Potential 2023 first-rounder Quentin Musty is an elite passer with a lot of potential
By Ryan Pike
3 months agoBrought to you by odds site Betway!
If there’s something that’s almost as valuable as the ability to score goals in hockey, it’s the ability to set up others for goals with crisp, precise passes. In the 2023 draft class, one of the premier passers available is Sudbury Wolves winger Quentin Musty. One of the youngest players available in the draft, Musty has racked up the assists in the OHL.
Let’s dive into what makes Musty so effective at moving the puck.
Scouting report
A product of Hamburg, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, Musty is a July 2005 birthday – he’s one of the youngest first-time draft eligible players in the 2023 class. He’s a 6’2″, 190 pound left shot forward who plays primarily the wing.
After spending much of his youth playing minor hockey in the Buffalo area, Musty was the first overall selection in the 2021 OHL Priority Selection. He joined the Sudbury Wolves for the 2021-22 season and was named to the second OHL all-rookie team. 2022-23 was his second OHL campaign.
Over at Dobber Prospects, Sebastian High wrote this scouting report:
Quentin Musty has been a fascinating player to follow over the course of the season. At its start, he was an extremely toolsy but tremendously inconsistent and inefficient player, especially in his decision-making. The tools have only gotten better, and his consistency, efficiency, and decision-making have all come a very long way. He remains a bit of a lacklustre defensive player, but that has never been where he’s most valuable. Musty is a fluid skater – clearly above-average – and pairs this mobility with borderline elite handling and passing, as well as a violent release, especially in his wrist shot. His pass selection may have been the biggest area of improvement this season and it has enabled him to unlock a really impressive playmaking game. He regularly feeds passes to dangerous areas through multiple defensive layers, and more often than not, they’re on the tape of his teammate. He will need to focus on continuing to develop his decision-making with the puck and more consistently use his teammates, and working on his slap shot mechanics would make him a more dangerous dual threat on the power play, but those are small critiques compared to our early-season writeups. Musty’s upside is astronomical, and it has looked increasingly plausible that he’ll be able to hit it as the season has progressed.
As part of Smaht Scouting’s rankings, Josh Tessler had this assessment of Musty’s game:
I believe that Musty is a top six winger at the next level.Musty has an excellent shot from range, distributes quite well off of the rush and does a great job of creating space for himself. His ability to create consistently at 5v5 is a credit to how well he handles pressure. Musty will take advantage of tight lanes when looking to thread the needle and will look to complete drop passes when hitting a wall. He’s got so many tricks that he can rely on to open up space when he is right about to shoot. There are times where he struggles to navigate the puck around tight pressure, but it’s become far less frequent as the season has gone on.The next step in his development is to work on his physicality. He has the frame and the power stride to get himself into situations where he can shut down puck movement, but a lot of the time, he ends up following through on the check too late. At the NHL level, Musty will be called upon to provide more physicality and so he will need to do a bit more fine tuning next season. Plus, if he can work on building up momentum with his crossovers when changing directions, he will be a handful to deal with when he is bearing down on you. You won’t be able to pivot out because Musty will be able to keep pace and pivot when you pivot.
Musty moves well, moves the puck well and does a good job of creating chances for his teammates. He’s physically immature, but he’s also super young relative to his draft class. There seems to be a lot of potential there.
The numbers
In 53 OHL games in 2o22-23, Musty had 26 goals and 52 assists for 78 points.
He was 51st in goals overall, and eighth among under-18 skaters. he was 14th in assists overall, and first among under-18 skaters. He was 23rd in points overall and second among under-18 skaters.
He represented the United States at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer. He had a goal and four assists for five points over four games.
Availability and fit
Under Brad Treliving, the Flames emphasized building their team through centres and defencemen. But in the first rounds, they haven’t been afraid to go after wingers if they were strong players – cases in point include Jakob Pelletier in 2019 and Matt Coronato in 2021, among others. Musty is a really, really good passer – some scouts have said “elite” – and the ability to find teammates with pinpoint passes is something NHL clubs won’t sneeze at. If he’s available, Musty will be a tough player for the Flames to pass up.
On most public rankings, Musty shows up in the second half of the first round. He’s 18th for Scott Wheeler, 20th for FC Hockey, 21st for Corey Pronman, 22nd for Daily Faceoff and 31st for Sportsnet. Based on the scouting consensus, he should be taken somewhere around (or slightly after) when the Flames select at 16th overall.
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