With their second pick of the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Blackhawks selected forward Vaclav Nestrasil, a Czechia native who’s been playing with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL.
Welcome to Chicago, Vaclav Nestrasil‼️
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) June 28, 2025
🔗https://t.co/nmsllf83WU pic.twitter.com/Nya95zFNHT
Nestrasil is a 6-foot-6, 185-pound winger who came over to the USHL during the 2023-24 hockey season from his native Czechia. He failed to record a point in 11 games with Muskegon towards the end of the 2023-24 season, although he broke out for 42 points (19 G, 23 A) in 61 games with the Lumberjacks last season. He was even better in the postseason, picking up 13 points (7 G, 6 A) in 14 playoff games.
As mentioned in our article earlier this morning that detailed options for the Hawks at No. 25 — which included a photo of Nestrasil, thank you very much! — he’s expected to be a bit more of a long-term project but has plenty of attributes that project to a power forward at the NHL level, and several reports raved about his skating ability.
The next stop of Nestrasil’s hockey career is the NCAA, as he’s committed to play for Massachusetts in the 2025-26 season.
Apparently Nestrasil was destined for a future with the Blackhawks, too:
Václav at the age of 11 at an international tournament 😊 pic.twitter.com/5z2dOiX08T
— Vaclav Nestrasil sr. (@nestrasilova) May 27, 2025