As we hit the back half of the 40s in this ranking — what a journey we’ve been on — we introduce into the mix our third goaltender to hit the board, Brampton’s Jack Ivankovic.
Likely a familiar name to some of the more general prospect watchers around here — Ivankovic was Canada’s go-to guy at the U18s, and even got himself a game at the World Juniors (coming at the expense of Flyers prospect Carson Bjarnason, but we’ll let that slide now) — Ivankovic has put together a strong resume for himself, even as he’s played on some underperforming teams. One of the more dynamic goaltenders at the top of this class, he might be a a bit of a project still, but the ceiling here is truly high-end, if he can find his way into the right developmental setting. Let’s get into it.
Pre-draft rankings
#4 by NHL Central Scouting (NA Goalies)
#109 by Elite Prospects
#48 by TSN/Bob McKenzie
#43 by Daily Faceoff
Bio
DOB: May 22, 2007
Birthplace: Mississauga, ON, Canada
Position: Goaltender
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 179 lbs
Catches: Left
Statistics
What’s there to like?
Despite some limitations he’s dealing with (but more on that later), there really is a lot to like about Ivankovic’s game. One of the top skaters in this class, Ivankovic brings a really notable bit of speed to his game, the way he’s able to move around the crease quickly, but still efficiently, getting himself into position without doing any unnecessary scrambling. That positioning, too, is generally very well sound — even with traffic in front of him (and as undersized goaltender, that’s something he really has to battle with), he’s able to fight through and get himself square to shots. Rarely is he pulled out of position to a significant degree, but if he is, he’s able to reset nicely and with little fuss to defend against second-chance opportunities. Those second-chance opportunities, too, aren’t easy to come by against Ivankovic as well, as his competitiveness comes through decisively, and he fights to get control of the puck from opponents. He’s able to put up these very strong efforts, and even more impressively, to do it pretty singularly, as he was working against a defensive zone structure in Brampton which could be, shall we say, not always the tidiest.
What’s more, Ivankovic is on an interesting development track, and one which should serve him well in the longer run. It may have been tough at times to parse out the true impact level of his game on that sometimes struggling Brampton team, but the team that drafts him doesn’t have to worry about sending him back to toil away in that same setting for two more years, hoping for the best. Rather, Ivankovic is already taking a step up in the level of competition, as he’ll head to the University of Michigan for next season. And while they aren’t the same powerhouse that they were just a few short years ago — the Wolverines missed the NCAA tournament entirely this past spring — they’re building things up again nicely here, and will immediately offer more structure in front of Ivankovic than he’ll be used to seeing. It might not be the most important thing at work here, but this is valuable, as Ivankovic takes the next step forward in his development early, as will use the time in the NCAA as a helpful bridge to the professional level, making the jump not so steep.
What’s not to like?
Ivankovic’s technical game is already quite well-developed, and he’s doing a good job keeping his development on the whole moving in the right direction, and that’s all quite positive. The one major reason for pause with him though — to be reductive — does come around his size.
Sources vary, but he’s somewhere between 5’11 and 6’0 (for what it’s worth, he was officially listed at 5’11.5 at the combine), which does remain on the undersized side for a goaltender. And drafting tendencies tend to oscillate when it comes to goaltenders — we go through stretches where teams seem less fussed about size, and then they swing back around to caring a lot about it — but right now we’re in a bit of an overcorrection period, with teams valuing size in their goaltenders more highly (as the folks at Elite Prospects pointed out in their draft guide, there was only one goaltender in either the NHL or AHL this season who clocked in below 6’0). But the size question is relevant not just to organizational preoccupations, but also Ivankovic’s development on the whole — that is, while he does well now to fight through traffic in front, the question remains open of whether he’ll be able to continue this as the skaters in front get bigger at the next level. And that’s a big question, no doubt about it, and the uncertainty does cast a bit of risk on taking him as high as some project him to go.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
As we’ve talked about probably ad nauseam this year, the Flyer’s goaltending situation, up and down the system, is a bit of a mess. They’re certainly still looking for answers at the NHL level — with Sam Ersson looking like a solid platoon option, but not a bonafide high-volume starter, and both Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov so far failing to solidify themselves as dependable backup options — and while they have some more options in the pipeline, they’re still pretty far away from ready to make the jump to the NHL. They do have two pretty good looking options on the way, to be sure, with Carson Bjarnason graduating to the AHL for this coming season, and Yegor Zavragin continuing to raise his stock with some stellar play over in the KHL, and they stand out as pretty intriguing prospects among a pretty packed group, at the moment.
All of this is to say that the goaltending picture is still a ways away from coming into focus, and while it looks now like there might be a bit of a logjam at the position right now, who knows what it’s going to look like in three to five years down the road when Ivankovic is approaching to step into the pros. Having an excess of promising goaltending talent in the system is a good problem to have, and while there are certainly some question marks around Ivankovic, he does still have the potential to out-perform his draft position, if things break right for him. It’s a bit of a risk in that pick, but the Flyers have so many this year that they can afford to take a few swings. It’s a lot of moving parts, but the Flyers might well be a good fit.
Could the Flyers actually get him?
While the rankings for Ivankovic are a little bit all over the place, it’s safer to assume that he’ll go somewhere around the early 40s — if not earlier, if we see teams work themselves into some kind of frenzy and make a run on goalies in the early part of the second round. But whichever way that shakes out, with the excess of picks the Flyers are bringing with them into the second round, if they find that they’ve absolutely fallen in love with Ivankovic, they have the ammunition to grab him pretty much whenever they want.
What scouts are saying
“One of Hockey Canada’s favourite goalies, Jack Ivankovic has gotten ample opportunity this season to play for his country at both the Under-20 and Under-18 level this season, finishing with a gold medal at U18s in Texas.
Ivankovic is also one of the most entertaining goalies to watch in this draft class. His skating is amongst the best in the class, and he regularly delivers highlight-reel saves, which were necessary playing behind the Brampton Steelheads defence.
Technically speaking, Ivankovic has the fundamentals of a potential NHL starter. His angles and tracking can click at an elite level at times, and despite his size, he does a much better job fighting pucks through screens than you’d expect.
The height, however, is a big question, especially as a sub-6-foot goalie. There was only one goalie shorter than 6-foot to play in the NHL or AHL this past season. And while junior shooters didn’t find the holes, there’s real concern that as bodies in front of him get bigger and shooters get better, those holes will emerge.
Despite some of the scrambles in Brampton, he never seems to get overly frustrated or lost on a play. When playing for Canada, with proper defensive support, he tends to freeze and control everything.
Ivankovic’s dad, Frank, is 6-foot-5, so there’s some hope for a growth spurt, which some NHL teams have taken note of in their pre-draft look at goaltenders.
If he can grow a bit, Ivankovic could be a No. 1 NHL goalie because of his mental make-up and calm demeanour in chaotic situations.
–Elite Prospects 2025 Draft Guide
“He plays an incredibly calm, controlled, positional style, especially for an undersized goalie, staying square to shooters, getting set early, holding his edges and controlling his rebounds so well it can look like he’s not moving in the net (and when he does move too much and loses his posts, he battles to get back into his spots and get to pucks on scrambles). But he’s also ultra-competitive, mobile and athletic, fighting for pucks in the crease and regularly getting to pucks he shouldn’t.”
–Scott Wheeler, The Athletic
“He’s a goalie with tremendous athleticism and competitiveness. Ivankovic makes all kinds of difficult saves that require him to move a lot. He is great at second-effort saves and never gives up on a play. His reads aren’t as good as his quickness, but he does make a lot of smart decisions.”
–Corey Pronman, The Athletic
One player off the poll, and another coming on. We’re shifting away from the goaltending position once again and introducing to the mix Michal Svrcek, an undersized winger with a motor that just does not quit.
“Svrcek’s motor and high pace of play have remained the most consistent thing in his game. While being on the smaller side comes with its limitations, he still managed to be a nuisance for the opposing defenders by swarming them and applying tons of pressure, even occasionally finishing his checks against bigger opponents.”
-EliteProspects 2025 NHL Draft Guide
