In my first viewing of the U15 Halton Hurricanes last year, Mason was the lone standout, and I mainly applauded him for his play with the puck in the offensive zone. His play at the Titans Tournament was in line with that initial assessment of his game. He walks the line incredibly well, is patient to find a shooting lane, can fake oncoming pressure, and always has a way of getting his shot through. Mason constantly scans for passing options, frequently hitting open teammates for grade-A chances, but if there is a gap for him to exploit, he doesn't hesitate to pounce and drive in for a shot. The same patience translates to his play outside the offensive zone, as Roy operates with the same calmness whenever he has the puck. He can effectively transition the puck up ice due to his ability to process options in front of him and react accordingly. Whether hitting an open teammate up ice or using his stellar skating ability to transition it himself, Mason was a key part of Halton's transition game.

Mason was the central standout on the Hurricanes blueline, mainly for his contributions as a puck mover. It didn't matter the situation, but he was consistently able to spot the right passing option and keep pucks flowing up ice. Many of them were simple d-to-d passes under a little bit of pressure, which in isolation aren't all that impressive, but the volume of these over the weekend compounded to be noteworthy. He constantly connected on passes and was pivotal to the Hurricane's transition game whenever he was on the ice. Finally, Mason played a key role in their powerplay, being the primary quarterback who had plenty of sequences in the offensive zone flow through him.

I've spent a lot of time this season watching the Hurricanes, and I could never make a ton of sense of their blueline as they have plenty of capable players. Mason was always in the mix with his teammates, but I felt he separated himself from his Halton counterparts over the Holiday Classic. It's taken me until now to fully appreciate Mason, but he does a little bit of everything quite well. The root of it all that feeds into his success is his mobility. No matter the situation, Mason has the four-way mobility required to give him plenty of options to handle whatever problem he faces. Whether it's on retrievals to seamlessly corral a dumped-in puck, skating it through the neutral zone, or using deceptive skating to avoid forecheckers at the point, Mason always uses his feet to add value. In addition to his footwork, I always find Roy makes the right decision when the puck is on his stick. Especially in transition, he's always looking to advance play up ice with control, by either hitting open teammates or taking the open space and skating it through the neutral zone. With Mason, it's never super flashy, but it doesn't need to be, as he can add tons of value with practical plays and smart decisions, making me optimistic about his success at the junior levels.

I really noticed Mason's rush defending in Week 2 of the Prodigy Elite League. He was calm when an attacker approached him with speed and could use his skating to shadow their every move. Mason gave them very little space to get around him and perfectly timed multiple stick checks to stop the rush and get Green going on the counterattack. In the offensive zone, Mason was involved rotating around into space and looking to spark offensive chances. He was willing to hold onto the puck and attempt to attack the middle rather than opting for low-danger chances from the point.

Mason was the lone Hurricane that was worthy of highlighting. I first noticed Mason as he was operating as the powerplay quarterback when he showed he could leverage his footwork to walk the blueline and find a shooting lane to the next. Similarly, Mason utilized his mobility to escape pressure and protect the puck from oncoming forecheckers. One element I appreciated in Mason's game was his aggressiveness on the pinch to keep pucks in the offensive zone. Especially in games where the offence is tough to create, opting to be more active on the pinch is highly desirable from defenders. Finally, Mason did a stellar job shadowing attackers, keeping them to the outside and rarely allowing dangerous chances to materialize.

Mason was his steady reliable self in this one. None of his tools will blow you away, but he’s just good at everything. He was especially effective protecting his own blueline, where he denied a plethora of entry attempts with ease and was able to start the puck up ice quickly thereafter. Roy joined the rush when the opportunities presented themselves, and was effective funnelling pucks towards the net, and just in general, directing traffic from the point. At the point, his deception buys enough time successfully get the puck from high to low to start the cycle.