In my opinion Klein was Pittsburgh’s most effective forward from start to finish thanks in large part to his versatility as an attacker. He was winning a ton of races to loose pucks in the offensive zone, either by winning inside positioning on defenders or leveraging his foot speed to extend offensive sequences. Once he got the puck, I thought he did a great job of working off his teammates, often initiating give and go sequences by threading passes through seams to the flanks, attacking the middle of the ice and receiving pucks back in the middle of the ice. Klein had some strong moments of puck-carrying in transition as well, leveraging his large frame and puck skills to consistently work his way to the middle of the ice once he had gained the zone and either fire shots from the high slot or draw pressure towards him and kick it to the outside to teammates streaking downhill. His effort level and engagement were apparent throughout the entirety of the tournament as well, always being the first forward back on the backcheck and taking punishment in front of the net to either screen goaltenders or just simply cause havoc in the crease area.

Landon Klein was certainly the top player on this Pittsburgh Predators team during the USHL Fall Classic, playing with a great mix of pace, physicality, and skill, shift-after-shift at times he seemed to be relentless in his pursuits with the puck, driving it down the wings, dropping the shoulder, and executing flashing moves around a defender in tight to create some more space to get a shot on the net. He did a great job extending the stick, pushing it wide of the defender he was converging upon, moving his feet quickly to cut laterally around his man and force them to turn, giving him the step needed to pull away. If he couldn’t beat a defender with sheer speed and power, he showed the awareness to make a simple play such as cutting back, or rimming the puck around the zone to an open teammate on the other side, limiting needless turnovers. He was certainly the top scoring threat for his team, showing an excellent release, and ability to change that release angle in short order around bodies and sticks. He powered a couple of heavy wristers past goalies in the event, showing his ability to score from range and through traffic. He left his mark between the dots in the offensive zone as well, battling for space, and getting some quality looks as a result of being first on second chances. His deployment on the powerplay had also made him a strong threat from his strong side, catching passes in stride and whipping them on net as the goalie was moving laterally, he had some more good looks for himself in that regard. There were some nice instances of defensive involvement for Klein to top things off. He worked hard to get back into the play on backchecks, showing some good speed and power in his stride, cutting off puck carriers, and getting his stick involved to tie up opponents. His performance in the Fall Classic really has helped put himself on the radar going forward in respects to the USHL Draft

It was tougher for me to see a lot of the levels of impact that Landon was making. He gathered a rebound goal in the one game with a quick low shot release. I think he can move fairly well too and often showed confidence in his passing decisions to reverse play or keep possession. Overall though, I didn’t make many notes compared to others.