Undersized offenseman who has tremendous up-ice ability but so far struggles in the defensive aspects of his game. Much of his weaknesses were masked by his pairing with early 2011 pick Dougie Hamilton. His size and strength make battles with attackers difficult. He simply gets out-sized and knocked off the puck, and cannot firmly handle them as they engage him in his zone. On the offensive end, he is a speedster with good vision and creativity who can run a PP. He confidently controls play whenever he has the puck. He is an excellent puck-handler who can score from anywhere and reads and reacts going to the scoring areas. Not a player who is ever intimidated. The question may be, can he get bigger and stronger, and play the position of defense as to not back off from contact or run from it.
--Bill Placzek--
