2024 Draft Prospect Profile: Tomas Galvas

Tomas Galvas playing for the BílíTygři Liberec

The Scouting Report

Tomas Galvas is an 18-year-old defenseman from Zlin, Czechia, he was born on February 11, 2006 and is a left-handed shooter. He spent the 2023-24 season playing for quite a few teams, including the HC Olomouc U20, Bílí Tygrí Liberec U20, Bílí Tygrí Liberec and Czechia’s U18 World Junior Championship team. Throughout all of these teams he played a total of 53 games with only 21 points (six goals and 15 assists.) He is projected to be drafted around #71 in the 2024 draft.

View All 2024 NHL Draft Profiles Here

Draft Projections

#71 Inside The Rink
#50 Elite Prospects
#33 NHL Central Scouting (EU Skaters)
#41 DobberProspects
Conrad Jack of Inside The Rink has Tomas Galvas projected at 71st overall.

Diving Deeper

Galvas seems to start out as kind of an underdog and then show his skill later on, in each different league and team he played on in the 2023-24 season he started out as a depth role, as a healthy scratch and on the second defense pairing. As he moved up, he ended up with close to 30 minutes of ice time, ended as one of Czechia’s top-four defensemen, and as the U18 undisputed number one defenseman. He certainly has the ability to play well but seems to struggle getting there.

Skating Agility and Hockey IQ

Galvas is quick on his edges and compliments his skating abilities with his stick-handling abilities. He is capable of walking the blue line with ease and supporting his offense, scanning the play, and responding with well-thought-out and well-timed attacks in the offensive zone.

Galvas possesses an extra step that allows him to create separation from the opposition, making his overall skating ability a significant strength. He demonstrates intelligence in his positional game, fearlessly jumping into offensive opportunities when they arise. His excellent vision up the middle of the ice and ability to anticipate pressure result in accurate passes to his defensive partner.

Steven Pratas, Dobber Prospects

Effective Three-Zone Player

Galvas is an effective three-zone player with the ability to evade most fore-checking pressure while easily carrying the puck up the ice. He can activate play from the offensive blue line and into the play in place given the opportunity, his defensive range is also vast despite his size.

Tomas Galvas is a solid puck moving defenseman, who does an excellent job in keeping the puck secure with traffic at his side. He won’t force the puck into tight pressure deliberately, but has shown that if he is encountering multiple attackers that he can keep his feet and hands moving to secure the puck and position it away from the attackers before chipping it off the boards. Galvas does a good job of using an active stick to trap attackers and force them to dump the puck in the neutral zone and take away potential shooting / passing lanes in his own zone. He has an excellent power stride that he will use to get himself into position to defend should be a bit too far away from where he needs to be.

Josh Tessler, SMHAT Scouting

Areas for Improvement

The biggest concern with Galvas is his size. Although he has defensive strengths, he will need to bulk up a bit in order to succeed in the NHL. Some of his offensive abilities come in flashes, so he will need to learn how to be more reliable in an offensive position. He will also need to acclimate to the North American playing style, which many prospects will have to do.

Final Thoughts

Tomas Galvas has almost all of the skills that could put him at the NHL level if he is able to add some bulk to his frame and hone in some of his skills. He certainly has a place on an NHL roster with the way he can see up the middle and his three-way playing abilities. His North American career will likely start out in the AHL and once he matures a bit, it is more likely that we will see him at an NHL level.

ITR 47: Then There Was Nothing Inside The Rink

Join Conrad and Chris as the discuss Gavin McKenna making the jump to the NCAA, Pittsburgh and San Jose making additions, and the NHL season to begin on October 7, 2025.
  1. ITR 47: Then There Was Nothing
  2. ITR 46: Offseason Chaos
  3. ITR 45: Everything Is Happening
  4. ITR 44: We Have A Champion…Again
  5. ITR 43: It's Winning Time

Discover more from Inside The Rink

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Jayd Serdy

Jayd Serdy is a journalist with just over one year of professional experience. She grew up watching basketball and baseball but grew to love both Men’s and Women’s hockey as well. She enjoys all aspects of the game but puts an emphasis on prospects entering the league. Jayd lives just south of Seattle with her dog, Maverick. When she isn’t watching or writing about sports, Jayd enjoys traveling, going to various concerts and spending time with friends and family.

Leave a Reply

Winnipeg Jets Re-Sign Gabriel Vilardi and Parker Ford

The Winnipeg Jets have re-signed forwards Gabriel Vilardi and Parker Ford to contract extensions today. Ford received a two-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 in year one and $850,000 in year two, per Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press. Vilardi received a six-year contract worth $7.5 million annually, avoiding salary arbitration days before the hearing. […]

Read More
Utah Mammoth Extend AHL All-Star

Utah Mammoth Extend AHL All-Star

The Utah Mammoth announced they’ve extended an AHL All-Star to a two-year, two-way contract.

Read More
Jaroslav Halak in net for the Boston Bruins

Jaroslav Halák Announces Retirement

Goaltender Jaroslav Halák has announced his retirement after 17 seasons in the NHL. Halák last played during the 2022-23 season playing in 25 games for the New York Rangers while putting up a 10-9-5 record with a 2.72 GAA, .903SV%, and one shutout. Jaroslav Halák began his career with the Montreal Canadiens after they drafted […]

Read More