Snyder was, once again, an integral part of this Penguins offence, using both his explosiveness and poise with the puck to generate scoring chances for him team. He’s an adaptable forward who reads the game at such a high level, showing that he’s able to be assertive when needed but that he can also slow down the play and pick apart defences with his precision passing. I found he was at his best this tournament when he was challenging defences with his speed whether that was bursting out of his own end with well-timed routes into open space to catch pucks in stride and gain a step on defenders or swinging wide off the rush to gain a bit of separation and slip pucks to his teammates in the middle of the ice. The assertiveness in his game makes him an effective forechecker as well as he consistently tracked down loose pucks in the offensive zone and used his legs to quickly take away time and space of opposing defenders on the breakout. I found Snyder often acted as the initiator of offensive sequences that led to some of his team’s most dangerous scoring opportunities throughout the event which really highlights his efficiency on the offensive side of the game.

Snyder was a standout throughout the tournament for many reasons, but his impact in the offensive zone truly set him apart. Every time he had the puck in the attacking end, it felt like something positive was bound to happen. His exceptional speed and creativity allowed him to generate space and separate himself from defenders with ease. Once he created that separation, his elite passing and vision came to the forefront. His quick, decisive passes were often delivered with impressive accuracy and pace. These passes often left both opponents and even his teammates surprised, highlighting his ability to anticipate and think one step ahead of the play. He was equally impactful on the power play, where his quick, elusive skating consistently allowed him to gain the zone with ease and set up scoring opportunities. His all-around performance in the offensive zone was nothing short of outstanding, as he consistently created chances and elevated his team’s play.

Snyder was one of the key pieces for the Penguins attack throughout the Fall Classic, finishing with 9 points in 5 games for the eventual champions. The key to his success was his ability to adapt to the play around him, which allowed him to avoid being predictable in his attacking style and keep defenders on their toes. He was doing some great work off-puck in the offensive zone by constantly engaging in board battles trying to win access to loose pucks, reading and reacting quickly to plays around him which allowed him to anticipate passing lanes and pick off pucks for a quick counterstrike and also consistently getting himself into dangerous scoring areas as a passing target or looking for deflections. He flashed some high-end vision with the puck on his stick, demonstrating the ability to spot his options quickly and thread difficult passes through traffic and seams that his teammates didn’t need to slow down or adjust for. This led to plenty of scoring chances from the middle of the ice both off the rush and from along the halfwall. Snyder was equally impressive as a puck-carrier in transition, showing strong edgework to change directions on a dime while maintain control of the puck to maneuver through pressure in the neutral zone. He was able to execute plenty of controlled entries as a result, take defenders on in one on one situations and exploit them with his high-end puck skills to get into space and generate dangerous individual scoring chances for himself. He also flashed some strong shooting mechanics, especially in motion where he was able to get off some hard and accurate shots while rushing down the wing that beat goaltenders clean.

One of the biggest standouts on Team Purple for me was Nolan Snyder; the Penguins forward was an integral part of the game plan as he was extremely effective at both ends of the ice. His defensive work sprung opportunities at the other end of the ice, making good reads and keeping his stick active to prevent players from beating him along the boards. His well-timed poke checks set him up perfectly to spring loose on a couple of occasions and earn breakaway opportunities. He accelerated well and showed very slick hands in transition, combining them to shoot through gaps and stick handling his way to dangerous areas to get high quality chances. He was a patient carrier of the puck who constantly had his head up and surveyed his options, protecting the puck well using his body positioning as he looked for open passing lanes. He was great at drawing attention to himself with the puck and creating openings for teammates to penetrate the defense, and he was able to distribute the puck into those openings and set up high quality opportunities. He was strong on the puck, battling through contact and fighting hard to win possession in contested situations down low, and he was aggressive on the forecheck in riding players towards the boards and dispossessing them. He constantly seemed to find ways to break down the defense with his quick decision making, bursts of speed into space, and passing ability. Nolan Snyder popped up time and time again as I watched Team Purple and he was one of the players I could expect to consistently stand out when he stepped onto the ice.

It was a great all-around performance from Nolan Snyder at this year’s World Selects Invitational as we saw the blend of competitiveness and skill that makes him such an impactful player at both ends of the rink. He’s always positioning himself in the right spots to be involved in the play whether it’s driving lanes off the rush with speed and drawing defenders out of their positions while crashing the net or finding pockets in the defense around the crease during extended offensive zone possessions to be ready to fire a quick shot to the net or pounce on a loose puck. His passing ability is what makes him such a threat in the offensive zone as he does such a good job at scanning the ice for options and protecting the puck from opponents until he sees a suitable passing lane where he often finds ways to get pucks through opponents sticks. He does a good job in his own end of disrupting passing lanes using an active stick and is very engaged when it comes to battles along the boards, not shying away from contact but often initiating it, showing his competitive nature to come out with every loose puck.

Nolan Snyder was the driving force for the Pittsburgh Pens Elite in this event by impacting the game on both ends of the ice through his playmaking, creativity and strong positional play. He had incredible patience with the puck, often delaying on zone entries waiting for plays to develop before passing to the trailing forward or trying to find a teammate crashing the net and even when lanes were clogged by defenders, he showed the ability to send saucer passes through multiple sticks and onto the tape of his teammates. He always looked to funnel the play towards the net in the offensive zone whether it was with the puck on his stick or away from the puck where he drove hard to the front of the net in transition and showed the ability to capitalize on broken plays from in tight. He showed a high compete level throughout the tournament, not only on the offensive side of things but also physically engaging in battles for the puck, backchecking hard on multiple occasions to break up plays and was just involved in plays on both ends of the ice by putting himself in the right positions. He played some of his best games of the event when the stakes were at their highest showing a great work ethic and competitiveness that was able to elevate his game along with some of his teammates around him.

Snyder was another Pittsburgh forward who really showcased his vision and poise with the puck, especially in transition play. He demonstrated, shift-after-shift, the ability to adjust to different situations that were presented to him and still execute high-end plays such as a quick wraparound attempt after out-pacing the defender down the wing or an impressive saucer pass over a sprawling defender to feed his teammate at the other end of the crease. He scored a big goal on a third period powerplay to cut the Mid-Fairfield lead to one, whipping the puck into the back of the net off a quick catch-and-release shot from the top of the right circle.

Snyder was outstanding from the opening faceoff, setting the pace with relentless energy. His feet never stopped moving, and his constant pressure in the offensive zone created extended possession and scoring opportunities for his team. Fearless with the puck, he consistently drove to the net, refusing to be denied by defenders. His passing was great as well as he consistently put pucks on his teammates tape in the offensive zone. He was also so creative in his passing, it would sometimes just be a hard pass across the slot or on one occasion he airlifted a puck on the penalty kill right to his partner who ended up getting a breakaway from his outstanding pass. Snyder would get on the score sheet as well, after a hard wrist shot of his bounced off the glass he got his own rebound and scored a nice backhand goal in the slot.

Nolan Snyder did a little bit of everything in this game, his puck protection was some of the most impressive stuff I was able to see out of him though. He did a great job fighting off defenders and using his body and reach to shield and protect the puck. He used the time he was able to buy effectively, cleverly drawing the opposition in and then identifying openings in the defense to feed passes into. He distributed well and was able to pick his passes out as he effectively navigated the offensive zone with speed and was difficult to dispossess. He notched a pair of goals in this one, one of them he sprung himself on a breakaway with an excellent defensive poke and good speed to create separation and with some slick hands he supplied the finish. His other one was a great redirect off some strong movement without the puck as he cut through the high slot. He used his strength well around the net area and battled hard for positioning and continued to mix things up to clear space out front. He showcased a great blend of speed, skill, and strength that made him incredibly effective in this game as Team Purple cruised to victory.

I am quickly becoming a fan of the game Nolan Snyder brings to each game. Not only does he make great decisions with the puck on his stick but he does so very quickly, never wasting time and looking to catch defenders out. His distribution was very good, he was an important part of the build up play as his quick passing exchanges in the neutral zone opened up space for the offense to get numbers up. His movement after the puck left his stick was very important, always making darting runs towards the slot or back post where he could be targeted for a return feed. His hands in tight were good, he did well to get in behind the first line of defense through some skillful stickhandling. His movement off the puck was excellent, he continually found ways to break through the defense and find openings underneath to latch onto an incisive pass and get a quick shooting opportunity. His ability to find space consistently by reading the defense and taking what they were offering made him an extremely dangerous player in this game.

Another Pittsburgh Pens Elite player to be of significance for Team Purple, Nolan Snyder played an up-tempo game with good touches of skill and finesse supplemented in there. He made the most of a few turnovers by quickly changing routes upon intercepting pucks, showing delicate edge control and an ability to stop up suddenly and explode in the other direction. I found him to be quick acting in his offensive endeavors, not having too much time to work with on many of the plays I saw him engaged in, he got his shots off quickly even in tight spaces. As a result of the lack of space, I saw Snyder execute a few tight turns to reset plays, escape the nearest checker, and slow things down. Ultimately, these little moves aided him on a few plays, giving him that extra vision and clarity needed to look around the ice for a better option, opposed to skating into a minefield of defensive sticks.

In my opinion, Snyder was the most dangerous forward for the Penguins all throughout this one. He was so poised with the puck especially along the half wall where he was able to control offensive zone possessions and then use his playmaking ability to feed passes to open teammates through the seams. He made an impressive pass on the only power play of the game where he sent a saucer pass across the slot that landed right on the blade of Branton but was stopped by the netminder on the ensuing shot. He tied the game at 1 in the first period when he received a pass from Branton in the slot, spun around to face the net and ripped a shot under the glove of the goaltender. Shortly after he missed an opportunity to put his team up on a 2-on-1 where he drove to the net and received a pass on the backdoor that jumped over his stick at the last second. I liked the aggressiveness he showed with the puck late in the game when his team needed a goal as he decided to start shooting more pucks at the net trying to create any chance to tie the game up.

This game was probably the best I’d ever seen of Nolan Snyder, the power, skill, vision, creativity, and overall compete in all areas of the game had him noticeable on just about every shift. His stride and skating ability allowed him to quickly catch up to plays, along with push play himself upon reception of the puck. Only needing a few strides to get going, both his lateral and linear acceleration enable him to quickly take it to defenders, make drives towards the crease, and with some fine edgework allows him to abort the first plan of action, spin his back to his man, and shield the puck to buy some more time. In one example of this, he set up the 3-1 goal, with a perfect spin on a defender, pulling in two Jr. Eagles with him, he then hooked a pass from around the goalmouth, through the slot, to Mark Pape in front to give his team a critical 2-goal lead. He made several great plays to the slot, whether it be on the rush, delaying and pulling in opponents before hitting the trailer, or on the cycle, powering out of the corner, using quick hands and feet to remain dynamic, and slipping a puck through a seam to an open teammate. Away from the puck he was constantly involved, landing bodychecks, stick checks, getting in lanes, perfectly covering the middle of the ice in the defensive zone and in defensive transitions. As a whole, there really wasn’t anything I could even try to nitpick about Snyder’s game in this one.

Throughout the game, Nolan was reliable to sustain pressure, successfully pinching to hold the puck in the zone. He was a big part of the empty net goal that secured his team the game through his sustained pressure on the backcheck, which led to a Florida player overhandling the puck causing a turnover in an attempt to create space from him.

Snyder was poised with the puck on his stick, patiently waiting for lanes to open and when there were limited options, he still managed to sauce pucks over sticks and onto the tape of his teammates. He showed off a high sense of awareness on the ice, he made some impressive one touch passes that redirected right into the path of streaking teammates and was putting himself in the right position in the offensive zone to support puck carriers and jump onto loose pucks, but he also took the place of pinching defenseman many times and managed to backcheck and break up a shorthanded breakaway chance. He still had a few chances to jump onto the scoresheet with some heads up passes around the net and some shots around the dots.