Mikos87
Registered User
One concern I've had about Robertson is that he seems to get beat in puck battles fairly frequently. For example, in the last 2 games:
It's something I've noticed when I've watched his shift by shifts too. To be fair, Rees and Pelletier are particularly hard working players for juniors, but those guys are everywhere in the NHL. I'm not sure a defense-first defenseman who loses puck battles often is a particularly valuable player. The length, skating, and ability to move the puck are all there, but I think this is something he needs to improve if he's going to be an NHL player.
On Rees: I think he's the real deal, outside of the U18s where he was phenomenal, I haven't seen much, but there are a couple of guys I know who are really high on him. I expect him to be a very useful contributor on the Canadian team.
On Robertson, he's probably another 3 years away imo. Looks a little snappier, but needs to play with more aggression. Doesn't always have to physical, but things like poking with the poke check in advance of the puck getting to where it's not supposed to be instead of reaching. He's one where you have to wait for him to mature into that man strength.