Dating back to U15 at the Port Huron Silver Stick and the OHFs, I've watched this Don Mills squad plenty, and the storyline with Lee is always similar, and his play over the Titans Tournament was precisely what I've come to expect. Lee was that crafty, deceptive, and manipulative puck handler who was constantly controlling the play in the offensive zone. Especially in small areas, along the boards and down low, Lee showed his dangle-out-of-a-phone booth puck skills to evade pressure repeatedly. All event long, Lee was craftily dodging checks, navigating out of pressure, earning him a ton of space to operate within the offensive zone. After these successful moves, his eyes were up, scanning for passing lanes, and he was able to thread pucks through tight gaps and slip passes under sticks, sparking plenty of scoring chances. Lee showed some finishing ability, scoring with his shot and from his high-end hands in tight, but the focal point was this theme of using his handling to set up space to enable a creative passing game that impressed me most.

The Draft Day Showcase was another solid showing from the Don Mills forward, which I've come to expect after having seen a large sample of viewings. As always with Lee, he dominated within the offensive zone, controlling play for long stretches and creating dangerous scoring chances after chances. With the puck, he was so deceptive with his handling, evading defenders all weekend long with slick puck moves and being nearly impossible to dispossess. No matter what defenders tried to do to close him down, Lee could turn, spin, and dodge to escape and maintain complete control of the puck. His ability to control the puck so well was the key to his success, as Tyler circled the perimeter of the offensive zone, pulling defenders out of position, which opened up so many passing lanes to exploit. Lee constantly scanned for open gaps in the defence and threaded pucks to teammates in the scoring areas all event long. While his main impact was as a playmaker, he did find the back of the net a few times over the weekend, capitalizing on some grade-A chances from the slot and finding the back of the net. With every viewing of the Don Mills Flyers, Lee was a central standout on the squad, so seeing him continue to thrive in a new environment was great.

As always with Tyler, I noticed him for his deceptive puck handling and how he leveraged that to open up passing lanes and thread pucks to dangerous areas. He constantly controlled the puck on the outside, combining patience, delays, and slick puck moves to maneuver in and around pressure until he could spot a gap. With the puck, he could draw in pressure, shift the defence out of position, and then thread pucks to the interior constantly. He scored a few goals, finishing pucks from the slot and around the net, but it was mainly his passing that set him apart. I've appreciated Tyler's game across every viewing of the Flyers this season, so it was nice to see him continue that over the elevated competition at the OHFs.

Lee was buzzing all over the offensive zone, controlling play on the outside, using his crafty handling to dodge checks and maintain possession. Tyler threaded an unbelieveable pass on the powerplay, hitting an open Evan Nicholson backdoor with a cross-ice pass, gifting him with a premium chance that he converted on.

Lee was his usual self, buzzing around the offensive zone and making things happen. He connected on plenty of passes to teammates in scoring positions, flexing that high-end playmaking game in his arsenal. Tyler scored two, both showing a finishing touch in tight, scoring from in and around the net for his two goals.

Lee added a strong complimentary scoring role in this one, chipping in a few times on the scoresheet. He finished a Charlie Murata pass, showing great hands in tight to pull the puck to his backhand and then roof it in quick succession. Tyler had an impressive assist, beating a defender wide, taking the puck down low, and then connecting on a behind-the-back pass to an open teammate net front, who capitalized on Lee's pass.

Lee displayed his ability to finish in this game, with a powerful and accurate shot, scoring from the slot. Beyond this, he was very dexterous, dancing around defenders’ sticks with ease, extending his offensive zone possession or moving out of dangerous areas to find a tight lane to move the puck. The other piece to his game was his vision, while he has skilled hands, he was only able to take advantage of this through the fact that his head was constantly up and his eyes scanning the ice. This made him highly impactful offensively for the Flyers in this game, as he was a big component of the extended offensive pressure they had over the Wolves.

I liked his playmaking instincts along the exterior as he could drag to his backhand with sweeping motions around the body of defenders and get pucks to the net front. It paid off later in the game with a good assist. I liked his posture adjustment attempts when approaching zone entries as he seems to attempt to find that spacing when pressure comes. When he’d lose a battle or a possession by just being out muscled or by a gap closing, the decisions and the attempts were still great choices in my mind. I think with a bit of added space and maturation those decisions will pop more often.

Seemingly at any event a Pro Hockey team is at they always have a handful of highly skilled player, and Tyler Lee of the Toronto Red Wings is one of them. Albeit not the most consistent player shift-in and shift-out, he had some phenomenal moments of puck control, fluidity, and play driving that simply allowed him to take over the pace of play at moments. He can pull pucks through sticks and through defenders with ease, making defenders look silly in the process, he did a great job at setting up odd-man rushes and partial breaks out of nothing. Some nice pop to his step, he dipped in-and-out of coverage very well, dancing into open ice and being the beneficiary of passes where he ripped the puck on net with a quality catch-and-release shot. Another strong suit of his was his ability to accelerate out of a tight turn, shaking off the checker nearby, and ripping a puck on goal all in one motion, even challenging the goaltender from range. It’s clear Tyler Lee is one of the more complete offensive packages you would’ve found at this event, with finishing ability, along with elite 1-on-1 skill to create time and space for others. You could very well argue he can be much higher in these rankings based on his talent.

Seeing Tyler Lee a few times now, in this event and previous, I get the hint he’ll be a player who will always leave you wanting more simply due to how talented he is. At his best in this game he made some excellent plays through traffic, even connecting on a nice backward-lateral pass to Jaakko Wycisk on the third goal of the game. He sees the ice very well, can manipulate defensive structures by waiting that half-second needed and pulling in an opponent before snapping a cross-ice pass. His fleet-a-foot nature and quickness on his feet on top of his processing ability made him extremely difficult to cut off. Even allowing him to slip into the middle of the ice off the rush a few times. He can back off defenders along with put them on their heels and freeze them because of his dynamism. I found the limiting factor with Lee was that when he wasn’t dazzling with the puck, he wasn’t as noticeable by any means, but he seems to be one of those players that in any given moment can make you pay for a defensive lapse or create something out of nothing.

The final standout on the mighty Don Mills Flyers is Tyler Lee. He was one of the primary puck transporters, involving himself in plenty of transition sequences and entering the offensive third with control on so many of his opportunities. He constantly combined deceptive on-puck moves to navigate his way by defenders, open up time and space, and look for ways to spark chances. Most of this success came from his ability to creatively handle the puck to create passing lanes and thread pucks through those gaps to teammates on the interior. Tyler scored a hattrick in their championship game, two of his goals stemmed from him finding open space and being in the right place at the right time to catch and release a puck from the net front area into the back of the net. The third was slightly different, as Tyler impressively maneuvered by a defender with a slick turn, buying the smidge of separation needed to blast one far side past the goaltender. Like many of his teammates, it was a terrific first impression, and given how strong the Flyers are, I will see plenty more of Lee moving forward.