Lappalainen was another standout on the Panthers, mainly for his passing. I was impressed with Brayden's combination of on-puck patience and ability to spot and exploit open passing lanes. So often, he was controlling the puck along the outside of the offensive zone, using delays and spinning off pressure to gain separation from defenders. After those smart moves to buy time and space, Brayden constantly scanned for teammates in scoring positions and frequently set them up for grade 'A' chances. He mainly impacted as a passer, but he also notched a powerplay one-timer goal, blasting one past the goaltender from the wing position. The passing, puck management, and creativity have always been the key to my assessment of Brayden's game, so it was great to see those elements shine again.

As always, there was lots to like in Brayden's game, from the crafty and confident puckhandling to his powerful skating and an abundance of quality playmaking. I could elaborate on all those elements, but I want to focus on one key area of his game that really stood out: his off-puck positioning. Playing with two talented playmakers in Edgar and Wycisk, Lappalainen did a fantastic job playing off them and being in the perfect spots for them to get him the puck. He was clever in his off-puck routes, timing himself into open gaps all weekend long and making life easy for his linemates to hit him in dangerous areas. Through his smart positioning, Brayden was available for so many backdoor passes, getting prime scoring chance after scoring chance just from where he was on the ice, supporting the play. As he had nearly unlimited high danger chances, Lappalainen was all over the score sheet, scoring goals all throughout the weekend. Lappalainen created many goals as a passer and showed flashes of driving the middle himself, but this high-end offensive anticipation was what really stood out to me over the Draft Day Showcase.

Like Lisi and all of these talented Sun County forwards, I've seen plenty of Brayden and was quite familiar with his game entering the tournament. In past viewings, I've thought Lappalainen mainly moved the needle as a smart off-puck player to find open space within the offensive zone and capitalize when he receives dangerous passes. While this was the case, and he had a few impressive sequences showcasing his hands in tight, shooting and finishing ability, I was mainly impressed with him as a passer. All over the ice, in many different scenarios, Brayden was connecting on passes to advance play or spark dangerous chances. Especially at both blue lines, there were many moments where he took that extra half-second required to scan for options and make the correct outlet or entry pass to ensure his team crossed the blueline with control. Brayden connected on some impressive passes within the offensive zone to spot open teammates in scoring positions, but his clever and crafty plays at the bluelines were what stood out to me the most.

I noted Brayden over the Titans Tournament for him making the little plays to advance play up ice, and while there was some of that here, I was mainly impressed with his sheer puck skills. There were so many moments where his handling jumped off the page as he dangled by an opponent and created space for himself. It just seemed like no matter what the opponents threw at him, Lappalainen had the answer with a slick toe drag or lateral move to deceive them and off he went. He had some clever passing all over the ice and sparked some scoring chances, but the raw stickhandling talent was my key takeaway.

I didn't notice Brayden a ton throughout this match, but the few flashes I noted were quite promising. There were some high-end plays of Lappalainen using impressive skill moves to navigate around pressure and access prime scoring positions. He seemed incredibly eager to try to dangle his way by defenders and was successful in many of his attempts to deke around or through his opponents. Brayden converted on one sequence, chaining a drag move to the middle into a quick shot that fooled the Navy netminder.