As of right now Leroux is a player whose individual elements may be better than how he applies them to the totality of his game. He’s a powerful skater with good size who’s at his best when he’s attacking downhill and overpowering defenders to get pucks on net from scoring areas. His shot is a positive aspect of his game as well, although he was a bit too one dimensional with it in his attacking style and became too predictable which forced shots from bad angles. Despite this, Leroux is clearly a player with junior hockey potential, and with the proper development this season could end up becoming a high-end M18 player.

What impressed me most about Leroux was his ability to leverage his physical advantage to make effective plays all over the ice. He was at his best along the boards in the offensive zone, either flashing high-end puck protection ability that allowed him to prolong his puck touches or winning 50/50 battles on a consistent basis. He seems to be more of a volume passer, but he was able to connect on a handful of passes to the middle of the ice from off the wall that lead to some dangerous chances for his linemates. I also noted a few impressive drives from off the wall, flashing good enough puck skills and brushing off contact to work his way to the middle of the ice to get shots off from the slot area.

Leroux brought a physical brand of hockey to the Riverains forward group all while picking up a goal and an assist in the process. He scored his team’s first goal of the game by finding a soft spot in the offensive zone and snapping a low one timer shot that slipped under the goaltender. He nearly scored later on in the game when he caught a pass attacking downhill and was able to outmuscle a defender on his way to the net, but the puck rolled on him at the last second. He was a highly effective cycle player as well, winning a majority of his board battles and even drawing a penalty late in the game by driving his feet along the wall and forcing a defender to haul him down.