Cloutier’s puck skills and shifty skating were apparent throughout this game. Shift after shift, he was dodging and weaving around a check, navigating in and out of pressure with tremendous ease. It always seemed like he had the right move for the moment, never panicking under pressure, and always playing that highly confident game to want to handle the puck and try to extend plays. Kane was just always operating with control, taking his time with possessions, and had all the tricks up his sleeve to dodge whatever pressure came his way.

It wasn’t the best showing from Cloutier, but you still saw flashes of the high end skill. The patience to draw defenders toward him only to skirt right by them with a slick move happened a handful of times and really showed some of his tools. The ability to handle the puck in tight quarters, problem solve his way out of pressure, and extend plays with his combination of high-end skills and confidence to handle the puck. Kane helped tie the game up in the third frame, controlling the puck up high in the offensive zone, finding a lane and getting a puck through that Brody Brown tipped home.

Typically with the Kings, Kane has the puck all game long and it’s easy to see what he can do. With these sorts of games, not everyone gets the puck as much and can often fade into the background, but I thought he did well with less touches. He was making quick and smart decisions, connecting on touch passes to link plays around and facilitate things all over the ice. He had some moments where he flashed his handling, but overall I thought he was processing the play well, and often the primary driver on his line, never overhandling it and distributing the puck effectively. It was nice to see that he could still create in a game where he wasn’t as puck dominant as he typically is during regular play with Vaughan.

Puck skills and creativity were once again the theme here from Cloutier. He was always looking to leverage his hands to deceive defenders, find ways to create space, and drive offence. The confidence and puck skills were front and center, bringing a shifty on-puck presence that could easily problem solve his way out of whatever the defenders did to try to close him down. Cloutier displayed excellent vision, making seam passes in the offensive zone and slick little dishes to set up teammates. The raw offensive tools have been off the charts all year long from Kane and while it wasn’t at the level I’ve seen from him in past viewings, this game showed some of those high-end abilities.

Hands, creativity, and confidence was once again the theme here from Kane. He was always looking to make a play, shift around a check, and navigate to the scoring areas. There is just this sense of ambition whenever he had the puck, you could see he wanted to attack defenders and try to spark a scoring chance. While sometimes players of this nature can be guilty of sometimes trying to do too much, I always felt like his dekes and dangles were well thought out and right for the moment, rarely overextending himself. It was another strong showing of how he could maneuver his way to the scoring areas, using his puck skills to get to the middle of the ice for chances.

Cloutier showed his quickness, shifty lateral skating, and handling in this one. When the puck was on his stick, he was constantly looking to play an up-tempo game, attack opponents with speed, and showed the confidence to try to make things happen. He didn’t shy away from an opportunity to maneuver his way around defenders with this hands and lateral footwork combination, making for some nice moments showing the evasive skill in his toolkit. He scored on the powerplay, blasting home a one-timer. All in all, it was just a good display of his shifty and energetic playstyle, and his constant involvement in the offensive flow, showcasing why he is a top talent in this years crop.

Kane was a player I knew I had to keep a close eye on in the JRC game I watched, and I quickly realized why. I really admired his creativity, especially off zone entries, using delays and patience to buy time from defenders and then pick them apart with clever passing. Cloutier created multiple high-quality chances off these rush sequences, and showed a good feel for pressure, knowing when he had time to slow things down and look for a high-quality look. Of course, he was quick and skilled with the puck, but I just mainly came away quite impressed with the processing and decision-making side of his game, which is always a promising sign in my first viewing.