so we relied on our goaltending a good chunk of the time. He kept us in the few games he played.

[@mr.christopher79]

that white jersey deserves a matching white cap my friend

[@NotTheRCMP]

Easily the best goalie in the draft

[@gocanuckurself1]

Good idea to keep the videos going. They are still prospects after all haha. Plus more content for you to work with.

[@topiheimola69]

I mean.. other than the amazing WJC performance, I don't see anything there :(

[@midimusicforever]

I said after the first round that the Hawks should be looking for a goalie. They take longer to develop, so they should want to find one early in the rebuild. Sure they have Comesso in their system but gotta have multiple really good goalie prospects.

[@empire0]

Vegas kept throwing shit at the wall until something stuck, you really can't have too many goalies in the system

[@vandy5549]

The Blackhawks organizational depth at Goalie is starting to look good with Soderblom up in the NHL this season, Commesso in Rockford(AHL), and now Gajan heading back to the USHL this season before attending Minnesota-Duluth in '24. Also have Stauber and Basse.

[@midimusicforever]

@@vandy5549 I think they could still use some more goalie prospects. It's hard to tell what they end up with early on.

[@jerbear5312]

Why was Milic taken so late?

[@notorioustbg]

Great video. But you forgot to mention that it was bedard that ended his world junior run. Almost spoiling bedards ascent to stardom may have been instrumental in the hawks picking him over hrabal

[@arnoldstevenson4427]

He so easy to listen to , interesting and fair..

[@damonwebb813]

Keep up the. Good work Shannon

[@tomfilipiak3511]

Number 35,Tony 0!

[@lordrayden3045]

Yeah, he won’t be wearing that #

[@blackhawks9763]

The future is extremely, extremely bright in Chicago!!! In Kyle We Trust!

[@ccamp26]

Surprised the Jets didn’t get him. They are the destination for all the Minnesota Duluth alumni as they just added Alex Iafallo too

[@evann-t2915]

The NAHL is an underrated league where you can find some real gems/diamonds in the rough. Love seeing players drafted straight from the NAHL.

[@matic_39]

you forgot to mention that he was the goalie in net for that Bedard highlight goal in the semis lol so he is probably pretty excited about the fact that they are teammates now and he doesnt have to face him anymore 😅

[@Kuffdad]

Played extremely well against a stacked Canadien and US team. If he has flashes of brilliance against the best in the world of teenagers I think he’ll be pretty good if he continues to work on his weaknesses

[@Isojoki]

You forgot to mention that he'll be playing for the University of Minnesota Duluth this year, which has a history of developing professional goaltenders.

[@colinmasek974]

God the hawks jersey is so Damm clean. God I’m happy I’m a fan of best jersey in nhl

[@genohall2235]

Might be Sports Period…

[@meanmetalmike666]

Flyers Draft Pick Video Shannon for us Flyers fans go full in Depth

[@piggybankvillan]

Sounds a little bit like Petr Mrazek.

[@stevesur81]

Wow, I get to make the first comment. Keep up the great work!

[@colinmasek974]

He’s getting better

[@Yo_Adrienne]

A team can never have too many goaltenders, prospects or otherwise. Peter Aubrey in Rockford, and Jimmy Waite should be able to help Gajan clean up his game, once he gets there. I can't help but wonder if Marian Hossa had a hand in scouting him and Martin Misiak back in Slovakia.

[@dlphcoracl9645]

Slovakia is such a small country that I would not be surprised at all if Hossa knew of and had seen these prospects play.

[@mvgamer9637]

Do you plan on doing a video where you grade each team based on how you think they did?

[@jamesruscheinski8602]

Do the ranking publications have a level of confidence or research for each player?

[@TheHockeyGuy]

Hockey Prospect uses notes from actual NHL scouts. Elite Prospects has a very good staff of scouts and writers. McKeen's has been doing this for decades as well.

[@danielryan8089]

Holy THG absolutely! Dude was unbelievable in the world juniors. Here’s to hoping! Go Hawks.

[@heldermoreira8554]

My first draft with the channel and it was a hout, i forgot how excited i got with the draft, i had a window with you guys, another one with the nhl site to follow all the picks and a third one with the LA Kings insider chat to see the reactions from the fans ( there are a lot really pissed of with the PLD trade ). I want to thank you the words in spanish at the beginning of the stream, i ran to my mother to tell her " he spoke to me, he spoke to me !! ", made me feel very happy !!...you're the best Shannon and Yvonne !!!!...xoxoxo

[@spicypokecheck2982]

I’m excited!

[@thegoldrobber]

Anyone know where he will play next season? Thanks.

[@jexywexy]

He’s committed to Minnesota-Duluth

[@thegoldrobber]

@@jexywexy thanks.

[@PEANUTBUTTERNINJA]

The Hawks draft was great!