Drew Daley certainly staked his claim for being one of the most impressive players at the Canadian Crown tournament. He was a key part of the offense as he strung together passes from the point and linked the play between both sides of the offense effectively. He was quick to settle passes and move the puck off his stick to continue pushing the pace and not giving the defense any opportunity to close him down and grab the puck. He was intelligent on the puck and if there was space in front for him to step up into he was more than happy to do so and give himself a better look at goal for shooting opportunities. He displayed skill on the puck once he got into those more dangerous areas and he was capable of unlocking defense and creating opportunities for himself with his stickhandling ability - his goal against NAX Prep comes to mind. He was a very important part of starting the rushes with his breakout passing, but he also joined in as an auxiliary forward on those rushes and his shooting abilities were put to use fairly often in transition scenarios. He created chances with his legs and his hands, applying deception and body feints to his drives to test the resolve of the defenders marking him. His impactfulness was not just limited to the offensive zone though, he was a solid player in his own end who maintained a close gap to puck carriers and was able to swiftly step up to contest the puck if there was a slight mishandle or he was shown too much of the puck. He was strong in tight and ran players off the puck effectively, steering puck carriers towards the boards and using his stick well to prevent them from cutting back to the inside.

One of my favorite players to watch from the weekend was Drew Daley, he was all over the ice for Shattuck and his contributions at both ends were worthy of note. He defended well against the rush, assessing the options the opposition had while he skated backwards, and he was able to anticipate and react well to cut out passes that came into his area by quickly stepping up and preventing plays from developing into serious threats. His long range passing was excellent, starting plays from his own end and quickly launching attacks with his team having numbers up ice. His best contributions, perhaps, were on the attacking side of things as there were times I had forgotten Daley was a defender. He confidently led rushes out of the back, protecting the puck with ease as he galloped up the ice, and he showed strong stick handling ability as he made his way up the ice with great confidence. His vision and distribution impressed me, he picked out passes of ranging difficulties and distances with the same level of ease and even when it looked like he was going to take the puck himself he kept his passing options open and was quick to utilize them if he determined he needed to get the puck off his stick. His decision making was very quick and that was such an important part of what made his puck carrying and distribution a key part of this offensive system. His ability to find lanes to the net from the point stemmed from strong edgework and being able to navigate the sea of bodies in front of him, and he did that well to get pucks through as he targeted teammates’ sticks for redirects. Daley was a constant presence for the Shattuck team in each of their games and the right-handed defenseman continues to shine.

The blue liner who stood out the most for me on this team was Drew Daley. He was a very strong handler of the puck who adjusted his body well and was able to deceive players to create space for himself to take the puck down low and make some solid attacking movements towards the net and get shooting chances and set up opportunities for others with his distribution. His edgework was very good and he kept his body open to maximize his passing options, and he was a very effective playmaker from all over the offensive zone. He was elusive thanks to his deceptive ability to feign a pass before slipping by his man with the puck still glued to his stick. He enjoyed creeping down low and getting chances in tight, moving well off the puck to find space to receive it. He slipped into the slot well and was able to work himself some shooting opportunities, coming away with a very nice finish in one of the contests. He had some nice moments on defense as well where he was able to get himself well positioned to intercept passes and quickly move the puck up ice with crisp passing to the forwards before he would jump up as a late trailer on the rush.

Drew Daley was one of the first defenders to jump off the page to me at the Kings of Spring event, with some strong multidirectional skating ability, and quick hands, he was a strong two-way, puck-moving blueliner for his team. He made plenty of great plays high in the offensive zone, pivoting around checkers, drawing in pressure and being quick to slip away with good footwork, excellent edge control, along with fluidity and confidence to his maneuvers. He opened up plenty of ice for teammates high in the zone, was able to thread passes through tricky lanes to the hash marks, and quick to seek out high-danger lanes. The usage of subtle head fakes, pump fakes, and ability to stop on a dime added a layer of deception to his game that made him extremely effective at creating extra ice for himself, both effective in the offensive zone along with on the breakout. Speaking of the breakout, his vision, timing, and passing skills were a massive asset when exiting the zone, with strong heads-up passes, he made an excellent first pass, escaped pressure with ease, and was one of the leading catalysts at transitioning the puck from the blueline within the event. Beyond his flashy puck skills and offensive instincts, I was also very impressed with his ability to manage gaps, deny zone entries, and make aggressive moves to intercept passes, force play wide, and even get involved physically on occasion, holding his own as he forced pucks free. The defensive side of things were equally as strong as the offensive side, but for the most part consisted of intelligent and simple defensive plays, getting in lanes, and overall being capable of playing at a pace above the majority of his opponents, allowing him to quickly smother play.

This was yet another strong performance from defenseman Drew Daley as he continued to show the offensive capabilities that I have seen from him in previous games. Starting from the back he wanted to be on the puck and took zone exits upon himself by carrying the puck up the ice effectively with his good stick handling ability and elusiveness as a skater. He used that puck handling ability well from the attacking blue line to gain space and find ways to get down low and get involved in quick passing exchanges with his forwards to continue opening up space and finding a path to the slot. He was able to find those paths to the slot and get a few shooting opportunities for himself. He showed excellent vision and puck distribution throughout, he saw the ice well and was able to create opportunities off his own stick through some great seam passes down low. There were occasions where I felt that he was trying to do a little too much, but overall I thought he was extremely impactful from the back end and was able to make intelligent decisions on the puck.

The offensive involvements from Drew Daley were very noticeable, he operated well as a playmaker from the blue line and showed some excellent vision. He was able to use his footwork to create separation from his man and with his edgework he opened up new passing lanes for himself that he was able to access and feed the puck into. He moved well in the attacking zone off the puck as well, finding chances to move down low and look for shooting opportunities as he would bear down on goal. He notched himself a very nice goal upon activating from the point and stepping down with the puck, beating his man with a move, and then finishing from a difficult angle on the short side. He shows some strong offensive skills and they were all on display in this one, he continues to be a threat for Team USA 1 from the point.

I was impressed with the puck handling ability that I saw out of Drew Daley in the opening game. He was smooth on the puck and showed some very nice edgework by utilizing a mohawk turn to freeze his man and gain a step as he accelerated by him down the boards and fed the puck into a passing lane towards the slot. He’s a very elusive skater and did a very nice job of getting the puck out of the defensive zone without any complications through the use of his skating and accurate short passing. His defensive positioning was solid and he did well to use his reach to dispossess the opposition once they got too close to him.

I thought much of his play today was textbook in choosing his spots where to apply pressure and his ability to still regroup and evade pressure while staying mobile and elusive. He can read where pressure is coming from, push into the slot, or even simply open his stance and protect effectively before finding those passes to the wings in the offensive zone. He looked comfortable and confident on the PP and made multiple moves to bait the closing forward into allowing space to drag laterally and skate around.