Projection: Top Six Forward

Tools: Creativity, Passing, Stickhandling

Development Opportunities: Consistency, Engagement

One of the first traits that pops out with Quinn Roberts is his slick hands, he is able to toe drag or side step most defenders with ease. He takes control of the puck and transitions up ice and has the confidence and ability to find open teammates and hit them with passes to progress play up the ice. Once inside the offensive end, he has strong reads and is able to get into position to score goals himself with his strong one-timer or whippy wrister. He is a true dual threat player who played second fiddle to his teammate, projected first round pick Drew Bate but was a player who also garnered a lot of attention of his own.

One area that could use some improvement from Roberts is his two-way commitment and consistent effort. He has the abilities to provide secondary support in his own end but occasionally will not engage. There is no denying his high-end offensive skillset, and rounding out the two-way game will be beneficial to helping him continue to make an impact away from the puck.

Quinn Roberts stands out and commands the ice whenever he goes over the boards, he has slick hands and the ability to show some two-way capabilities. He is able to complete complex passes to his teammates and create plays, using his elite hands to create time and space for himself and those that share the ice with him. He scored the lone goal for London and was able to factor into the game aside from that, trying to invigorate the Knights’ offence.

Quinn Roberts looked every bit his billing as a smart, pacey, and energetic two-way centre. He was supporting his defence, backchecking and engaging with his active stick. He is constantly moving his feet, helping him get into position and carry the puck in transition. Using his motor, he also provided solid support on the forecheck in all situations. On the offensive side, he is a strong playmaker, getting pucks to teammates and was able to grab an assist in this game as well.

Although Quinn Roberts finished the game with only one assist, he was a dangerous player nearly every time he touched the ice, as he normally is. His skating allows him the ability to beat opponents with sheer speed but also to move his way in between them inside the offensive zone. His quick hands allowed him to bait a few defenders – faking a pass or shot – then doing the opposite. He was able to find open teammates and even take a few accurate shots of his own.

Similar to Bate, I didn’t come away with a ton of notes on Roberts, but there were still positive moments. All of my notes fell under the theme of being a smart puck manager, controlling the flow at times, and showing evasive abilities with the puck. Quinn had a few nice moments of slowing things down, using delays, and controlling play, that jumped off the page to make him worth mentioning.

Of the players I hadn't seen entering this match, Roberts was one of the ones who impressed me the most. I thought he protected the puck really well, using both skill moves and smart use of his body to shield pucks from defenders and make it difficult to dispossess. Especially off the rush, he was typically able to spark a chance off these abilities, creating advantages on defenders and beating them to the scoring areas. This was all packaged in one nice sequence near the end of the game when Quinn carried the puck end-to-end, beating a defender wide, cutting in, shielding the puck, and scoring a beautiful goal with hands in tight to beat the netminder.

Quinn Roberts was one of the better skaters on this Team Canada 4 roster, a mix of good physical play meshed with some speed allowed him to be an effective dual-threat scoring, and playmaking option. He showed a high level of puck possession ability both in the sense of prolonging possession through good pivots along with turns, on top of the ability to outwait and remain poised with the puck on his stick when pressured, ultimately opening up lanes to teammates in scoring positions. On the rush once he hit his top speed, he was effective at dropping the shoulder and making strong moves towards the crease. He showed some good lower body, and core strength in his efforts. His physical endurance was not only of note when driving the net, but he had also managed to work well from behind the net and in the corners with checkers on his back, ultimately pulling defenders out of position and giving him looks to center pucks to the net. I would say he leaned to more-so the playmaking side of things, as a result of his ability to pull in so much attention, but he found success around the net and in tight spaces, being quick to get pucks on net when an opportunity arose.

There was not a whole lot going on for the Team Canada 4 offense as they were being dominated by their American counterparts, but Quinn Roberts had some moments where he stood out and showed an ability to break down the defense. He was a good distributor of the puck who knew not to hold onto it very long, and his quick passing worked well to find his teammates in space and gain the attacking zone. He assessed play well and was able to pick out his moments to drive at the defense or cycle the puck around the horn to someone better situated to do so. He showed patience on the puck when he was able to find space and he did well not to rush his decisions.

Quinn Roberts made his mark by showing an ability to carry the puck through scrums with good strength, power, and physical resiliency under pressure. He was able to work his way through and around crowds across the ice, even showing a decent degree of puck control with one hand on the stick, boxing out his checker, leaning on them, only to escape with a nice pivot or quick turn away from his man. He was able to pull in attention, force opponents to lock in on him, and opened up ice elsewhere for his teammates because of his puck protection skills. On the defensive side of the puck I saw him have some strong backchecking efforts, closing gaps and applying back pressure, getting involved with his stick and body, he didn’t make it easy for his opponents to gain the zone.

Rounding out the grouping of high-end forwards for Team Canada 4 in this one, Quinn Roberts was another multidimensional force, who made an impact both on-and-off puck. He scored the 2-0 goal with a great effort going around a man with speed, flipping to his forehand once he had boxed out his man, and chipped a shot on net beating the goaltender. He then later set up the 4-0 goal with a nice pass through 2 defenders, hitting Jaxon Jaffray with a great set-up play. The vision to execute these plays, send pucks against the grain of play, and do it with accuracy made him quite effective at driving play and keeping possession alive. When he had the opportunity to fire pucks on the net he boasted strong scoring intangibles from both the perspective of a quick release, but along with finding that soft space, and when battling for that extra inch in tight, winning body positioning, and being first to loose pucks.