Adam Sýkora has been around the Rangers long enough that it’s easy to forget how young he still is. He won’t turn 22 until September, yet he already has pro mileage in North America dating back to the end of the 2022-23 season, and he finally got his first NHL games this past March.
The call-up gave the Rangers a spark in a season that was already drifting the wrong way. In 11 games, Sýkora scored three goals and added an assist, and New York went 6-5-0 with him in the lineup.
When asked on locker clean-out day about scoring during his NHL stint, he said, “It was a great feeling,” Sýkora said on locker clean-out day when asked about his ability to score goals during his NHL call-up. “Just gotta keep it going and hopefully I’ll elevate my game.”
The performance fit the reputation he has built inside the organization: relentless, upbeat, and easy for coaches to trust. One Eastern Conference scout described him this way: “He’s formed an identity,” a scout with an Eastern Conference club, speaking on condition of anonymity to evaluate another team’s player, added in an interview with The Athletic.
“Infectious personality. He’s excited, and coaches like that.
He brings something to the table.”
At Hartford, Sýkora handled penalty-killing duties and produced 12 goals and 29 points in 62 games. He had already set a career high in AHL goals before the NHL call-up and was tracking toward a new best in points, too; his previous high was 30 in 71 games. He also represented Slovakia at each of the last two World Championships, recording one assist in seven games in both tournaments.
If he ends up carving out a long NHL career, the path looks pretty clear. He projects as a bottom-six winger who could grow into penalty-kill work.
“He seems like he’s got the attitude, seems like he’s got the work ethic,” the scout said. “Seems like he knows that he has to find a nest, bring something to the table, which he does: It’s PK and speed.”
That edge and pace show up everywhere in his game. Mike Sullivan praised Sýkora’s speed multiple times during the season, and teammates kept coming back to the same theme: energy.
“His game speaks for itself,” Laba said during the season. “He works hard, he battles, gets to the net, and he’s been showing he can score.”
Conor Sheary, who signed with the Buffalo Sabres over the summer, was even more direct. “I don’t know if you guys can see it, but his energy is unmatched,” added former Rangers forward Conor Sheary, who signed with the Buffalo Sabres over the summer.
“He is constantly up on his feet. He’s banging his stick.
… He just brings an energy that’s contagious. He’s fun to be around, fun to play with.”
Sýkora sat at No. 10 in these rankings last year as well, and staying in that spot says more about the Rangers’ deeper prospect pool than it does about any lack of progress from him. Scott Wheeler had him seventh in his Rangers list in March, before the draft and the trades that added more talent to the organization.
“It’s not hard to imagine him becoming a contributing bottom-sixer with some jump, but it’s also not hard to imagine him just being what he is right now as a solid second-rung pro,” Wheeler wrote. “It is important to remind yourself that he’s still young, despite how long he has been around, though.”
The numbers from his first NHL look show there’s still work to do. At five-on-five, the Rangers controlled just 40.77 percent of the expected goal share with Sýkora on the ice, while opponents owned the shot-attempt battle 119-102. His expected goal share improved slightly when he was on a line with Jaroslav Chmelař and Laba, rising to 41.67 percent.
Chmelař, one of Sýkora’s closest friends, is no longer eligible for this prospect list because he played 28 NHL games last season. The scout who sees both players believes Chmelař is ahead at this stage, though he still expects both to be in the mix later in the season. “I think they both find ways by after Christmas to be in the lineup.”
The same scout came away encouraged by what Sýkora showed at both levels. “I like what (Sýkora) showed,” said the scout, who watched him at the AHL and NHL levels.
“I like the pace. I like the enthusiasm.
I like everything. I think it will translate come October.
Even if he doesn’t crack the lineup (initially), he will get called up.”
Another scout was equally complimentary, even while pointing out the obvious concern that comes with his size. He called Sýkora “an ornery little player” and said he’ll need to become the kind of reliable, defensive-minded forward who can handle penalty killing, pointing to Pittsburgh’s Blake Lizotte as the model.
“He has to be super reliable defensively,” that scout said. “He’s going to have to learn how to kill penalties effectively.
I like him. The willingness to do whatever it takes is there.”
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