USA Select 17: Team Royal

McKinley Bennett (2009), D, Hotchkiss School

A small but skillful defenseman with good offensive instincts .. a crisp skater with textbook footwork .. a skilled puck carrying defenseman that displays good vision and creativity while distributing the puck on the point, although he needs to work on his shot .. innately activates himself from the point by pinching into open seems and appears camouflaged on the ice with his ability to sneak in the backdoor unnoticed .. likes to attack offensively and he astutely supports the rush to create odd-man attacks .. his decision making with the puck is near flawless and he makes clean first passes .. an undersized defender that astutely positions himself in the defensive zone .. competitive for the puck and while he's not mean, he is tough as he'll spring up after absorbing a hit .. committed to the University of Michigan, Bennett is a promising draft eligible prospect.

Mark Alt (2010), D, Cretin-Derham Hall HS

Gangly puck rushing defenseman that must improve on his physicality and defensive play .. possesses fluid feet and mobility for a player of his size, although he does need to tighten up his pivots .. at his best when he's skating up the ice in possession of the puck, as he can create offense by leading the rush .. possesses refined hand-skill, but he attempts to skate the puck up-ice on his own too often and needs to become more fluent in the art of making the first pass .. not an intuitive offensive catalyst, as he tends to just jump into the rush without second thought and this leads him to getting caught up ice quite a bit .. must add strength and he's currently a soft player that rather slip out of traffic with the puck instead of asserting himself physically and dislodging the opponent off of it .. terrible near his crease and in one-on-one physical battles due to his lack of strength and the fact that he often just watches the puck instead of taking the man .. there is some raw upside here in this University of Minnesota commit.

Andrew Latta (2009), D, Tabor Academy/Central Massachusetts Outlaws

A skilled but inefficient offensive defenseman .. an effortless skater that utilizes his superior recovery speed to mask some of his defensive short-comings .. has a commendable skill-set, but he's uneconomical with his offensive talent .. owns a decent shot and does a fine job waiting for traffic to develop in front of the goaltender before letting it go .. guilty of committing soft plays both with and without the puck .. despite his healthy size, Latta is easily out-muscled and outworked in physical battles .. appears lost in his own end with no defensive conscious at times and will even shy away from body contact .. an enigma with above-average size and skill that could blossom into a player if he learns how to properly assert himself.

Kevin Albers (2009), D, Undecided

An undersized but tough defenseman .. a nimble skater with enough puck skills to keep the play alive when in possession .. active in the offensive zone, as he likes to sweep in down low to help stimulate secondary scoring opportunities .. a hard-working and tenacious player that breaks up a lot of plays defensively .. needs to continue to conquer his below average sized frame and lack of any dynamic physical traits.

Josef Pontasch (2009), C, Belle Tire

An unsightly skater with sluggish acceleration and loose mechanics in his strides .. well balanced but he does miss on some scoring opportunities because of his poor conditioning and lumbering first few strides .. blessed with soft hands and slick puck handling moves .. creative offensive catalyst from below the hash-marks with superb vision and passing skills .. will need to continue to work on his defensive game, skating, and physically mature into his big frame.

Justin Demartino (2009), RW, Little Caesars

An ugly skater with heavy feet heavy feet and clumsy acceleration .. blessed with quick hands and a rangy puck handling skills with dynamic finishing skills in tight .. brings a lot of offense to the table, but he is also a big winger that can hit hard and is difficult to for opposition defenders to contain around the net .. along with turning some of his baby fat into muscle, Demartino must upgrade his defensive play and mobility

Philip Samuelsson (2009), D, Chicago Steel

A slow backwards skater that simply can't pivot to angle off his man .. his lack of speed and heavy feet leave him easily beaten to the net by faster opponents .. displays good vision and decisiveness with the puck which stimulate his ability to make a clean head man pass, although he's inept at creating offense from the point .. for the most part his defensive coverage is strong and he positions himself properly in his own end, however he is guilty of taking poor angles to the puck and is too easily beaten one-on-one in the open ice .. attempts to be a reliable defenseman, but he must improve on his mobility to do become one.

Blake Thompson (2009), D, ????

Owns decent all-compass mobility thanks to his proper knee-bend and skating mechanics .. not a puck moving offensive defenseman, but his shot is good .. locks into the body when defending one-on-one and owns a mean streak, but he can be guilty of taking bad penalties because of his abrasive style of play.

Beau Bennett (2010), LW, LA Jr. Kings

A lanky offensive winger that just needs to mature .. utilizes long strides to get around the ice adequately, but he is not a dynamic skater and his feet could be quicker .. oozes offensive talent with great puck instincts .. acknowledges what to do with the puck before he receives it and he's a rangy puck handler with some dangle .. not shy of physical contact but he is scrawny and will need to add a lot of muscle-mass to hold his own in physical competitions .. must improve his defensive habits, as he currently only uses his stick and not his body during puck battles.

Christopher McCarthy (2009), LW, Berkshire School

A cerebral and hard-working player that finds a way to get it done despite his lack of great speed or skill .. a universal player that earns his keep through his hard work .. his skating needs work, as he tends to stop moving his feet at times and he isn't a creative offensive playmaker .. his courage and excellent hockey sense make him a useful player in all-three zones .. a gritty and tough competitor that is effective defensively .. was named to the U.S.A. Select 18 team.