Scouting Report
EVALUATED 17/04/2024Joel Henderson
Director of Scouting
EVENT John Reid Memorial Tournament
The second of two hulking players for Calgary comes in Owen Hayden. It is surprising how natural his skating stride and balance is for a player of his size at this point. I’m trying hard to think of someone close to his size who looked more naturally athletic in his pivots, turns, and the way he retains power in his first few backwards crossovers. The most impressive thing I saw with Owen over the weekend is how he curls around the pass at the point in the offensive zone with the intention of surveying his passing options. I could count multiple times he did this and spotted a crisp passing spot through a seam across the ice. A lot of his positive notes come from using his size to challenge opponents and moving the puck efficiently because of his reach. He mostly plays a simplistic game that way and it comes across effectively more often than not. There were moments where he attempted pull or drag moves under pressure in the defensive zone or in transition which were slightly bobbled. He can work on extending his shot release but he was able to sneak in lower into the zone and use the flick of the wrist shot against Yale to score. Overall though, much the same as William Matte, he will be discussed in rooms with simply how high they want to take him purely based on the upside of his size and the efficient passing.
LEAGUE PREDICTION
- WHL 100%