UMHSEL Report: Team Wisconsin

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey enters notes on Team Wisconsin prospects Brad Navin, Simon Leahy, Saxton Soley, Cliff Watson, and Tim Davison in the final Upper Midwest High School Elite League report.

Brad Navin (2011), C/LW, Waupaca/Team Wisconsin

In his second year of draft eligibility, but is an early favorite for the Wisconsin Mr. Hockey Award .. a bit upright in his skating, but still has decent cruising speed .. skating seemed to improve over the course of the Elite League, as it seemed to become more fluid, but he does need to improve further in this area .. good size at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds and can use his frame and reach to shield the puck .. makes hard, crisp, accurate passes .. able to calm difficult pucks well .. puck flies off his stick .. has a hard, crisp wristshot .. shot power makes him a threat from the perimeter, but he can also finish his chances around the net .. does a good job of setting screens for his teammates and for himself when deflecting the puck .. plays with some physicality and can step up with some open-ice hits .. selected to Minnesota Red for the Elite League NIT .. led Team Wisconsin in Elite League regular season scoring with 16 goals and 9 assists in 21 games .. plays Wisconsin high school hockey for Waupaca and is a senior .. led Wisconsin high school hockey in scoring in 2009-10 with 53 goals and 39 assists in 25 games .. committed to Wisconsin.

Simon Leahy (2011), RW, University School Milwaukee/Team Wisconsin

Team Wisconsin's most dynamic offensive player .. has a powerful stride with good stride extension, and which produces very good speed .. possesses explosive acceleration .. combination of top speed and explosiveness helps him win a lot of puck races .. also makes powerful stops .. has good agility and makes it difficult for the opponent to break the puck out .. able to make explosive lateral steps with the puck to side-step opponents .. confident with the puck .. has quick hands .. able to quickly draw the puck in and can combine spin moves to evade opponents .. smooth toe dragger .. very good offensive awareness .. has an innate sense of timing his positioning in the offensive zone to make himself an option for feeds and/or to create plays .. a heads-up stickhandler who can assess his options .. makes crisp, accurate passes .. has good patience with the puck and doesn't panic when engaged .. does a good job of quickly driving the net after making passes in the offensive zone .. also adept at timing his centering passes to those driving the net .. able to corral rolling and difficult pucks .. possesses a crisp wristshot and slapshot .. good hand-eye coordination for deflections .. puts in a good effort on the forecheck and the backcheck .. smaller at 5-foot-9, 160 pounds, but doesn't shy away from contact .. selected to Minnesota Red for the Elite League NIT .. plays Wisconsin high school hockey for University School Milwaukee and is a senior .. helped University School of Milwaukee win Wisconsin state championships in 2008 and 2010 .. scored 30 goals and 21 assists in 28 games in 2009-10 .. no college commitment of yet.

Saxton Soley (2011), G, Eau Claire Memorial/Team Wisconsin

Impressive skills and athleticism, but needs to improve consistency .. quick crease movements .. able to butterfly quickly .. maintains a compact butterfly .. able to go down and up extremely quickly .. so adept at getting up two legs at a time .. able to reset exceptionally quickly .. able to load up quickly and execute powerful pushoffs to get across his crease .. makes smooth pad slides across his crease .. generally keeps his torso upright in his pad slides .. does a good job of directing butterfly saves and kick saves into the corners .. is more than just a backstop in net and is quite athletic .. very good extension in his kick saves ..able to spread out with splits saves if necessary .. displays excellent flexibility in his splits saves .. has a quick glove hand and makes crisp glove save, but gave up a fair portion of his goals glove side .. angles and positioning in his crease were off at times, particularly in sub-par viewings .. handles the puck well .. able to move it crisply up the boards .. mobile and can spring his teammates with saucer passes to the neutral zone .. adequate size at 5-foot-11, 175 pounds .. the most impressive goaltender in the Elite League in terms of raw ability, but was not the very best at stopping the puck .. very similar to Waterloo Blackhawk prospect netminder Jay Williams, who is also eligible for the 2011 Draft .. amongst the top goalies in the Elite League during the regular season after compiling a .920 save percentage .. selected to Minnesota Red for the Elite League NIT .. plays Wisconsin high school hockey for Eau Claire Memorial and is a senior .. no college commitment of yet.

Cliff Watson (2012), D, Appleton United/Team Wisconsin

Most impressive defenseman in UMHSEL eligible for the 2012 Draft .. maintains a short gap, minimizes crossovers, gets down low backward, and maintains a fairly wide base .. already has good size at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds and brings a physical presence .. able to launch into his hits and is a threat to stand up opponents at the blueline .. displayed the ability to push opponents off the puck through sheer strength .. a fairly smooth skater with decent speed and decent speed bursts .. quick and powerful laterally .. able to make tight switchbacks to evade forecheckers .. makes smooth pivots from backward to forward .. consistently makes hard, crisp breakout passes .. makes smooth, crisp passes with his d-partner to transition the puck and at the point .. has a hard, crisp wristshot .. does a good job of getting his shot through and keeping it low for deflections and rebounds chances .. draws the puck off the boards well on both the forehand and the backhand .. smooth walking the blueline .. a heads-up stickhandler who can assess his options .. displays good offensive awareness in selecting his plays and where to move the puck .. solid defenseman in every area .. plays Wisconsin high school hockey for Appleton United and is a junior .. committed to Ohio State for 2012-13.

Tim Davison (2012), D, Notre Dame Academy/Team Wisconsin

Wisconsin high school hockey's premier offensive defenseman from 2009-10 .. has decent cruising speed with the puck, but could afford to extend his stride .. displays decent speed bursts .. makes crisp breakouts passes and consistently puts them on the tape .. smooth one-touch passer .. has good offensive vision and can connect on passes through traffic .. could afford to put more oomph on his passes for future levels .. displays good patience at the point and mans the point on the powerplay well .. possesses a crisp wristshot from the point .. also has a decent slapshot and keeps it low .. an adept toe dragger who can drag the puck around opponents when skating the puck .. a smaller defenseman at 5-foot-10, 160 pounds, but can play with some physicality .. able to thrust into his hits and can make some big hits .. does a good job of letting his gaps close and engaging near the blueline .. not able to step up for big hits when skating backwards, but is effective in halting opponents' progress .. plays Wisconsin high school hockey for Notre Dame Academy and is a junior .. led Wisconsin high school hockey in defenseman scoring and in sophomore scoring in 2009-10 with 11 goals and 46 assists in 26 games .. selected to the U.S. Under-17 Select Team and played for Team USA at the Five Nations Tournament in August .. committed to Wisconsin for 2012-13 or 2013-14.