Damir really jumped off the page in my viewings of the Reps, all for his explosive skating. He was constantly flying up the ice, as a few powerful strides were all he needed to propel himself by defenders and win space. While his straight-line speed was certainly noteworthy, his ability to swiftly change direction without losing momentum was the cherry on top. In my two viewings of the Reps, Cherniavskii constantly relied on his package of skating tools to dodge oncoming pressure and dictate the pace of play, gaining plenty of separation through his feet. All of this came together on a handful of sequences where Damir flew through the neutral zone, forcing defenders to drop back, giving him space and then attacking the middle of the ice for a quality shot or a clever dish-off. On these types of attacking off-the rush-sequences, Damir scored a goal and two assists across my viewings, showcasing what he's capable of when all of his tools are working together.

Cherniavskii was his usual self, showcasing the combination of handling and offensive creativity that landed him on my latest OHL Draft rankings. Whenever he touched the puck, you could see the wheels turning, and he was always looking to spark a chance, even if it required weaving around a defender with a slick move. Damir successfully navigated toward the middle of the ice for a few quality scoring chances and had a solid display as a passer, setting up plenty of opportunities, including Hanrahan's shorthanded goal when Damir used his pace to exit the zone and spark a rush chance for his linemate.

Cherniavskii was a player who jumped off the page early on in the year when I first started to get to know this Reps team, and I thought he played well again here. He was controlling the play within the offensive zone, always scanning for open lanes to exploit with quick passes. Damir had many quality passes, moving pucks around the offensive zone, and was a key piece to the Reps' ability to spark chances. He created one of the Rep's goals with a nice move along the boards to spin off a check and cycle the puck to Inskip, who then hit a man in front for a goal. There were some nice flashes where he was ambitious, relying on his quick acceleration and handling to attack the middle of the ice and try to get to the scoring areas himself, and all in all, was incredibly impactful within the offensive zone.