Ryan Pilon is a big offensive blueliner for the Brandon Wheat Kings…is quite a strong skater for his size…while his footwork defensively can be a tad sluggish at times, it’s really the only fundamental knock I have on his skating…possesses good power in his edges and uses them to generate good speed when he really bends his knees and drives hard…strong c-cuts in his backwards skating allow for good acceleration against a rush…effort to really drive and accelerate around the ice isn’t always consistent in his game and leads to him getting outskated the odd time…his overall mobility, mixed with his reach, gives him a good starting base to work with defensively…biggest strength overall is his ability to see the ice and pass the puck…is arguably the best outlet passer from the WHL in this draft class…can thread the needle on outlets…stretches the ice with long and powerful feeds down past the red line…can take something off his outlets when necessary…can get creative on his outlets when it comes to using the walls to find open teammates…plays with a high level of poise against a forecheck…is comfortable carrying the puck if no passing lane is open…uses his long reach to aid in his puck protection while on the rush…is comfortable being the carry-man through the neutral zone on the powerplay and makes good puck placement decisions in that situation…despite his ability to do it now, I don’t think he will be a guy that consistently leads the rush at even-strength at the next level, rather being more of a complimentary player in that sense…is smart when it comes to joining the rush and pinching during the cycle…is a big threat to leak into the slot during the cycle, receive a puck and get a grade-A scoring chance…owns a hard wrister which he can get on net with regularity…has a good release on his snapshot with good accuracy…slapshot is good but not at the top of this class…solid footwork at the offensive blueline helps him keep pucks in and also allows him to get open for chances to shoot…has strong but soft hands in puck receiving…seems to really be the full package on the offensive side of the puck…on the defensive side of the puck I feel like he lacks some intensity in his style…allows his partner to do a lot of the puck retrieval and could do a better job hustling back into his own end…owns fairly good positioning with both his body and stick but isn’t an abrasive defender…hardly ever initiates contact…saw him live 8 times this year and I feel like I maybe saw him throw 8 hits total, although his intensity did definitely go up a notch come playoffs…when he does initiate contact he has the strength and size to do damage…not sure I saw him play at more than 80% effort all regular season, noting that it did come up a bit during playoffs…often times it looks more like he’s out for a skate with some buddies on a Sunday afternoon rather than playing a WHL game, which has obviously been a red flag for me all season long…could be stronger on his stick in battles…could be tougher in front of his own net to help his goalie with sight lines and in clearing rebounds…makes smart plays in all zones but will need to up his intensity level to succeed at the next level, which is clearly my main knock on his game…seems like he’s a small defenceman trapped in a big defenceman’s body…while being a main guy on the powerplay his appearances on the penalty kill didn’t seem to be overly regular in all of my live viewings…spent the vast majority of the season playing the right side (his off-side) alongside Ivan Provorov on Brandon’s top defensive pairing

Ryan is a very efficient, effective player who plays with assuredness. He doesn’t panic or get overwhelmed with the pressures facing him in the game and has a steadying calm to his play.  He makes the necessary plays and doesn’t force things. A player who can complement a real high-end offensive type.

A strong two-way defenceman with the work ethic, determination, and skill to get the job done in all situations. Possesses a quick, accurate release on his shot. Pilon is a smooth skater and is able to quarterback plays as he sees the ice very well. He exhibits very good decision making in all three zones.