Tyler Muszelik: 2022 NHL Draft Prospect Profile; A Calm Goaltender from New Jersey

Our 2022 NHL Draft prospect profile series continues today with a look at Tyler Muszelik. This goaltender, from New Jersey, is one of the top North American goaltenders available in this year’s draft. He’s spent the past couple of years with the US National Team Development Program (USNTDP) and could be worth a late round pick. Let’s get to know more about this goaltender now.

Who is Tyler Muszelik?

Tyler Muszelik is a 6’2”, 194 lbs. left-handed catching goaltender from Long Valley, New Jersey. He was born on July 1, 2004, thus making him 17 years old. As we can see from his stats provided by Elite Prospects, Muszelik was a member of the New Jersey Rockets program before moving on to the US National Team Development Program:

The 2020-21 season was his first year with the USNTDP and he spent it playing for the U17 team and the junior team in the USHL. With the U17 team, he appeared in 23 games with a 10-14 record, 4.36 GAA, and .863 SV%. In the USHL, he appeared in 18 games with a 5-10-2 record, 4.88 GAA, and .857 SV%. He had a -14.50 Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA) and faced an average of 31.78 shots per game. For comparison, his teammate Dylan Silverstein, the #3 ranked North American goaltender according to Central Scouting, had a .890 SV% in 16 USDP games as well as a .878 SV% and -1.18 GSAA in 9 USHL games.

In the 2021-22 season, he played in 35 games for the U18 team with a 24-5-3 record, 2.91 GAA, and .900 SV%. In 16 USHL games, he had a 10-3-2 record, 3.17 GAA, and .900 SV%. He had a 5.48 GSAA and faced an average of 31.59 shots per game. For comparison, Dylan Silverstein had a .878 SV% in 20 USDP games as well as a .846 SV% and -8.95 GSAA in 9 USHL games. Muszelik also competed twice for the USA team at the U18 World Championship, winning both games with a 2.50 GAA and .909 SV% as they won a Silver Medal. He is currently committed to the University of New Hampshire for the 2023-24 season.

Where is Tyler Muszelik Ranked?

Most publicly available rankings feature prospects slated to go in the first 3 rounds. For this reason, we only have two rankings for Muszelik.

• #4 North American Goaltenders - NHL Central Scouting (Final Ranking)#194 - FC Hockey (Spring Ranking)
• #4 North American Goaltenders - NHL Central Scouting (Final Ranking)
• #194 - FC Hockey (Spring Ranking)

What Others Say About Tyler Muszelik

Jane Havsy has this article from January about Muszelik for the Daily Record. It has quotes from USNTDP goaltending coach, David Lassonde, talking about Muszelik’s game:

“There’s not a lot of wow to what he does,” Lassonde said of Muszelik. “He came in with that structure, that style to his game, very calm. I think it’s good. More often than not, it leads to a lot less situations where you find yourself out of position. It’s all about playing under control, and that’s a strength of his.”

“He has a growth mindset and he’s coachable,” Lassonde said, noting Muszelik has to be more consistent, regardless of the opponent.

Next, here’s what Zack Szweras, writing on behalf of McKeen’s Hockey for Yahoo Sports, had to say about Muszelik after the United States’ 6-2 victory over Czechia in the U18 WJC preliminary round:

In a draft year with little to no high-end goalies available, this tournament provides an opportunity for draft eligible goaltenders to show why they deserve to be taken in the upcoming entry draft. Going up against a Czechia team with a ton of fire power upfront, Muszelik looked calm, cool and collected in net. After giving up a goal in the first to Jiri Kulich off of a penalty shot, Muszelik really settled in and gave the US team time to build a lead.

Next, here’s an interview with Muszelik over at The UNH Men’s Hockey Blog. In the interview, conducted back in August 2021, Muszelik mentions enrolling in the fall of 2022 so perhaps he will start his college career this upcoming season. The post also includes a couple of scouting reports from Neutral Zone. Here are some of the highlights:

USHL Goalie Report, January 2021

Muszelik had a solid game for his team picking up a shootout win while stopping 30 of 34 shots. He has decent size and uses it well in his positioning to take away angles from shooters. He excels at handling the first shot and uses his positioning to make it difficult to beat him on straight-on shots. He did a good job of sealing the post well on dead angle shots as well, as he faced a good amount of attempts from the goal-line angles.

USA U17 NTDP vs Soo Eagles, October 2020

“Tyler has good size and moves quickly side to side to make the saves on the cross pass. He will come out of his net and play the puck and move it up ice. He faced 18 shots and posted a shutout. He did make a couple of rebound saves on a chaotic shift. He did make the initial saves and did a good job of controlling his rebounds.”

The Hockey Prospecting model gives Muszelik a 36% chance of becoming an NHLer. It list his top comparables in the model as Ben Bishop, Anthony Stolarz, Mike Smith, Tristan Jarry, and Matt Murray.

A Little Video

The first video is a compilation of highlights from Muszelik’s 2021-22 season with the USNTDP from TSA Scouting Journal on YouTube. It’s a short video but does give you an idea of how he responds to different situations:

The next video comes from Mike Lowry on YouTube and is a longer highlights package, albeit from Muszelik’s 2020-21 season:

Finally, here’s another video from Mike Lowry, this one a highlights package from Muszelik’s performance in the 2022 All-American NHL Prospects Game:

An Opinion of Sorts

I hold a favorable opinion about Muszelik as a prospect. He’s not a goaltender that I would necessarily target in this draft, but I’d be fine with the Devils using a 5th to 7th round pick on him if he’s available. I like that he’s calm under pressure, understands how to use his angles well, and has a coachable attitude. The fact he’s a member of the USNTDP shows that people within USA Hockey think he has some potential. He did just turn 18 years old so he still has plenty of runway to get better. He’ll have plenty of time to develop at the University of New Hampshire over the next few seasons so he could be an interesting prospect to take a flier on in the late rounds and see how his development goes. Even if the Devils draft another goaltender early on, Muszelik could be worth taking a look at as another depth piece that could have some upside.

Your Take

What are your thoughts on Tyler Muszelik? Would you consider drafting him or are there other goaltenders you would rather target? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!