Kelly was a personal favorite of mine throughout the tournament, demonstrating an efficient and intelligent 200-foot game. He doesn’t waste any time with the puck on his stick, making quick decisions and deft on touch plays in transition to allow his teammates to enter the zone with speed. The way he scans the ice prior to receiving a pass was a trait that really sold me on his game early on. He has a high compete level that he uses in all three zones. There were a few notable moments throughout this event where he would hustle back hard on the backcheck to break up a potential odd-man rush for the other team. He doesn’t have great straight-line speed, but he has good bursts of speed in tight areas, especially when hunting for loose pucks. He was effective as forechecker as well, forcing defenders to their backhands and using his stick to break up breakout attempts. He did a good job getting to the dirty areas of the ice in the offensive zone and was really adept at finding loose pucks in the crease area. Although his statistical profile isn’t as noticeable as his peers, I think his overall compete level and style of play are going to help him be successful wherever he plays next year.

I thought Kelly was Québec White’s most consistent and effective forward throughout the duration of this game. He was making positive plays all around the ice, including a couple of hard back checks in the first period that nullified some odd-man rushes for Team Montembeault. He was still doing a good job of connecting plays in the neutral zone, making deft one touch passes to jumpstart the transition game and allow his teammates to gain the blueline with speed. He was more impressive in the offensive zone this time around, showing off some good short area speed to get to loose pucks and using his playmaking ability to get pucks to the slot area. Around the perimeter he was using his size more effectively to engage in board battles and come out with possessions. He scored a goal in the third that exemplified some good poise around the crease area, picking up a loose puck and going around the goaltender to slide the puck into an empty net.

I thought Kelly started off the game strong but wavered a bit as it went along. He’s a bigger forward for his age all while being an effective transition player. He makes quick decisions with the puck on his stick, making quick reads through the neutral zone while placing accurate passes so that his teammates didn’t have to break stride. He does a good job at scanning his options before receiving the puck, which allows him to make deft one touch passes before the defense can react. His skating mechanics are a work in progress which makes it difficult for him to be an efficient puck transporter at this stage of his development, but there was a lot to like despite his deficiencies.