Eduard Sale

June 2023 – Sale has been selected 20th overall by the Seattle Kraken in the 2023 NHL Draft. Curtis Rines

April 2023 – Eduard Sale struggled to end the season with HC Kometa Brno finishing with 7 goals and 7 assists in 43 regular season games, failing to produce a point in his 6 playoff games in the postseason. His best moments of the season came in his international competitions with 10 points in 11 games in all U20 games. Sale is cementing himself as a wild card pick in the upcoming draft, as he hasn’t progressed in significant parts of his game but still stands out as one of the most offensively creative players in this year’s crop of prospects. Eduard Sale is a relatively good skater who could benefit from a better first step. His technique is sound and moves his feet well when controlling the puck in transition. However, he is caught flat-footed at times in all three zones. Sale needs to move his feet to create space for himself which will increase his pacing as well. He uses his edges well in tight spaces which is why he is so dynamic in those situations. His offensive instincts stick out as the most projectable qualities of his game as he has above-average scanning habits and elite playmaking ability from the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. When given time and space, he is a great passer and can be a huge threat on the powerplay with his above-average shot. His release is the key component in his shot as he should work on getting more velocity consistently. Offensively, Sale is a mixed bag of high-end skill and playmaking ability with above-average intelligence to boot.

Defensively speaking, Sale needs to start improving his play in his own end. He is constantly losing men in coverage and his good scanning habits somewhat disappear when he is away from the puck. Also, his pace isn’t consistent in all three zones and Sale has a tough time fore-checking with efficiency; Sale often misses his angle or picks the wrong lane to cover. Finally, Sale is a non-factor physically which takes away from his excellent frame and potential growth on that side of the game. Eduard Sale is a high-end talent who will thrive in the powerplay in the NHL. It’ll be up to teams to decide whether they want to take the risk on his clear flaws in his game in order to tap into his obvious offensive potential. If he can find a way to keep pace and improve his defensive zone game, he will for sure be an NHLer with upside. He is a dominant force in the offensive zone during sustained pressure situations and can find teammates through traffic. Fun to watch but it comes with baggage. Sasha Lagarde

September 2022 – Eduard Sale had a tremendous season with HC Kometa Brno’s U20 team, scoring 42 goals and 47 assists in only 39 games. In the playoffs, he scored five goals and added five assists in only five games. He followed up with a great performance at the U18 World Championships, scoring a goal and adding eight assists over six tournament games while finishing at a point-per-game pace for all international play combined. Sale was able to keep up his incredible scoring rates at every level he played, which bodes well for the young winger going into his first full season with HC Kometa Brno of the Tipsport Extraliga in his native Czechia. 

Sale is a pure offensive talent who carries himself with incredible confidence in the offensive zone. His offensive toolkit is very exciting. His puck-handling skills, along with high-end offensive hockey sense, are what separates him from other players his age. Sale is very crafty with the puck and has an innate ability to stickhandle out of crowded areas with a clear vision of what to do next. He’s able to pass or shoot out of dekes, which makes him unpredictable in the best way possible. His ability to stickhandle and release the shot quickly often catches opposing goalies off guard, and the same can be said about his passes. Defensemen don’t have time to read Sale’s intentions before the pass has already been delivered. He has a great combination of good speed with high-level skill, and the fact that he’s 6-1 with room to grow (weighing in at only 168 pounds), he becomes a very interesting prospect going into his first full season in Czechia’s top pro league. Sale will become even more valuable to teams looking for help on the powerplay as he was the driving force on the man advantage at all levels this year. He is a pass-first type of player but don’t sleep on his shot either. He scans the ice very well and is able to use that information to find open teammates. There are parts of his defensive game that need some fine-tuning such as tracking players better in the defensive zone and supporting his defenseman during breakouts. However, his strong stick skills allow him to strip pucks from opposing players and bat down loose pucks in open ice. This is a player to keep a close eye on. Sasha Lagarde