I was excited to get a good look at Seaman after he was injured for a large majority of the year, but I did not expect him to be one of his teams more effective defenders through large parts of the tournament; especially given that he wasn’t initially named to the 80-man roster. I loved his work on defensive zone retrievals, demonstrating strong scanning habits to anticipate pressure and use head fakes to rid himself of forecheckers, work himself into space and either move the puck up ice or skate it out himself. His offensive activations were very effective as well, as he was able to generate a handful of dangerous looks for himself and his linemates by jumping into space and getting quick shots off upon reception or connecting on a cross-ice feed. Some of my favorite moments of his came with the puck on his stick at the top of the offensive blueline, where he took time to scan his options, didn’t blindly throw pucks away, and executed some impressive downhill feeds through seams that lead to some dangerous chances down low.

Seaman’s aggressive mindset and plus-level skating ability allowed him to be one of the more effective transitional defenders throughout the entirety of this event. He was using his strong lateral mobility and reach to gap up quickly on opposing forwards and deny zone entries. He would also leverage his skating ability to skate pucks out of danger from the defensive zone, using powerful crossovers to pull away from forecheckers and gain separation before executing an outlet pass. Seaman’s aggressiveness translated over to the offensive zone as well, where he could often be found keeping pucks in at the line and attacking downhill to create a scoring chance. He’s one of those players who seems to be experimenting with his tools at this juncture of his development and I look forward to continuing watching him when he suits for Nova Scotia at the QMJHL Cup in October.

Seaman was notable at both ends of the rink for Team Talbot in this game, combining effective rush defending with shrewd offensive activations to impact the game. I liked how he never rushed things from the point and took the time and space he was given with the puck, either to move lower down in the zone or assess his options and execute downhill seam passes to dangerous areas. He was also using his strong backwards skating to stay in front of puck-carriers while defending off the rush, guiding them to the outside before closing them out along the boards to create loose puck opportunities.

I wanted to highlight Seaman here for his strong defensive play and the way he helped facilitate the transition game for his team. He was one of the better defenders in this game at DZ retrievals, showing proper scanning habits along with deceptive head fakes to pivot away from forecheckers and make outlet passes up to his forwards for clean zone exits. He made a number of strong plays defending the rush as well, using his stick to break up 1v1 sequences and prevent any chances to the middle of the ice. He showed an offensive side to him later in the game when jumped into space off the rush, took a pass along the hashmarks and threw a quick shot on net that was nearly banged home on the rebound.

Seaman was at his best when he was able to use his skating ability to skate the puck up ice and showcase some strong puck carrying abilities for a defender. There were a couple of times where he was able to beat the initial forechecker with a quick head fake to get into space before making a strong outlet pass to kickstart the transition game for Team Red. Seaman made a highlight reel play in the first period when he skated the puck up ice, pulled the puck through a defender in a one on one situation before just missing a backhand chance on the ensuing breakaway.