NHL Draft 2012: Dallas Stars Select Center Radek Faksa At No. 13

The Dallas Stars have made their pick in the 2012 NHL Draft and they went with center Radek Faksas out of the Ontario Hockey League with their No. 13 pick. Faksas is from the Czech Republic and played his junior hockey ithere with Trinec on both their junior and under-18 teams from 2007 through 2011, before traveling to play for Kitchener in the OHL.

Here is a scouting report on Faksas:

Faksa is a do-it-all center/power forward and one of the best two-way prospects in the draft this year. The 18-year-old has continuously risen up the draft boards throughout the year and is now ranked as the seventh best North American skater by Central Scouting and third best center. [...]

The one thing about his game that does stand out is how physical he plays (maybe too physical at times as he gets in penalty trouble). He'll win a majority of his puck battles along the boards, forechecks like a bull and uses his size exceptionally well to get position in front of the net. He'll need to bulk up and get even tougher if he hopes to do that at the NHL level, but it's great that he has a mentality for that type of game at such a young age. It bodes well for him and his future if he keeps playing that type of game.

He plays on both the power play and penalty kill so he's a versatile player. He's especially valuable as a defensive forward as he plays hard on the backcheck to help out his defensemen. He won't be the type to lollygag back and will go all out on every shift.

Faksa has very few clear weaknesses in his game. He won't be one of those guys to skate circles around other players and won't be outracing guys down the ice. He also might have hit a limited offensive ceiling on his game. There's really not too much more for him to learn. He doesn't have the greatest vision and it'll be a rare day when he does something that makes you jump out of your seat and yell in excitement.

In his only season playing in the OHL he led all rookies in goals with 29, assists with 37 and points with (66 during the 2011-12 season. He also led the league's first-year players in game-winning goals with six, and was selected to play for the Czech Republic's 2012 World Junior Championship team.