I suspect Jaffray will be a difficult player for me to evaluate all season as his consistent production and the eye test are often at odds. On the positive end, he has great feel for where to be and when to be there. He always seems to pop into the fray at the perfect moment to force a turnover, pounce on a rebound, or win a loose puck. With possession he is an excellent playmaker, quickly finding lanes, showing a knack for avoiding sticks and skates, and demonstrating excellent touch on his passes into space. There is no question that Jaffray is an accomplished offensive threat at this level, but his small stature and middling stride give me pause on his ultimate potential at higher levels. He collected 12 points in five games at this tournament and has produced at every level, but his physical tools don’t scream top six player at the junior level. He will be a focal point of every viewing moving forward and is sure to be a polarizing prospect over the year.

At his best Jaxon Jaffray showed off some excellent playmaking habits and really helped drive things for Team Canada 4. His patience and poise working along the perimeter, in particular nearest to the faceoff dots along the wall, allowed him to pull in pressure and make quick moves 1-on-1 to get around his man, opening up some brief odd-man advantage situations around the slot, giving him the looks needed to feed pucks to the goalmouth, and or backdoor. His involvement with teammates made him quite dynamic as well. Moving the puck quickly whilst rotating with his teammates, the constant movement aided him in pulling opponents out of their assigned roles and creating some space. His greatest strength was definitely his ability to know just how long to delay and when to execute a pass through a seam. He processed things well, and never had much in regards to reckless turnovers. If needed, he’d opt for the simpler play and rim it high-or-low in the zone to keep play alive. With some greater consistency to his high-end playmaking that he showed early in the event he could’ve been an even more impactful piece for his team.

One of the best playmaking options in this game, Jaxon Jaffray did a phenomenal job working off the half-wall, pulling in pressure, and connecting on nifty passes cross-ice or backdoor for Grade-A chances. His explosiveness when cutting laterally with crossovers opened plenty of ice to the middle as well for some scoring chances. He got a nice look early via stripping an opponent of the puck as they walked up the wall, quickly spinning around, Jaffray was able to walk off the wall, into the slot, and fired a good shot on net. He scored the 4-0 goal later in the second half, catching a pass and firing a strong shot through the goalie. Highlighting his playmaking, he was extremely calm under pressure, knew how to delay just long enough to let lanes open, and had some excellent puck skills that aided him in buying time and remaining dynamic, combining some fancy footwork with delicate puck handles. His ability to set up plays with speed made him a great transitional piece, and a major play driver on his line as well. A strong forward skater in a straight line in addition to his lateral explosiveness, he managed to push defenders on their heels, opening some separation cross-ice and to the middle, wherein he was able to set up teammates with accurate passes all game long.