A smooth skating two-way defender with enticing upside. His skating is sneaky fast with incredibly explosive acceleration. He utilizes his skilled hands by starting the attack: Rushing the puck up the ice from his defensive zone into the offensive zone before dishing it off or taking a shot. He has a heavy, accurate slap shot that is a weapon from the point. He makes good use of his long reach, show- ing strong puck protection and good gap control in his own zone. He makes simple, solid touch passes on the rush but needs to utilize his good breakout pass more often. He is at his best when he simplifies his game and moves the puck but also has an eye on his defensive responsibilities; he has a little river boat gambler in him. Questions arise regarding his hockey sense as every time Skjei touches the puck, he wants to take it end-to-end, even with an opposition’s entire defense in his way. He can also fall into funks of being turnover prone, and is sometimes unwilling to just make the simple play. Is the kind of player whose physical ability masks questionable hockey sense. He’s headed to the University of Minnesota. (May 2012)