Fate was presenting Detroit Red Wings draftee Michal Svrcek with the opportunity to play his trade across the Detroit River this season. And he turned it down.

In the CHL Import Draft, he was selected by the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. A team that’s a stone’s throw from Little Caesars Arena was pursuing Svrcek. Nonetheless, he’ll be keeping the Atlantic Ocean between his home rink and Hockeytown.

Svrcek is opting to remain in Sweden with Brynas.

“I agreed with my agent (Allan Walsh) and Detroit management that I will stay in Brynas for one more season, where I will try to start the season in the first team,” Svrcek told Slovak website TVnoviny.

Svrcek spent much of last season with the Brynas club in Sweden’s junior league. If he manages to land a full-time spot with the club’s SHL squad, he would be teammates with former NHL star Nicklas Backstrom and former Red Wings defenseman Robert Hagg.

Last season, Svrcek saw action in 17 SHL games for Brynas. The 18-year-old left-winger accounted for a goal and two assists.

Red Wings Pick Recalls Meeting Yzerman

Detroit’s 119th overall selection in the 2025 NHL entry draft, the first person Svrcek heard from after becoming part of the organization was Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman.

“Steve Yzerman called me almost immediately,” Svcek said. “It was a moment I will remember for a very long time.”

A few days later, he’d been meeting Stevie Y face to face at the Red Wings development camp.

“He congratulated me and said that they were extremely happy that they had chosen me,” Svrcek said. “He emphasized that I should not stop working on myself and wished me a successful camp.”

His initial taste of NHL life left Svrcek craving more.

“At the first training session, I was literally blown away,” he said. “We were divided into two groups, and seeing the players, the pace, it’s incomparable.

“You’re on the ice with hockey players who are among the best in the world. A huge school and an experience that I would give to everyone.”