One of the true surprises at training camp for the Colorado Avalanche was the play of their seventh round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, Maros Jedlicka.
The now 21 year old Slovak stuck around much longer than anticipated after a strong preseason, and earned plenty of praise from Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar.
“Jedlicka and Ivan, for my expectations, young kids coming in, I thought those guys were outstanding,” Bednar said after the second preseason game.
Jedlicka had played so well that I believe the plan was to send him to the Colorado Eagles for the season. Judging by the lineup the Eagles are putting out there every night, they could use him, and the Avalanche could use a young prospect like that in North America.
Unfortunately, Jedlicka suffered a major injury in a collision with Mason Marchment on Oct. 1. The Avalanche confirmed to me that Jedlicka had surgery on Oct. 11, and would be rehabbing in Slovakia. Belief was that recovery from the surgery would be somewhere in the 4-5 month range, and we’re three months in.
Podľa informácií @MichalovskyM bude Maroš Jedlička mimo hry na 4-5 mesiacov. Mal ísť na farmu a dostať kontrakt od Colorada, no zrejme ho po zranení z prípravného zápasu čaká operácia. Strašná smola 🥲 https://t.co/MyEO4cW15a
— Šimon Čop (@SimonCop_SN) October 3, 2023
I touched base with some people in Slovakia today, and can confirm that Jedlicka is back skating on his own. However, he’s still a ways off from returning to play. From what I’ve been told, the expectation is that he will be back playing games in March. The problem is that he may miss the entire regular season.
The regular season in the Tipos Extarliga goes until March 8, and then it’s playoff time. HKM Zvolen, Jedlicka’s team, is currently in 7th place. The top 10 teams in the league make the playoffs, so they should make it there, and judging from their drop off, they could use Jedlicka, who finished third on the team in scoring last season.
There’s also the possibility that the Avalanche bring him over to finish the season with the Eagles. Their regular season lasts until April 21, and they currently hold the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division. That would be one way to get him into more games.
Either way, I just wanted to provide an update on Jedlicka, who impressed a lot of people back during training camp.