Film Room: How Adam Novotný’s superior physical skills power his versatile offensive game
If you checked in on the Peterborough Petes at any point this season, Adam Novotný was hard to miss.
The ninth overall pick in the 2024 CHL Import Draft made the jump to North America this season after turning heads in Europe, arriving with significant hype. He scored in his debut Czech Extraliga game in 2023 at just 15-years-old, becoming the youngest goalscorer in league history.
The Petes sorely needed a player with Novotný’s talent. They had just finished in last place the season prior and were hoping to shed the ‘rebuilding’ tag quickly. And with heightened expectations and even more eyes on him during his NHL draft year, Novotný rose to the occasion.
Novotný finished second in team scoring with 34 goals and 65 points in 58 games while playing in one of the most offensively stifling environments in the league, good enough for fourth in points amongst first-time NHL draft-eligible players. And in between all that, he picked up a silver medal with Czechia at the 2026 World Juniors.
All things considered, it was a very successful first year for Novotný in North America. Now, he looks poised to be picked in the top 20 at the NHL draft.
Part of what made Novotný’s transition unique from other import players was how little calibration his game needed to North American hockey. And thanks to a remarkable ability to link his well-rounded skills together to consistently drive play, Novotný left little doubt that he’s one of the most complete players available to NHL teams this June.
Physical skills and wall game
It’s impossible to write about Novotný and not start with his physical skills. Frankly, he looked like a man amongst boys out on the ice on most shifts. Listed at 6-foot-1 by NHL Central Scouting, Novotný won’t tower over too many players in the NHL one day, as he’s just under the league average of 6-foot-2. But it was immediately apparent how beneficial Novotný’s early start to playing against men in Europe was for his translatability.
Novotný dominated the wall game in the OHL. Whether it was along the half-walls or below the goal line, he was an overwhelming force on the forecheck and in battles, successfully stripping opponents of pucks, forcing turnovers, and creating quick chances.
Novotný’s advanced contact skills made him impossible to knock off pucks when he had possession, whether he was carrying it up ice in transition or circling the offensive zone looking for seams and slot options. He absorbs contact impressively well, controlling opponents’ positioning by leaning into them and effectively sealing off backpressure, and it became almost expected that Novotný would emerge off the wall with the puck after winning a battle.
Our lead scout, David St-Louis, broke down Novotný’s elite forechecking game and physical skills in a YouTube video earlier this season.
In combination with his pace and playmaking vision, Novotný was able to make plays off the walls with stunning regularity, quickly becoming one of the best down low and half-wall players in the league. And from there, his puck skills could take over.
Well-oiled offensive machine
NHL-calibre tools across the board helped Novotný blossom into a dual-threat OHL scorer this season. But it was his ability to string multiple high-skill plays together on a single shift and create offence off a great defensive play so quickly that made him a remarkably efficient and effective three-zone player.
It starts with his skating, which can only be described as effortless. Packaging dynamic speed and edgework with frequent crossovers and a relaxed, agile stride, Novotný plays at breakneck pace with a motor that never stops. He barrels past coverage in transition with ease and can separate in an instant from backpressure in zone, capable of handling while evading checks at high speeds.
Novotný’s high-end skating ability allowed him to thrive in transition, creating intricate, fast, passing plays or gaining the zone cleanly on solo rushes through the neutral zone. From there, he could jump past closing defenders, circle back to separate before delivering cross-slot passes to far side options, or cut to the middle before passing back across the grain.
As the season wore on, Novotný manipulated defenders more frequently and consistently in transition, layering pace and weight changes, feints, lateral cuts to draw pressure, and freezing defenders by selling shots before delivering some pretty insane passes.
There’s no doubt that physical skills and skating ability both power Novotný’s relentless game. But perhaps the most underrated parts of his skillset are his details and off-puck reads. He’s a fast processor and dangerous off-puck player who pre-scans before receptions, reads opposing players’ momentum, and consistently moves into pockets of space.
Whether it’s a well-timed neutral zone engagement to force a turnover or getting open in space to capitalize on a turnover, all it takes is one strike for Novotný to turn the tide for his team and create a scoring chance. He’s also an outstanding defensive player, supporting positionally, disrupting as he moves from check to check, applying heavy backpressure on puck carriers, and staying above the play.
It’s those same off-puck details which make his shooting game even more dangerous. Constantly roaming in the offensive zone, Novotný drifts behind defenders and slips around coverage to get open. From there, he’s a lethal shooter from both the slot and perimeters, generating significant power and force off little windup, picking his spots with precision, shooting through screens, and often beating goaltenders cleanly.
The different areas of Novotný’s game blend so well together. Even when points don’t come as easily, he still finds a way to be an impact player. His B-game is highly projectable and translatable to the NHL, and given his puck skills, he could easily outplay current projections as a middle-six, second-line winger and push his ceiling even higher.
What happened in the playoffs?
Novotný’s current well-rounded game suggests a player whose skillset will one day be built for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
So what happened last month?
Despite holding home-ice advantage in the first round as the fourth-seed, Peterborough stumbled and fell flat in the OHL postseason, eliminated by the fifth-seed North Bay Battalion in six games.
Novotný’s stat line, at face value, was not flattering. He had just one assist – a primary marker – in the entire first round. Kieron Walton, Novotný’s regular linemate in the second half, was a point-per-game player through those same six games. Their other regular linemate, Adam Levac, produced a respectable two goals and four points. However, they weren’t Novotný’s regular linemates in the postseason.
The Petes and Battalion combined to average just 4.67 goals per game, the lowest in any OHL first-round series. Three games went to overtime, including the series-deciding Game 6, and five of them were decided by two goals or fewer. The Petes were also shut out in two of those six games.
In what was likely an effort to find more offence, the Petes changed up their lines, moving Novotný down to play with fellow imports Yanis Lutz and Leon Kolarik, and sometimes Brennan Faulkner and Aiden Young, while moving veteran Braydon McCallum up to flank Walton and Levac. It worked for the new-look top line, as the Walton-Levac-McCallum trio combined for five goals, but the Lutz-Kolarik-Novotný trio struggled, being caved in by the opposition in terms of possession and goals against. Novotný fared slightly better with Faulkner and Young, but didn’t land on the scoresheet any more often.
With that being said, the scoresheet never tells the entire story, and going back to look at the tape from those playoff games suggests a very different one.
No matter who he was out on the ice with (and a constantly-rotating cast of linemates makes things more difficult for any player), Novotný was a chance-generation force. He created the second-most scoring chances amongst any Petes player, drew a penalty outmuscling a defender to the net, and even stepped in to win a handful of faceoffs, going 50% in the dot.
We saw a similar situation play out at the World Juniors this past winter, where Novotný generated consistent high-danger chances, built plays, and impacted shifts just like he did in the OHL, but was one of the most snake-bitten players in the entire tournament, unable to score a single goal and recording just three assists through seven games.
A bounce here or there, and perhaps Novotný’s – and Peterborough’s – luck turns, and the outcome is different. But with his OHL campaign done for the year, being too old to represent Czechia at the Under-18 World Championship, and unlikely to get the call for the senior men’s team at the World Championships in May, Novotný’s season is likely done.
In the aftermath of Peterborough’s elimination, Novotný wouldn’t rule out a return to the Petes next season. But depending on which NHL team calls his name at the draft, his pro-ready playstyle, NHL-calibre frame, and elite physical skills could allow him to make a full-time jump to the AHL next season.
There are really no weaknesses or holes in Novotný’s game. While he may not have as high a ceiling or be quite as dynamic as other forwards in this draft class, few operate with as much efficiency as him. He was a true model of consistency this season, and, as a result, he separated himself from the rest of the pack in a draft class full of talented wingers.
Few prospects in this 2026 draft class have games that are this scalable to the NHL. Novotný should have no difficulty playing out a long NHL career and being used in a variety of roles and deployed in all situations. Whether he’s a top-15 pick or chosen in the back half of the first round at the draft, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see Novotný step right into professional hockey in the fall.
