Napon was one of the better forwards for Team Savage from start to finish here, finishing tied for the team lead in points with 5 points in 4 games and helping generate chances for his linemates at a high rate. He’s a powerful skater with soft handles who was able to drive play in transition through his puck-carrying ability, willingness to attack the middle of the ice and a surprising amount of playmaking acumen which I hadn’t seen a ton of while playing for his club team. He was consistently able to thread passes through traffic, combining accuracy with shades of deception to open up seams for himself and execute passes to the middle of the ice to create high danger chances. He helped create a number of odd man rushes as well by attacking wide off the rush, delaying up high to draw pressure towards him before slipping a puck through a stick to create a 2v1. He flashed some shooting acumen as well, displaying the ability to get pucks through traffic with accuracy to score from distance when allotted the space to shoot in the offensive zone.

Napon is a player who’s at his best with the puck on his stick, demonstrating a powerful skating stride and adept puck handling that allows him to operate with the puck at top speed and gain the offensive zone with control. His ability to process the play while operating at top speed stood out to me, as he was able to exploit the footing of defenders by performing quick angular cuts that left them flat-footed and allowed him to work around them. He often opted to take defenders on one on one once he entered the zone, usually trying to beat them wide before either making a hard dash to the net or circling the zone waiting for help to arrive. He’s not exactly a super creative playmaker, but his thought process with the puck is middle oriented as he funneled plenty of pucks to the slot area looking to create dangerous chances.

What drew me to Napon at this camp was his ability to impact the game in many different facets. He’s able drive wide as a puck-carrier off the rush and turn around defenders to create space up high for his teammates. He could also use his strength to come out on top in puck battles along the perimeter in the offensive zone and funnel pucks to the middle of the ice. There were instances of a strong power game from below the goal line as well where he would fend off a defender behind the net and make a strong push to the front looking to get a chance off from in tight. This versatility in his game left me optimistic about him and excited for his development.

Napon led the way for this Team Savage offence with two clutch goals that included the opening goal of the game, where he created a turnover along the wall and then executed a quick give-and-go to perfection, as well as a quick response to Team Daigle’s third goal where he corralled a loose puck in the high slot, spun around to face the net and wired the puck right under the crossbar. He’s got a fluid stride and a slick set of hands that let allow him to swiftly challenge defenders and there was a few moments in this game where he was able to combine them to gain the middle of the offensive zone and create good looks.

From the drop of the puck, Napon was using his pace and skillful puck work to be an effective forward in transitional play. He was consistently challenging defenders with his legs up the ice and was finding ways to generate chances in the middle of the ice whether that was cutting into open ice with the puck and landing quality shot attempts in the slot or spotting and connecting with teammates cutting towards the middle. He picked up an assist on the game’s opening goal when a quick touch off the faceoff led to a one-time opportunity for Branton near the top of the circle.

Napon’s on-puck game was highly effective throughout this one, demonstrating his patented skating stride that allowed him to blow by defenders on the wing while slipping pucks through to the middle of the ice to create advantages for his linemates. He flashed deception in his playmaking on his second assist of the game when on a 2v1 he opened up his posture to sell shot before slipping it through the newly opened cross-ice seam. A handful of times he flashed a great amount of athleticism by contorting his body at full speed to open up passing lanes inorganically where he could slip and hook passes to his linemates in open ice off the rush.

Napon’s skating ability is what really helped him standout consistently throughout this match up. He generates plenty of power through his crossovers, which allows him to burst through the neutral zone and fly down the wing once he’s gained the line. More often than not he was able to get a step on a defender, drive wide around him and funnel a puck to the middle of the ice looking to create. I would like to see him try and diversify his rush approach to try and make him a more unpredictable attacker, but the toolkit does give him a good amount of developmental runway.