Projection: Top Six Forward

Projectable Skills: Puck Management, Small Area Game, Playmaking

Development Opportunities: Defensive Play, Strength

Venne is a diminutive yet highly skilled forward who drove the bus offensively for the Halton Hurricanes this season. He’s such a smart puck manager in the offensive zone, constantly making the appropriate reads in all three zones and execute passes to teammates. He’s also really difficult to contain in tight quarters in the offensive zone by combining his fantastic edgework and slick stickhandling to spin away from pressure and maneuver around defenders with relative ease. His ability to process the game at the speed in which he plays it adds another layer to his offensive acumen and makes him incredibly difficult to forecast as an attacker.

I’d like to see Venne more engaged in the defensive zone at times, as he does like to cheat for offense by flying the zone early and looking to catch defenders sleeping. As most players his age, he’ll need to continue to add strength but I don’t see this being a limiting factor in his development.

There were some stretches of the game where Venne didn’t seem to be connecting on plays, looking out of sync with the players on the ice but there were also instances where he was able to flash his dynamic skill using his footwork and quick hands to weave through opponents while carrying the puck up the ice. At his best, he was creating plays with his speed and playmaking ability including a touch pass off the boards that fooled everyone on the ice and led to a breakaway chance. He often surprised opponents with his play using his ability to suddenly change directions and work on his edges while maintaining his speed or making quick reads with the puck in transition.

It was another fantastic viewing of the QMJHL draft-eligible forward. As always, he constantly controlled the puck in the offensive zone, spinning away from pressure, evading any defender trying to close him down, and dominating in small areas. Through these sequences, Venne was a force in the offensive zone, buying himself plenty of space through his evasiveness and threading pucks to teammates in the slot non-stop. This ability to succeed in these small area sequences has been at the forefront of my assessment of Venne, but seeing it still shine after so many viewings is still impressive. He had a handful of his own scoring chances, notably a handful of breakaways from leaking up ice to get stretch passes and scoring one catch and release from the slot.