A long-shot, left-shooting forward prospect taken by the Florida Panthers in the sixth round (184th overall) of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Jakub Kos is currently plying his trade in Czechia as he works towards his goal of securing an NHL entry-level contract with the Cats.
Kos spent his draft season, his second in Finland, playing for the Ilves organization’s U20 club, where he produced five goals and 13 assists in 32 games to catch the eye of Florida general manager Bill Zito and his scouting staff. He also represented his home country in the U18 World Championship, where he produced one goal and one assist and racked up 12 PIM in five games as Czechia was bounced in the quarterfinals by eventual gold medal-winner, Canada.
The year prior saw Kos play 37 games split between the first and second level of the Finnish hockey pyramid. In 17 top-flight Liiga games with Ilves, he scored a goal and added two helpers. In 20 games in Mestis with last place KooVee, his burgeoning offensive ability was much more evident as he finished with three goals and 16 points.
In the postseason relegation tournament, where the bottom four teams in Mestis played a double round-robin against the top two teams from third level Suomi-sarja, Kos was a force, piling up ten points (3G/7A) in nine games played to help KooVee maintain its spot in the fourteen-team second tier.
Like fellow Panthers prospect Justin Sourdif, Kos took part in the scrubbed first run of the 2022 World Junior Championship in December 2021, seeing fourth line duty in both of the games that Czechia took to the ice. He played 8:34 and registered a shot on goal in the opener against Canada (a 6-3 loss) while his ice time decreased to 6:17 in a 2-1 overtime win over Germany.
With the tournament getting an August redo, Kos appeared in all seven games as Czechia surprised pundits by finishing in fourth place, falling 3-1 to Sweden in the Bronze Medal game. His lone point in the event was an assist in a 5-1 loss to Canada during the group stage.
In 2022-23, Kos spent a lot more time in Mestis than he did in Liiga. In 24 games with KooVee, he scored four goals and added 15 assists, which works out a very solid .79 points per game, and posted a plus-six rating. Good stuff from a player that didn’t turn 20 until May 30. He also appeared in three scoreless Liiga games for Ilves.
Kos was again part of Czechia’s entry in the World Junior Championship. This time he made much more of a mark offensively, scoring twice and adding three assists in seven games as Czechia took silver by coming up just short in 3-2 overtime loss to Canada in the final. Kos’ second goal of the tournament was the one that sent that game to the extra session, as he scored on redirection with 6:36 left in regulation to put a scare into the favorites.
Unfortunately, on March 3, Kos suffered a season-ending neck injury when he was sent head first into the boards that was first reported to be career-threatening. Luckily, he was able to make a full recovery after coming close to being paralyzed.
Last season, Kos played in six Mestis games for KooVee (2A) and one Liiga and two Champions League games with Ilves (1A) before he was loaned to HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga. In 34 regular games with Brno, he scored twice and added nine assists. Respectable numbers for his first full season of top-level hockey. He went scoreless in six postseason games as Brno was eliominated by HC Verva Litvínov in the quarterfinals.
The 21-year-old projects, who recently attended development camp, as a bottom-six role player because he knows his strengths and doesn’t deviate from them. He’s speedy, has a large frame and is a relentless forechecker with limited offensive upside. Kos is slated to play the 2024-25 season with Kometa Brno. With the Panthers holding his NHL rights until June 1, 2025, this is literally a make or break season for the versatile forward.