Strengths: Adaptability, Shot accuracy
Development Opportunities: Creativity as a puck carrier

Noah became quite the compliment forward with Holowaychuk this year and grew in his understanding of spacing, timing, and how to be an effective and well-rounded compliment player. He can deliver quality body checks, battle for loose pucks, and has a really nice quick, smooth shot release from the slot. When he’s drifting into spacing as a trailer, the puck comes on and off his stick with accuracy. Sometimes that means quick shovel goals while other times it means grip and rip in motion releases from the higher slot off the rush. I think with Noah you already get that size and strength element with also a bit of an untapped potential if he starts developing more main character energy through transitions. Either way. I see him being a real effective two-way forward in the WHL and one I wouldn’t be shocked to go in the first round at all.

Noah Fowler was excellent this tournament for St. George, leading his team in goals. My first viewings of Fowler back in October showed him as a great complement to Holowaychuk, but in this tournament, I thought he was driving play much more often and creating excellent opportunities for himself game after game. This started with him winning battles all over the ice—he’s so strong on his feet that defenders struggled to knock him off the puck or win wall battles against him. He scored two of his goals by anchoring himself near the net, fighting off defenders to win a puck, and putting it home. His most impressive goal saw him join a board battle, rock an opposing player with a hit to separate the puck, give it to his defenseman to start a give-and-go, and then beautifully rip a toe-drag shot top corner from the circle. That toe-drag release has really become a go-to move for him—he gets it off so fast and with such power, especially off the rush when he hits the high slot. This is probably a crazy far away comparison but the style of play reminds me a lot of how Mikko Rantanen would play with MacKinnon. He understands his shot is his best attribute, and he knows he won’t always be able to burn opponents like Holowaychuk can. When he sees he won’t be able to drive a play, he does a great job pulling defenders’ attention to himself, dishing off to faster guys, and then getting back to open ice to be an option to let off his shot. And like Mikko, most of his goals came on the rush or at the side of the net.

My notes on him included using a wider stance to slip into better shooting angles off the rush, little slip passes and drop passes under control, and solid complementary positioning instincts. He had ample chances to bury quick rebounds or moments where he shot into the goalie’s chest in decent chances, but overall I thought he was solid. He can flash some nice complimentary skills and with a bit more urgency to his play, I think he could be quite effective.

Noah Fowler was a perfect complement to Louis Oscar Holowaychuk, forming an unstoppable 1-2 punch. Noah’s strength made him hard to knock off the puck, especially along the boards or when attacking wide on defenders. He used his long strides, great reach, and strong hands to protect the puck, all while keeping his head up to make plays. His hockey smarts were evident off the puck, finding open ice in the offensive zone, especially in the high slot, where he got off quick, hard shots. One of his most impressive plays came in game 5 against Delta, when he lined up for a faceoff on the left dot, switched his grip from backhand to forehand just before the puck drop, and tapped the puck through the center’s legs, sending a backdoor pass for a tap-in goal.

Getting things started, Noah Fowler was a nice offensive weapon for his team. He played with a nice level of speed and quickness, capable of changing direction with the puck in a pinch, he read the game well, could react accordingly, and used his skating tools as a vehicle to navigate the playing surface. When viewing players this early in their development relative to their major-junior drafts there are always tools I look for that can be built upon, rather than just production alone. A player like Fowler showed that his footspeed and quick-thinking gave him options along with enabled him to work away from pressure and if needed, send a pass over to a teammate and take advantage of a passing lane while moving at speed. There were a few plays off the rush where Fowler had managed to beat his opponents to the outside, showing some good physical resiliency in the process, absorbing contact and carving out some ice on his way to the net.

He was one of the other strong forwards for St. G because of his long skating stride and his agility off the rush. His athletic movements and ability to shoot off his front foot in motion shows a higher skill set and combined with some solid protection ability at his reach to protect wide and drag pucks from his back left foot to his front backhand at times was tougher to stop in a couple spots. Throw in a couple fakes and cuts to the middle to find a better shot angle, as well as a touch pass to the middle to spring Holowaychuk, and he had a balanced approach to his offense. I’d be looking for a bit more confidence and consistency with him to really dominate possession a bit more but I liked what I saw from him quite a bit.

I enjoyed watching Noah Fowler play with speed and make some effective moves in-step off the rush as he received passes. He was able to create some space going wide on opponents, pushing the puck to the outside, moving his feet, and beating them wide, opening some ice to move the puck and connect on passes as he moved up ice. He showed a decent degree of physical resiliency taking on checkers, working with them on his shoulder, maintaining his speed and protecting the puck in the process. The mix of quick-feet and power, accelerating in short order and forcing opposition flatfooted made Fowler a fairly effective puck carrying piece upon gaining the offensive blueline.