It was the exact performance I've come to expect from Sam and one that just keeps reinforcing my projection of him. Once again, he was excellent at everything that goes into breaking out of his zone with control. No matter the situation or pressure he's under, Wathier was able to find a way to facilitate a clean and controlled zone exit. As always, he showed the lateral mobility and confidence to sidestep any forechecker trying to close him down, earning him the space necessary to find a pass up ice. Outside of the puck moving, Sam did a solid job breaking plays in the neutral zone, deep in his defensive zone, and winning back possession. These performances from Sam are what have propped him up high on my OHL rankings, as I always just find he plays a highly projectable game to the junior level and should transition to a higher level seamlessly.

Wathier had a simple yet very effective game. He was exceptional at managing the puck, always smartly moving it to an open teammate to ensure the Wild maintained possession. On almost every regroup or retrieval, Sam secured the puck, evaded a forechecker if he had to, and then spotted a pass to an open teammate. Individually, these plays weren't noteworthy, but the volume and consistency at which he completed them yielded tremendous value as he was the Wild's primary puck mover from the backend, sparking zone exits and counterattacks through these sequences. Typically, I find Wathier to be a smothering defensive presence, and while this was the case for long stretches in this game, there were a few sequences where he was caught lunging for the puck and was beaten to the middle, conceding some quality chances. However, in the grand scheme of my evaluation of his defensive play, it's only one tiny blip in an overwhelming positive sample.

It was another solid viewing of the Wild defender, mainly for the same reasons I denoted in his game against the 67s. Wathier was once again the Wild's primary puck mover from the back end, sparking countless controlled zone exits. Every retrieval was calm, and Wathier could identify the correct course of action to move the puck to his partner or spot a winger up ice to facilitate the breakout. If he was under pressure, Sam's composure remained, frequently flashing his lateral mobility to dodge the pressure and maintain control. In the offensive third, he had flashes of walking the line, showing patience to seek a premium passing or shooting lane, sparking a goal for the Wild through one of these actions, moving the pass to an open teammate on the half wall.

I watched Wathier fairly closely over the Silver Stick, especially with one isolated shift-by-shift view of one of his games to really focus on him. Especially in the isolated viewing of Sam against the talented Vaughan Kings, he was exceptional at taking away time and space and forcing turnovers. He's a composed defender who always had his stick in the right spot to deny options from puck carriers and knew precisely when his moment was to pounce with a stick check. Sam was very active defending at his offensive blue line, denied plenty of zone exits, and disallowed his opponents from gaining clean control into his zone. After forcing these turnovers or on retrievals, Wathier was very effective at corralling loose pucks, taking a scan for pressure and his options, and then moving the puck up ice seamlessly. As always with Sam, he was eager to attack down the wall in the offensive zone and try to generate shots from in tight rather than point shots. He notched a goal through one of these sequences, taking it wide on a powerplay entry and roofing it short side above the netminder's shoulder. From past viewings of Sam, I knew he was on my radar for inclusion in my rankings as I expand to 60 or 80, but how scarce the pool of defenders is with similar tools and seeing him perform well against some of the top teams, earned him a spot in my top 40.

In my opening season write-up of Sam, I mentioned that he had great tools, but I wish he applied them more to take over games and make a more significant impact. Over the OHL Showcase weekend, I thought Sam did just that. The element that stood out the most was his play on retrievals. Wathier thrived seamlessly picking up dumped in pucks and being patient to take the few seconds needed to scan for his passing options and move pucks up ice. Especially in the neutral zone on regroups, he was so effective at hitting his curling teammates and sparking rushes in the other direction. I found him more eager to activate within the offensive zone, rotating down the wall to involve himself in the offence. He often controlled the puck along the perimeter, showing the awareness to hold onto the puck until a passing lane opened up and hitting his open teammates for scoring chances. Defending rushes, Sam was eager to use physicality to stop transitions but never sacrificed positioning to do so. His checks were well-timed and the correct course of action for the play, and they were effective at winning back possession of the puck. As I alluded to in the opening blurb, after doing a once-over of the talent in the province, it's become more apparent that Sam is among the top defenders available in the 2024 OHL Draft.

Wathier was probably the most intriguing defender over the opening weekend and the one I am most interested to see how he develops over the season. The first element in his game that stood out to me was his play with the puck while operating at the point. He was confident, calm, and patient with the puck on his stick, constantly scanning and moving laterally to find a shooting lane. Rarely did he rush his decisions, and always picked the right course of action when working the offensive blue line. The same confidence and composure translated to other areas of his game, especially on retrievals. I always noted that Sam was calm under pressure when pucks were dumped in and almost always seamlessly retrieved the puck and sparked a controlled zone exit. Wathier often picked up a puck behind his net, used his skating ability to maneuver around a forechecker, and then spotted a teammate up ice for a zone exit. There were flashes of him showing confidence and eagerness to jump up in the play or carry the puck in the neutral zone, but they weren't super frequent. I was impressed when he activated and thought that, given his tools, he could stand to involve himself in those sequences more often. Especially with his skating ability, he could take over more as a puck transporter and provide more value in transition. Nonetheless, it was an impressive first weekend from Wathier, and my main takeaway was that there is tons of potential for him to take the next step, which is always a promising first impression.