Kraken’s Ales Stezka living his dream after long journey to NHL

As it stands, the Kraken have two options at backup goaltender — struggling or unproven. The familiar solution is to let Joey Daccord do it all himself.

Demoted backup Philipp Grubauer is away, working to stabilize his game in the minors. Should Daccord need a breather, Ales Stezka would love to help, unproven no more.

He took a long detour on the way to NHL locker rooms.

“If someone told me a couple years ago that I would be sitting here and practicing with the boys and be part of this organization, I would be so happy,” Stezka, 28, said.

“This is the dream of every single kid.”

Stezka, from Pilsen, Czechia, is in the middle of his second North American pro season. He was selected in the fourth round of the 2015 draft by the Minnesota Wild but is quick to admit that he wasn’t ready for “big hockey.” He played two seasons in the USHL and put up good numbers in the second one with the Chicago Steel. Stezka went 22-10-3 in net with a 2.28 goals-against average and .916 save percentage, and was even better in the playoffs. He was a top performer as the Steel secured a Clark Cup Championship in 2017.

Not long after — around six years ago, now — he was back in Czechia, at a crossroads and considered quitting hockey. He had no offers, nowhere to play.

What would he have done instead? There was no backup plan, per se, other than to stay in the sport in some capacity. Thankfully he never had to find out.

He finally got an offer, and after a few lean years, worked his way back to a full-time role in the Czech Extraliga, the country’s highest level of hockey.

“That offer saved my hockey career,” Stezka said. “That’s why I’m so grateful for everything I have right now. Especially my wife and kids, because they never stopped supporting me.”

He had recently completed another strong playoff run with HC Vítkovice when the Kraken organization came calling. He signed a one-year, two-way contract ($950,000 average annual value) in May 2023 — still a long shot to make it to an NHL regular-season game.

“Ales has good size and is trending in the right direction,” Kraken GM Ron Francis said at the time. “We gladly welcome him to the Kraken organization.”

During Stezka’s first season with the Firebirds, he was behind former Kraken backup Chris Driedger on the depth chart. However, he continued to trend in the right direction. The team went 18-6-2 in Stezka’s starts. He won seven straight at one point and finished with a 2.48 goals-against average and .914 save percentage, both good for 12th in the AHL, plus two shutouts.

Driedger signed elsewhere, so this season Stezka was the returning veteran, paired with 20-year-old prospect Nikke Kokko. Stezka has a .902 save percentage through 24 games and is currently on his fourth NHL recall of the season, having essentially switched places with Grubauer.

Stezka is still on standby. He has yet to play a minute in the NHL. In the meantime, he’s supporting his Kraken teammates, seeing if they need anything and trying “not to talk too much.” They have helped him improve in practice — it’s visible from the stands — and he wants to return the favor if possible.

On the bench at Climate Pledge Arena, he prefers general encouragement.

“I tell them to keep going,” Stezka said. “I know they’re simple words, but sometimes they mean a lot.”

As Stezka headed to Calgary with the Kraken on Friday, Grubauer was set for his second game with the Firebirds. The two could switch back at any time, though it appears likely Grubauer will spend the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off break in Coachella Valley. While NHL play pauses for the tournament, the AHL season will continue.

Grubauer wasn’t signed to earn nearly $6M per season in the minors. But Driedger spent a season and a half in Coachella Valley at $4M a year. These things happen.

Daccord, meanwhile, was hurt just before Christmas and it’s been a breakneck pace since he was activated from injured reserve Jan. 7. Neither Grubauer nor Stezka have been able to wrestle a full game away from Daccord in the past three and a half weeks, with a memorable exception. Daccord’s only full night off was a loss against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 28. Grubauer started, struggled and was waived the next morning.

Daccord got the call night after night while Bylsma was coaching him and the Firebirds in 2022-23. Now the question is whether he can handle that kind of workload against the NHL’s greats. Bylsma pointed to the Kraken’s best stretch of last season, when Daccord handled most of a 13-game point streak. He was spelled once by Driedger.

“I’ve obviously seen it in Coachella, playing the last 27 games of the [2022-23] season. So not really a surprise at all,” Bylsma said as to whether Daccord can manage. “This is the best level and the highest level, but the work he puts in off the ice and how he prepares, he’s fully equipped to play a lot of games.”

He’s the only one they trust at the moment, even as the Kraken’s 23-29-4 record dips further and further. There are four back-to-backs left after the break, so Daccord will need help eventually.

If that happens to fall to Stezka, it would mean a lot. The childhood dream of getting into an NHL game is alive, but now, Stezka said his family is his motivation. At first his boys, ages 4 and 8, thought they were in Coachella Valley on a vacation. Now they’re settled and finishing up their own hockey seasons. His 8-year-old is a goalie as well.

Dad has been instructed to get a selfie with Connor McDavid, or one of the superstar’s sticks will do. If he forgets decorum for the sake of a picture, it would be for his own childhood idol — Marc-Andre Fleury. While in juniors, Stezka caught a glimpse of Fleury in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ practice rink during a tournament. That’s as close as he’s come.

Fleury, 40, is set to retire this summer after 21 NHL seasons. Stezka has two more outside chances to run into Fleury, and maybe even work up the nerve to say something. The Kraken host the Minnesota Wild on March 4, just after the 4 Nations Face-Off. Seattle travels to St. Paul on March 19.

“You never know,” he said with a smile. “You never know.”