I think it’s really easy to say that it would be nice if most defensive prospects skated the way Zachary does in most situations. He has that long and smooth style with long strides and pushes through his turns. It makes him look like he can sweep into position with one push no matter who is coming at him defensively. Open ice skating and transition plays appear easy to complete as he looks for give and go plays or to simply be that other option on the backside. I think his retrievals are easy going and his up ice passes have a lot of steam behind them. With defenders of his style and type, I’ll be looking to see how be certainly solves when pressured by quicker players or ones up on the forecheck as well as his overall toolkit offensively. He’s already shown me that all-situational pacing is no issue for him. I’m excited to see how he blooms on a very good defensive Edge team.

Pomeroy was the most impressive defender on this Canada Red blueline, flashing an impressive size and skating combination which allowed him to impact the game in a plethora of ways. His long stride made him an effective puck-carrier in transition, allowing him to cover plenty of ground as he traversed up ice while possessing the puck skills to maneuver around pressure before connecting on a cross-ice outlet to initiate a controlled entry. His reach and mobility allowed him to kill plays in the neutral zone at a high rate, surfing across the zone to smother puck-carriers and either swipe pucks off sticks or force dump ins behind him. He showed confidence with the puck in the offensive zone as well by activating down the wall by side stepping pressure and breaking low in the zone before funneling a puck to the middle of the ice looking to create a dangerous chance in the slot.

He has that size and mobility right off the hop that you can look for as he can fire lead passes up ice along the wall or across. With mobility, he can push into open ice well and turn back to reverse pucks quicker. I saw a heavy release from the point to create chaos and certainly there were moments he could change the shot angle or wait a little extra second. I think as the consistency and confidence shows out more you’ll see quicker decision making and really emphasize his outlet and transition ability.