Player Type: Explosive skating winger with a high-quality shot

QMJHL Draft Projection: 1st round

Projected QMJHL Arrival: Spring 2023

Projectable Skills: Explosive footwork and ability to roll out of contact relatively unscathed.

Development Opportunities: His offensive engagement has ebbs and flows. Finding consistency at his maximum output will make him a game-changing offensive threat.

Back in the Fall when I first started to pay close attention to Shields, it was his incredible speed that caught my eye most. The Nova Scotia native possesses a level of quickness that is undoubtedly in the top-3 of players eligible for this draft - and he’s arguably number one among that group. To pair with his quickness, Shields delivers a deliberate and accentuated stride in straight lines, often using only subtle weight shifts to move around defenders before they’ve had the opportunity to estimate speed or angles. In this sense, he reminds me a bit of a downhill slalom skier when he transitions the puck through the neutral zone. A major catalyst to his speed is his ability to time his activation well. Shields often remains loose in the defensive zone, floating with the play and continually analyzing for his opportunity to break loose. When a change to friendly possession becomes imminent, Shields has often already anticipated the opportunity, and begun to circle low building power in his crossovers to slingshot out of the zone. The value in his transition speed would not be as high if not for his ability to reliably cradle breakout passes of all natures. The speed at which his entire team plays means that Shields is often targeted with imperfect passes from the wall and through traffic. He has an above average ability to adapt and work the puck onto his stick without a substantial loss of the incredible momentum that he’s built to get there. In approaching the offensive zone he exhibits composure and creativity. His options to pull up and setup from the point, drive deep and circle to setup at the opposite corner, or simply cut in and drive to the crease are deployed in a balanced, yet unpredictable manner. Considering that he also possesses one of the best finishing abilities, not only in terms of his shot, but also in terms of knowing where to go without the puck, he is often one of the most electrifying players on the ice. His technical skating superiority in addition to his creativity and awareness in how to use it, unquestionably makes him one of the best skaters in this class.

Shields has been a bit inconsistent so far for me this year but his talent is undeniable when you watch him on the ice. He is a smooth skater and can make defensemen miss with some really clever dekes before ripping a shot past the goalie or perfectly setting up a teammate for a tap-in. His ability to process the game at a high speed is what separates his game from a lot of other kids in his age group and it seems like he really is just watching things develop in his head before anyone else on the ice has figured out what’s going on. His shot is very powerful despite his slight frame and he is capable of placing it as he pleases. His one on one ability is very good as he can beat the defenseman with either speed or skill and then in tight on the goalie it is instead a question of whether he will shoot or make a move. He needs to iron out some consistency to his game but when he is cooking he looks like the clear cut best player on the ice.

Shields has been a staple near the top of our rankings since the summer, yet we still think he’s flying a bit under the radar. Leading the BK selects in both goals and points, there are very few of his peers who are at a comparable level in terms of their technical offensive abilities. His skating is purely explosive with and without the puck, particularly in terms of footspeed, but also in terms of stride. He plays hard until the end of every shift which is occasionally more obvious as he makes his way off the ice than you like to see, but nonetheless, a clear indication of a player who is leaving it all on the ice. When Shields is on the ice for the penalty kill, BK is aggressive and Shields utilizes an active stick to apply heavy pressure to the puck carrier along the walls. This sort of activity helps him to exploit the uncertainty of his opponents and gives him a tendency of being a highly effective penalty killer – identifying and intercepting many passes in his zone and clearing the puck with promptness.  It also means that he’s required to move a bit more because of how much less time he has to react to strong powerplay cycles. It results in a bit of a sprint-style PK, in which, if they aren’t able to clear the puck quickly, endurance comes into consideration. He’s very mobile and utilizes the entire sheet of ice when skating with the puck and when setting up for it. He presents a good target for his defensemen and is always ready to take off. In the offensive zone, Shields puts up a persistent fight to maintain position and readiness in the slot. He isn’t shy to engage in battles along the boards, but typically stays at an arms’ length as to give himself an opportunity to capitalize on pucks as they squeak loose.

Another player worthy of ample praise for his performance in this opening day game was Will Shields. The explosive skating sniper revealed a dimension to his abilities in this game that I was almost entirely blind to in previous viewings. Perhaps because of the infatuation with his speed and his shot, I’ve never really appreciated the abilities that Shields has when it comes to playmaking. In all seriousness though, I think this is actually a relatively new development for Shields. Over the past few months I’d begun to question whether his value as a speed sniper was going to become too predictable for opposing defenses. In this game he did an incredible job opening up ice for his linemates, using great upper body strength to push, and mesmerizing lateral movement to pull opponents away from the middle of the ice. As a winger this is an incredible secondary element to possess and something that I really appreciated in this game. Of course, his shot remained a primary factor in this game. His goals were only the tip of the iceberg in this regard as he was able to create several other scoring opportunities by taking powerful shots from long range to create rebound opportunities for himself and teammates. 

Shields did not show up on the scoresheet in this one but he looked good throughout the game. He did such a good job of using his body to protect the puck and strategically positioning his body to enable him to quickly come out of a defensive stance on the puck and immediately burst out and attack with pace. He sees the play as it’s developing and puts himself into a good position to receive the puck and generate a good chance. While he did do some good things I also didn’t feel much urgency in his play throughout the first two periods and he seemed a bit passive. He came alive in the final frame but then they got into some penalty trouble which disrupted the flow of his game. While he was on the ice for two goals for he wasn’t particularly involved, a big game like this would have been a great time for Will to put his stamp on it.

Our highest ranked player who was born outside of Quebec is Nova Scotia forward Will Shields. The fleet footed forward is like teflon through the neutral zone, rolling out of contact seamlessly, and maintaining speed through his opposition. He’s very adaptive with the puck in the sense that if an opportunity isn’t immediately available to him, he will juke laterally, or delay in order to open up a lane that he can expose either with his speed or with a pass. In many instances it seems like he’s playing at a level that isn’t quite challenging him enough, as he’s able to disconnect a bit when he’s further away from the action.