The only Chicago Mission skater to crack our top 10, Alexander Milojevic, was game-in and game-out one of the best players for his team, playing his wrecking-ball style of hockey blended with some excellent speed and power, he was extremely versatile and gave defenders a tough time every game. His puck-carrying ability and physical resilience was one of his greatest assets. He could carve his way up the ice with ease, showing great lateral mobility along with straight-line speed. Combined with his skating prowess and some wicked hands, he pulled off some incredibly deceptive moves to keep play alive and or set up a scoring chance. He's unpredictable and proved to be a challenge for opponents to attempt to slow down. Excelling from the dirty areas of the ice as well, he fought hard for body positioning and leverage around the net and in the slot, getting some quality looks throughout the event as he was first on pucks and played with a relentless demeanor. He did end the tournament with just 2 goals in the 4 games, but the motor and brief instances of elite puck control and a heavy shot to go with it, Milojevic showed elite offensive tools and unfortunately just wasn’t able to find the back of the net as much as some others.

Milojevic was one of, if not, the most dynamic forwards for the Mission throughout this whole event. He was consistently driving play as a primary puck handler in transition, powering his way through the neutral zone with great speed and showing a high level of evasiveness by using his stick work and footwork in unison to make his way past opponents and gain the offensive blue line over and over again to set up quality scoring chances for himself. He was incredibly slippery with the puck on his stick, which when combined with his skating ability, put defences on their heels often but what made Milojevic stand out to me a bit more was his blistering wrist shot and ability to finish his scoring chances. He was able to transfer all the power he generated in his skating stride into his shot while attacking downhill, letting go of extremely quick and powerful shots to beat goaltenders clean and even coming up with a remarkably clutch goal in one of his performances to ice the game in the final seconds. After watching him briefly at the USA Hockey Nationals last year it seems as if Milojevic has made progress into taking that next step in his offensive dominance.

A Swiss-army knife of a forward, Alexander Milojevic showed off a lot of good for Team Orange, being a standout name in each and every game. Arguably one of the top scorers on his team, showing a high degree of versatility to his methods, he managed to get good looks at the net from all over the ice, both in tight, from range, on the backhand, along with on the forehand. He seemingly always found a way to creep into that soft ice and set himself up for success. When carrying the puck and playing a bit more from the outside, he worked well with his teammates to move the puck quickly, pull defenders out of position, and upon retrieval of the puck flexed a firm wrister with a nice ability to change the release angle, adding a layer of deception to his game. He has a great frame and is likely one of the more athletic players in the class, giving him the ability to make plays under close physical scrutiny, taking the brunt of physical contact, and slipping passes off to open teammate as he navigates the ice. A wickedly effective penalty killer as well, he pressured puck carriers with intelligent bouts of aggression and made life extremely difficult for his opponents, giving them next-to-no time to breathe and or think. It’s always interesting seeing Milojevic play, as after the fact I always feel like he did just about everything at an 8-out-of-10 level of effectiveness and was above average in just about everything you can ask for, but at times still feels mildly underappreciated. Lots of projectable habits from Milojevic here.

One of the top dual-threat forwards in the event, Alexander Milojevic offers a little bit of everything in regard to impacting the game. The powerful stride he owns propels him up ice and accelerate in extremely quick order, powering around and through defenders, he’s a dominant transition puck-carrying threat, with great dynamism and evasion as he slips by bodies and sticks. His small area play when working close to his body, along with in close to opponents allows him to pull in checkers, draw plenty of attention, and ultimately opens up ice elsewhere for his teammates. He threaded passes through seams with a nice level of creativity, and awareness, he connected on tape-to-tape passes to teammates in shooting opportunities, both high and low in the zone. When placed in a shooting position himself, he could rip a shot on net, firing a hard and heavy puck on the net, flashing a great release with good power behind it. The tenacity and effort he played with across all 3 zones was another strength of his game, getting sticks on pucks, initiating body contact; he was a pain in the side of many of his opponents as he hunted down the puck on retrievals.

Weaponizing his power and strength, Alexander Milojevic worked hard to get into scoring areas, controlling pucks through physical contact and creating some good chances as a result. His tenacity on the puck, along with his willingness to fight and battle for body positioning and leverage allowed him to get through opponents in tandem with his strong puck control and high skill set. He sent a pass over to William Sorenson on a rush chance as he fought his way through some traffic, hooking the pass over while being pushed and shoved. He did a nice job at receiving passes in scoring areas and was quick to flip to his forehand as he navigated the ice to get some good looks of his own. Even in tightly checked games Milojevic can always make himself known, his transitional play and pace makes him a standout every time. His physical game and speed off the puck had also made life difficult for his opponents in defensive situations.

Milojevic was outstanding throughout the game. He made an early statement with a slick behind-the-back pass to the slot, showcasing his offensive creativity. He was just as strong in his own end, on one key play he got his stick on a puck that would’ve led to a prime scoring chance for the opposition, deflecting it out of play and preventing a dangerous shot. Offensively, his shot was his biggest weapon. He let off a few heavy wrist shots in the offensive zone that really challenged the goalie. Eventually, his effort was rewarded when he took matters into his own hands, cut down the right wing with speed, and sniped the puck into the corner to end the game in overtime.

Milojevic had a solid performance, with much of his impact felt in the offensive zone. His quick stride made zone entries look effortless, allowing him to create pressure on the attack. He also showcased some impressive dekes high in the zone, taking risks that paid off and often resulted in great opportunities for himself and his teammates. On the power play, he fired a couple of hard wristers that proved difficult for the opposing goalie to handle, showcasing his shot accuracy and power.

Milojevic was the key standout on offense for Chicago in this game. He was a master of deception, frequently deking defensemen with his impressive stickhandling. He also had a knack for faking one way and then quickly shifting the other way, leaving defenders scrambling. Milojevic also demonstrated his incredible shooting ability by scoring one of Mission’s goals with a stunning shot from the corner circle that went bar down. The precision and power of his shot made it an unforgettable highlight. Milojevic was a key catalyst for Mission’s offense, delivering a dominating performance where he was everywhere on the ice. His relentless energy and playmaking ability kept opposing teams on their heels, as he consistently created scoring chances and drove the play forward.

Rounding out a strong set of games throughout the camp, Alexander Milojevic left this one with one goal to show for his efforts. He scored the initial tying goal for Team Orange as he managed to break free from coverage, found some time alone and snapped a shot 5-hole on the goalie. The scoring touch displayed all event was seen once more, furthering displaying his versatility in scoring goals, being capable of scoring with wrist shots, snapshots, slapshots, or in tight. Shortly after, he made another nice play, hooking a pass to Jonathan Cygan in the slot with a heads-up read from low in the zone. Later in the game I felt he came back alive again after a bit of a lull, using more speed and power attacking defenders 1-on-1 to pull pucks around them, and or make the effort to dance through them with some good puck control. Although offensively he wasn’t the most prevalent outside of his early goal, the speed and power he displayed traversing the ice was something that hadn’t gone away.

Although not his most effective offensive game, one thing I will always appreciate about Alexander Milojevic’s game is that no matter how he plays in any given time, it can always be assured that he will at the very least, be a dogged puck pursuing option, using physical tools to disturb opponents and retrieve pucks for his team. Early in the game he did a great job at crashing-and-banging in the corners of the offensive zone, overpowering opponents with good strength, carrying his momentum into battles, and using soft hands in close quarters to fish pucks out of scrums. In puck races he got the jump on many of his peers, owning what is one of the stronger strides in the class, he quickly powers up ice on loose pucks, wins position, and protects the puck calmly upon reception. He had a few strong scoring chances directed at the net. His ability to change the angle of his shots last second does a mighty-fine job at this level to freeze opponents and quickly dance around them to sneak into a better scoring location. His shot is heavy and always is a threat, the accuracy can be lethal at times as well, keeping defenders on their toes as at this age-level, he can score from distance if given space.

As consistent as ever, Alexander Milojevic was a strong two-way piece for Team Orange in their loss, doing a bit of everything. One of his first chances came when receiving a pass just outside the faceoff dot, and with some good backward movement, managed to change the angle of his shot, inch closer to the middle lane of the ice, and zip a strong wrister at the net. ‘Twas a simple play, but the patience and puck handling ability to wait that extra half-second to glide into better ice is a testament of his poise and smarts. He had another play later in the game that caught my eye, once again a small-detailed one, but effectiveness nonetheless; ricochetting the puck between himself and the boards off the half-wall, he spun around a man and had some space to work with lower in the zone. When put in a pinch, he handled the puck calmly, and seemingly always had an out, whether it be with a finesse move, or some great physical strength, working with a man on his back, and spinning them off. He scored one goal, going to the net and hammering a one-timer on the net, showing off some good shooting talent. Milojevic will be joining the Chicago Mission program for the upcoming season.

Much like the rest of his team, it took Milojevic a while to establish himself in this game and despite scoring a goal I really don’t think he a great first half of the game. That all changed dramatically in the second half when he started to show his high-end small area skill game and playmaking acumen. He made a great play in the neutral zone that lead to his teams fifth goal when he blocked a pass in the neutral zone, skated the puck in while drawing the defender before making a slick drop pass that lead to an odd-man advantage. He scored his teams seventh goal of the game on a great individual effort by attacking the middle of the ice and shooting off the rush, picking up his own rebound and placing a perfect shot from a bad angle over the goaltender.

This is a player who possesses all the attributes of a power forward. He has a strong stride which allows him to generate momentum quickly, a big frame, and utilizes his reach well to position his body between the puck and other players. Alexander was the main producer for Florida's offense in this game. He was able to create rush opportunities through lateral movements up the neutral ice putting himself in scoring positions. The only power play goal of the game came from him off of an efficient transfer of momentum through shifting his weight on the shot to generate power.

Milojevic was another player on the Florida team who really switched gears after his team went down by a few goals. His execution seemed off at the start of the game, where he wasn’t able to generate much or extend possessions in the offensive zone but as the game went on, he found a way to flip the switch. He was such a threat off the rush when picking up speed through the neutral zone and attacking defenders head-on with the puck. He generated so many shot attempts in the home plate area by using what seemed to be such an unstoppable move when he gathered speed, cut across the middle of the ice and fired pucks to the net using the defenseman as a screen. On the power play, where he would swing up to the blue line and then burst into open space, Daley found him a few times for a couple high quality chances, but he wasn’t able to convert.

As consistent as ever, Alexander Milojevic had about 3-4 high-end plays that all looked eerily similar, using his powerful stride, processing speed, and puck handling to gain the zone, get in tight to the defender, force them to make a move, and dance to the middle lane and fire a puck on net. His patience and poise whilst handling the puck in the face of pressure, and willingness to take chances, outwait, delay, and deceive, allowed him to walk into the slot on multiple occasions, on both the rush and off the cycle. Throughout the entire game he had a nice dual-threat element to him, both a threatening shot, and a talented playmaker, he was able to create plenty of ice for others as defenders honored his scoring ability, enabling him to feather perfectly placed passes to teammates in shooting areas. A lot of smaller detail plays he excelled in throughout this game were pulling pucks off the wall from scrums and being quick to identify a passing lane to a teammate in motion. He ultimately scored the 1-1 tying goal, with a strong rush going wide on a defender, and beating the goalie clean with a powerful wrister. Later in the game he almost gave his team the lead as he drew a penalty on a partial break while shorthanded. The speed and power to his step, combined with great puck protection makes him an absolute handful to check.