A under six foot forward who is hockey smart enough to play any position and have success as a generator using his skating speed, skill and vision. Has the jump and quick touch passing ability to string together offensive forays while motoring down low in the attack zone. He has a NHL level shot. First time saw his name it brought back memories of another Preston a player in Winnipeg WHA and Chicago Blackhawks. Rich was not really big, and this kid isn’t either. That combined with great skates and edging, makes a tough player to diagnose into a mock slot, even if your team has a player who can stick with this eel. Diagnoses the ice and he finds way for his skill set to make other players better. He is really good defensively, and he can help a team in all three zones with his stickhandling. Has already established proficiency on either wing and as your centre. Has a strong quick release in his shots. Finds the open areas, ancipating he’ll take shots where he’ll attempt shots from. Slippery to contain. Plays at high speeds with precision plus high speed instincts that decide where the biscuit is targeted, a teammate or whether he uses his skill and shows he does what Rich Preston did, scored goals. The fact that Mathis is a attacker first doesn’t let him off the hook for his low production the last two seasons. Despite the gift of quick feet, he seems to grind himself to low gear when carrying into the attack zone, or displays hesistency on many set-ups. You see some hesitency even when the time and space is there for him to work. You don’t call his name and settle in thinking he can always drop farther down the line-up, because he doesn’t have the physical make-up to dish out or sustain on-going punishment; his strength in the bigs will be that dynamic skater who eventually becomes that play driivng attacker, who wins puck battles, handles pucks and possession with success, and sets up scores while drawing attention faking defenders and changing direction, in control of the play. He can be physical, he can handle action in high traffic, but he has to take the jump in his consistency that provides assurances to te team that selects him, he is more than one of the draft’s more skilled and fast thinking offense generators, but will make a spot for himself in his team’s middle six without weakening it.
Bill Placzek
