Renaud’s speed and physicality were his bread and butter all tournament long. He was often the first man in on the forecheck, closing in quickly on defenders as the F1 and laying out hard body checks in order to force them into a bad decision. He was very effective at retrieving loose pucks below the goal line thanks to his tenaciousness, constantly engaging himself in scrums and winning battles in order to pull pucks out and set up offensive zone sequences. Renaud even flashed a little more playmaking than I’m used to seeing, connecting on a couple of passes to the middle of the ice from below the goal line that lead to some dangerous chances in front. On-puck he was quite adept at building up speed through the neutral zone to gain the offensive line and often opted to take defenders head on, force them on their heels and try to get shots through screens while attacking downhill.

It’s very easy to see what type of impact a player like Renaud can bring to the next level. He’s a tall and physical player with high-end skating ability who uses his speed to consistently get in on the forecheck and pressure opposing defenders. He was able to deliver a few large body checks as the F1, which either helped set the tone early on or create turnovers below the goal line that lead to some offensive zone sequences. His work on-puck mostly consisted of him looking to build up speed through the neutral zone, attack wide around defenders and make a hard cut to the front of the net looking to create chances in tight. He even flashed some intriguing puck skills while attacking 1v1, pulling pucks around defenders to work his way inside and get off shots from the slot.

Renaud’s combination of speed and power make him a handful to deal with both on the forecheck and with the puck on his stick in transition. He was at his best at this camp when he was imposing himself physically on the opposition by pressuring opposing defenders and using his frame to remove them from the puck to win back possession. With the puck on his stick he liked to push back defenders on their heels by attacking in a straight line, hoping to take defenders wide before either dropping his shoulder and driving the net or funneling pucks to the middle of the ice looking to generate chances from the inside. There’s still some room to round out his game, especially in the playmaking category, but I think Renaud has a really solid foundation to work with.

When Renaud is on his game, he’s really hard to ignore. All throughout the game he was leveraging his straight-line speed and physicality to close in quickly on defenders to apply pressure and force turnovers in the offensive zone, generating puck touches for himself and his linemates. He earned himself a primary assist early in the second by being first man in on the forecheck, jumping on a loose puck after a mishap behind the net and feeding the middle of the ice to a teammate who scored into an open net. Throughout the rest of the game I thought he did a really good job of protecting the puck below the goal line in the offensive zone and funneling pucks to the middle of the ice that lead to a few high-danger chances. He had a few strong moments in transition as well where he was able to build up speed through the neutral zone, push back defenders and gain the offensive blueline with control.

Renaud had some really dangerous moments in this game by utilizing his strength and high-end speed to create chances for himself in transition. When he was able to build up speed through the neutral zone, he was incredibly difficult to slow down, often gaining a step on defenders, turning them around and getting a shot off from in tight. Renaud even had some intriguing playmaking sequences off the rush, executing a couple of downhill seam passes through traffic that ended up leading to some dangerous looks.