Getting to Know Borya Valis

Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs made a surprising announcement: they had signed 20 year old Borya Valis to an ELC. Cathy already made a quick write up about him here:

Maple Leafs sign Borya Valis to an ELC

A junior almost-graduate to add to the pool of young players.

PPP LeafsCathy Squires

So, as is my wont, I spent pretty much all day on Saturday watching his highlights and full games from the past couple of months to get an idea for who Valis is as a hockey player.

THE BASICS: STATS AND CONTEXT

Position: Right-shot winger
League: WHL
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 192 lbs
Birth date: Apr 8, 2004

Valis was first eligible for the 2022 NHL draft as an interesting but unspectacular winger. If you're doing the math, that makes him now a D+3 winger in his maximum overage season in the CHL. That makes him the same year as Fraser Minten and Brandon Lisowsky, for reference – in fact Valis' birthday is 5 days before Lisowsky's.

When it comes to production, Valis had 25 points in 57 games in the WHL in his draft year, which was good for 47th in the league among U18 players. He's had steady improvements since then: 48 points in 55 games, 70 points in 67 games, and so far this season is on pace for 86 points. In his one post-season appearance, he had a strong 9 goals and 13 points in 15 games for Prince George.

Looking at this season in more depth. Prince George is one of the deeper teams in the WHL, though they don't necessarily have huge star power. Their trio of Terik Parascak (17th overall), Riley Heidt (64th overall) and Koehn Ziemmer (78th overall) have been among the most productive players in the league over the past two years. Valis was traded from Regina to Prince George last year, and has been used as a supporting winger in the top six the whole time.

On the powerplay, Valis is used on the top unit. He seems to rotate along the right side of the offensive zone, mostly on the half-wall but also moving up to the point or down to the goal line/net front if the situation calls for it.

Here's how Valis stacks up on his team in various statistics:

• Goals (29) – 2nd
• Assists (44) – 3rd
• Points (73) – Tied for 2nd
• Shots (229) – 1st
• +/- (+32) – 2nd; 1st for forwards by 15
• Power play points (17) – Tied for 3rd
• Short handed points (3) – 1st

Valis' time in junior the past four years has involved slowly working his way up and earning a top six role on one of the league's best teams, and he now has production the past two years that reflects that. However, his production is below that of the true top prospects even before you take his age into account – he's basically at the lower end of "top player" status. In addition, he did not start producing as a top player in the league until he was exiting his teens. For comparison, Brandon Lisowsky has produced at a slightly higher rate every single season.

But as I always say, points don't matter all too much for me. So let's try and find some reasons why Valis wound up getting an NHL contract, when Lisowsky (so far) has not.

THE GOOD: STRONG OFF-PUCK POWER FORWARD

Ever since Brad Treliving took over the Maple Leafs as their General Manager, they have had a type when looking at prospects. Easton Cowan, Hudson Malinoski, Miroslav Holinka, Alexander Plesovskikh, and Sam McCue have some vague similarities when you speak of their strengths in general ways: they're all described, to varying extents, as smart, good off the puck, some flashes of skill even if there isn't anything really elite about them, and some 'power' tendencies to their game. If I were to summarize all of that even shorter, they all seem to have a profile of skills and abilities that make them interesting support players. I've gotten the impression that Valis fits this vague archetype.

While watching some of Valis' games this season, the thing I noticed first was the power and off-puck play. He's 6'2" and almost 200 lbs, and he uses it well. When he has the puck, he is always looking to take it to the net. Off the rush, he achieves this by getting a step on the defender, dropping his shoulder to protect the puck and give himself a better angle, and driving it fearlessly to the net. If he gets the puck behind the net or along the boards, he will try to get it off the boards and drive right to the net in the middle of the ice. He's a bit like Matthew Knies in that sense, but his success rate and skills to pull it off are not to the same level. Same thing with his ability to protect the puck using his size by getting the defender on his back.

Off the puck is where you can see Valis' smarts the most. He has some sneaky cleverness in how he takes his routes in the offensive zone, where he just so happens to be moving in a direction that sets legal picks and interferes with defenders trying to get to his teammate carrying the puck. He almost never does it in a way that gets him penalized, and it helps free up more space for his teammates a lot.

Otherwise, Valis is also an effective forechecker and can be disruptive by jumping into passing lanes, causing turnovers, and using his physical size and body checks to create chaos. He has a Hyman-like (again, not at the same level) when chasing a loose puck into a corner to initiate contact with the defender early and establish a dominant body positioning to create more leverage and make it easier for him to win the puck battle. I've mentioned Knies and Hyman, but another Leaf he reminds me of is Bobby McMann – but again, not to the same level. Again, this is just me emphasizing the combination of size, physical play and smarts that makes up

I've seen some scouting reports saying he's an effective defensive player, and I can see that but I wouldn't overstate it. Some of it is that disruptive ability I mentioned, and he's also pretty good at playing responsibly in his own end and helping get the puck out off dump ins. That comes from good positioning so he's where he needs to be to give some relief options to his defensemen.

Here are some highlights showing the power elements of his game, mostly when he has the puck because they're easier to find:

Now, when Valis has the puck, his biggest strength would be his passing and playmaking, then his shooting a bit behind, and well behind both is his puck handling.

From what I've seen, Valis is a good passer. Not a great or dynamic one, but a good and effective one. He has good vision both from his size, but also because he scans the ice really well and seems to maintain a good awareness of where his teammates are on the ice. When he spots open teammates, he can fire off passes quickly, with some good velocity and accuracy. His passing is somewhat limited by his lack of puck handling, so he can't really break down defenders or buy more time for teammates to get open. He's more of a bull in a china shop, trying to keep moving with the puck and get closer to the net – if he sees an open passing lane, he can make that pass.

Here are some of Valis' better passing highlights – he wears #18, and he's always the one getting the primary assist in each highlight. I know some of the jerseys they wear are not easy to make out the numbers.

While Valis' shot, right now, does not seem to match the level of skill he's shown as a passer, that's more down to consistency than pure skill. The more I watched his highlights, the more I dropped a few "wow"s from some of his snipes. He can put a lot of velocity on his wrist shots and pick corners. While he's not very consistent with it, but he can absolutely rip it at times. I mentioned on the powerplay he was moving a lot between the point and the half wall – some of that is due to being a good passer for finding cross-ice seams, but it's also because if he has the time and space to start skating in from the point with the puck, he can beat goalies from medium distance. Not unlike Minten from his junior years.

I'm not sure if his wrist shot will project that well to higher levels, since he won't have the same time and space to get that kind of shot off in the AHL and especially the NHL. I mentioned his consistency issues, Minten turned his shot into a consistent weapon in junior scoring with double digit powerplay goals in two straight years. Valis' career best has been six.

I'd like to see Valis make it into more of a weapon. He'll need to practice making his release on wrist shots quicker and through pressure, and I'd say to work on his snap/slap shots so he can use them more as well. Those tend to be shots you can release quicker, even if you telegraph that you're going to shoot it more.

Here are some highlights of his shot:

THE FLAWS: SKATING, PUCK HANDLING

There are three main issues that Valis is still going to have to work to overcome, which won't be easy since he's only a month away from turning 21. If I were to rank the issues from most serious to least, I would say it would be: 1) his skating; 2) his puck handling, and 3) a general lack of higher end offensive skills.

I mentioned before that Valis reminds me of McMann-lite, with the biggest difference being that where McMann is quite a good skater even at the NHL level, Valis likely will never reach that point. When he has room to get up to speed, he can blow by a lot of defensemen in the WHL. But he lacks quickness and explosiveness, agility in terms of being able to shift and pivot quickly, and his speed won't be that high end at higher levels. This is the kind of thing that's "easier" to fix with good skating coaches, but that will only take him so far.

The other issue is Valis' puck handling. I touched on that earlier, noting it holds back his passing in certain ways. But it also means that you don't want the puck on his stick that often, depending on the situation. He is not a good transition driver, he's more the guy you let build up speed and let loose on the forecheck when you dump it in. I also mentioned that when he gets the puck, he will try and drive to the net with it... and that's basically his one 'move'. I've seen him pull off the odd dangle, but that happens with less consistency than his shot.

The final issue is Valis' general lack of higher end offensive skills. His shot is good, but inconsistent. His passing is good, but held back by poor puck handling. His skating projects as okay. What I'd like to see him do is follow in Knies and Grebenkin's footsteps, and learn some tricks that can help him make quick plays while around the net. If he's going to have a role in the NHL, it will be as a bottom six energy/support winger. Work hard, skate hard, forecheck hard, hold his own defensively, and be a menace around the net. If he gets the puck, pass it quickly to someone who can be relied upon to carry it and push it up the ice. That will require a general improvement in a few different areas, but maybe working with a top tier pro development team like Toronto has can help him get there.

Thanks for reading!

I put a lot of work into my prospect articles here, both for the draft and Toronto's prospects. I do it as a fun hobby for me, and I'd probably do it in some capacity even if PPP completely ceased to exist. But if you like reading my work, some support would go a long way! I pay for a few streaming services (CHL, NCAA, USHL, the occasional TSN options for international tournaments that are broadcast) to be able to reliably watch these prospects in good quality streams. I also pay for some prospect-specific resources, such as tracking data and scouting reports from outlets like Elite Prospects, Future Considerations, McKeen's Hockey, The Athletic, and more.

Being able to get paid for this helps me dedicate more time and resources to it, rather than to second/third jobs. And whatever money I make here, a lot of I reinvest back into my prospect work through in those streaming and scouting services. Like I said, I'd be doing whatever I can afford for this anyway, so any financial help I get through this is greatly appreciated!