FN’s 2026 Flames summer prospect rankings – #9: Tobias Trejbal

For the first time since 2014, the Calgary Flames took the first goaltender off the board at this year’s draft — and unlike last time, when they went against the grain to take Mason McDonald over Thatcher Demko (yikes), the Craig Conroy-led Flames nabbed the top first-year draft-eligible prospect at the position by consensus.

In Tobias Trejbal, the Flames landed a young Czech netminder who put up strong numbers in the USHL last season. He catches with his right hand — highly unusual for a goaltender at any level — but that didn’t stop him from becoming a borderline first-round prospect in the eyes of most onlookers. In the end, the Flames had to outbid multiple teams to trade up for Trejbal early on Day 2 in Buffalo.

The Flames typically haven’t had much luck when using high draft picks on goaltenders. (Of course, if FlamesNation editor emeritus Kent Wilson had his way, they’d never draft them at all). Nevertheless, Trejbal has the bona fides and should be a worthwhile player to follow over the next few years. Here’s a closer look at Calgary’s new top goaltending prospect, who slots in at ninth on our annual countdown.

Tobias Trejbal

Goaltender, catches right
Born Nov. 9, 2007 (age 18) in Most, Czechia
6’4″, 196 pounds
Drafted in the second round (42nd overall) by Calgary in the 2026 NHL Draft

Under Conroy, the Flames have selected three goaltenders in four drafts: Yegor Yegorov, Kirill Zarubin, and now Trejbal, who is the most highly-touted of the bunch. He’s tall, if a little wiry, and he already has a full year of experience in North America with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms, with whom he went 30-9-3 with three shutouts, a .916 save percentage, and a league-best 2.12 goals-against average in 42 games during the 2025-26 season. He was subsequently named the USHL’s goaltender of the year in recognition of his truly seamless transition from his native Czechia.

The Flames watched the Phantoms closely last year — Jack Hextall, their second 2026 pick, also played for them — and they weren’t about to let another team scoop up Trejbal before they had their chance. Shortly after selecting Chase Harrington with the No. 36 pick, the Flames dealt picks 51 and 68 to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for the 42nd selection, which they promptly used on the top-ranked ‘tender. As Flames goaltending director Jordan Sigalet told Sportsnet 960 shortly after the draft, Trejbal was the No. 1 goalie on their draft list throughout the 2025-26 season.

Trejbal has long been one of the top goalies in his age group and was selected to represent Czechia at the U18s in 2025, where he played in one game, stopping 25 of 29 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss to Germany. He earned his spot on the national team after posting seven shutouts and a .930 save percentage while going 18-20-0 in 38 games with HC Litvinov in Czechia’s U20 league in 2024-25; following the season, Youngstown selected Trejbal in the fifth round (No. 72 overall) of the 2025 USHL Entry Draft.

Here’s how McKeen’s Hockey contributor Linc Zdancewicz responded when asked to break down Trejbal’s upside:

Trejbal was undoubtedly one of the top 2 goalies in this draft class, shown by his high selection in the second round. The UMass-bound goaltender is like a tricky puzzle to solve for opposing forwards. His positioning is perfect; he is quick on his feet, and he is a great play reader; how do you score on this guy? Trejbal’s composure is similarly fantastic, as he kept Youngstown in a ton of games with his GAA of 2.12 in the regular season. There will be some development required before he can hit his full potential, but UMass just developed Michael Hrabal into the stud he is; there’s no reason why Trejbal can’t also do the same.

Expectations for 2026-27

As Linc mentioned, Trejbal will follow in the footsteps of Utah’s Michael Hrabal at the University of Massachusetts, where he’ll be joined by fellow Flames prospects Egor Barabanov and Max Curran. Under the tutelage of head coach Greg Carvel, the Minutemen have consistently been a Top 20 team in Division I, having won their first and only National Championship to date in 2021.

Trejbal will be one of a dozen NHL prospects at UMass next year. It should be a stacked squad with a solid backbone, and when all is said and done, it wouldn’t be surprising if Trejbal ends up as Hockey East’s top rookie goaltender, especially with four NHL-affiliated defenders (Francesco Dell’Elce, Larry Keenan, Landon Nycz, and Samu Alulauri) playing in front of him.

As it stands, UMass has three goaltenders on its projected 2026-27 roster: 22-year-old senior Jackson Irving, along with freshmen Trejbal and Ethan Eskit. Irving has made 14 appearances over the past three seasons, primarily while Hrabal was out with injury; Eskit is a Calgary kid who put up decent numbers with the WHL’s Victoria Royals in 2025-26. Both are good insurance options, but there’s little doubt as to who will be the Minutemen’s go-to guy between the pipes. The Flames will be thrilled if Trejbal can win 20 games as a freshman; for reference, Hrabal finished with 19 victories in each of the last two seasons.

The Flames currently have four goaltenders signed to NHL contracts. Dustin Wolf is their starter for the foreseeable future, while Devin Cooley’s two-year extension kicked in on Canada Day. Arsenii Sergeev has one more year on his entry-level deal and has been just OK in the AHL, while Kirill Zarubin is slated to play the first games of his own ELC this fall. Beyond that quartet, the Flames have three goaltenders on their reserve list, and Trejbal is by far the most notable. Expect to see him play two or three seasons at UMass before signing with the Flames, at which point he might not be far off from supplanting Cooley as Wolf’s tandem partner.