I thought Kotzen was a player who’s game got better and better as the combine went on, showing visibly more confidence as a puck carrier in the last few games and playing some of his best hockey of the event. At his best, I thought he was able to effectively keep control of pucks while escaping from pressure in tight spaces using all sorts of pull and drag techniques to get the puck around opponents and proceed to move into open space. His heads-up plays in transition were also a big plus for his team, advancing plays with speed and precision while following up on plays up the ice as a passing option.

There were multiple times in this contest where I saw Kotzen flash some impressive puck skills to maneuver his way through tight areas of the ice or escape from opponents along the boards that were often followed up by a smart heads up play with the puck. It’s almost as if he looked calmer controlling the puck around multiple opponents than he did in open space which allowed him to make some key plays in the offensive zone to extend plays and in his own end to win back pucks and move it to a safer area of the ice. He was active in transition and set up a quality chance early in the game after finding his teammate open in the slot for a one-timer.