As of late, I've been watching the Storm more than any other OHL team and this kid is singlehandedly why.
Absolutely elite skating in every way. He's just ridiculous. His straight line speed is fantastic. He can afford to make risky pinches, since he normally flies back to his own zone on time. His lateral movement is phenomenal and it leads to him getting open lanes. Fans aren't going to complain about this guy missing the net or hitting shinpads. His backwards skating is also great and he doesn't get beat to the wide often. The best aspect of his skating is the way he turns. He loves doing 360 degree turns and he does them often and well. He's obviously not going to be able to spin around like a ballerina in the NHL like he does in juniors, but it's a useful skill to have nonetheless.
He's an offensive defenceman for sure, no other way of putting it. He's a talented passer who sees the ice well and it's a shame he's stuck on this atrocious Guelph squad. I'd kill to see what he would do with forwards like that of Erie or Kitchener (or basically anyone else). As expected, he's a stud on the PP as well and I love seeing him fire from the point with Smith/Ratcliffe crashing the net. Sometimes guilty of attempting to do too much, but again, I think that has a lot to do with the lack of talented teammates. But the numbers speak for themselves, nearly point per game on a bad OHL team is just insane.
Defensively, I feel pretty good about him. He's slightly prone to being flat-out overpowered on occasion, but that's a pretty normal problem for a lightweight rookie to have in the OHL. He has solid awareness and decent positioning but he's definitely not a rock back there. Luckily, his combination of speed, skill and smarts usually leads to him moving the puck out of the zone fairly easily.
His biggest priority is to put on weight. 5'11" is a respectable height, but he's going to get totally destroyed if he doesn't put on lean muscle. But I'm not worried about it in the slightest, I'm sure he knows that he needs to bulk up.
I'm very excited for this kid. Not only is he very talented, but he's also going to be marketable too.