A dominant force for the Little Caesars offense, Aiden Kelly is someone who caught my eye plenty of times during their games. As one of the most confident players on the puck he did not shy away from taking players head on in 1v1 situations, even inviting the pressure at times. He showed some very nice puck handling ability as he beat players in transition and worked his way into open ice time and time again using his combination of pace and skill to get in behind the defense. His ability to neatly handle the puck in tight areas enabled him to carve out shooting angles from seemingly harmless positions that took the netminders by surprise on several occasions. He was a strong distributor of the puck as well, finding plenty of open passing lanes and making quick feeds into the lanes as players were making cuts towards the net. One of the things that he does so well is take space, if the defense backs off he does not hesitate to use that as an opportunity to give himself a better standing in the offensive zone, and from there he does such a great job of picking where to go next. He has high end skill and showed an ability to beat the opposition himself or through his playmaking ability, generating chances for himself and others virtually at will.

Another key part of the offense was Aiden Kelly, his skill on the puck was apparent from the get go and he created space effectively for himself. He was an aggressive skater who used his acceleration and agility to thrust himself through gaps in the defense, he was able to cut inside regularly and earn high quality shooting opportunities. He was patient with the puck and with his deception he was a very clever puck carrier, he opened up passing lanes extremely well and was a dual threat. He was confident and loved taking players on, something that he found great success with and continued to weaponize. He was very adept at protecting the puck, using his body extremely well and driving hard towards the net where he was able to show his great finishing ability. He converted on a number of chances and continually found opportunities to do so, moving well off the puck and positioning himself in the slot for redirect and rebound chances. The physical side to his game shined as well, leveraging his size effectively by throwing a number of hits and getting under the skin of the opposition.

His ability to possess the puck was a big part of his game as he used his size effectively to help force his way through traffic to earn a path to the front of the net. He had the good stickhandling to go along with his puck protection and he was able to craft a few very good opportunities for himself in tight, which he proved very adept at finishing off. He consistently found himself working openings for himself in the slot and unleashing heavy shots on goal, his shooting ability was a real threat and he continued to weaponize it throughout. He moved off the puck equally well and set himself up for quick one-timer looks, linking up very well with his teammates. He made a few key defensive contributions as well in breaking up plays by hustling back on the back check, but a goal line save where he batted a puck away from an empty net highlighted his contributions on defense.

An excellent performance from Aiden Kelly saw him earn first star honors, he was evidently one of the most individually gifted players on the ice and he displayed confidence every time the puck touched his stick as he looked to take players on in one on one situations. He created plenty of space for himself with his skills and earned himself dangerous scoring chances from all over the offensive zone. He took the game to the opposition with his smooth skating and nimbleness in stride made it increasingly difficult for defenders to stop him from gaining the zone. He was patient on the puck and was able to find openings to feed the puck into as his teammates made darting runs in behind the defense. He added a physical element to the game as well, throwing his weight around and leveling some pretty heavy hits that did a good job getting under the opposition’s skin. His movement on the puck was strong as well and he cut to the middle looking for passes and redirect opportunities for him to get his stick on. He was a dominant offensive presence from start to finish in this one and he showed a wide array of skills that he used to threaten the defense.