Prospect Info: Herman Traff (LW/RW - #91 Overall - Round 3 - 2024 Draft)

[evnted]

zoned out and missed the 1st period of his return to nybro (sorry lol)

• straight up buzzing in the off zone. high pace, wanted looks, kept putting himself in good scoring locations. wristers, tips, rebounds, one timers, he was generating chances however he could. cannon of a shot on his ppg. number of near calls throughout the two periods i caught. even drew a penalty at one point over how shifty/hardworking he was down low
• better defensive zone engagement in this one. played deeper, moved his legs more, tried to tie guys up. wouldnt necessarily say he was high pressure but definitely not just hanging around high ice waiting for play to go the other way
• puck management was mixed but mostly fair. moved it well in transition, liked his short range stuff, thought he had good ideas. rushed plays/got a little cute with passes offensively. felt more like experimenting/pushing limits rather than making poor reads or anything
• seemed a little too...brute force-y on puck possessions (beyond actively forechecking i should say, that was fine). not as much respect for getting around defenders or protecting the puck, rather, he was trying to power through them a lot of the time. led to turnovers/getting stood up. i pretty much never comment on intermission highlights but it looks like AIKs 2nd goal was caused by this

looked like a primary offensive weapon (as opposed to more of a role guy with hv71, which isnt atypical for pro league prospects trying to play up/hold gigs). little rough around the edges, but he was consistently dangerous and impactful. while i did like the idea of staying in the shl, this might be a better environment for him to make those mistakes/round out his game