On a team full of excellent defensive performances, I thought Wright stood out as the best of the bunch. He brings so much to the table on both ends of the ice. Offensively, he is incredibly poised with the puck and excels at manipulating space with his feet to buy time for the play to develop. His possession skills are especially noticeable on the powerplay where he manages the game so well from the point. His effortless balance transfer and ability to move laterally across the blueline opens shooting lanes and creates motion in the penalty killing structure that he then exploits with crisp puck movement through those gaps. He seems to always have a running inventory of his passing options which allows him to hang onto the puck until the last second, searching for better opportunities, before making a decision. On the defensive side of the puck, I like the physicality he brings and his focus on getting into the puck carrier’s grill up ice. His aggressive approach has some risk involved but I generally find his decision making in picking his spots sound and he has the mobility to make up for the odd mistake as well. I really value puck manager defenceman who can dictate that pace of play from the back end, and I think he’s tailor made for success at higher levels.

There is lots of power from the crossovers out of the offensive zone which lets him finish checks with power or close gaps very early in their progressions through the NZ. His stride is certainly long because he uses the power of his extension well to build power in puck races. The really positive note that sticks out to me about Kayne comes in his ability to constantly be receiving pucks in motion in the offensive zone which allows him to find shooting and passing lanes so much easier. The defense has to adapt to his motion and he does a great job of snapping shots low from the wing or looking just above the pad on the far side. He has that poise to wait and keep his feet moving to change those lateral passing angles too. As an early January birthday and already ample strength in his skating motions, most likely the first talking point about Kayne will be about how much projectable physical growth is left. Regardless of that, he’s a smart and powerful hockey player who has already shown quality games at the U17 level this season.

My notes have positive moments from Kayne in all three zones. He showed skating separation in order to cut around the net and evade pressure, was using his edges to adjust and keep gaps as well, and kept cutting heavily away from pressure too in the neutral zone. He showed great vision and adjustments to wait until passing angles opened up for him properly. Throw in some proper pinching attempts, a very accurate wrist shot, and shows above average extension to his bursts. I made quite a bit of notes about how smart some of his decisions were and how he had the mobility and the decision making to not force transition plays if he didn’t want to. As the tournament rolled along, I slowly moved him higher and higher on my “first assessment” type placement. He certainly looked comfortable running a PP as well.