Scouting Report
EVALUATED 09/04/2024
Jordan Malette
Regional Scout - Ontario
Projection: Top pair defender Projectable skills: Lateral mobility, offensive involvement, puck skills Development Opportunities: Activation decisions, two-way play Luca Blonda is simply awesome and easily sits at the top of the class of defenders from a pure offence perspective. The combination of mobility and puck skills is impressive, and he's always looking for opportunities to flex both of those skills to drive play. He never shies away from a chance to shake an oncoming forechecker, side-stepping, spinning, or dangling his way out of pressure, dominating with the puck on his stick. No matter the situation, Blonda wants to play with the puck on his stick, dictate the game, and find ways to generate offence. Of course, with all the above, there are moments when Luca is eager to get up ice and sometimes leaving gaps behind him. I don't want him to totally change his playstyle, as that's what holds him so high on my list, but picking his moments when to activate will likely be something he'll need to think more about at the junior level.
Skating
10Puck Skills
9.5Hockey IQ
8Playmaking
8Scoring
8.5Physicality
7Defense
7Overall
8.29Game Reports
EVALUATED 06/04/2024
Austin Robson
Regional Scout- Eastern Canada
It didn’t take me long to realize that Blonda is one of the staples of the Penguins offensive game, despite playing from the backend. He’s a really evasive blueliner on retrievals, using his agility and great edgework to get away from forecheckers and initiate the breakout for his team. He had a rush late in the second period where he picked up the puck from his own zone and showed off his high-end skating ability by leaving every defender behind him and just missing on his backhand-forehand attempt. He scored the game tying goal in regulation by carrying the puck up, dishing off to a teammate before jumping into space and firing a snapshot over the glove or the Spartans goaltender. In the dying minutes of the game I liked how engaged he was defensively, using his stick and body to clog passing lanes and prevent any dangerous scoring chances.
Game Reports
EVALUATED 05/04/2024 Austin Robson
Regional Scout - Eastern Canada
It didn’t take me long to realize that Blonda is one of the staples of the Penguins offensive game, despite playing from the backend. He’s a really evasive blueliner on retrievals, using his agility and great edgework to get away from forecheckers and initiate the breakout for his team. He had a rush late in the second period where he picked up the puck from his own zone and showed off his high-end skating ability by leaving every defender behind him and just missing on his backhand-forehand attempt. He scored the game tying goal in regulation by carrying the puck up, dishing off to a teammate before jumping into space and firing a snapshot over the glove or the Spartans goaltender. In the dying minutes of the game I liked how engaged he was defensively, using his stick and body to clog passing lanes and prevent any dangerous scoring chances.
Game Reports
EVALUATED 04/04/2024
Ben Jordan
Regional Scout - Ontario
Gosh. Luca blew me away in this viewing. By far my player of the game, and just enjoy watching him command the ice every time he’s out there. Early in the game you could tell Luca was engaged. The activations were crisp, and any opportunity to join the rush, he was there. In the first period alone, he was a one-man shooting gallery. Creating lanes to the net, finding open sticks on route to the net, and ultimately finding the back of the net to open the scoring. When exiting his own zone, it’s poetry in motion. He can beat you with his legs, but also does a great job using deception on retrievals to buy himself time. With that time, he’s shown consistently the ability to fire crisp first passes out of the zone.
Game Reports
EVALUATED 04/04/2024 Ben Jordan
Regional Scout - Ontario
I came into today with lofty expectations after Luca walked all over the Jr. Kings yesterday. He played another solid game for the Pens today. He was less involved in the rush, and activated far less, but what I noticed today was how well Blonda used shoulder and stick fakes to make plays along the boards. It was truly remarkable how many guys he made go the wrong way which freed up so much time for him to make the nice simple play up the wall or reverse it to his d-partner.
Game Reports
EVALUATED 03/04/2024 Ben Jordan
Regional Scout - Ontario
I came into today with lofty expectations after Luca walked all over the Jr. Kings yesterday. He played another solid game for the Pens today. He was less involved in the rush, and activated far less, but what I noticed today was how well Blonda used shoulder and stick fakes to make plays along the boards. It was truly remarkable how many guys he made go the wrong way which freed up so much time for him to make the nice simple play up the wall or reverse it to his d-partner.
Game Reports
EVALUATED 03/04/2024 Ben Jordan
Regional Scout - Ontario
Gosh. Luca blew me away in this viewing. By far my player of the game, and just enjoy watching him command the ice every time he’s out there. Early in the game you could tell Luca was engaged. The activations were crisp, and any opportunity to join the rush, he was there. In the first period alone, he was a one-man shooting gallery. Creating lanes to the net, finding open sticks on route to the net, and ultimately finding the back of the net to open the scoring. When exiting his own zone, it’s poetry in motion. He can beat you with his legs, but also does a great job using deception on retrievals to buy himself time. With that time, he’s shown consistently the ability to fire crisp first passes out of the zone.
Player Card
- All Data is derived via 5v5 per 60 minutes rate displayed in percentile format.
- Data Courtesy of In Slat.
SIGNED:
Sudbury Wolves
22/04/2024
TEAM PREDICTION
TIMELINE
- 2024
22/04/2024
Sudbury Wolves select Luca Blonda
- 2024
12/04/2024
Sudbury Wolves select Luca Blonda at the 2024 OHL Priority Draft
