Dominik Masin

History

2010-11: Dominik Masin split the season between Slavia Praha’s U18 and U16 teams in Prague, Czech Republic. In 19 U18 games (including three playoff contests) he scored 1 goal with 3 assists and was -15 with 20 penalty minutes. Masin scored 1 goal with 6 assists and was +19 with 24 assists in 20 games for the Slavia Praha U16 team.

2011-12: Masin played for Slavia Praha’s U18 team and represented the Czech Republic in U16 play. He had 3 assists and was -8 with 30 penalty minutes in 34 games for Slavia Praha. Masin played 13 international games with the Czech U16 team and was -3 with no points and 14 penalty minutes.

2012-13: Masin made his debut in the Czech U20 lead as a 16-year old and played for the Czech Republic’s U17 team. He scored 1 goal with 2 assists for Slavia Praha and was -1 with 16 penalty minutes in 25 U20 games. Masin scored 3 goals with 3 assists in 14 games (including two playoff games) with Slavia Praha’s U18 team. He played 21 games with the Czech U17 team, scoring 3 goals with 8 assists, and was -5 with 60 penalty minutes.

2013-14: Masin was with the Czech U18 team at the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in August before returning to Slavia Prague’s U20 junior team. He  was a captain for the Czech U19 team in the 2013 World Junior A Challenge and  for the Czech U18 team that won a silver medal at the 2014 World Juniors. Masin scored 2 goals with 19 assists and was +6 with 102 penalty minutes in 39 regular season games for Slavia, which finished sixth in the regular season, falling to HC Litvinov in the playoff quarterfinals. Masin scored 1 goal with 1 assist and was -5 with 33 penalty minutes in five playoff games. He had 2 assists and 4 penalty minutes in four games at the WJAC and was an even plus/minus with no points and 4 penalty minutes in four games at the Ivan Hlinka tournament. Masin was +3 with 3 assists and 6 penalty minutes in seven games at the U18 WJC in Finland. The Czech Republic reached the gold medal game, falling 5-2 to the USA. Masin was ranked 10th amongst European skaters in the Central Scouting final rankings and was selected by Tampa Bay in the second round (35th overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft. He was selected by Peterborough in the 1st round (25th overall) in the 2014 CHL Import Draft. 

2014-15: Masin skated for the OHL’s Peterborough Petes and played for the Czech Republic U20 squad at the 2015 World Junior Championship in his first season in Canada. He played 48 games for the Petes, suffering season-ending facial injuries and a broken collarbone in February when he fell into an open bench door in a game against Sudbury. Masin scored 7 goals with 19 assists and was -13 with 70 penalty minutes for Peterborough. The Petes finished last in the East Division. Masin had 1 assist and was -4 with 2 penalty minutes for the Czech Republic at the 2015 WJC. The Czech Republic finished sixth, falling to rival Slovakia, 3-0, in the quarterfinals.

Talent Analysis

Masín is a versatile defenseman with leadership abilities who plays with a physical edge. The versatile defenseman profits from his size,  which allows him to both stand tall in his own end and be a threat on the blue line and in open ice. Masin is not much of a physical force when it comes to hitting but he does his job back in the defensive zone. He showed steady improvement in his first junior season with Peterborough but is a work in progress in terms of positioning. He can be undisciplined at times but that should improve as he learns to use better discretion and manage his emotions.

Future

Masin experienced the up and downs not uncommon for a player from Europe making the adjustment to major junior hockey in 2014-15 but should benefit from the experience. Long-term his size and skating ability suggest he can be an effective defender at the NHL level one day. His season-ending injuries hampered his development but he should continue to make progress as he matures physically and gains experience. He missed time due to injury but is fully recovered and ready to go for the 2015-16 season, where, along with fellow Lightning prospect Matthew Spencer, he should be a top-pairing defenseman.