Tyler Kleven (4.75 Star Amateur Rating, NHL Grade — A) Defense
Tyler is a gifted skating big man with a long fluid stride, who has deceptive agility and lateral quickness. He’s smooth on his first touch and settles poor passes cleanly. He has a strong stick and owns 50-50 puck battles. He has the physical skills and mental make-up that make him tough to beat in 1 on 1 situations. Tyler processes odd man line rushes quickly by matching speeds well and understanding the angles that will give him, his partner and goaltender the advantage by forcing his opponents into low percentage areas. He utilizes his full skill set to make plays whether it’s his long reach to poke pucks off sticks or stepping up on the blue line to make a body check or using his speed to close on an opponent on and rub him out on the boards. Along the offensive blue line, he displays a rocket wrist shot and heavy slap shot that he gets through traffic. His shots are not wasted. Instead he looks for net front tips or finds a cycling forward who is attacking the net. Most tall young defenseman struggle with the puck under forechecking pressure and rush passes, but Tyler displays poise and has a low panic point. He’s confident with the puck and has the feet to skate pucks out of trouble and is able to create passing lanes that did not exist for clean breakouts. We also like that Tyler has an edge to his game and plays with grit and grime. He doesn’t hesitate to step into forwards with the authority and intent to send a message. Tyler is a pro-style prospect with the skill set and mentality to have a long National League career if he continues to develop.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images