Strengths: Strength, Hockey IQ
Development Opportunities: Pacing

The numbers he put up this season for a defender in the Manitoba league are certainly high level. He’s a player who uses quick reaction timing to slalom skate with purpose through layers against lesser competition and really make end to end rushes seem easy. It seems like he’s already fully grown and filled out so building power and footspeed wont come from natural growth. I think as competition grew, Crosby had a tougher time creating chances off the rush as consistently as he had in the past. It meant he was being cut off, forced to pass up ice, and left him outskated in puck rushes defensively too. If you feel like you can improve his pacing, he is certainly smart enough to adapt to others at 5on5 and be a strong offensive blueliner from the point as a tactically advanced player. When he has that built speed and can simply maintain momentum through turns, it helps him adjust to cut off defensive gaps sooner against players who have more footspeed. He’s smart, skilled, and if the pacing improves he could be a strong offensive contributor. I expect he will most likely go in the early 2nd round.

I wanted to touch on Crosby early on this season because of the strong play of his older brother and wanting to contrast the similarities and the differences. He continues to do some of the similar things I saw last year of opening up spacing for others with evasive skating and making sure he is pulling pucks out of reach of others for outlets and making intelligent passes. He loves to bait a forward into trying to strip him of the puck before pulling to the backhand or circling back strong on his forehand. I was hoping to see him be continually aggressive and push heavier into spacing by using his speed, he’s more patient and calm in his approach by not rushing passes and waiting for moments to use slip passes or time his puck movement well. I’m not entirely sure where he will end up in the ranking at the end of the year but I wanted to make sure to touch base on his play early on. He’s very smart and his puck management is on point.

Crosby Mateychuk led the charge for the Selects in this game, standing out with his stellar two-way play. Defensively, Mateychuk timed his pinches perfectly, consistently breaking up breakout attempts by attacking wingers the moment they turned their backs to him. His stick checking was precise, using his reach and force to separate players from the puck with ease and with a ton of confidence. On breakouts, he showcased his poise and puck-handling ability, often utilizing tight curls and quick moves below his goal line to beat forecheckers and transition up ice. Offensively, Mateychuk was a constant threat. He showed off a calculated and great wrist shot, including a powerplay goal by knocking down a clearing attempt, walking into the high slot, and unleashing a heavy wrist shot to make it 2-0.