Who is Tobias Trejbal?
| Position | Catches | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goaltender | Right | 6’4″ | 198 lbs |
Trejbal is a towering goaltender from Most, Czechia. He is a rarity among goalies: sporting a glove on his right hand. As such, he modelled himself after right-catching countryman Pavel Francouz, a 2022 Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche.
Trejbal was the first goalie taken off the board in the entire 2026 NHL Draft, picked at 42nd overall.
Trejbal’s on-ice production
As a younger teenager, he played in the Czechia U17 and U20 leagues. He moved across the ocean to Ohio for the 2025–26 season, where he played for the Youngstown Phantoms (alongside fellow Flames’ draft pick Jack Hextall).
| Year | Draft Relative | League | Team | GP | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | D-1 | Czechia U20 | HC Litvinov U20 | 38 | 2.33 | .930 |
| 2025–26 | D+0 | USHL | Youngstown Phantoms | 42 | 2.12 | .916 |
Trejbal had no trouble adjusting to the North American style. He played 42 games with the Phantoms to a sparkling record of 30–9–3. It was a performance that won him USHL Goalie of the Year.
Trejbal’s strengths
The urgency to spend picks to move up the draft was reportedly at the request of Flames’ Director of Goaltending, Jordan Sigalet. His assessment:
“Big, athletic, and uses his frame well. He’s built like a pro already and we like his path of going to UMass in the NCAA next year. He’s a high-character kid with a strong mental game.”
Trejbal gave the self-assessment: “I think my biggest strength is the fact I’m pretty mentally strong. I think I play smart and simple.”
“He’s got all the tools and the size. He’s got calmness and that positive swagger as well,” said Central Scouting’s Al Jensen.
Trejbal’s areas of improvement
Overall, he’s considered remarkably well-rounded, but nobody’s perfect.
Scouting report critiques include: he drops his hands too low when going into butterfly, his blocker side is weaker than his glove, and his position drifts a bit, which exposes the far side of the net.
These are not major red flags, only little details that good coaching should be able to rectify.
Trejbal’s next steps
For the 2026–27 season, Trejbal is challenging himself to a new level of competition. He’s moving to the NCAA, where he’ll play for the University of Massachusetts (UMass). This is the typical development path for European goalies. UMass has a great reputation for developing professional NHL talent.
Perhaps in a couple of years, he’ll push for a spot with the Calgary Flames, or more likely their farm team, the Calgary Wranglers.
Projection with the Flames
Trejbal has the pedigree to become an NHL starter.
The Flames seem set for a while with their star goalie Dustin Wolf entering his prime. But with the lengthy development time required by most netminders, it is wise to plan well ahead.
Whether a goalie prospect makes the NHL or goes bust is an especially difficult prediction. But Trejbal was the consensus top-rated option of the draft. The Flames took a good shot with this selection. Trejbal joins a pool of prospects alongside Kirill Zarubin and Arsenii Sergeev. Whether and when he helps the Flames only time will tell.
