What I love about Comtois is that he seeks out and wins 1-on-1 battles. He doesn't just float into easy spaces and hope someone else makes a play or the puck bounces to him, he fights his way into the best position. He uses his feet to get into good leverage and then uses his size to take advantage of it.
Then when he has the puck on his stick, he has quick hands and vision. He identifies the right play then immediately and accurately puts the puck where it needs to go. A lot of guys will hold the puck on the perimeter for 4 seconds, then try some ridiculous hero pass, cross-ice against the grain and through three defenders. It works 1 time out of 20 and they look like amazing passer when it does. What Comtois does is way less flashy but way more consistently effective.
The play he made leading to the second Rakell goal was one of my favorite I've seen from this generation of Ducks prospects. First, he boxes out Walker effortlessly behind the net to give himself clear control of the puck. He gets it over to Rakell, who slips and turns it over. While that's happening, Maata tries to tie up Comtois, but Comtois fights through him to keep himself in the play and effectively take Maata out of it.
Walker tries to make an ill-advised pass, Comtois makes him pay with quick, soft hands to not just disrupt the pass but control it cleanly. He uses a big, wide stance to buy himself a little space and instantly draws four different Kings defenders' attention. He uses that split-second he bought himself to take a look over his shoulder, sees Rakell, instantly hits him with a perfect spinning backhander on the tape.
To succeed in the NHL, you gotta be able to win those little 1-on-1 situations where it's you and another NHL-quality player trying to beat you. Sometimes it's on the boards, sometimes it's open-ice, sometimes you're carrying the puck, sometimes you're defending. But Comtois instinctively understands the need to win those 1-on-1s and has the tools to win them.
