On May 16, 2022, the Calgary Flames announced that they had signed 21-year-old, right-handed shot forward Adam Klapka to a two-year entry-level contract (ELC).
Adam Klapka hails from Prague, Czech Republic and clocks in at 6’7″ and 245 lbs.
In the 2020–21 season Klapka spent his whole year playing for the Tri-City Storm in the USHL where he put up 12 goals and 9 assists for 21 points through 49 games played. In 2021–22, however, he played for HC Bili Tygri Liberec in Czechia where he notched six goals and 12 assists for 18 points through 44 games, as well as one goal and three assists for four points through 10 playoff games.
Over the course of this season, he was also loaned to HC Benatky nad Jizerou in Czechia2 where he notched seven goals and five assists for 12 points through 16 games played.
Chatting with Adam Klapka
On June 14, 2022 I sat down with the newly-signed Flames prospect on my Flames coverage channel “Into The Flames” after he had landed a few days in Calgary. He revealed he was in the city, living with and training with six fellow Flames prospects, specifically rooming with Cole Jordan and Jack Beck in preparation for Development Camp, which now just concluded with a huge performance from Klapka.
After getting witty talking about his size, he got into how he feels it’s a huge advantage in regards to his all-round game. “For me, I can protect the puck because my stick is long, I’m a power forward so when I’m behind guys they’re not comfortable, it’s a huge advantage for me,” Klapka joked.
He describes his play style as “tough” and his nature as a player as someone who loves providing a net-front presence by “taking the puck away from defencemen on other teams.” On how he’s more than just a hitter, he stated: “I think my skill level is good too, I’m not just the guy who goes up and down and hits other guys, yeah it’s my job too but I can do some stuff with my stick.”
In asking him about what the level of competition is like over in Czechia and how he felt this past season of his helped him grow as a player, Klapka remarked that the team he played for implemented “a lot of things” from the North American playbook and style of game, specifically in “the AHL and junior leagues.” He feels it’s prepared him well as he stated: “I played a lot of minutes, I played power play, so it was an awesome year for me.”
Klapka also remarked that multiple players who’ve played their junior careers in the CHL, have often elected come back and play for their home teams in Czechia. He also stated that a lot of older former NHLers have a tendency to also come over to Czechia to play for their home teams as well.
He noted that he’s faced off against the likes of Jaromir Jagr, Tomas Plekanec and David Krejci. All in all, Klapka loved getting to play against guys with a lot of already solidified NHL experience, and felt it was a good learning process for him as a player.
How did Adam Klapka end up choosing Calgary?
In asking him how he ended up deciding on Calgary, Klapka states that during the season he met up with Flames director of pro personnel Derek MacKinnon in Prague and met his family over dinner talking about the type of fit he’d have within the Flames’ prospect pool. Klapka states that a “couple days” after the Czech Games, his agent called him up with the ELC offer from the Flames, to which he promptly responded with “okay where can I sign?”
“For me and my parents, it’s everything, I’m super excited for this moment,” he regarded.
In asking about what his offseason training regimen is like with his trainer, Klapka smirked with a surprising section to his answer on top of just normal drills and reps on the ice, “boxing, we box a lot.”
Klapka called the American style of game “a big school” for him in terms of preparation and getting accustomed and geared up for the next step of his career.
It should be of note that Klapka has had a very noticeably legit development camp and has been one of the major standout storylines of camp thus far. It will be super exciting to see what he can bring to the table for the organization in 2022–23.
Check out the full interview with Klapka here:
