Projection: Top Six Winger

Strengths: Explosiveness, Puck Handling, Shot

Development Opportunities: Strength, Cycle Game

Lauder is one of the most dynamic players in the Ontario 2010 class. The explosiveness jumps out in the first shift you see him, consistently using his long, powerful stride to gain separation, attack wide, and create chances off the rush. His handling can more than keep up with his skating too, leveraging quick hands to skirt in and out of checks at top speed and making him incredibly difficult to contain in open ice. All of that leads to a highly effective rush player who can attack defenders one-on-one and find his way to scoring areas with ease. The key element on top of all of it is the shot, getting tremendous power off his releases and threatening netminders from all sorts of angles and distances, which I think makes him a lethal power play option down the line.

Where I’d like to see him grow is his game when play is established in the offensive zone. Lauder is at his best attacking at full speed, and that will translate, but creating off the cycle and attacking off the wall will be important to expanding his offensive arsenal at the next level where open ice rushes are harder to come by. The raw skill and explosiveness point to a player who has all the tools to develop into a top six winger in the OHL.

In terms of tools you could easily see what Lauder was all about. The explosive skating and puck handling that enable him to fly up and down the ice, weave in and out of defenders, and get pucks into the offensive zone. While he had some impressive rush sequences, for the most part I felt Barrie did a good job containing him, and Kyler wasn’t able to penetrate in as much as typical for high quality looks. A good chunk of his looks were from the perimeter and were handled easily by the Barrie netminder. A few nice passing sequences hitting cutting teammates, including an assist on Tristan Endicott’s goal, as Lauder was working down low and hit him open net front.

Lauder was a scoring threat every time he touched the puck. His attack mindset was present all throughout the game, always finding ways to get pucks to the scoring areas and unleash shots. Especially off the rush, Kyler could deceive defenders to open up space and access the center lane on more than a handful of rush sequences. While the run-and-gun enter the zone and attack was at the forefront, he mixed in some delays, showing patience to slow things down when the time was right. Lauder found the back of the net once in this game, wiring a shot past the netminder on a breakaway with a quick release. The high-end skill and quickness to push the tempo has been the central part of every viewing of Lauder and it was great to see that again at the Silver Stick.

The pace and skill combination from Lauder was once again my key takeaway. He was always zooming, buzzing up and down the ice, and playing that push the pace style game. Kyle seemed to want the puck on his stick every shift, he wanted to take over and try to create scoring chances. He showed flashes of skill, dangling by defenders to find ways to the scoring area, making quick moves at top speed to penetrate for chances. Lauder came away with a hattrick in this one, scoring two on quick shots from the slot and a third beating a defender wide with a burst of speed and cutting in toward the net and beating the goaltender. Once again, it was another really strong performance, bringing skill and excitement every time he was on the ice.

In a game where the Wolves were outmatched by a strong opponent, Lauder was the Wolves’ primary offensive driver. At the forefront, Lauder showed his high-end technical abilities in this one, constantly combining quick bursts of speed, changes of direction, and slick handling to dodge defenders and create space for himself. With the puck, I came away really impressed with his feel for pressure, as he always seemed to understand when he had time and space, where he could safely navigate to, and just remained in control of the puck while operating as a puck carrier. Almost all of the Wolves' premium scoring chances came off a sequence initiated by Kyler, typically with him delaying to the wall and threading a cross-ice pass to a teammate in scoring position. He set up the Wolves' lone goal, chipping a puck out of the zone by a defender to spark a 2-on-1 and hitting his open linemate who buried Kyler’s pass. I was really impressed by Lauder at the Draft Day Showcase, so it was nice to see that high-level play continue and I look forward to watching more of his game this season.

Lauder was the player who stood out the most on this ETA squad. At the forefront was a strong skater who could handle pucks well in motion, maneuvering effortlessly around opponents thanks to how easily he could shift direction without losing any momentum. How he applied this was the key to his success, as Kyler was always eager to challenge defenders 1-on-1, assert himself, and drive the scoring areas for a chance. Especially off the rush, he was constantly trying to beat defenders wide or use a smart touch to beat them to the interior, and got to the net shift after shift. He scored plenty of goals in the games I watched, and all fit under this theme of attacking the net with speed, using his hands to fool goaltenders, and finishing in tight from the crease. While Lauder had some nice moments of playmaking, the focal point was how he used his feet and hands in combination to beat defenders and get in tight.