Nicholas Lawniczak was a big part of Buffalo’s forechecking, he used his speed well to quickly close down the opposition in an attempt to rush their decision making process and spark turnovers. That same effectiveness was there during his time on the penalty kill and he was able to utilize his stick to take away passing lanes and break up plays. I liked his work without the puck in the attacking zone, he recognized the open areas between defenders that were vulnerable and inserted himself with darting movements for his teammates to pick him out and capitalize on. He was able to get several quickfire chances by poking holes in the defense through his off-the-puck movement and defenses had to adjust to limit his involvement. He did a nice job of switching the attack as well, spreading the play with cross-ice passes and giving the offense a different look.

The constant desire to be around the puck in the offensive zone played a large part in Lawniczak’s success at this year’s CCM 68 Combine as he often found himself in the right spots of the offensive zone at opportune times to garner quality scoring chances. He was aggressive in his pursuit of loose pucks, both with his speed and physicality, where he showed the determination to win battles and scoop up loose pucks, showing a strong goal scoring touch from around the net using his powerful release on quick turnaround plays to capitalize on his opportunities.

Lawniczak’s success in this game came for his smart off-puck positioning which allowed him to put himself in the ideal spots on the ice to quickly jump onto loose pucks along with the ability to finish off his opportunities with smart reactionary plays leading to a hat-trick performance. He was responsible for giving the Americans the lead twice in the first after scoring on a broken play around the net and a rebound that found his stick off the rush. He capped off his hat-trick by scoring his team’s 7th of the game with a shot over a sprawling goaltender after pouncing on a loose puck in the slot which he was able to do often throughout the game as he was quick to occupy space in the middle of the offensive zone and anticipated plays well.