In my eyes, Zasada was the all round best player on Gray. He always appeared to be in the right place at the right time, consistently making the right plays. I will get to the offense but I want to talk about his excellent penalty killing first. Having such a skilled player on the penalty kill was a significant advantage for the team, and his impact was evident in every game. Zasada was on the first pk unit, he was sound defensively and never seemed to look out of place. When having an offensive threat out there like Zasada, it made for some really fun looks. There were moments when he and his other forward would control the puck in the offensive zone on the penalty kill for thirty seconds or more, creating chaos and generating excellent scoring opportunities. Zasada was constantly in motion, with the exception of when he was stationed in front of the net, where he battled for position and space. His constant moving and skating allowed him to be open all the time. His smarts were always on display, he loved the cycle plays with his teammates. He was also adept at drawing penalties, leveraging his skill and playmaking ability to put opponents in difficult positions. Zasada also saw time on the power play, where his wrist shot was a highlight. He had a knack for unleashing powerful and accurate wrist shots that were exciting to watch. He finished with a team-high seven points, showcasing his versatility and proving he can excel in any scenario.

Atop our list of Minnesota-born skaters within the 2009-born American class, Caden Zasada finds himself ranked 7th in the country, and the strong power forward is a rare-breed of player who has established himself as a unique force amongst his peers across this past 2023-2024 season. Standing at 5’10, 150lbs, he uses his medium-sized frame extremely well, playing with great energy and effort, on-and-off puck, he uses his shoulders, lower body strength, reach, and overall aggressive nature to either protect the puck, or rub opponents off pucks with strong pushes, shoves, and bodychecks. When in control of the puck he’s shown off some good evasion, along with brute strength to drive the dots, drop the shoulder, and build speed through powerful crossovers. The diversity in his game to either lose a checker with some good edgework, or barrel through them with force is a nice element to remain unpredictable in his attack. His hockey IQ and vision when handling the puck is another strength of his. He makes very intelligent reads to cut back, avoid traffic when necessary, re-calibrate and re-think his attack, make the simple play if necessary, all in the name of limiting needless turnovers and seeking out better lanes. I feel a lot of his game may go under the radar at times, he isn’t one of the flashiest players out there, but the simplicity, mixed with above-average skill, and projectable tools makes him an effective player whether he has the puck or doesn’t. Diving into some more skill-based attributes of his; the shot is strong, accurate, and has a decent release to it. He can get it off in tough areas, in which a lot of the time he finds himself, battling for ice, fighting for rebounds, or being the bumper in the slot. He won’t always pick corners, or shoot through a screen with a wicket drag-and-release shot, but the scoring intangibles to be at the right place at the right time, whilst owning the soft touches and durability to work in tight quarters, makes him an effective scoring piece. With some more physical growth and improvements to top-end speed and agility to match the physical growth, I imagine Zasada will be a coveted piece by many USHL teams come next season.

The most dynamic and effective player throughout this game, Zasada was able to power his team to a win in this one with a three-point performance. I thought he did a great job along the perimeter to box out defenders using his frame and coming out on top in puck battles too generate his own puck touches in the offensive zone. He was reading the play very well in the offensive zone as well, cutting off plays along the boards before making quick centering passes to teammates in the slot. His patience and vision with the puck allowed him to get pucks to teammates in the middle of the ice, whether it was attacking downhill off the rush and hitting them up high or getting pucks through sticks and bodies from below the goal line. He might have been the most electrifying rush attacker in one on one situations in the entire game, using a series of inside-outside moves to beat defenders’ multiple times and break into space to either get a shot off or slip yet another pass to the slot for a dangerous chance.

A three assist game for Caden Zasada is good enough to earn him first star honors as he was the most effective forward for Gray over the course of the game. His vision was excellent and he did a very good job of picking out his passes and making intelligent decisions in doing so. Whether it was off the rush or set up in the offensive zone, with the puck on his stick he was scanning and identifying passing lanes that he could access to quickly penetrate the defense and set up a scoring chance. He showed a command over his passing range and a deft touch, and he was effective in possessing the puck with his skating to buy himself more time to create. His movement off the puck was solid as well, finding openings that he could latch onto a pass and get into the attacking zone off the rush and get a couple of shooting chances for himself. To top things off he was a solid forechecker and applied good pressure to the Purple puck carriers and gave them a hard time on breakouts.

Zasada played well in this game ending with a goal, which was a beautiful shot. His skating and playmaking was good at times but I wanted to see him do more as I know the skill he possesses. He would give you moments of greatness and then go a little quiet. To be fair his whole team was playing great and he didn’t need to be the hero in this one but I did want a little more. Zasada arguably had the prettiest shot in the game as he was in on a one on one and decided to just rip it top shelf.