
Joey Dudek
Birthday: 1996-01-29 | Position: C |
Eligible for draft: 2014 | Shoots: Right |
Drafted: 2014 | Height: 5-11 |
Acquired: 6th round (152nd overall), 2014 | Weight: 180 lbs. |
Probability of Success
- D
History
2010-11: Joey Dudek was one of the top scorers in New Hampshire high school hockey as a freshman playing for Pinkerton Academy and skated for the Valley Junior Warriors program.
2011-12: Dudek was the leading scorer for New Hampshire Division 1 champion Pinkerton Academy as a sophomore and was invited to the USA Hockey Select 16 Player Development Camp. Dudek scored 20 goals with 34 assists for the Astros. In August he committed to playing college hockey at Boston College in 2015-16.
2012-13: Dudek skated for the USA Select Under-17 team at the Five Nations Tournament in the Czech Republic in August and committed to playing college hockey at Boston College in 2015-16. He transferred from Pinkerton to New England prep power Kimball Union for his junior season and in 29 games he scored 17 goals with 25 assists. Dudek scored 3 goals skating for the undefeated USA team. He was selected by Quebec in the 12th round (214th overall) in the 2013 QMJHL Entry Draft.
2013-14: Dudek played for the USA U18 team in the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in August and was a team captain for Kimball Union Academy in his senior season as the club won the New England Small Schools prep title. He made his junior hockey debut, appearing in two games with the USPHL Islanders Hockey Club in New Hampshire and skated for the Boston Junior Bruins U18 team. Dudek scored 9 goals with 35 assists in 25 games for KUA, which defeated Dexter 5-1 in the NEPSIHA Small School championship game. Dudek had no points with 12 penalty minutes in two games with the Islanders and had 1 assist with 4 penalty minutes in five games for the Junior Bruins. He scored 1 goal with 2 assists and was minus-1 in five games at the Ivan Hlinka tournament. Dudek was ranked 109th amongst North American skaters in the Central Scouting final rankings and was selected by New Jersey in the sixth round (152nd overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft.
2014-15: Dudek spent the season in the USHL, playing most of the year with Dubuque before being acquired by the Chicago Steel in a March trade. He scored 6 goals with 6 assists and was -7 with 66 penalty minutes in 41 games for the Saints. In 13 games with Chicago he scored 4 goals with 2 assists and was -2 with 6 penalty minutes.
Talent Analysis
Dudek has elite-level skill and skating. When he is on the attack, he is a team player first. He gets his teammates involved with good vision and decision making with the puck. He needs to get stronger and quicker on the ice, but he has shown in the past his commitment to becoming a better overall hockey player.
Future
Dudek is in his freshman season at Boston College in 2015-16. Committed to playing for the Eagles since he was a 16-year-old, he has seen limited ice time on one of the nation's top teams (Fellow Devils' prospect Miles Wood is one of the team's leading scorers as a freshman). New Jersey has a long history with players from the BC program going back to two-way forward Doug Brown. A long-range project when he was selected by the Devils late in the 2014 NHL Draft, Dudek has elite skating ability to be that kind of player. To this point however he has yet to show the type of productivity that the long-time pro showed in both prep hockey and at the college level.