Observations:

February 2014 – Gudas continues to produce as advertised providing Tampa Bay with a constant physical presence on the ice and the ability to play a top-four role effectively. Playing primarily with Matt Carle, Gudas has emerged as the kind of player opposing teams are constantly having to keep tabs on. He’s delivered some very big hits this season and has consistently been among the top five league leaders in hits. Gudas continues to show signs of offensive ability as he’s a decent puck mover who isn’t afraid to shoot the puck. He ranks third among Tampa Bay blueliner’s in average time on ice, points and shots on goal. Gudas was recently named a member of the Czech Republic’s Olympic roster. Randy Buschmann

October 2013 – Gudas has earned a top four position on Tampa Bay’s blue line and should be considered a full-time NHLer now. Randy Buschmann

June 2013 – Gudas earned a call-up with the Lightning in March to hopefully provide the team with a much needed physical presence and steady defensive play. The experiment worked initially as Tampa Bay won three of the first four games he played as a Bolt. As Tampa Bay continued to fade down the stretch, Gudas shined. He finished the season out in the NHL with two goals and five points in 22 games and an outstanding 87 hits. The Lightning rewarded Gudas for his inspired and physical play with a three year contract extension on a one-way deal. Gudas should challenge for the NHL lead in hits starting next season, but don’t expect much in the way of points or powerplay time moving forward. Randy Buschmann

February 2013 – After an impressive yet short stint in Tampa Bay’s training camp, Gudas has continued to be a strong defensive leader for Syracuse. Revered as one of the AHL’s most feared hitters, the 22-year-old has four goals, 17 points and a team best plus-25 rating thru 47 games. In addition, Gudas 189 PIM currently ranks 4th in the AHL. While he likely won’t be much of an offensive contributor in the NHL, his physical brand of hockey should result in a large amount of penalty minutes and hits. Randy Buschmann

July 2012 – Radko Gudas continues to develop the reputation as a hard-checking, physical, stay-at-home defenseman.  He was 7^th in the AHL last year with 195 PIM, however still managed to score 7 goals and have 20 points on an offensively explosive Norfolk team.  He has been turning heads in the Lightning organization because of his strong defense and he’s not an offensive liability. Eric Scheib

Fantasy Outlook: C-

Gudas main value in fantasy leagues will be big contributions in PIMs, hits and blocked shots. Won’t be a significant point producer.

Footage:

Gudas dropping the gloves

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