NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Chad Krys

Get to Know Chad Krys

Date of Birth: 4/10/1998
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Ht: 5’11” Wt: 183 lbs
Shoots: Left
Position: Defense
Team (League): U.S. National Team Development Program (USHL)

Statistics

What Scouts See

Last Word on Sports:

Krys adds good puck handling ability to his strong skating skills. This ability allows him to avoid fore checkers, and skate the puck out of danger. He can also lead the rush, creating offensive chances with a good vision, passing skills, and an accurate wrist shot. Krys has very good agility, allowing him to walk the line and create passing and shooting lanes on the powerplay. He shows good instinct, knowing when to join the rush and when to hang back. He also makes good decisions when pinching to keep things in at the blue line.

Future Considerations:

Krys is an extremely talented defenseman who displays superior skating abilities that allow him to jump into the play and then get back into his defensive position. A driver of the play, he loves to be in control of the puck as he kick starts the rush with a crisp breakout pass, or a little skate through the zones before making a clean pass to an open teammate. Krys has impressive puck skills as he escapes his check with speed and poise and can dangle through defenders before passing off to the open man.

What BSN Avalanche sees

I’ll get to the cons in a minute but Krys came into this season a highly ranked player who just kept falling and falling as the season went on. This wasn’t like Sean Day, who kept finding ways to disappoint, either. I’m honestly a little miffed. I can see why he’s not worth a top-20 selection but I love his game. He’s a fantastic skater, has good hands, and pushes the play constantly. He is exactly the kind of player who is thriving in the NHL today.

Yeah, okay, he’s got a weak shot, he makes way too many turnovers, he’s on the small side and doesn’t have a physical element to his defense at all. Those are all perfectly legitimate red flags and they are very, very real when evaluating Krys.

Highlights

NHL Potential

If Krys overcomes the obstacles in front of him, he could be a very solid second-pairing guy that runs a power play. If he doesn’t, he’ll be another in a long line of failed undersized offensive defensemen that couldn’t figure it out at the pro level.

Expected Draft Position

Krys is a guy who has lost any and all momentum as the season carried on. He went from being in the first round conversation to sliding into the second and third round mix rankings-wise. Some scouts have even talked about him sliding even further because of the sour taste his season left. It could be a distressingly long wait for Krys on draft weekend.

How Prospect Fits in Avalanche Organization

Beyond Will Butcher, the Avalanche don’t really have any small puck movers and Krys would instantly be the best skating defenseman in the system. Depending where the Avalanche selected him, and I wouldn’t recommend doing it before the third round, Krys would be a really interesting guy to follow. He’s a true boom-or-bust prospect.