Strong wide-based skater whose knees and feet seem to never stop moving while in motion. A player who relishes collisions with opposing forwards. Consistently moves up-ice and has the gun to let his cannon shot go from wherever he has positioned himself in the offensive zone after the rush. A good passer and clearly a team leader. He acted as the primary shutdown shadow when Canada needed to keep both Forsberg & Grigorenko at bay in the Ivan Hlinka Tourney in August. He doesn't possess blazing speed or much size, but comes to play. He hopefully will get stronger and bigger. He received some playing time at forward towards the end of the year because of his immense offensive abilities. He is going to have to get under control on defense and not think each opportunity with the puck is THE one that he needs to gamble on.
--Bill Placzek--