Rocco’s Report – Berkly Catton
October 19, 2023
By Rocco Zappia
Catton lived up to his billing in this viewing and was the offensive catalyst for Spokane throughout the course of this game. He displayed very high-end offensive tools across the board.
He was one of the better skaters on the ice and should continue to be at the next level. He displayed very good top speed, quickness, and agility and did an excellent job of controlling the play by varying his pace of play. He has excellent puck skills and stickhandling ability and has no trouble controlling the play in traffic. His shot is a plus asset for him as well and he showed off a really impressive release on his second goal of the night.
Despite all of these high-end offensive tools, his most impressive assets may be his playmaking and hockey IQ. He uses these two assets in tandem to make him an elite distributor of the puck. He truly does a great job of using his skating to control the pace of play, direct defenders where he wants them to go, and open up lanes for either himself or his teammates. He sees the play develop ahead of time and is able to anticipate extremely well, rarely leaving himself out of position or making the wrong play.
While his defensive game isn’t quite as elite as his offensive game, he is certainly more than capable in his own end. He generally brings a very good effort level and plays his defensive assignments honestly. He displayed great use of an active stick as well, breaking up plays on several occasions and allowing his team to break the other way. His ability to read and anticipate the play pays dividends defensively, as even when he is not directly involved in the play he is generally in the right spots.
The only thing you may not like about him would be his lack of size, but he makes up for it in so many other ways that it’s hard to really hold it against him too much. He will need to add weight and strength to his frame, but plenty of forwards find success playing at 5’10-5’11 so this shouldn’t be seen as a huge red flag by most teams. Although still early in the season he looks to be, as of this writing, well inside the Top 10 with his name being in the conversation for the Top 5. A lot can change between now and June, but Catton shows the potential to be one of the best offensive players in this draft class.