Strengths: Skating Stride, Transition, Shot power
Development Opportunities: Playmaking. Delay tactics

Riley opted to head to the CSSHL this season and join the powerful NAX group as a player already filled with speed and size. It meant his play through the middle of the ice could grant spacing for the wingers to create off the rush. Riley is one of those all-situation centermen too as he can play on the PK and find different roles net front or as a slot shooter on the PP. He certainly went on a hot streak in the back half of the year for NAX and was able to score with a bit more consistency down the stretch before hitting a slump in the playoffs. With Riley, you get a strong, fast, powerful versatile C who can play in the middle of your WHL lineup. There are moments where patterned behavior means he isn’t finding the consistency of offense though against top competition. With a little bit more patience and delay in his game, he could open up space as a playmaker more effectively down the line.

I think the pacing and competition from the CSSHL showed immediately as he was blasting into the zone with the puck and often the first player back defensively too. I saw moments of refined board battles, stick lifts, rotating to cover the point in the zone, and making each team adjust to his pace in order to collapse into the slot to force him to stay wide. He created a few one on one moments and delivered a strong, lateral pass to a defender to enter the zone as a trailer on a play. He can intercept passes, push on breakaway chances, and really shows the pacing and size that will translate up levels. He currently appears to be designing his game in more of a two-way grinder approach rather than flashy offensive flair so I think he will come across to scouts with a certainty of someone who can play different roles in a top-9 down the line.

Riley Brown is a physically dominant player with all the tools to become a high-end power forward. At 6’2” and 175 lbs, Brown played exactly how you’d want someone of his size to perform, he attacked wide with the puck, used his body to fend off defenders, and drove hard to the net. I wrote down on my notes that he's a puck magnet, he always seemed to be playing with or around the puck. His skating was another standout aspect of his game, with long, quick strides and tremendous speed generated through crossovers, especially in the neutral zone, where he often blew by defenders for breakaways. His biggest play came in the finals against Markham. In a tight 1-0 game late in the third where everyone seemed to be gassed, Brown exploded onto a loose puck in the neutral zone and with tight crossovers blew past a defender wide for a beautiful goal. To elevate his game further, Brown should look to improve his stickhandling, as his feet sometimes moved faster than his hands, leading to turnovers. Additionally, working on getting lower and wider on rushes could enhance his puck protection and minimize vulnerability to hip checks, which caused him trouble at times. Overall though he was exceptional.