Matvei Gridin Jan. 27 Game Notes
February 1, 2024
By Rocco Zappia
The 6-1 right winger for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL with 19 goals and 45 points in 37 games played, second in the USHL. He has four goals and 11 points in his last 6 games.
.A left shot who played mostly RW in this viewing, he has a bit of a dynamic element to his game. Skating is one of his stronger assets, he can fly when he gets going…Really quick in addition to straight speed, and he plays with a lot of pace. Dangerous puck carrier, hard to stop when he gets going through the NZ…He looked equally dangerous as a playmaker and a shooter
Has the vision and creativity to find his teammates and surprise defenders…defencemen need to respect his shooting ability, he has a quick release and can bury it.
When the puck is up for grabs he has a really good motor …Gets hard after loose pucks and is strong enough to win board battles…Doesn’t play with a ton of physicality in terms of throwing hits, but he doesn’t shy away either.
Willing to take a hit to make a play, and to fight in dirty areas…Showed some flashes of good defensive play …Willing to block shots, and showed some well time aggressive plays in the DZ …Able to force turnovers when he commits to the defensive side of the puck.
Can be guilty, at times, of looking for an offensive opportunity a little bit early…Jumped the breakout a couple of times when he should have still been playing his man…Don’t think this will be a major issue where he is known as just a dog in his own end. That said, a little more attention to detail and a little more consistent effort in the DZ would help.
Has the upside to be a Top-6 winger who is a dual threat as a shooter and playmaker …I like him in the 25-50 range overall, currently just outside the 1st for me but very fluid on that.
CLIPS
1) Skating
2) Speed through NZ, good pass on zone entry, hard on loose puck in corner
3) Takes hit to maintain possession, nearly breaks behind D for quick chance
4) Hard on loose puck in corner, quick shot on goal
5) Speed through NZ, battles behind net to maintain possession
6) Intercepts puck after good back pressure, gets speed through NZ and shooting chance off the rush
7) Weak one-handed poke check in DZ, makes up for it with two hard defensive efforts to break up the play
8) Quick release off set play on the faceoff
9) Good read in defensive coverage, blocks point shot
10) Assist on the PP playing as the PPQB
11) Assist replay
12) Stays active on PP always in motion, eventually opens up a good shooting lane
13) Stickchecks along the boards, would prefer if he threw a couple hits here
14) Tracks the loose puck at side of goal. Battles behind net to regain possession. Nice pass attempt. Cheeky goal
15) Goal replay
16) Rush through NZ
17) Gets wheeling through NZ, teammate just missed the passs.
18) Hard after loose puck in OZ, decent back pressure, good cycle and nice pass to teammate across the crease