Skating

Williams, when he gets up to speed, is quite a solid skater. He can beat opponents one-on-one with his speed and puck protection. He does take a few strides to get up to speed, but is capable as an attacker on the rush. One thing that Williams could improve upon in his skating is his explosiveness. The top-end speed is there, but to get there takes him a stride or two too much. He is fine on his edges, too. The pivoting does take some time, but that draws back to the explosiveness. Overall, Williams’ skating is one of the weaker aspects of his game at the moment, but as long as he works with a skating coach, Williams could turn this current weakness into a strength.

Passing

The strongest aspect of Williams’ game is his passing. He can hit open teammates with needle-threading passes, and he can open up passing lanes with deception. Williams also constantly makes the correct play when passing, which is quite encouraging, as many WHL rookies cannot make the plays Williams makes. Williams tends to lean towards passing first, but this is not a bad thing, as many pass-first players wind up becoming high-end two-way threats at the next level…