One of the more impressive draft-eligible performers in the entire event, Horvat-Édouard finished the tournament with 8 points in 3 games and showed why he’s one of the premiere offensive talents for this year’s QMJHL Draft. The crux of his offense comes from his rush playmaking, where he’s so good at knowing where his teammates are at all times, drawing pressure towards him and executing an array of slip, hook and behind the back passes to get pucks to open teammates. He often utilized his teammates to create advantages for himself by initiating give and go sequences which earned him dangerous looks from the slot. His puck skills allowed him to pull off plenty difficult plays as well, including stickhandling through multiple defenders in tight spaces to gain access to the interior while also being able to corral bad passes while maintaining his stride. For a smaller player I thought he was quite effective along the perimeter in the offensive zone, thanks in large part to his ability to retrieve pucks under pressure and maintain a low center of gravity to spin off of contact and work his way into space. Deception and manipulation are a big part of his offensive arsenal also, utilizing fake shots and head fakes to mask his intentions and open up cross-ice seams to slide pucks to open teammates for one timer opportunities. He can be a bit low pace at times, and the defensive engagement is questionable, but there’s no denying the immense amount of talent that Horvat-Édouard possesses.

Horvat-Edouard has a particular skillset that allowed him to do things at this camp that not many other players could do. He has the ability to anticipate the routes of his teammates and thread pucks through seams in transition right as they enter the frame. He’s consistently using deceptive tactics to get defenders to move ever so slightly to open up passing lanes inorganically for himself in both the neutral and offensive zone. As a puck-carrier he’s able to maintain a low center of gravity as he navigates through defenders, force his way through checks while maintain his stride. He’s extremely creative off the rush as well, using a series of drop, hook and slip passes behind his back, first drawing pressure towards him then making a dish into space so that his teammates could attack the net downhill. Although his size may be of some concern, I think Horvat-Edouard looks to be every bit a first-round talent early on in the year.

I’ve quickly become enamored with Horvat-Edouard’s game due to his outstanding spatial awareness and his ability to play with pace with the puck on his stick. He made several hard and accurate passes in transition, using his processing ability to spot his options quickly while under pressure and thread pucks through traffic which allowed his teammates to maintain their stride and attack with speed. On-puck he has a great knack for controlling the tempo of the sequence, either by making a quick feed upon entry and driving into space or slowing down up high, drawing in pressure and executing a hook or drop pass to create odd man advantages in transition. I liked how he worked off the cycle in this game as well, once again using his quick processing ability to locate the open option and quickly get himself into space to initiate a give and go sequence and get himself looks from the inside. He could even leverage his puck skills to get himself into space by drawing defenders in then making a quick move around them to get himself into advantageous areas. He won’t be held off the scoresheet for much longer if he continues to put up performances like this.

Although he wavered a bit as the game went on, I thought he came out of the gate hot and was really able to show what his game is all about. Horvat-Edouard is a superbly intelligent offensive player, which he showed this game with his patience and deception as a puck carrier. He was consistently able to thread passes through traffic with super touch and timing, with pucks landing right onto the blade of teammates just as they entered the frame. He owns such great spatial awareness, which he uses to consistently put himself into advantageous areas and deliver no-look passes to teammates into space. He was trying to force pucks into dangerous areas towards the latter half of the game, but the flashes of high-end playmaking made me excited about his potential as a player.