Scouting Report: Jason Warwaha, 17-year-old Left Winger

Height: 6’ 3”
Weight: 200 lbs

Jason Warwaha has impressed many with his offensive capabilities based on his showing of the pee-wee teams in Lugano, a pure playmaker, and a fine skater. In the offensive zone he is a natural talent. He finds open space easily, in the perfect place to fire a pinpoint, hard shot, or a solid pass to a teammate. He can handle the puck to better open that space up, and he can survey the offensive zone like it is second nature to him. He has lightning quick speed and stamina to burn on any offensive situation, and he has the agility and acceleration to outrun any defender to a puck. Warwaha has all the skills to be a critical part of an offense, and any franchise looking for that has got to be excited.

Jason does struggle with some parts of his game, and that’s a problem. He doesn’t play at the front of the net often, so his ability to screen the goalie is very much in doubt. He fails to utilize his six-foot-three frame physically in any way, meaning he suffers in the corners, and that means he is anxious to deploy his body effectively, especially when it comes to blocking shots. His stickwork in front of the net leaves something to be desired, and his positioning and defensive reading ability is unnotable. His passing needs work and he needs to focus on balance and strength. For someone that big, being 200 pounds of no muscle is concerning. It will definitely need to be part of how he prepares for the bigger roles he will play in his career moving forward.

Warwaha stands out with his impressive vision in the offensive zone, but he still has a lot of work to do physically. With some players, being big and fast comes with a physical playstyle, and that simply isn’t the case in his game. Many players don’t recognize that the physical side of hockey enables you to be usable in the hard areas, during hard parts of the game when offense slows down and the neutral zone and defensive zone become critical. This will have to be an important part of the future for Warwaha, lest he let that god-given talent go to waste.

Eddie Morozov signing off for now. Stay tuned for more info and more reports from my trips abroad scouting the next SHL stars!

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