Projection: Puck Moving Upside

Strengths: Confidence, Mobility, Physical Tools

Development Opportunities: Activation Timing, Off-puck Defending

I’ve been drawn to Havusic’s game from the outset of the year. There’s a sense of confidence and ambition that has resurfaced in every viewing, and it’s what keeps me intrigued on his upside. He’s quite mobile for a 6’2 defender, especially laterally, and has the footwork to slip out from pressure, skirt checks, and keep play flowing with control. When things go right, you can see the puck-moving and transition impact he offers, retrieving pucks cleanly, connecting on passes, or carrying it up ice when the situation calls for it.

The blips come on the execution side of things. He can try to do a bit too much at times and get closed down, but when Jamal keeps things simple and picks his spots on when to activate, you can see why he’s someone to bet on. A defender with size and the skating tools to reliably quarterback transitions and facilitate breakouts. It’s an upside bet, but he’s one of the more intriguing players at this stage of my list to take a swing on.

Havusic showed patience and confidence with the puck, being that reliable puck-mover out of the back-end for the Rangers. He was calm and calculated with the puck on his stick, often taking time to process his options and make the smart play to move pucks up ice. If there was open ice in front of him, Jamal didn’t hesitate to activate forward, relying on his mobility to push play up ice, providing tons of value in transition. It was just a solid showing of a defender who could be relied upon to get pucks up ice with control, doing a ton of heavy lifting on breakouts and through the neutral zone for Oakville.

Havusic was someone I liked previously when I was working through some U15 tape over the summer, so I was looking forward to seeing him in the Titans Tournament. He displayed the same physical characteristics that initially caught my eye, the bigger bodied defenceman, with the baseline skating and mobility to check the initial few boxes in the evaluation process. While on the surface it’s mainly the physical tools in his size, reach, and skating, I thought he played well with the puck on his stick, making the right decisions, and was a solid puck-mover. He played a confident game, connecting on pinches to keep pucks alive in the offensive zone and attacked off the point to walk in for chances.

In terms of raw physical tools, Jamal was the defender in this report that I was most impressed with. He was one of the bigger players on the ice, possessed a long stride, and had all the four-way mobility I am looking for in my preliminary assessment of a young defender. I thought he used these physical attributes well defensively, showing a willingness to engage with checks and also using his reach to disrupt plays from developing into dangerous chances against. With the puck, his impact was a bit hit-and-miss at times, but there were some flashes when the skating, puck handling, and confidence all came together to evade a forechecker and activate up ice, that made Havusic really stand out. It was only one viewing, but I came away thinking there was tons of potential with Jamal and I look forward to seeing how he looks after a summer of training and development.