Position: F, Shoots: R
H/W: 6-foot-3, 201 Pounds
Date of Birth: 2007-10-22
Born in Memphis, TN, the now 18-year-old 6’3” Lithuanian has been strutting his stuff all season long between primarily the Swiss NL, SL, and U21 circuits, having caught our eye last season, not only because of strong U20 league stats for a 17-year-old, but dominant lower-class performances for his nation internationally. As such, we had him on the radar coming into this season but it feels like he was on a mission to install himself as a top 65 pick in this summer’s draft right from Day 1 of the 25-26 season. And he’s been successful in doing that.
Put simply, after a strong preseason camp, Ignatavicius needed just 4 points in two U21 league games and a seat as a spectator for two more NL contests before he got his first lick of NL play, something he hasn’t looked back from. The winger went on to make himself a regular third line option with some looks up the totem pole while doing a lot of the yeoman work expected of youngsters who need to earn their spot. And that’s almost the thing that has viewers excited the most.
Indeed, Ignatavicius loves the rough stuff. He’s been hitting almost any and everything that moves while on the forecheck and as part of his defensive coverage, and isn’t hesitant to get knocked around himself if it means he’s able to carry and push pucks around the offensive zone. He gets his body in the slot to create screens and as his penalty minutes indicate - and granted, there was a 20+5 along the way - Ignatavicius’ play has continued to be widely along the lines of that which is permitted. A few of the hits have been ill-timed but there’s no doubt that he loves to have his presence be known.
Skating
Coming into this season, Ignatavicius had shown some mighty impressive wheels for both his nation at lower level tournaments and at the junior level. He could move past opponents with the puck on his stick and diddle around them too, something his feet had made possible. That there are still steps to be taken has become clear at the NL level, where his skating didn’t always look like a strength and speed was often an issue. But even if there are some hinks and technical deficiencies here or there, getting around at the pro level hasn’t been a problem. And even the unattractive areas of his mobility are not all that uncommon at the NHL level for players of his ilk.
What has been clear is that he has the edges and agility to move through traffic with the puck on his stick and get his chances in and around the net, as evidenced here (#17):
This junior league scene displays his cutting ability as we’ve come to see it dozens of times over the past few seasons, creating shooting opportunities while his skating establishes newfound space to release a shot with time and space. Ultimately, this goal was a dandy, one that his skating made possible.
At this younger stage in his development, he accepts a pass with his back to the net and ultimately uses his legs to get around and release a successful forehand shot, something his edges help make possible.
Alas, straight-away speed and an extra gear are not part of his strengths at this point. We can see them getting there though as he’s still far from having gained his man strength. However, hardly any of the following videos, and many of things made possible in them, display things that aren’t linked to his skating efficiency to date.
GRADE: 52.5
Shot
Truth be told, Igantavicius has no problem shooting, nor does he shy away from it. The kind of rocket that will beat NHL goaltenders isn’t there yet, but he has spent much of his young career being no less than a face-off circle power play player with a daft one-timer. He can be very accurate with his shots and has generally fine placement, even though he's had his fair share of shots get past the net while looking to pick corners.
When there’s time and space, he’ll accept a pass and let it rip in no time flat; almost in one motion. This should continue to become a key skill as he continues to grow his game, and is always something of a plus on smaller ice surfaces.
At lower levels, his technical ability to release a puck has been impressive. For this nifty goal, he found himself on the blueline, but his wrist shot proved not only accurate but quick in flight after being quick in leaving his stick.
This one-timer in the slot was with authority, calling for the puck and depositing it with no hesitation.
In general, the wrister has regularly shown itself to be an impressive part of his arsenal and goals of this nature have not been uncommon at the junior level.
We’d hope to see him doing much more of it at the pro level, especially in light of the fact that it can work there as he displayed with this goal.
Likewise, how little time he needs to release such a shot leaves us wanting more of it more often, but it’s there and again, will be effective when playing in tight areas.
As mentioned, the one-timer at lower levels has been a key part of his arsenal. We want to see it more at the pro level. The second league SL club he spent time playing for didn’t hesitate in giving him that role in the course of the season and he didn’t hesitate to use this weapon in this manner.
With all this in mind, accuracy is improving and this late-season NL goal showed a rather attractive ability to assess the shot opportunity and hit an upper corner in a manner that would be very much appreciated at the NHL level.
He’s also been adept in juniors and internationally at depositing pucks concisely without having the need to overdo anything. He’s made it look easy.
Lastly, we’d recommend he find a way to make more use of his backhand shot because it is definitely part of the package.
Our grade at this juncture needs to be understood as “For the time being”. All indications are that his shot could become one of his defining traits over time.
GRADE: 52.5
Skills
First and foremost, the hands are pretty top notch. He can handle the puck and has an almost keen ability to make dastardly effective moves in traffic and around the goal. His size and wide stance allow him to protect the puck better than your average player, but it would be all for naught if he didn’t have the kind of hands that could reel in pucks for quick snapshots or in slipping past defenders. This is a physical skill where, when combined with his know-how and edgework, creates many advantages for him, and allows him to make something out of nothing on plenty of occasions.
To begin, plays like this at lower level international tournaments really started catching our eye in Ingatavicus’ DY-1. It was a level where he toyed with the competition and this was pretty symbolic of that.
This falls in line, first dropping a hint at his propensity to drive the net.
Yep, drives to the net accompanied by dekes had a been a daily occurrence at the junior level in Switzerland as well.
And often led to goals that made things look too easy for him, and perhaps embarrassing for opponents.
Overall, the hands and edges and smarts often combine to create situations like this one, where leaving out any of the three traits would render this play likely undoable, but he pulls it off.
You could almost say the same about this gutsy move and pass despite plenty of traffic.
Then there are instances of taking on a pass, making a deke, and driving to the goal that are always delightful to see, especially from such a young player breaking in.
He is already adept at cycling but regularly shows himself capable of breaking a pattern to go for the kill. Here he goes from the corner board to the slot and throws in some sauce before launching his wrister.
We’ll establish more about his netfront presence below, but his hands around the net have proven to be deadly in scrambles, due in part to his solid reach.
What showed itself to be an ever-growing skill is playmaking. At the pro level, he started making some very skilled and nifty passes, like on this assist from behind the net.
Similar to this play from behind the net, which he turned into a rather easy slam dunk for his teammate.
To be frank though, this kind of thing had started to show itself during the 24-25 season.
Grade: 50
Smarts
For a player of Igantavicius’ ilk, how intelligent he plays has much to do with finding ways to be open at the right time and in the right place, or reading the play such that he gets to dangerous areas. Likewise, it has to do with the application of his skills and quickly recognizing obstructions. It’s subtle. It’s methodical. It may actually pop up more in the videos provided for the other aspects of his game because it can mean knowing when to take that extra step or simply rip it or what to do in and around the net to keep the opponent guessing and under pressure.
And it has to do with the little things.
In this play, he receives a nifty pass and then effectively enters the zone via traffic before handing the puck over to a teammate who has more space. It’s a little thing. It’s the kind of little thing he does with regularity.
Here’s a play where he shows a keen awareness of how little time he has to accept a pass and gain a better shooting position, something he does extremely effectively.
Likewise, he’s been a go-to fixture on the power play at every level to date save for the NL, and in addition to his shot from the Ovechkin spot, it has to do with the vision and quick decision making to make such nifty plays in gaining a secondary assist here.
Then there are the minute plays that are all about seeing what’s unfolding and placing himself in a promising position for both himself and his teammates.
Or minute plays where he understands his time and space, and quickly makes something of it like with this nifty assist.
Getting out of the zone in this manner, and then charging to the net can quickly make a guy very beloved by his coaches.
We also attribute the regularity with which he makes his way to the goal or parks himself in the slot to be a keen understanding of what he needs to do to be of benefit to his team. It was rarely necessary at lower levels where he was used to making the music as a puck carrier. But at the pro level, he understood that this dog on the bone quality was what his team required of him.
Here’s a tip-in that came in a situation we saw all too often throughout the NL season.
And here was a similar goal where he immediately recognized his need to get to the goalmouth and set up a screen, regardless of what physical prevention was placed in his way. Then he battled his way to a goal in the process.
Whereas playmaking has been displayed at lower levels internationally as well as in juniors, it’s something that has been a bit dormant in the NL. However, we’d attribute that much more to him having a defined and simplistic role that he carried out to fullest, showing a necessary trait that will verify for teams that his path to the NHL could be in several roles, which can also be of great value come playoff time.
Grade: 55
Physicality/Compete
We’ve now arrived at the rubric that is basically the intangible that’ll put Ignatavicius over the top for whichever team finds itself drafting him this summer. Simply put, there is hardly a player in the draft who comes as rough ‘n tumble a package as Ignatavicius does, at least on the European front. Right from Day 1 this season, he showed hockey Switzerland that he’ll finish a check with every opportunity while regularly taking a beating to plant his big body in front of the net or dig pucks out of the corner. Even when bodies aren’t flying, he’d be pinning them on the boards and preventing opposition from forward movement throughout.
We’ll begin right off the bat with the following NL scene where he receives a pass and has fairly little time to gain the red line and dump the puck in. His opponent felt it’d be a great time to check the young man, but he was having nothing of it.
Plastering players to the boards in his own zone was very common. Here he backchecks (perhaps a little late for some) in order to finish off the play for his RW defensive zone assignment.
Prone to doing the little things that give his team an advantage, he not only hits the incharging defenseman, but then pins him up along the boards long enough for his team to gain puck possession.
As part of the trend, he finishes off an opposing blueliner with a healthy hit and then throws in a little elbow for good measure while looking to quickly conduct a line change.
One almost has to chuckle at this forechecking play where he hits the same opponent twice in a matter of mere seconds.
His compete level isn’t purely defined by his checks and body work. He has a tendency to block shots from the blueline in an almost goalie-like manner, one that future coaches may choose to curb down on. But he’s got the guts to do this.
And he unpacks a generally rambunctious style in the corners and right on into the slot, often showing some reckless abandon in the goalmouth, which hasn’t earned him a lot of friends in the NL.
Backchecking is also something he understands, even if much is about effort and less about the soundest positioning. Here he goes from a nifty passing play in the offensive zone to ending up in front of his own goal, diving not only to stop a shot, but then swatting the puck out of the slot with a solid second effort.
This all said, we just love the netfront presence. He was clearly a handful for professional men to deal with here. Unassuming and almost simplistic in this scene, he simply could not be budged in setting up this screen and the shot ultimately bounced off of him and into the goal. The defender appeared powerless in clamping him down, much less moving him.
In this vein, little can top this little scene, where you almost have to feel sorry for the defenseman trying to move Ignatavicius, who not only outdoes the defender’s stick-clamping attempts but then puts his entire weight into falling on the opponent, who is then left motionless as Ignatavicius simply gets up and proceeds on depositing the through-slot pass that follows. It’s a scene that is accompanied by a brutality of sorts.
Grade: 60
The body of work put in by Ignatavicius this winter, one in which he suited up for over 60 NL games, went a long way in establishing him as a player destined to be a 2nd round draft pick next weekend. His projectability is that of a lower line shaker who has the hands of an effective power play player in multiple roles. He has nonetheless tickled our fancy enough at times to think you might be looking at a Kirill Marchenko type of player if everything bounces right. Judging by his overall game as a junior and the willingness to constantly be a source or in a place of physical duress, we can’t help but think young Ignatavicius is clearly a great admirer of Alexander Ovechkin, looking to emulate that style in many different respects.
More power to him, as at the end of the day, the Lithuanian has a wonderful opportunity to become the best NHLer his country has produced since Dainius Zubrus, if not ever…. By means of Switzerland, of course.
OFP: 54
A note on the 20-80 scale used above. We look at five attributes (skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ and physicality) for skaters and six for goalies (athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling). Each individual attribute is graded along the 20-80 scales, which includes half-grades. The idea is that a projection of 50 in a given attribute meant that our observer believed that the player could get to roughly NHL average at that attribute at maturity.