| Elliott Groenewold | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | USHL | L | D | 6’2″ | 200 | Quinnipiac | 2025 | Montpelier, VT | 2006 | 2023-2024: C+ |
Game Grade: C
Groenewold earned 20:32 in ice time (3rd among D) including 5:32 on the PK (team high). He did not play PP. He finished -1 with 1 shot, had 1 shot blocked, 5 giveaways, 8 takeaways and for the season he is winning 55% of his 50/50 puck battles.
Comments: Groenewold is a 6’2, 200 lb, 2-way defenseman. He was able to show off a good rush ability in the second period when he flew up ice using crossovers to accelerate into the offensive zone. He was given a lot of time on the penalty kill and did a solid job of closing off lanes/staying in position. His agility and backwards skating are a bit concerning. He had trouble in transition maintaining a good gap and struggled to change directions quickly enough if he was about to be beaten by a faster opponent. We liked his lack of fear to shoot the puck. He has a decent wrist shot and let it go often from the point. This was an up and down performance from Groenewold with good and bad moments from him on both sides of the puck.
| Landan Resendes | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | USHL | R | RW | 5’10” | 165 | Boston College | 2024 | Marlborough, MA | 2005 | 2023-2024: C |
Game Grade: C+
Resendes earned 10:19 in ice time (10th among fwds) including 1:41 on the PP (6th among fwds). He did not play PK. He finished even with 2 shots, 1 grade “A” opportunity, 2 PIMs (matching post whistle scrum after he dug for a rebound after the whistle, 5:16 left in 3rd), 1/1 on face-offs, 1 hit, 5 giveaways, 3 takeaways and for the season he is winning 39% of his 50/50 puck battles.
Comments: Resendes plays the game with a seemingly infinite amount of energy. He was a dog along the boards and worked hard to win pucks on the forecheck. He has a smooth, powerful stride which propelled him up ice with speed. He was able to gain the offensive blue line with control multiple times. He had some trouble generating offense and was shut down quite easily when pressured with the puck. He got time on the powerplay where he was able to snap the puck around reasonably well. He showed some edge in a post whistle scrum resulting in a matching roughing penalty. Great energy from Resendes but he needs to improve his ability to use his teammates to create in the offensive zone.
| Erik Kald | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | USHL | R | D | 6’2″ | 198 | Merrimack | 2025 | Oyster Bay, NY | 2006 | 2023-2024: C |
Game Grade: C
Kald earned 16:00 in ice time (5th among D) including 2:19 on the PP (1st among D). He did not play PK. He finished +1 with 7 takeaways and for the season he is winning 58% of his 50/50 puck battles.
Comments: Kald is a 6’3, 200 lb, 2024 eligible defenseman. He remained positionally sound in his own end and did a good job of taking sticks away in front of the net. His skating is poor, and it really hurt him tonight. He has a very short and inefficient stride which makes it very difficult for him to keep up with opponents. His backwards skating was slow, and he was unable to maintain a healthy gap in transition. Looking to see more from Kald in our next viewing.
| Price Grimes | Chicago Steel | USHL | R | D | 6’2″ | 183 | New Hampshire | 2025 | Franklin, TN | 2006 | 2023-2024: C |
Game Grade: C+
Grimes earned 13:36 in ice time (6th among D) including 1:08 on the PK (3rd among D). He did not play PP. He finished even with 1 shot, 2 PIMs (matching 3rd period post whistle scrum for protecting his goalie, 5:16 left in 3rd), 1 giveaway, 4 takeaways and for the season he is winning 60% of his 50/50 puck battles.
Comments: Grimes is a 6’2, 185 lb, draft eligible defenseman. He has a smooth stride and was able to generate a ton of speed during a rush attempt early in the first period where he circled behind his own net and used a combination of powerful extensions and crossovers to propel himself into the offensive zone. He remains reasonably calm when under pressure and was able to complete some nice breakout passes to move play up ice. Defensively he had a couple of nice plays to slow opponents in transition but made a couple of costly mistakes as well. On one play he lost his man while watching the puck and ended up allowing a dangerous chance in the slot. For the most part he was able to stay in front of opponents in transition but needed to improve his footspeed as he could not maintain a good enough gap while play was being rushed towards him. He is a smooth skating defenseman who does not have NHL potential but will likely be a strong player in the NCAA with an AHL/ECHL future.
| Ben Wilmott | Chicago Steel | USHL | L | C | 6’0″ | 166 | Northeastern | 2025 | Seattle, WA | 2006 | 2023-2024: C |
Game Grade: C+
Wilmott earned 9:45 in ice time (12th among fwds) including 0:36 on the PK (6th among fwds). He did not play PP. He finished +1 with 0 shots, 1 grade “A” opportunity, 2 PIMs (trip at the offensive blueline in the 3rd, 17:46 remaining), 2/3 on face-offs, 6 giveaways, 2 takeaways and for the season he is winning 50% of his 50/50 puck battles.
Comments: Wilmott had a solid two-way game tonight. He showed good effort on the forecheck, taking smart lanes to cut off opponents along the boards and battling to win possession. He was able to force multiple turnovers and immediately turned to attempt to move the play towards dangerous areas. He showed off some agile footwork and was able to spin away from opponents. Next steps for Wilmott should be working on becoming more patient with the puck on his stick and learning to make pass decisions that directly translate to offensive opportunities.
Michael Hage | Chicago Steel | USHL | R | C | 6’1″ | 190 | Michigan | 2024 | Mississauga, ON | 2006 | 2023-2024: A- |
Game Grade: B+
Hage earned 19:01 in ice time (3rd among fwds) including 3:06 on the PP (6th among fwds) and 1:50 on the PK (1st among fwds). He finished +1 with 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 shots (tied for team lead, 3 grade “A” opportunities, 4/12 on face-offs, received 1 hir, 8 giveaways, 5 takeaways and for the season he is winning 46% of his 50/50 puck battles.
Comments: Hage is a 6’1, 190 lb, center with elite hockey sense and skilled hands. He remains very calm under pressure and seems to always be in full control of the puck no matter how difficult the situation. He uses a combination of quick stick handles and smooth edgework to move the puck into space and find options. One of his best traits is his ability to change the positioning of the puck using precise dekes in order to open up passing lanes and execute plays around attacking opponents. He does a fantastic job of manipulating opponents into giving him extra space to move the puck through. He needs to work on taking some more risks and moving the puck towards the net. Most of his choices in this game kept the play to the outside and he will need to become more confident in attempting passes towards the crease or making strong moves towards the middle of the ice. Another very impressive quality is his ability to receive/retrieve pucks. He was able to pull in multiple poor passes in one fluid motion, keeping his movements towards the offensive zone. One in particular, a pass was fired far behind him in the neutral zone, but Hage was able to spin back and corral the puck with his stick and in one fluid motion, pivoted back towards the offensive zone and entered with speed. On another tricky pass, he made a very smart decision to begin cutting around his man before it reached his stick. He skated into the pass moving toward open space, knowing that if he had waited for the pass to reach him, his man would have shut him down immediately. Hage showed some decent play off of the puck. In the offensive zone he slipped into open ice to become a target and was able to generate a couple of shots on goal. He forechecked reasonably well but could improve his aggressiveness along the boards. One of his best plays of the night came on a forecheck on a loose puck along the half wall in the offensive zone. He took a perfect angle to beat his opponent to the wall and made a nice body check to further separate his man from the puck and steal possession. Immediately after securing the puck, he cut towards the net and got a chance in the slot. He was able to pick up 2 points tonight, 1 secondary assist and 1 empty net goal. Hage is a highly skilled forward with great IQ, skilled hands, a powerful stride, and the potential to be a fantastic playmaker. We would like to see him take some more risks to get the puck to the net in our next viewing.
| Lukas Sawchyn | Chicago Steel | USHL | R | C | 5’9″ | 174 | Denver | 2025 | Grande Prairie, AB | 2007 | 2024-2025: C |
Game Grade: C
Sawchyn earned 5:14 in ice time (lowest among fwds). He did not play special teams. He finished even with 1 shot, 1/3 on face-offs, had 1 shot blocked, 3 giveaways, 1 takeaway and for the season he is winning 43% of his 50/50 puck battles.
Comments: 2007 born Sawchyn is not eligible until 2025. He is a bit undersized right now, standing only 5’9 but is listed at 174 lbs. He did a good job tonight of slipping into open areas around the net and was able to get a couple of shots off from the slot. He has quick feet and was able to move around the offensive zone with a ton of pace to his game. He rushed the puck up ice with confidence and was able to gain the blue line and set up in the offensive zone. He forechecked reasonably hard and finished his checks. He needs to improve his shooting form and quicken his release. Sawchyn has had a decent start to his first USHL season and we will be looking closely at him next year.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
Scout: Henry Lawrence