There were few defenders more entertaining to watch this tournament than Runtso as he brought his high octane, pedal to the floor, brand of hockey on every shift. It is thrilling to watch him move at full speed. His stride is incredibly powerful, and he uses his explosiveness to drive up the ice and carry the puck out of danger. He is always ready to join the rush and provide an additional layer of attack, so opposition defenders need to be aware of where he is at all times. Importantly, Runtso has a good barometer for when to pick his spots, balancing intensity with a strong sense of defensive responsibility and positioning. He never recklessly counterattacks or goes for big hits, but he also doesn't hesitate or play passively. He collected four points in six games and was a major catalyst for a Pacific team that otherwise often struggled at this tournament.

Followers of the U16 field at Nationals were introduced to Runtso who went from a relatively unknown cog in last years 15O team to one of, if not the top defender on this years version of the Kings. It seemed as though Runtso was evaluated as a stand out in nearly every game he played in this tournament by our scouts, drawing attention to himself with his stabilizing and at times physical defensive play and the presence in the offensive zone. Runtso has a knack for finding space and not getting pitted into poor areas of the ice, finding creative ways to solved problems on the fly and moving pucks effectively to in stride teammates as they continued on their routes without disruption. He’s grown his offensive game and has some growth potential to have an impact with his ability to create shot and passing lanes with his mobility and unleash the occasional bomb of a shot when the opportunity is there. He may not be 100% ready to play in the USHL next year, but with his trajectory, there will surely be a conversation to be had.

Runtso continues to be a highly intriguing player to keep an eye on as his career progresses. There is great length to his frame and his stride, allowing him to navigate the ice with ease, monitoring gaps and staying positioned well in the flow of the game. Play rarely got behind him without control of the puck, and he used his skating on retrievals well to create space for himself and create passing options. His vision and ideas on the puck were largely great, but the execution on those passes was a bit mixed, with a few errant passes causing turnovers or not putting quite enough behind his passes to accurately hit targets. Early in the 2nd half, Runtso stepped up into a rush and with Ben Kevan dragging opponents to the net in double coverage, Runtso had a huge runway to the net and made no mistake, chipping in offensively to go with the strong 200-foot impact that he put together here. He was certainly among the more mobile players on the ice, especially when considering the size he naturally carries. His combination of range and skill is highly intriguing and he continues to put together a good string of performances in my experience.

The ying-to-the-yang of Stephen Grumley, Timofei Runtso played an incredibly strong shutdown role, whilst also expressing some offensive tools, playing with speed, and showing some good puck handling skill. Catching my eye a few seasons ago at the US Hockey Nationals 15U Division, Runtso has grown tremendously through his mobility and puck handling. He made several great breakout passes, both of simple and complex nature, shaking off pressure with ease, forwarding the puck up ice as a result. 1-on-1 defending the zone he managed gaps perfectly, kept square to puck carriers, intercepted any centering attempts, and defended the middle extremely well through the usage of accurate stick checks, and good physical play if necessary. An element of his game I really appreciated was that when a pass was heading for an opponent, he wouldn’t simply try and lean on the back, or shoulder, of his opponent, more-so he would actively tie up their stick, get contact initiated front-side of the body, and completely eliminate any potential that even if the pass is to connect, it’s unlikely that his opponent would be able to make a play. In the offensive zone he made some strong pivots and turns, getting his feet moving and quickly crossing over to get around a body, and created some space for himself to keep play alive for his team, showing some solid growth from years prior.

A key contributor defensively due to his positioning and four-way mobility. Runtso’s agility made it easier for him to shut down attackers on the rush, as he’s able to match their footwork and angle players off towards the outside with a well placed stick. He outmatched a number of New York forwards physically, was able to recover the puck and move it out quickly. It’s easy to miss Runtso at times because of how quick he makes decisions. It is rarely flashy for the sake of it; instead, it’s practical and, most importantly, executed quickly. Still, the ability for flash is certainly there. Just watch Runtso quarterback the powerplay and you can see how the movement and puck control can really work things for him.

Runtso is an absolute horse on the ice, and it is so much fun watching him roam around at full gallop. He has immense power through his stride, using his explosiveness to drive up ice and skate the puck out of trouble. I think at higher levels he’ll need to adjust the dial and use his teammates a little better but in this game his ability to rag the puck out of danger was a major asset. He also uses his feet to great effect on the offensive side of the puck where he is always ready to provide an extra layer of attack by jumping into the attack. He plays an aggressive and purposeful game while maintaining a nice balance of intensity without losing track of his defensive responsibility or positioning. He is never selling out the farm to counterattack or lay a big hit but there’s also no hesitation or passivity in his game.

Runtso's rise has been exceptional through the year and he continues to be a favorite here at Puck Preps. He was able to foil quite a few zone entries with his reach and creating a tight gap on attackers. He is able to send pucks in on goal relatively easy and calculated, waiting for teammates to get into the right position for possible deflections as shown on the Nolan goal. He kept the opposing forecheck to the outside and was able to force low danger chances.

Runtso opened a lot of eyes this tournament with his impactful presence on the blueline, tearing off the mask of anonymity and making him a household name from the age group. The dual citizen Belarusian was penciled in for nearly every important scenario and brought an advanced understanding and level of play that parlayed him into using the proper tools in his kit at appropriate times. He’s got really good size and has the combination of speed and reach to stymie offensive chances with quick closure and stick work or physicality if called for to separate the puck. Passes on tape, hard pucks to the net and an active presence off the blueline are staples to his game. Perhaps his dad being an actor in Hollywood has helped him prepare for the big stage.

One of the biggest reasons why this game was so lopsided for the Kings despite the heavy shot count from the Stars was because of how well their defense denied dangerous passing sequences, forcing shots to come from the outside. Timofei Runtso may have just been the best player on the ice for this reason. He was ahead of the play constantly, which is even more difficult for Dallas to work around given the amount of space Timofei can play with given the length of his range, as well as his agility. He was a no nonsense player as soon as the puck came to his stick, making the right play with great timing, not really giving the Stars’ forecheckers any easy chances to disrupt play.

Runtso played a ton and you can see why. He brings length and fluidity beyond his years, covering ice effortlessly, taking good looks with his head up and connecting on passes to push play up the ice. He was walking the blueline in the offensive zone both at 5v5 and on the powerplay, running passing plays and using skill to open seams. There wasn’t a tremendous amount of threatening offense coming from LA, but Runtso’s hard and heavy shot from the point was something to be aware of for Long Island, and he had some impressive determination in the third period holding the offensive zone and earning a scoring chance through skill, hard spins on his edges and pinching into the offensive zone. He was resilient, battling hard along the boards as well and overall was one of the most effective players for the Kings in many aspects.

Timofei was another key standout out on Columbia's blueline. Runsto constantly activated to jump up in the rush and spark a counterattack. He would push up ice to support the rush, be a passing option, and involve himself in as much of the rush offence as possible. Timofei had plenty of scoring chances through his activations and was a positive contributor of offence. Especially at the point, I appreciated his ability to sidestep forecheckers and find a shooting lane to avoid his shot being blocked. With the puck, he was mostly calm under pressure, could escape, and found his forwards up ice for successful transitions. There were moments when he rushed his passes and conceded possession, but they weren't frequent.

Timofei Runtso was a bit of a surprise standout to me in this one, completely unfamiliar with his game, and not one of the bigger names on the Jr. Kings blueline, he did an excellent job at denying zone entries, playing tight to the puck carrier, and taking away passing lanes with some good heads-up awareness in his defensive zone. He has some good 4-way mobility, can keep pace with puck carriers, remain square along with rhythmic in his backward skating stride, and ultimately keep pace. He managed to shove Jacob Cloutier to the outside on a rush attempt, showing sound skating fundamentals to be able to keep up with such a talented skater.