Wyatt Wylie had a productive campaign for Everett this past season while being used in all situations. He produced 21 more points than in his previous year, putting up 31 points in 72 games, with 26 assists. In the playoffs, he produced 8 points in 22 games with 6 assists.
Wylie is a transitional defenseman who has above-average decision making from the goal-line and out. Two of his better attributes are his hockey-sense and first-pass out of his own-end. These skills allowed him to quickly adjust to pressure, as well as assess his passing options to move the puck up the ice at a good-rate. He keeps his head-up and doesn’t look rattled when getting physically engaged, showing poise, a solid base, and enough awareness to make subtle, yet important plays. Additionally, he uses his impressive-frame and fluid stride to control his gaps efficiently in most of our viewings and was excellent at blocking shots, sometimes showing an impressive effort level and taking away multiple scoring chances away in a single shift. His skillset in the defensive-end made him a standout penalty-killer when we watched him.
Although he doesn’t have a high-end skill-set when walking the line, Wyatt displays a heavy shot from the point when given enough space and uses head-fakes and shot-fakes to readjust his angles and mitigate pressure from the blueline. He’s never going to be an offensive-force at the pro levels or be used on the powerplay but there’s elements of his game in the defensive-end that could entice some teams to consider him in the later rounds of the draft.