Hello everyone, I'm Angelo from NHF Draft Central and today we'll take a closer look at American Center Alex Turcott. The top prospect is seen by many including myself as a top 5 prospect for the upcoming draft despite laying in the shadow of a follow-to-made Jack-Hughes. Born in February 2001, Turcott managed to get 15 goals and 47 points in 39 USDP games with the US National U-17 team. That stands out pretty good against past top prospect production. He also got 8 goals and 32 points in 31 USHL games. And then got the chance to play with the US National U-18 team where he got 3 goals and 16 points in 19 USDP games. Despite all those crazy numbers, I was even more impressed with this play on the ice. Turcott is a dynamic 2-way center that is known as a great skater and a complete player. But now, enough of all those stats. Let's look at every aspect of Alex Turcott's game. That means skating, shooting, passing, sticking-ling, defensive game, physicality, or KIQ and competitiveness. Let's start with skating by far the best strength of this game. Turcott's skating is one of the best of the draft. He is amazingly fast and he got a great acceleration. He can shift gear in a manner of instant and easily pass any defenseman. He is always usling and keeps his feet moving in all three zones. His edge work is good but not amazing. A more often than not, use his speed or stick-and-link to pass a defenseman rather than use his edge work. He can accelerate in many different ways and he is able to start from his own zone and still be the first one to raise the opponent net. He easily gets a 5-star for skating. Let's pass to shooting. Turcott has a decent shot. He can fire a quick precise wrist-turn when he is at ice speed or a super powerful wrist-shot when he has more time and space. He had 31 goals throughout 102 games this year. I would want to see him shoot a bit more but just evaluating a shot, I would give him 4 star. Let's look at his passing. Turcott's vision is really good. He loves to skate around the offensive zone and find a passing line. His bread and butter are those saucer paths to decrease. With his flash style of play, he often attract the opponent on him, leaving more space for his teammate in the slot and Turcott is able to find him. On zone exit, he can quickly pass at a nice speed while continuing to accelerate and his reaction time to open passing line is almost nonexistent. Overall, he is a pretty decent passer. I wouldn't consider him as a playmaker but he does often set up teammate for easy goals. I will give him 4 star. Let's now look at his thickened-ding. Turcott has some quick ends. He can't thicken though while gaining speed, stepping or turning and still keep the puck moving at a nice pace. On a brick-away, he loves to shoot the puck on the near side or fake that shot to go to the far side where he often speed the goalie with his speed. Quick and link is an important part of his game. Use it on zone exit, zone entries and constantly in the offensive zone. I will give him 5 star. Let's discuss about his defensive game. Turcott is a good two-way center but what makes him so good defensively is his intention. He really put efforts to backcheck and cover his guy. There is plenty of example but on this one single play, Turcott started as the last guy behind and managed to overtook his teammate just to come back defensively and still took part of the counterattack. In the defensive zone, he reacts quickly when the puck goes near his guy and throws some good stick-lift here and there. I will give him 4 star. Let's pass to physicality. Alex Turcott is 5 foot 11 and waits 194 pounds. If his undersize, it does not step back from any physical challenge. Turcott is intensity. He is able to get out of the ball battle with the puck as surprisingly amount of time. He protects the puck fairly well and never give up even if he loses the possession. He is not a physical player but is never completely outmatched in physical battle. So I am going to give him 3 stars. Let's now look at his ok cue. With his flash speed and stick-and-link, he likes to attract all the pressure on him to open his teammate. His complete set of skill allows him to jump from strategy to strategy and adapts to his open and play. Every of his play or flashy but calculated. I will give him 4 star for his ok cue. Let's finish with competitiveness. When I first saw Turcott's highlights, I saw a speedy and skill forward but I was amazingly impressed with his intensity and competitiveness when watching a full game of his. He is always moving and puts all of his efforts to recover the puck or just backcheck to cover an extra 4 war. Even on the end of his shift, Turcott is able to backcheck, restart the attack and backcheck again without stopping. He might be 5 foot 11 but he does not stop an instant before jumping into the board battle or a puck in the crease. With Pit and Cribs, he is in my opinion the most intense press-pick from the top of the draft. He definitely gets a 5 stars. So in my opinion, Alex Turcott should be in contention for the number 2 spot with K-Po Kako. He is a complete but yet very dynamic player and a type of forward that you won't find often. He can shoot, he can pass, he can outskate you, he can dangle you, he can defend against you and he won't often be outmatched physically. That's what I call a complete player. I understand other press-pick like Dallion Cousin, Kirby Datch, Pit and Cribs and Alex Newhook are often ranked I-Ed of Turcott and that's totally fair. They are all very close to each other and those players give us a different set of skill. But I personally think Turcott is starting the year with a step-iron. Anyway, what do you think about Alex Turcott? Is he a top 5 press-pick? The best center behind Jack Hughes or am I wrong and he shouldn't be in that conversation? Let me know your opinion in the comments below. I'm really looking forward to see your opinion, subscribe for more NHS related videos and great here to see my scouting report on Jack Hughes. I'll see you for the next one.