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Why Flames prospect Simon Katolicky could be the 2026 draft’s hidden gem

Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

By Ryan Pike

Jul 13, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 13, 2026, 00:08 EDT

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Every year, teams go into the National Hockey League’s annual entry draft looking for value above all else.

Now, for teams with a lot of early picks, value basically centres around selecting the best available players early on. But as the draft gets into the mid-to-late rounds, NHL clubs make some calculated gambles.

A year ago, the Calgary Flames were made to look really smart when they nabbed winger Ethan Wyttenbach in the fifth round. After sliding that far because of his relatively small frame and a perceived lack of high-end hockey experience, he moved from the United States Hockey League to the NCAA after being drafted. He had a superb year, capturing the NCAA’s scoring title and being named the national rookie of the year.

The Flames could have another late-round gem from the 2026 draft, in the form of fifth-round pick Simon Katolicky.

A product of Havlíčkův Brod, Czechia – a town of 24,000 located midway between Prague and Brno – Katolicky is a left shot forward listed at 6’5″ and 205 pounds. (For the curious, his last name is pronounced “Kato-lich-kee.”)

Katolicky came up through Czechia junior hockey with the HC Dukla Jihlava system, located fairly close to his hometown, and built a strong reputation due to his success playing against players well ahead of his age group. And it’s worth noting that as a July birthday, Katolicky was usually younger than his peer group for the entire season.

In 2022-23, as a 14-year-old, he led Jihlava’s under-15 team in scoring by a pretty sizable margin. He had 32 goals and 59 points in 29 games; the next-best player had 43 points in 33 games. He moved up to the under-17 team and had a respectable 10 points in 20 games, and also spent a bit of time away from Jihlava with SK Horacka Slavia Trebec’s under-17 team.
In 2023-24, as a 15-year-old, he led Jihlava’s under-17 team in scoring, with 38 points in 36 games. He also played with Jihlava’s under-20 team, and represented Czechia at the Youth Olympic Games.
In 2024-25, as a 16-year-old, he moved away from home for the first time, playing for Tappara in Finland. Playing for their under-18 team, he had 52 points in 30 games. He actually out-scored Oliver Suvanto by 10 points while playing 12 fewer games – he missed a few weeks mid-season with an unspecified injury/illness – finishing seventh in the entire league. On a per-game basis, only Oscar Hemming had more points. He also represented Czechia at the Under-17 Hockey Challenge and the Under-18 World Championships.

Long story short, Katolicky had three pretty good seasons, especially relative to other players of similar ages in each league, and he had built up some equity with the scouting community due to that body of work. Scott Wheeler at The Athletic had him as an honourable mention in several of his pre-season draft rankings. Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis had him 30th in July’s pre-season ranking. He was listed as a “B” prospect in Central Scouting’s fall watch list.

And then Katolicky had a rough season with Tappara’s under-20 team. He was limited to just 29 games and posted 17 points. (He also represented Czechia at the Under-18 Worlds for the second time, but only posted a single goal at the event.)

“I would say the first year was kind of a little bit hard because I left my family,” said Katolicky, during Flames development camp at Winsport. “So it was something new for me, completely always by myself. I needed to clean for myself, make food for myself. So it was kind of a little bit harder. Then the second year was okay, but I got pretty bad injuries. I got appendix surgery, then I got two broken ribs and then I got mononucleosis. So it was kind of a tough year to always coming back. But yeah, I just got to learn from it and use it for next season.”

Katolicky was selected in the CHL Import Draft by the Sarnia Sting back in 2025. After spending last season in Finland, he’s excited for a new opportunity with the Sting in 2026-27.

“Because I know that last season I couldn’t show myself,” said Katolicky. “I wasn’t even healthy. So I know that last season it just wasn’t me. So I’m coming to the next season, completely new mindset, new coaches, new everything. I’m going to get myself back.”

Sometimes players moving up to higher levels of hockey hit a ceiling. It happens. But if you’re betting on talent finding its level, when you look at Katolicky’s body of world prior to last season and conclude that he seems like a decent enough bet for a bounce-back in 2026-27 that will reveal his quality more than an injury-addled 2025-26 campaign did.

If he’s close to what scouts thought he could be 12 months ago, the Flames could have a steal on their hands.

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