Chad Krys Scouting Report: 2016 NHL Draft #50

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Chad Krys had a fantastic season last year with the US NTDP. He played so well with the Under-17 program that he was called up to the Under-18 team for the second half of the season, and represented the U.S. at the IIHF Under-18 World Championships, winning gold. He also had a silver medal, and picked up the most assists of any player at the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge. This season he put up 29 points in 53 games with the Under 18 team, and added bronze medals at the World Junior Championships and at the Under 18s. Krys is committed to play for the Boston University Terriers next season. Should he change his mind and opt to go the CHL route, he was drafted by the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats.

Chad Krys Scouting Report: 2016 NHL Draft #50

Defense — shoots Left
Born Apr 10 1998 — Ridgefield, CT
Height 5’11” — Weight 184 lbs [180 cm / 83 kg]

Chad Krys is an excellent skater. He has good speed and acceleration in both directions, powered by a fluid stride. Krys has good agility, edge work and pivots, allowing him to cover large swaths of the ice, and transition quickly from offence to defence and vice-versa. He shows decent balance for his size, but could continue to improve this by adding more lower body strength.

Krys adds good puck handling ability to his strong skating skills. This ability allows him to avoid fore checkers, and skate the puck out of danger. He can also lead the rush, creating offensive chances with a good vision, passing skills, and an accurate wrist shot. Krys has very good agility, allowing him to walk the line and create passing and shooting lanes on the powerplay. He shows good instinct, knowing when to join the rush and when to hang back. He also makes good decisions when pinching to keep things in at the blue line. Krys quarterbacks the offence from the point, making smart plays with the puck and anticipating openings before making a tape-to-tape pass to a teammate. He has a hard shot, but he could stand to get it off a little quicker, and use his one-timer more often. This would prevent the defense from being able to block the shot. He has the poise to control the puck and wait for opportunities to present themselves.

Defensively Krys has good instincts, and solid positional play, but must get stronger and play more physical in his own end. He does have a quick stick which he can use to poke check opponents or to cut down passing lanes. Krys needs to put on a bit more weight in order to be able to win battles in the corners and help to clear the front of the net. The lack of size can also be an issue when trying to contain bigger forwards in the cycle game. He will have time to add more muscle mass while he is at Boston University.

There is a lot of risk in an undersized defenceman, but for one who moves the puck as well as Krys and can play such a big role on the powerplay, there is also a lot of upside. He is a real boom or bust pick. Krys could become a second pairing defender with the ability to quarterback the powerplay. However if his defensive game doesn’t develop, his offense won’t be enough to get coach’s to trust him with significant minutes. Krys’ style is comparable to Torey Krug of the Boston Bruins, but this is a stylistic comparison only, and not a talent based one.

The following is a compilation of Chad Krys highlights, obtained from youtube.