... Red Line’s man in Minnesota is starting to feel that Grand Rapids pivot Mitchell Mattson (one goal) has the same upside, if not moreso, than [25th overall pick Riley] Tufte.
A casual glance at his pedestrian stats while with the USHL’s Bloomington Thunder earlier in the season would be a mistake, as their draconian system did not allow his offensive talents to flourish.
But now that he’s back in Grand Rapids, we’ve been able to see the lanky 6-4 center showcase his creativity and skill in all three zones, and he strikes us as being similar to Blake Wheeler at the same age. We acknowledge that Mattson will lack some urgency at times, but we do like his development path.
He’ll be heading to North Dakota next season, and that program has a long history of breaking down bad habits and turning players into monsters — just look at Nick Schmaltz, who in his draft year gave little effort.
Mattson is showing surprisingly effective lateral movement and the ability to slow the play down. So yes, it is a sight to behold when Tufte is barreling down the wing, but we think there might be even more substance to Mattson’s game.