Dvořák ready to use pro experience with Czechia at the World Junior Championship – LA Kings Insider

Ontario Reign defenseman Jakub Dvořák is getting a midseason break from the American Hockey League. The rookie blueliner has joined his home country Czechia’s roster for the upcoming 2025 World Junior Championship, which gets underway in Ottawa later this month on Dec. 26.

Dvořák left Southern California earlier this week to join Czechia’s training camp in preparation for the tournament, reuniting him with other young prospects his age from his homeland.

The 19-year-old has been on a regimented progression plan with the Reign this season, overseen by the LA Kings staff, including defensive development coaches Sean O’Donnell and Matt Greene, as well as Ontario’s coaching staff.

This arrangement sees him rotate in and out of the Reign’s lineup, with more time for detailed on-ice practice sessions alongside the aforementioned coaching staff as well as off-ice workouts.

Before leaving for the international event this week, Dvořák had played in 14 of Ontario’s 20 games, recording three assists, 10 penalty minutes and a -3 rating. Playing more of a stay-at-home style of defense probably won’t lead to gaudy offensive numbers for the blueliner, but so far he can see the work he’s done paying off.

“I think it’s going really good,” Dvořák said. “I think I see progress which is the most important thing to me. It’s not easy because the schedule is really busy but I’m trying to enjoy it and take as much as possible from it because most of the guys here have went through it and I’m trying to follow in their footsteps.”

That sentiment was echoed by Reign head coach Marco Sturm when he was asked about the prospect’s opportunity earlier this week.

“He’s come a long way,” Sturm said. “There’s still a lot he needs to learn, but I think it’s going to be a good thing for him to play some games, play a lot of minutes and touch the puck a lot more than here.”

Dvořák has had plenty of teammates to discuss the World Junior event with, as a total of 11 players from Ontario’s roster this season have previously represented their country in the event.

Most notably for Dvořák, Martin Chromiak, who is from nearby Slovakia, participated in 2021. There’s also LA Kings goaltender David Rittich, another Czechia native, who didn’t play specifically at the World Juniors but has represented his country on an international level in the past. Rittich is regularly around the Toyota Sports Performance Center facility and the South Bay area as another great resource for the rookie.

“It’s great to have [Rittich] and [Chromiak] here,” Dvořák said. “We’ve had a bunch of dinners at Ritter’s place and that’s been great. Obviously, the NHL schedule is a bit different, so we don’t have that much time to talk but when we do it’s great. He’s a great guy and I enjoy it.”

Dvořák will be reuniting with many other Czech skaters he knows well, after serving as the captain of the group that played together at the 2023 U18 World Championship in Switzerland. They ended that event with a seventh-place finish, going 1-3-1 overall with a 4-1 loss to the United States in the Quarterfinals.

Recent NHL draft picks that are expected to join Dvořák in Ottawa who were on that U18 roster in 2023 include forwards Jiří Felcman (CHI), Miroslav Holinka (TOR), Vojtěch Hradec (UTA), Adam Jecho (STL), Eduard Šalé (SEA), Jakub Štancl (STL), defender Adam Jiříček (STL) and goaltender Michael Hrabal (UTA).

“We’ve been pretty close since U16 and I know pretty much all of them so it’s going to be great to play with the Czech guys again,” Dvořák said.

With the Reign, Dvořák has been playing between one to two games per week and showing steady improvement, just like the rest of the team. The Liberec native picked up an assist in his first career AHL appearance on Oct. 13, a 4-3 win over the San Jose Barracuda, but was held off the scoresheet for the next month until he recorded his second helper on a goal by Francesco Pinelli in a 4-1 victory over Tucson on Nov. 13.

While Ontario won only one of its first five games this season, the team went on a tear in November, winning nine of 12 during the second month of the campaign. They’ve also won two of their first three so far in December, climbing into fifth place in the Pacific Division with a mark of 12-8-0 on the year.

Dvořák has fit in on the left side of the team’s defense that allowed just 2.5 goals per game in November and a penalty kill that ranks fourth in the AHL, killing off 86.5% of opponents’ man-advantage chances.

“We stick together,” Dvořák said of the group on the blue line. “Our d-corps is really young so all of us, we needed to get used to the pro level, how the guys here act, how they play, and I think we’re on the right path. As we can see from the last games, it’s getting better and better which is great to see that progress.”

The event in Ottawa will put a pause on the work he’s doing with Ontario, but it will be a different type of challenge for the 2005 birth year. One that will allow him to return to playing against players his age instead of being one of the youngest players on the ice as he has been in the AHL this season.

“He won’t be under pressure as much and that’s good for his development,” Sturm said. “Hopefully he enjoys it and hopefully they have a good team and have some fun. Then we’re going back to work with him again when he comes back.”

Dvořák and Czechia will kick off round-robin tournament play in 12 days on Thursday, Dec. 26 against Switzerland. They’ll then face Kazakhstan on Saturday, Dec. 28, before going up against Slovakia on Sunday, Dec. 29 and closing their preliminary round schedule on Tuesday, Dec. 31 vs. Sweden.

The Quarterfinal games of the tournament will take place on Jan. 2, with the Semifinals and the Medal Rounds closing the event on Jan. 4-5.

NOTE – The Kings have recalled forward Andre Lee from Ontario on an emergency basis.

The @LAKings have recalled forward Andre Lee on emergency basis from the @ontarioreign, the Kings’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate.

— LA Kings PR (@LAKingsPR) December 13, 2024

The Kings are off today and will return to the ice tomorrow against the New York Rangers in a Saturday-afternoon matinee. Will update here with any additional context re: Lee as available.