Projection: Top pair defender
Projectable skills: Lateral mobility, offensive involvement, puck skills
Development Opportunities: Activation decisions, two-way play

Luca Blonda is simply awesome and easily sits at the top of the class of defenders from a pure offence perspective. The combination of mobility and puck skills is impressive, and he's always looking for opportunities to flex both of those skills to drive play. He never shies away from a chance to shake an oncoming forechecker, side-stepping, spinning, or dangling his way out of pressure, dominating with the puck on his stick. No matter the situation, Blonda wants to play with the puck on his stick, dictate the game, and find ways to generate offence.

Of course, with all the above, there are moments when Luca is eager to get up ice and sometimes leaving gaps behind him. I don't want him to totally change his playstyle, as that's what holds him so high on my list, but picking his moments when to activate will likely be something he'll need to think more about at the junior level.

Gosh. Luca blew me away in this viewing. By far my player of the game, and just enjoy watching him command the ice every time he’s out there. Early in the game you could tell Luca was engaged. The activations were crisp, and any opportunity to join the rush, he was there. In the first period alone, he was a one-man shooting gallery. Creating lanes to the net, finding open sticks on route to the net, and ultimately finding the back of the net to open the scoring. When exiting his own zone, it’s poetry in motion. He can beat you with his legs, but also does a great job using deception on retrievals to buy himself time. With that time, he’s shown consistently the ability to fire crisp first passes out of the zone.

I came into today with lofty expectations after Luca walked all over the Jr. Kings yesterday. He played another solid game for the Pens today. He was less involved in the rush, and activated far less, but what I noticed today was how well Blonda used shoulder and stick fakes to make plays along the boards. It was truly remarkable how many guys he made go the wrong way which freed up so much time for him to make the nice simple play up the wall or reverse it to his d-partner.

It didn’t take me long to realize that Blonda is one of the staples of the Penguins offensive game, despite playing from the backend. He’s a really evasive blueliner on retrievals, using his agility and great edgework to get away from forecheckers and initiate the breakout for his team. He had a rush late in the second period where he picked up the puck from his own zone and showed off his high-end skating ability by leaving every defender behind him and just missing on his backhand-forehand attempt. He scored the game tying goal in regulation by carrying the puck up, dishing off to a teammate before jumping into space and firing a snapshot over the glove or the Spartans goaltender. In the dying minutes of the game I liked how engaged he was defensively, using his stick and body to clog passing lanes and prevent any dangerous scoring chances.

It didn’t take me long to realize that Blonda is one of the staples of the Penguins offensive game, despite playing from the backend. He’s a really evasive blueliner on retrievals, using his agility and great edgework to get away from forecheckers and initiate the breakout for his team. He had a rush late in the second period where he picked up the puck from his own zone and showed off his high-end skating ability by leaving every defender behind him and just missing on his backhand-forehand attempt. He scored the game tying goal in regulation by carrying the puck up, dishing off to a teammate before jumping into space and firing a snapshot over the glove or the Spartans goaltender. In the dying minutes of the game I liked how engaged he was defensively, using his stick and body to clog passing lanes and prevent any dangerous scoring chances.

I came into today with lofty expectations after Luca walked all over the Jr. Kings yesterday. He played another solid game for the Pens today. He was less involved in the rush, and activated far less, but what I noticed today was how well Blonda used shoulder and stick fakes to make plays along the boards. It was truly remarkable how many guys he made go the wrong way which freed up so much time for him to make the nice simple play up the wall or reverse it to his d-partner.

Gosh. Luca blew me away in this viewing. By far my player of the game, and just enjoy watching him command the ice every time he’s out there. Early in the game you could tell Luca was engaged. The activations were crisp, and any opportunity to join the rush, he was there. In the first period alone, he was a one-man shooting gallery. Creating lanes to the net, finding open sticks on route to the net, and ultimately finding the back of the net to open the scoring. When exiting his own zone, it’s poetry in motion. He can beat you with his legs, but also does a great job using deception on retrievals to buy himself time. With that time, he’s shown consistently the ability to fire crisp first passes out of the zone.

Blonda was the skater in this American trio who most benefitted from playing on the same ice as the Ontario skaters in terms of elevating their draft stock in my rankings. His mobility stood out the most, as he could turn or pivot his way out of any pressure. Blonda's feet allowed him to be highly deceptive, fool oncoming forecheckers, and easily push play up ice. Relying on his skating abilities, Luca was so effective at carrying the puck out of his defensive zone and transporting it into the offensive third with perfect control and setting up offensive sequences. If open ice wasn't available for him to skate into, Blonda showed to be a top-notch passer, connecting on plenty of stretch passes up ice to spark counterattacks for Pens forwards. Over the Silver Stick, Blonda made it clear he is one of the top defenders and earned a bump in my draft rankings.

As expected against a more challenging opponent and the Pens only having four active defenders, it wasn't as commanding as a game for Blonda, but there were still many positives. He was his same self, showing extreme confidence to carry the puck out of his zone, using high-skill puck moves and lateral moves to shift and dodge his way by forecheckers and transition the puck into the neutral zone. He wasn't as active in this game, but there still were flashes of him activating in the offensive zone or jumping up in the rush to involve himself in offensive sequences. Given the circumstances in this game, it's about as good of a performance as you could expect from Blonda, so even if it wasn't as spectacular as the game vs. South Kent, it was still an overall solid performance.

I was skeptical in my first few viewings, but I've become a massive fan of Luca's game the more I've seen him. He's just so active in every area of the game and wants to involve himself in absolutely everything. Regardless of the situation, Blonda wasn't a bystander and constantly looked to be a primary contributor in the sequence. I especially loved his constant rover-like rotations in the offensive zone in this game. Rarely was he found stationary, yet he was always in motion, looking to find open pockets of space in behind the defence to be a passing option. Under a similar theme, Blonda would rarely stand back and watch his team push the puck up ice, but he was consistently activating to join in on the attack and support the play. Over my past few viewings of the Ontario-born defender, I've begun to enjoy his approach to the game, and when you start to consider the top-end skating and puck skills in his toolbox, he's a player I am optimistic about moving forward.

Luca was the focal of this Pens defensive group. The first thing that stood out with Luca was his size. It’s not often you come across 15-year-old defenseman that clock in at almost 170lbs. Despite the size, he had no trouble navigating the ice, and was very impressive with the puck on his stick. In the defensive zone he was using pivots to separate himself from forecheckers and let his agility out on display. His first pass up ice was great. Very accurate and strong, and left his receiving teammates in safe areas to receive the pass and make subsequent plays. Luca scored the 2-1 goal, which would ultimately hold as the game winner. He walked right down the slot and put a rocket of a wrist shot over the glove tucked right under the bar. Luca commanded the ice well on majority of his shifts, and the game felt in control when he was out there.

I've seen Luca a handful of times now, and his play at the DraftDay Prospects Showcase was the best I've seen to date. In terms of raw technical skills, Luca is right up there with top Ontario defenceman Zach Nyman. He's mobile in all four directions, has excellent straight-line speed, flawless use of his edges, slick pivots, and clean lateral cuts; you name it, Luca is proficient in all skating elements. Building off his skating abilities, Blonda is similarly advanced with the puck on his stick. Sometimes it appears like he's going to be boxed in and closed down, but Blonda finds a way to dangle himself out of small areas into safety with perfect control of the puck. Leveraging these abilities, Blonda controlled the play so often for Northern Ontario. In the offensive zone, he would activate down the wall, circle the perimeter until a path to the middle opened up and exploit the gap by penetrating himself or with a pass. It will be interesting to see how he progresses over the following season, but the technical abilities are quite promising in the 2008 defender.

I saw bits in pieces of what Blonda could do in my first viewing of him against the talented ID Selects, but this game painted a much clearer picture of what he offered. What stood out the most was his play at the offensive blue line. I never noted that Luca dumped a puck in the corner or lobbed a weak shot on net. His head was always up, scanning for a passing option, and he was moving the puck to a teammate in scoring position. These sequences always drew me to recent Guelph Storm draftee Rylan Singh, so it's always a promising sign to see a similar play style from a young defender. As well, he used clever touch passes in his defensive third to relieve pressure and facilitate an exit. Blonda would calmly invite in a forechecker, and right as he was about to get closed down, he would use a short pass to an adjacent teammate, and then the breakout ran smoothly up ice. The calmness and composure to play under pressure was a treat to see and something that can be difficult to find.