Dea is a skilled centre that generates chances off his quickness, skill and smarts. He gets around the ice very well with good darting quickness and agility. Strong, tight turns, impressive change of direction and lateral jump all bene t his skating. He keeps his feet moving. In saying that though, he is extremely light and can easily be knocked off the puck. He has amazingly quick hands and can show some very creative dangles to gain time and space. He has a very strong shot for his size and he gets if off both on target and with pin-point accuracy. His shot release is truly one of his major strengths. Good hand-eye coordination and ability to win faceoffs with his quick stick are others. He holds the tools to be a good defensive player but is too often thinking about attacking to be a consistent contributor in his own zone. Not much physical play to his game, he is elusive against the big hit but can be caught overly concerned with dodging the physical game which in turn takes him off his offensive game. He needs to add some much required weight to his spindly frame. A very hot start offensively catapulted him into the draft picture and on to NHL teams lists. (May 2013)