Ben Harvey is another playmaking forward who climbed up a little from last time. Ben’s game is more about his calm and execution in bigger moments. In the playoffs against St. George’s he scored a quick one timer goal and set the games trajectory in motion. He’s a player who is more so living in the weeds of the neutral zone, causing turnovers by having his stick in lanes and spacing out well with his linemates. He can turn plays around quickly though when given the opportunity. There are others in this draft with better individual skills than him as far as speed, shot, or physical battles along the boards, but the consistency of effort and sure handedness allows others to breathe a sigh of relief.

Harvey road shotgun with previously mentioned Blake Chorney on a line and their chemistry together was really fun to watch. It was honestly a little difficult to evaluate them separately as they maximize each others’ talents so efficiently. Harvey is the more puck dominant of the two and excels as the primary distributor on the ice. His head is always up, reading the play and manipulating the situation to his advantage. He has the rare ability to slow the play down to his level and completely dictate the pace of play. He is so effective at opening up the ice on the cycle by baiting defenders, probing soft spots, and faking intentions, before finding the highest danger missed assignment with a crisp tape to tape pass. His instincts in changing speeds to throw the defence off balance will also serve him well at higher levels. His ability to slow the play down on the cycle is matched by his blazing speed in open ice and soft touch when finding teammates at full speed off the rush. The further the tournament progressed I also came to appreciate Harvey’s off-puck play more. His play reading skills carry over to his positional instincts, allowing him to be in smart areas to pick off opposition outlets as well as providing excellent coverage for pinching defenders, allowing them to cycle into the NAX attack without concern of creating a defensive weakness. He is also a surprisingly effective presence around the net front. He isn’t blessed with size but hangs around the fringes of the net front and is really adept and getting his stick on points shots for tips.

I anticipated that someone would bring up Ben’s name fairly early to ask why he wasn’t in the top-20 on the PuckPreps board as he’s continuing to produce at a top clip in the CSSHL and was one of a few 2009-born players playing in the Prep division last year. He’s a good hockey player. Point blank. The more you watch him, the more you see the impact of the details of his play. He keeps his feet moving, adjusts quickly, supports the play defensively both as the F3 and in transition backchecking, and makes quick plays in open ice or off outlet passes off the boards. He’s patient with the puck, cycles well, keeps possession with team play, and all the rest. At this point it’s a conversation of efficiency vs upside. Others offer one or two high level traits with either physicality or shot power or whatever. Ben’s efficiency and well-rounded play is his projectable asset.