Davidson was our highest ranked 2008 born coming into this tournament and looked every bit the part with an excellent event for the champion Shattuck’s team. He finished with five goals and nine points in seven games serving as a potent source of secondary scoring, consistently tilting the ice his team’s direction five-on-five. There is very little to pick apart in his game as he possesses a rare blend of size, skill, power, and finesse. When established in the offensive zone he plays the role of power forward to a T. He’s so tough to push off the puck, using his frame effectively to shield possession and dictate the pace of play. With Davidson as the driver, his line simply wore defences down by constantly cycling, probing interior, leaning on pressure points, forcing mistakes, and finding lanes across the grain. He is more natural creating offence by attrition, but I think his play in open ice is deceptively strong as well. He has an explosive stride that can catch flat footed defenders off guard and every so often he’d flash quick hands to make a defender look silly. Despite having a level of stick skill, I appreciate that he doesn’t rely only on excessive flash or dynamism to generate offence. His ability to reposition and stay ahead of contact keeps him effective and in control of possession, allowing the moments where he can use his skill to exploit to present themselves more frequently. He is a player to follow closely next year as I think he has the type of ceiling that will put him on the NHL draft radar.

Noah's physical characteristics were apparent in the very first few shifts of watching Team Gold. He's a powerful skater who understood how to use his frame to his advantage. Combining these two areas, Davidson could frequently shield the puck from defenders, be difficult to knock off the puck, and continually win lanes to the net. Especially off the rush when he had a full head of steam, he was always a threat to beat defenders to the exterior and cut in for scoring chances. Without the puck, I always thought Noah was in the right spots, supporting the play, and looking to be a passing option for the puck carrier. Whether sneaking into a soft spot in the defence or a clever off-puck route toward the net, he understood where he needed to be to give his teammates a logical passing option. All of this makes it quite obvious why he was a 1st round USHL Draft pick, as his game is highly projectable to the next levels of hockey. His physical tools make him well-suited to play against superior competition, and this puck support theme will enable him to complement and play with almost any linemate and find success.

After being one part of an attacking trident for the LA Jr. Kings last year, Noah Davidson made a big jump to Shattuck St. Mary’s 16U team where he has fit in immediately. Starting off with 19 points in 15 games he is currently tied for sixth on the team in points and meshing nicely with the team. His capability to complement his linemates and create chances allows him to mesh well with any players he shares the ice with. He controls the puck well and is a very talented playmaker on the rush using his vision well and picking out key passes in stride. One of his best traits is his ability to move off the puck and find openings in the defense to pop into and exploit, and he has continued to hone that ability. This Shattuck team is loaded with talent and Noah Davidson should continue to contribute throughout the year.

Not to be outdone by his partner, Noah Davidson was the other joint-leader in points with twelve as he notched an even split of six goals and six assists. While not quite as explosive of a player, Davidson is certainly a highly capable offensive player who just plays a different style. Davidson is calculated in the way he plays, timing his breakouts of the defensive zone perfectly so that he has his extra step or two on the defense, and he makes no mistake when he is all alone. He has nice hands and is able to fool defenders and netminders alike with his crafty puck skills. He has good speed and is able to shoot through gaps and exploit space in behind the opposition, allowing his vision and playmaking abilities to take center stage. He starts a lot of plays from his own end, getting on the puck in the defensive zone and calming everything down he begins heading up ice and exits the zone in a controlled fashion as he avoids the incoming forecheckers. He is a true dual threat and constantly places himself in open shooting positions to receive the puck and fire it on goal, and he has the power and accuracy behind his shot to make the opposition pay for leaving him open. Davidson and Sparks were a pair of standouts, but the entire roster found their way onto the scoresheet and that kind of depth is crucial to finding success.

The third point of the offensive trident that LA dominated the weekend with is Noah Davidson who finished with three goals and two assists in five games. While the other two did lots of the play driving in the offensive zone, there was still plenty of room for Davidson to make his presence felt and he did a lot of that by making sure he was in the right place when he needed to be. With his teammates doing much of the puck carrying, Davidson’s job was to get open and make sure he was able to get a good shot away when the puck arrived on his stick and he was able to do that to perfection. He was quick on the draw and did not hesitate once the puck appeared for him and he showed good killer instincts around the net to cash in his chances. He drove the net on a number of occasions and I thought he did a nice job using his body to protect the puck from incoming poke checks as he continued his charge to the net. The offense was operating on all cylinders and Davidson was a key cog in it.

Exuding plenty of skill and creativity, Noah Davidson was a treat to watch for Team Gold, one of the higher-skilled players I’ve seen thus far at the event. It’s not that every shift he’ll pull off a dazzling move, but when he does it’s properly timed and executed, seamlessly transitioning from ordinary skating to evasive, shifty, and dynamic moves to get around opponents. 1-on-1 many defenders struggled to keep up with him, his directional changes, and changes in speed along with puck positioning forced defenders to attempt poke checks to slow him down, only to miss on their attempt, throwing them out of position, opening an area of weakness for Davidson to exploit. He clearly has some strong scoring intangibles to combine with his flashy puck handling and dynamic nature. The majority of his moves led to set-up plays for others, but his shot is nothing to scoff at, with a quick release that he can get off from awkward angles, he’s a sneaky scoring threat. On many plays he had the defenders at his mercy, freezing them with fake shots, only to then make one last move to slip into a scoring area himself, he was incredibly dangerous through-and-through. When watching him play he’s incredibly light-footed when it comes to the agility and footspeed he possesses, yet standing at 6’2 and 201lbs, he moves like a player smaller in stature, whilst retaining the physical toolkit needed to play a strong, powerful game.

Davidson was the star of the show for Team Gold, scoring three of their six goals. There were key elements to his success, and the first was his power handling and how he used his frame to his advantage. So often, Noah used power moves, protected the puck to the outside, and used his physical tools to maintain distance and separation from defenders. He relied on these power moves and understanding of positioning to consistently attack the middle of the ice, win lanes to the net, and create dangerous scoring chances. The second element was his off-puck game and how he positioned himself as a dangerous passing option for his teammates. Without the puck, Davidson was smart with his routes, picking the right path to support the puck, and timing himself perfectly into open spaces. All three of his goals fit under this theme of supporting the puck, as they all were mainly initiated with his off-puck motions to give the puck carrier a passing outlet, and Noah did the rest to finish the sequence. Of course, by scoring three goals, there obviously was a high-end finishing touch to his game, but how he was creating his chances was the most important part to highligh

Davidson’s intelligence was on full display in this game, and I left the contest with a high opinion about his potential moving forward. Sometimes it can take a while to appreciate the subtleties of cerebral players but Davidson’s instincts in timing and spacing were so profound compared to his peers that it was immediately noticeable. He has an incredible sense of off puck positioning and was constantly darting through lanes at the perfect moment. He got his stick on so many tips and rebounds in this contest and was seemingly always open as an outlet when his linemates got into any level of trouble. Even when defenders keyed on him, he was so smart about the angles he took through lanes, forcing defenders to come way off the line of their normal structure if they wanted to stop him from getting to his spot. He finished with a goal and assist in this game and threatened far more.

I’ve written about Noah a few times and despite his natural talents, he was a bit stifled in this one. He still managed to transition the puck up ice a number of times by himself by powering through crossovers and using his extension to his strong side. He created a few prime chances by doing exactly this and both blindly and not so blindly passing into the low slot. I thought Boston did a good job for the most part keeping him to the outside and not allowing him to attack the middle with possession. With the level of puck control and vision he has off the rush, that is what you have to do to slow him down. He still ended up with two assists but had to work for his chances.

I think in the first LA game I covered, Noah wasn’t able to really move with confidence in order to create off the rush through the neutral zone. I think when he doesn’t have the puck on his stick he can be a bit of a play watcher and cheater of the zone defensively. You can tell he wants to be that dynamic offensive threat by using his reach and puck control to dissect the defensive pressure past the blueline. Today, he used touch passes from the half wall, found spacing to use the length of his stride, and came alive in the back half of the game. Even without the puck, he was quietly shifting to the slot for tip attempts. This game gave a clearer picture of the tale of his season and how he can transport a puck up ice and force chances with his creativity. It all seems to come off the rush for him. Reminds me a lot stylistically of Nate Danielson from the WHL.