Any Penguins fans that plan to attend any training camp practices, scrimmages or preseason games should keep a close eye on No. 67, since that's exactly what the coaching staff is doing with Radim Zohorna.
"He's a guy that we're going to watch throughout the course of training camp, and he's a guy that's going to challenge for a roster spot," Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said.
Zohorna Challenging for Bigger Role with Penguins
And not just any spot. Both Sullivan and Penguins general manager Ron Hextall have named the 25-year-old Czech native as one of the leading internal candidates to step up and help fill the void at the center position with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both sidelined to start the year.
"He's an interesting player for us because he's big and strong," Sullivan said of Zohorna. "He has the ability to play with pace. I think he does things faster than it looks because he has long levers because of his size, but he can skate. His reach, he utilizes very well. And he has instincts. He can make plays. He's got a year of pro under his belt now, and he's 25 years old. He's not a young kid. So he has some maturity to him as well."
The entire Penguins organization loved what they saw from Zohorna during the 2020-21 campaign, his first professional season in North America after six seasons in the Czech Republic's top professional league.
After 12 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Zohorna eventually earned a call-up to Pittsburgh and made an immediate impact - scoring his first NHL goal on his first NHL shot in his debut on March 25 against Buffalo. He went on to record four points (2G-2A) in eight total appearances.
"We've been really impressed with Z's game since we've had him, since he's been a Penguin," Sullivan said. "He played some good minutes for us last year. I think he showed glimpses of his potential in some of the games that we played him in, and I think his pace has improved. So we're trying to help him with his conditioning, so he has an ability to repeat that pace."
And Zohorna did everything he could during the offseason to prepare himself to do just that, especially now that he knows what to expect from the professional level here in North America.
"It was such hard games," Zohorna said. "Such a difference between the Czech league and NHL. I tried to work so hard in the summer and I hope I will be ready to play some more games than last year, so we'll see."
Zohorna speaks with the media
According to Jason Zucker and Kasperi Kapanen - who have flanked Zohorna during the first few days of training camp - so far, so good in that regard.
"Big Z's been great," Zucker said. "I thought he's been moving well, making some good plays. It's been fun to work with him and chat with him. He's a guy that wants to absorb some information and try to learn from Kappy and I right now. It's been really good."
"They both are amazing players, and I have so much respect for them," Zohorna said. "Just trying to take some things from them and I hope I will be playing in some games with these two guys because they are unbelievable."
While Zohorna was slotted in at left wing during all eight of his games with Pittsburgh, he said he's comfortable playing the center position, as he did it both in WBS and back in the Czech.
"I've played a lot of games at center and I felt really good," he said. "The center has to skate more than the wings and the center is playing in the D zone and be in the O zone too, so it's harder, but I feel comfortable. I can play wing, center."
Zohorna is also a lot more comfortable in his surroundings, from the culture to the language.
"My English is still not so good, so I need to learn more words," Zohorna said with a laugh. "But I hope it will be better through the year. Culture and all these things, I like the USA, so it'll be easier to be here."
Zohorna flew to Pittsburgh with fellow Czech native Dominik Simon, who is back for his second tour of duty with the Penguins after signing a one-year contract when free agency opened in July. While Zohorna said it was good to be on his own last year so that he was forced to practice his English, he's glad to have a countryman here who can help him out when needed.
"Now, if I don't know something, I just ask Dom," Zohorna said with a laugh. "He can figure it out. I think right now, I'm so happy he's here."
And Zohorna wants to stay here, more than anything, in whatever role the Penguins need.
"I just want to do everything I can to make the team," Zohorna said. "If it's in the top six, 12, I don't care. I just want to make the team. I'm just trying to push hard and do what I can. We'll see how it goes. Last year was amazing. I learned so much and I just want to be part of this team."
