There may not have been a bigger surprise throughout the entire tournament than Evan Sercerchi, a player who originally wasn’t even supposed to participate but ended up being a late addition due to injury. Despite this, Sercerchi ended up being one of the better offensive players on his team, finishing the event with 4 points in 4 games and flashing his patented straight-line speed on multiple occasions. His best moments came when he showcased his high-end off-puck timing to skate into a seam into the neutral zone, catch a pass in stride and blow wide around a defender to earn himself a chance from in close off the rush. Sercerchi even showed a proclivity to utilize his teammates on his puck rushes, opting to attack the middle at times, dish to the outside and use his speed to drive the net to push back defenders and look to deflect pucks from in close. He displayed an incredibly tenacious off-puck game as well, using his wheels to hustle on the backcheck and stick check puck-carriers to initiate counterattacks the other way. I liked his work along the DZ halfwall as well, demonstrating the ability to make plays under pressure and a willingness to take contact in order to make a play that helped facilitate clean exits from the zone.

His play at this event only helped reaffirm Sercerchi as one of my favorite Atlantic Canadian prospects in this year’s draft class, finishing atop the rookie scoring leaderboard through round robin play with 5 points in 3 games. He’s always looking to attack the middle of the ice on his puck touches, combining aa high-end puck skills and skating combination that allows him weave around and cut across defenders to transport the puck wherever he sees fit. His ability to process the game around him as it unfolds in conjunction with accurate distribution skills allows him to play with pace and consistently get pucks to teammates in dangerous scoring areas, all while operating in motion. He demonstrated his willingness to play off his teammates as well, executing give and go’s both off the rush and the cycle to get himself and his teammates looks in loose pockets of ice. Sercrchi’s play off-puck is just another weapon he has in his arsenal, showing doglike pursuit on the forecheck and intelligent route taking in the offensive zone. He was able to force plenty of turnovers throughout the tournament by attacking defenders below the goal line and also by backtracking hard on pucks in the neutral zone to stick lift opponents and initiate a quick counterattack up ice. The size and strength are question marks at this point in his development, but I’d be willing to bet on a player with Sercerchi’s archetype any day of the week.

Sercerchi was the straw that stirred the drink for one of the more effective lines in the entire tournament alongside Watson and Waterhouse, finishing with 6 points in 4 games and impacting the game all over the ice in a positive manner. As a centerman in the defensive zone he could often be found supporting the puck down low to help out his defenders by creating number advantages in puck battles below the goal line to gain possession and help initiate the breakout. He had plenty of instances of strong puck-carrying through the neutral zone, using crossovers to build up speed while demonstrating a long and powerful stride that made him difficult to knock off the puck at full flight. He was always looking to attack the middle of the ice on his puck touches in the offensive zone, often leveraging his puck skills to pull pucks around defenders to get off the halfwall and gain access to the interior. I thought he was equally effective off-puck in the offensive zone, demonstrating high-end intelligence on his routes to the front of the net which allowed him to jump on loose pucks just as they popped out and get chances off from dangerous scoring areas.

Sercerchi flashed some serious potential here at camp, flexing a toolkit that could allow him to be a high-end transition attacker in the future. For one, he has jersey flapping speed as a puck carrier, which allows him to consistently turn around defenders as he gains the line while his hands are able to move in conjunction with his feet to make plays at top speed. He could combine his agility and puck skills in the offensive zone to attack the middle of the ice from off the halfwall by pulling pucks around defenders while driving his feet. He made a series of skilled receptions in motion throughout camp as well, rarely ever having to lose his speed while corralling pucks that were in his feet or behind him.

The instinctual and skilled play of Sercerchi throughout all three periods of this game were quite impressive to see. He always seemed to be taking the right routes away from the puck to support puck carriers in transition and was able to seamlessly receive passes through the neutral zone while maintaining his speed to challenge defenders with his explosive stride which he put on display when he went end-to-end at the tail end of the first period, scoring a highlight reel goal after beating a defender wide with speed and finishing his chance in tight on the Team Talbot goaltender. His ability to generate quality looks for himself, both with and without the puck, using exceptional quickness and awareness made him one of the most effective skaters on the ice in this contest.

Sercerchi’s speed was on full display all game long and helped making a critical part of his team’s offensive attack. His work as a puck-carrier in transition was excellent, often pushing back defenders with his speed before cutting laterally into space in the middle of the ice to expand his options; either dishing wide then driving the net or getting a shot off from the high slot. I loved his willingness to initiate contact to make a play, often attacking the middle of the ice to draw pressure and slip a puck through at the last second to a teammate in space. A perfect encapsulation of his performance in this game came late in the third period when he won a race to a loose puck, outmuscled the defender to win possession and slipped a pass to the low slot that lead to his team’s second goal of the game.

Sercerchi’s speed was a serious factor in this game and allowed him to generate plenty of chances for himself off the rush. He scored early on in the game when he picked up a pass off the boards while maintaining his stride, gained the offensive line and pulled off a drag and release shot that squeezed its way through the goaltender’s arm. I noted a handful of times where he was able to catch a step on a defender while attacking wide off the rush, gaining space for his hands to fire a shot on net from the outside. He nearly scored late in the game off a dash through the neutral zone, kicked it to the outside as he gained the offensive line and took a shrewd route to the front of the net to pounce on a loose puck but was denied in tight.

Sercerchi was able to create offense in this game thanks to strong off-puck play, attention to detail and leveraging his foot speed to win races to loose pucks. I liked the way he was supporting the puck on the forecheck, often helping his team create numbers advantages down low and retrieving pucks through scrums before centering them to the slot. He earned himself plenty of good looks from the middle of the ice thanks to his timing and route-taking to the front of the net, as it always seemed like he knew when a loose puck would present itself in the slot so he could get a quick shot off. He scored his team’s third goal of the game late when he implemented himself backdoor and tapped home the puck into the yawning cage, another testament to his intelligent off-puck positioning.

Although he didn’t exactly dominate the scoresheet, you would be hard pressed to find a player who impacted this game more on a shift to shift basis. His ability to explode out of his turns while maintain control of the puck made him nearly impossible to contain along the perimeter in the offensive zone as he was consistently able to gains separation from defenders before leveraging his puck skills to work his way off the wall to the middle of the ice. These puck skills allowed him to carve through PEI’s defensive zone structure how he pleased, weaving through defenders with relative ease and getting the puck to the interior to generate good looks for himself and his teammates. His speed off the rush was too much for opposing defenders to handle as he was consistently able to turn them around, gain a step and either make a hard cut to the net or circle around the zone waiting for a play to open up. His off-puck details were very good as well throughout this contest, taking good routes to the front of the net to get himself into dangerous areas of the ice in the offensive zone and getting himself in good position to pounce on loose pucks.

Sercerchi was the straw that stirred the drink for his line alongside Waterhouse and Watson, putting up a goal and an assist in the process. His non-stop motor combined with his strong skating and puck handling ability made him a relentless transitional attacker, often opting to attack the zone with speed, push back defenders and create tons of space up high for his trailing options. He was creating tons of offense off the forecheck as well, using his feet to get in quickly on defenders to force turnovers and win possession to create sustained offensive pressure. His timing and route taking off-puck were very impressive as well, as he always seemed to pop up at just the right moments to pounce on a loose puck that popped up in the slot to get himself a good look. His skating allowed him to gain separation from defenders along the perimeter as well, as he used quick cuts and pivots to explode out of his turns and create space for himself in the offensive zone. He made a great feed on his teams 7th goal when he came in on a two on one, outwaited a sliding defender and executed a perfect cross-ice feed right on a teammates stick.