Grisha Uskjal flew under the radar when he first entered the SMJHL. He was ready to be picked in the SMJHL entry draft, but during the course of the season he showed enough promise abroad that the Colorado Raptors decided to take a gamble and sign him from waivers. Since the Uskjal has been a regular player for the Raptors seeing considerable Ice team in the first season, but simply playing does not prove a player's quality.

Usjkal continued to draw little attention, but what able to rack up 39 Points over the course of the season. For a Center that is quite underwhelming, especially considering of those 39 points only 10 were goals. Obviously comparing a rookies stats to the ones of experienced players will almost always lead to disappointment, it can help to understand how far a player has to come to become a top player at his position.

Compared to the 4 leading scorers at the Center position, Uskjal clearly shows a lack of offensive abilities, but that is only the surface level. Uskjals game is quite different from Salad and Hoang, as the stats will conclusively prove Salad and Hoang are much more well rounded, but when isolating the physical aspect of their game Uskjal does have a slight edge in certain areas. He is slower than Hoang but faster than Salad, and a little more stable in his skates than either. Spectators can notice this when observing Uskjal play, he tends to look awkward when relying on his technical skills, and sometimes struggles to make routine plays. On the other hand, one can also clearly see that when Uskjal can use his frame and speed to roam the ice he can be a source of trouble even for more technically skilled players than him. Piastri and Valieva are more comparable to Uskjal, both have well rounded technical skill sets (which Uskjal still lacks) but more significantly they have similar frames and physical gifts like Uskjal. Both still have a slight edge on him even physically, but if Uskjal continues his development then one not be too far off expecting him to grow into a similar player. One last thing to note is that Uskjal clearly seems to gravitate more towards the defensive game than many of his peers, this especially shows when examining the stats of his rookie season.

Uskjals stats while somewhat underwhelming do paint quite the clear picture of his strengths. He can use his physical gifts especially well on the defensive end, where his sheer power and willingness to seek contact, allows him to land hits as well as make blocks. Especially at blocking Uskjal is already one of the best in the league, ranking in the top 10 leaders for his position. He has shown weaknesses in the defensive area as well though, since so far he doesn't seem to have the nerves to be a high level defender. Uskjal tends to lose the puck even when only lightly pressured, giving it away more than 60 times over the course of the season, which is clearly unacceptable since it more than eradicates the value he would add with his 40+ takeaways. This is a clear weakness in his game and makes if it isn't addressed and improved would seriously stimy his ability of becoming a high level SHL or even SMJHL player. As already mentioned, it does seem he lacks the nerves as well as the vision to either avoid or remain calm in high pressure situations. Both of these are aspects that rookies regularly lack and that can be improved later on, if the player is willing to put in the work. One thing that should make Grisha Uskjal fans hopeful is the fact the Colorado Raptors seem to often rely on him in these situations, even if so far that trust has so far not necessarily been rewarded. Across the entire league, Grisha Uskjal is 7th in shorthanded time on ice. Even if he so far has not been excellent during that time, the training staff must be seeing something to keep putting him in such situations.

Now with everything discussed, it should not surprise anyone that Uskjal was not selected as a first round pick during the SHL entry draft. Most mockdrafts even had him going in the late 2nd or 3rd round, but with the first pick of the second round the Baltimore Platoon decided it was worth it to give the unheralded prospect the recognition and selected him at 21. They even doubled down and Selected Shorsey Wobet, a frequent line mate of Uskjal, with pick 22. The pick by Baltimore increases the hopes for Uskjal quite dramatically because alongside him, a slew of talent will enter the team. Especially important to note is that Uskjal is joining along two great prospects, Sogard and Ozols, who can help him to work on his defensive and offensive game respectively.

By now we should have a pretty good idea of the trajectory Ukjal is on, and while the woes of hockey can always throw you for a loop, there are clear indications that Uskjal at least will grow into becoming a staple player for the Colorado Raptors, for the foreseeable future. As long as his defensive skill set develops along the usual trajectory, the biggest question will be if he can also develop his offensive skill set into an at least serviceable one.

Expectations for Uskjal should be kept in check, but one would hope that the 21st pick will continue his development at Colorado and then once called up have grown into a physical two way player. The environment definitely is there, as both the Baltimore and Colorado training facilities and coaching staffs are top of the league. Uskjal will also be surrounded by great mentors on either squad, so should Uskjal fail to develop into the player we hope he can be, it will be on him.