FEATURE: Misiak Finishes Season with Success after Transition to USHL

While most players like to stick to what they know in their potential draft year to capture the attention of scouts, Martin Misiak took a different approach before the 2023 NHL Draft.

A little over halfway through the season, the 18-year-old forward decided to take a risk and move from Slovakia to the United States to find new opportunities for his hockey career.

"I moved to USA in February and it's never really easy to make this kind of a choice especially in the draft season," Misiak said. "But I made the decision, and I won a cup with Phantoms in the USHL so I think that that worked out really well and I'm glad I made the move."

This past season, he spilt his time between the HC Nove Zamky in Slovakia and the Youngstown Phantoms in the USHL. Between both teams, he scored a combined total of seven goals and 20 assists.

It also allowed him to change positions over from the wing to center that showed the versatility that he can add to the Phantoms.

"I'm playing whatever my team needs," Misiak said. "I was playing center in the USHL and won a cup, so I'm feeling great on the center right now. But I can play winger or center no problem."

However, the position change wasn't the only transition that he needed to learn this year. After many conversations with coaches and others, he felt the move to the United States would be the best option to help his hockey career flourish.

While it became difficult at times to adjust to a smaller sheet of ice, he knew he would have to make the jump at some point in his career. Despite some early struggles, he still performed at the highest level not only in the regular season but in the playoffs as well.

"The transition was pretty tough, to be honest," Misiak said. "I kind of struggled at the start but I think that people saw that I was getting better game by game and I had unbelievable playoff run."

The Phantoms and Misiak finished the 2022-23 season with their capture of the Clark Cup for the first time in club history. Youngstown defeated the Fargo Force with a sweep in a best-of-five series. The Slovakian native ranked third on the team in points with two goals and eight assists through nine games in the postseason run.

With one of the biggest accomplishments in his career, Misiak stated that the championship win made his risky move a successful one and knew he made the right choice.

"Winning a cup is the biggest accomplishment in your life and that's why you play hockey and that was incredible," Misiak said. "I made a move to go to USHL during the season, which was maybe a risky move, but I think in the end it worked out really well and the feeling was unbelievable."

Not only did he catch the eyes of the Chicago Blackhawks with the second-round selection at the 2023 NHL Draft, but the Erie Otters also noticed him and selected him first overall in this year's CHL Import Draft a few weeks after.

As he moves from the USHL to the CHL, he knows he made the right choice with his risk to move to the United States with the opportunities that the USHL and now CHL have provided for him.

"I basically wanted to show what I can do when I get more ice time and more opportunities," Misiak said. "I didn't really play on the power plays back home or with my pro team, so I kind of had a chance in the USHL and I got a great role in my team. I was playing a lot and I got a lot of opportunities."