Cliff Pu

Aaron Vickers

Pu is a power forward with size and offensive skill. He displays good vision on the rush with the puck while moving at top speed, able to see his options and seam a pass or keep it if needed. He looks poised with the puck as he stickhandles through the neutral zone and gains the zone, but opens himself up to get knocked over and have the puck taken away. Pu does a good job of protecting the puck on the wall or in the corner as he waits for support to appear and move it to his man. He picks up his check on the backcheck and works hard down low, grabbing loose pucks and getting into open space to escape the zone or feed his man through a passing lane to spark the rush. He does a good job of settling bouncing pucks and bad passes while in movement, continuing up ice unfazed. Pu is a like a dog on a bone at times, trying to get the puck off the man in the corner and down ice with strong back pressure. He is used as more of a depth scoring option due to London’s high-end talent up front, but he has done an admirable job creating offense nonetheless while also limiting the chances against and playing on the second penalty killing unit. Pu does a good job getting the inside track on footraces and turning up ice to make the smart play. Because he skates well, he displays some offensive skill and has size. We think he will blossom and take his game to the next level when the likes of Marner, Dvorak and Tkachuk graduate and he moves into London’s top six. He has the talent to develop into a scoring threat in the OHL, but may need some time.   (May 2016)