It wasn't the best I've seen from Munnings this season, but he still played well enough to be the top performer on this Red Devils team who had a tough draw on the schedule. He was still winning pucks in his zone, and the mobility and confidence to rush the puck and get up in the play or walk the line to find a shooting lane was certainly still there, which has all been a key part of my assessment of Blake thus far. He recorded an assist in their game against the Marlies through this type of sequence, walking the blueline toward the middle of the ice and firing a shot that was tipped net front by Isaac Tracze into the net. His passing was what mainly left me wanting a bit more in these viewings, as things just weren't clicking at times on his outlet or stretch passes. Too many times, I just felt he was rushing his decisions, and I thought he could have taken a few more seconds to scan for his options and hit his forwards with controlled exit passes. I've seen him excel as a puck-mover previously, so it isn't a significant concern, but he is just vocalizing what I saw over the Silver Stick.

I saw Quinte a few times back at the OHF Championship, but looking back at my notes, I seem to have totally missed Munnings, which is a surprise given how he looked in my views of them over the Titans Tournament. He's a strong skater with a long, powerful stride, and he leveraged his feet well to his advantage. Mainly on retrievals and shutting plays down in the neutral zone, I thought his mobility was at the core of his success and how he added value. Blake was confident with the puck on his stick, playing with patience to scan for his options and then making the right play to move the puck up the ice with control. His play wasn't overly flashy or fancy, but just a lot of executing smart and simple plays and given his skating, it made me think it was all very projectable to a role at the junior level and that he was worth keeping a close eye on.

Blake had a well-rounded performance, adding positive value all over the ice. He was shutting plays down, carrying pucks forward, and simply being involved all over the ice, as is typical whenever I watch the Red Devils. Munnings scored the highlight of the net, carrying the puck end to end, beating a defender to the outside with a slick move to his backhand, cutting in toward the net and finishing with some nice touches in tight.

I thought Munnings did a solid job at shadowing incoming attackers, keeping threats to the outside, and using his feet to just take away time and space. When defending rushes, he seemed calm and calculated, and as such, was difficult for attackers to deceive him and get by. In the offensive direction, there were some impressive flashes where he showed an aggressive attack mindset, carrying the puck up ice, relying on that same skating ability to transport pucks up ice and secure zone entries. All in all, there was just a little bit of everything from Munnings, and he continues to impress as a defender for me to watch further.