Projectable Skills: Agile skating, Passing vision. Shot consistency Development Opportunities: Strength, Using reach more effectively It is clear that Matt is a product of many drills, coaching, and fine tuned details already. His skating mechanics in his crossovers and edges are very fluid and well-balanced which is the key to a lot of his success. Since he is able to constantly adjust his angles, his gaps, and his decisions, it means he can close out space to challenge players defensively with a good stick and separate the puck from them early on on the edges. You can see that just natural growth and maturation is only going to add more strength to his stride and afford him more transition opportunities. I think his outlet passing decisions are sound and he often uses his defense partner well to negate a forecheck. Matt also uses his skating to press into the zone on his shot selection. It means he can take a few strides in from the point when the space is there while some other defensemen would be content to shoot further back. Matt can shoot off both legs but loves to stride in and take a wrist shot from the front leg. Sometimes in transition he can be knocked off the puck by some with a longer reach and sometimes he can be outmuscled physically. Overall, Matt brings a detailed and well-rounded game which gives indicators to how he prepares and thinks the game. I think his ceiling could certainly be that of a top-pair defenseman but he’s a very safe bet to just be a good, smart player regardless of where he plays in the lineup.

The more that I watch Matt play, the more details and subtlety that I see and enjoy. You’d be hard pressed to find him straight legged or not ready to adapt and shift in all three zones with his posture and skating. He has a top-tier ability to break down layers of pressure off a rush by using hesitations, fakes, tiny motions to pause a player in their path in order to push past them. He also can dirft as a puck carrier one way in order to create space for teammates through the neutral zone or on the flanks on the PP. He is controlled in his stickhandling motions in a tight pocket and uses the stick manipulations along with slip passes and quality outlets to be a consistent transition force. He dips in and out of shooting lanes with open posture and proper balance; calling for that one-timer. His passes are crisp and sharp, he defends his zone with agility and stickpokes, and really only shows some defensive gaps when it comes to his strength. The way plays defense should just get better as he grows and adds strength. His wrist shot is more dangerous due to his shot timing rather than the strength of his wrist shot but his slapshot power definitely surprised me a little bit too. There is some force there. Overall, I think most of the ways Matt will grow his game just come from adding size and strength to his frame. His skating, hockey IQ, and variety of attack are all impressive. His straight forward skating power and overall strength in puck battles should improve as he goes. I could see him being one of my favorites from this draft class.