Brent Just

Fantasy Summary

Molendyk is a tremendous skater, a tool he may be overly reliant on, flashes very bright playmaking skill, and is a strong rush defender.


Observations

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April 2024 – Last year’s first round pick took a big step forward for WHL Saskatoon this year, finishing 4th in points per game among defensemen with 56 in 50 games. Molendyk skated a team-leading 25:16 ATOI. He blocks more than 2 shots while taking 2.5 shots on goal per game. At this writing, Saskatoon has advanced to the final four of the WHL playoffs. At present, he is the top defenseman in Nashville’s system. Barry Trotz knows defensemen, and Nashville can be nothing but pleased with Molendyk’s progress in his D+1 year.  Jesse Severe

June 2023 – Molendyk has been selected 24th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2023 NHL Draft. Curtis Rines

March 2023 – Molendyk is among the most fluid and comfortable skaters in the entire 2023 draft class. He effortlessly covers a tremendous amount of ice, easily gets around forecheckers, and he closes his gaps with great speed, which helps make him a very effective defender against the rush. His skating is a standout skill that Molendyk may be over-reliant on, which works fine in the WHL but could be rendered ineffective in pro hockey. One of the red flags is that he lacks a truly elite top gear, he’s not the fastest player on the ice, and as more and more of his competition can match his speed, he will possibly need to reinvent the way he plays the game.

Molendyk is a very effective puck carrier, he frequently layers lateral movement into his puck rushes, switches lanes, and changes his angles of attack to open up passing lanes. He even has shown a consistent willingness to cut to the middle on the rush, and while he lacks the strength to pull this off, the desire to do so is promising. He’s also flashed some very fun playmaking skill, often including pace shifts, eye deception, and changing angles. The execution hasn’t been consistent and the production hasn’t quite popped, but the process is there for Molendyk, and the results will come. As a whole, Molendyk will go as far as his creativity, deception, and brain take him; if he can improve his deception, become more decisive, and convert his passing into point production, he could project as a tremendously mobile 200-foot #3 D with upside on both special teams units.

Attributes
Fantasy Upside 8.5
NHL Certainty 6.5
Country CAN
Position D
Roster Type Junior
Shoot/Glove Left
Date of Birth February 3, 2005
Height 5‘11”
Weight 176 lbs
Drafted 2023 Round 1; Overall: 24

Stats

 Season Team League GP G A TP PIM      Playoffs GP G A TP PIM 
 2014-2015 BC Junior CanucksBrick Invitational6 0 33 2|Playoffs1 0 00
 2018-2019 Thompson Blazers U15 AAAU15 AAA18 7 1825 2|        
 2019-2020 Yale Hockey Academy U15 PrepCSSHL U1527 9 4655 14|Playoffs2 2 46
  Yale Hockey Academy Elite 15sCSSHL U161 0 00 0|        
  Yale Hockey Academy U15 PrepJohn Reid Bantam6 1 67 4|        
 2020-2021 Yale Hockey Academy U18 PrepCSSHL U185 1 56 10|        
  Saskatoon BladesWHL17 0 22 2|        
 2021-2022 Saskatoon BladesWHL55 3 1518 16|Playoffs5 0 33
 2022-2023 Canada U18Hlinka Gretzky Cup5 1 34 0|        
  Saskatoon BladesWHL67 9 2837 37|Playoffs18 3 58
 2023-2024 Saskatoon BladesWHL50 10 4656 18|Playoffs16 3 710 10 
 2024-2025 Saskatoon BladesWHL19 3 1417 10|        
  Canada U20WJC-20- - -- -|        

Highlights