Matthew Kai Scouting Report

[FBR 158]

Position: Winger
Height: 6 foot 4
Weight: 212 pounds
Birthdate: September, 24th 1996 (22 years old)
Birthplace: Seoul, South Korea
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

 

+ Ever since he got his first hockey stick, Kai has loved scoring goals. He has this scoring ability that every player players wishes they had. He can finish in any way possible, whether it's his great shot or he dekes around all players on the ice and puts the puck in the back of the net after making the goaltender look foolish. Kai has this ability to be at the right place, at the right time, everytime. It's almost like he attracts the puck towards his stick blade while using some kind of black magic. It's freaky.

+ He's a great leader. He spent his junior years wearing a "C" on his jersey. On and off the ice, players, staff or fans, Kai is just great with people and likes to interact with everyone and make sure everyone is as happy as they can be. He firmly believes that negativity brings a bad "aura" around the team and tries his best to keep his team in the clear.

 

+ He's an absolute workhorse. First one on the ice, last one off. First one in the gym, last one out. He loves this sport and wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything.

 

- Kai has the body that coaches wish all of their players had...but he doesn't use it. He's tall, he's big and he's fast, but he avoids physical play at any cost. Kind of like Max Pacioretty from the NHL, he scores goals and has the body that everyone seeks in a hockey play, but is scared of any hit.

- His defense is very lackluster. Early on in his life, he was a great two-way center, his favourite player was Pavel Datsyuk and he modeled his game after him, but the years passed, the goals came and that's all he focused on. To this day, this is still the point, we've seen some glimpses of great defensive play, but he doesn't try nearly has much in the defensive zone as he does in the offensive zone. He knows that this will need to change to make it as a great VHL player, but only time will tell.

 

- Coming from the video game capital of the world (he was born in Seoul, but moved to Busan before even his first year on this planet), he loves to play. It's an addiction. His father loves video games and wanted Matthew to become an eSport athlete, but hockey was the path that his son chose. That doesn't stop him from playing everyday and every night he can. It can become a problem if his team can't contain it.

 

We believe that Kai has the talent to be drafted in the first round of the next VHL draft, but a few problems might make him slide in the second. We believe that he has a beautiful career ahead of him, he should be able to become one of the best goalscoring Asian players in the league's history. He needs to work on the few cons that we mentionned above if he wishes to make it into the Victory Hockey League Hall of Fame, but if he puts in the work like we know he can, he might surprise some people and make it in there. We see a little bit of Evgeny Namestnikov in him, but with more offensive skill.

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