Luca Pinelli
2023 NHL Draft Eligible
5’ 8”, 165 pounds
DOB: April 5th, 2005
Ottawa 67’s
Twenty years ago, a player like Luca Pinelli would have been passed over in the NHL Draft. Not only is he 5’9”, but he isn’t a high-end skater either. Despite these drowning factors, there is a lot to like about Luca Pinelli and there are plenty of reasons to believe that he will be successful at the next level.
Pinelli played a large part in the success of the Ottawa 67’s this season, who finished atop the OHL standings at the end of the regular season. Pinelli was surrounded by plenty of talent, but his success began playing on “a line of his own” through the early part of the season. Despite fewer minutes early on, he was producing at an incredible rate, which bumped him up to the 67’s first powerplay unit. His production steadied out as the season continued on, and he has been fluctuating on many draft boards since that point.
What makes Luca Pinelli unique is his small area game play, he is able to create space and separation with barely any room. His edge work and deceptiveness allow him to manipulate and slip past defenders close to the net. Defenders hate defending against him because no matter how big they are, they can never seem to handle the sneaky and slippery Luca Pinelli. Pinelli has a knack for scoring goals and is always trying to get that shot off as quickly as humanly possible. He can get shots off with barely any room and his shots catch goalies off guard regularly. Now, Pinelli won’t be a play driver at the next level, he likes to use his teammates a lot and his game relies heavily upon them. He is more of a support player, but he has the ability to produce and the awareness to get himself into those high scoring areas. Pinelli fits as a middle six winger at the next level, and to get him there, his speed and acceleration will have to improve. Playing with skilled players and playmakers is a must for Pinelli, and when he does, he has a very high ceiling.
Skating:
The best part of Pinelli’s skating is his ability to exit tight spaces on the ice using his edges and agility. Once he has his feet going though, he has trouble accelerating. This is the reason why he is often “floating” around the zone instead of rushing and getting himself into positions that he cannot get out of, due to his lack of speed. Pinelli isn’t going to be a quick transition player, but he is a player that uses his feet to get himself into the right spots on the ice. That factor does make him an effective transition player at this level, as he knows where the open ice is and he is usually able to get there without being caught up to. His habit of “floating” is often used to delay the play and allow himself to find an open pocket to receive the puck. At the NHL level, Pinelli’s lack of speed and quickness may slow down his progression, and it will likely take some development for his skating to get to where it needs to be.
This clip exemplifies Pinelli’s skating habits quite well. He is rarely going to be able to accelerate to a high speed to rush on offense. Instead, he takes his time and uses his smarts to find a lane and delay on offense. This allows him to receive the puck with plenty of room to get a shot off.
Another play where Pinelli recognizes an open lane and taking advantage of it. This time, he is able to accelerate at a high enough speed through the neutral zone and it gives him enough momentum to get that open space in front of the net. At the next level, he is likely not going to have this much room and ability to coast to the goal.
Here, he is able to come off of the wall with speed and control where many players would have been stuck on the wall. Just as he sees the puck pop loose, he separates himself from the wall and propels himself into the middle of the ice.
Pinelli often uses his edges to create speed and momentum, and this clip exemplifies that habit quite well.
In the first half of this clip, Pinelli’s lack of lateral mobility causes him to do a bit of a fly by and give up a dangerous opportunity against. In contrast, when he realizes that his team is going to gain possession back, he is able to turn and accelerate up the ice to create a breakaway for himself.
Grade: 50
Shot:
Luca Pinelli loves to shoot the puck, but what makes his shot so effective? It is how quickly it comes off of his blade. Coming back to his hockey smarts, these are what get Pinelli into these high quality scoring spots. In these positions, he often doesn’t have much room, which is why his quick release is a crucial element in his game. He also has the ability to rifle shots towards the net with tremendous power. This combination of a quick release and high shot power is a dangerous one, and when he can get his shots on net, Pinelli is a viable scoring threat.
This is a sloppy entry into the zone, and a play that doesn’t appear very dangerous, but Pinelli has other plans. After slowly making his way into the high slot, he pre-recognizes the room and the shooting lane that he has between the defenders. He gets this shot off in the blink of an eye, before the goalie or defenders even realize that Pinelli is going to shoot this puck.
Pinelli is putting everything into these onetimers as the period comes to an end. He doesn’t stop to handle the puck or hesitate, he wants to put as much weight as possible into these shots.
When Pinelli calculates a shot, like he did here, it is certainly dangerous with his shot power. He is able to shoot through the defender and rifle a shot upstairs on the goaltender.
Here is when Pinelli could hold onto the puck a little longer and make a play. He has virtually no pressure on him, but he rushes the shot and fans on it.
Grade: 55
Skills:
The effectiveness of Pinelli’s small area game is something that you will notice immediately when watching him. He seems to be able to create space and separation out of nothing, and he is often able to get himself out of high-pressure situations. Pinelli shows no fear when going up against big defenders or when being pressured from multiple angles. The combination of his hands in tight and his edges make him incredibly slippery for opponents to handle. Pinelli is also incredibly deceptive, and he is able to make defenders look lost quite often. His skills are what make Pinelli so dangerous at all times in the attacking zone.
This offensive shift exemplifies Pinelli’s small area game to perfection. He is managing to create room, despite being hounded by 6’6 defender Kasper Larsen. Using his quick feet and deceptiveness, Pinelli is able to own the corner and he is never really in danger of losing possession. He begins by shielding the puck using his body, but then he is able to create enough separation to challenge Larsen head on and slip up the wall.
This is a fantastic display of Pinelli’s hands where the defender is not able to keep up with his deceptiveness. Pinelli makes the defender think that he is going to pass by opening up his body and looking at his teammate. Once the defender overextends, Pinelli is able to slip past him with a nice move and find his teammate on the back door.
Pinelli’s awareness of space and puck placement makes this play possible. His hands are on display at three separate times on this rush; on the self-chip into the zone, on the cut to the middle, and on the saucer pass.
Another saucer pass to perfection by Pinelli. He is able to get this puck past two defensemen and send his teammate in alone on goal. He seems to be able to place the puck exactly where he wants it, at any given time.
Pinelli has trouble picking up the puck with control on two consecutive breakout passes, and it results in a goal against.
Grade: 60
Smarts:
One strength of Pinelli's is his awareness of space and ability to find open lanes. This is ultimately where a lot of his scoring/passing opportunities come from. This is also what makes Pinelli’s small area game so effective, he understands the separation he can create and sees any space that the opponent is giving him. At the same time, Pinelli relies on his teammates tremendously. Usually, he is not the one rushing the puck into the zone, and he is the 3rd forward in. He waits for/creates an open lane and takes it, but there is a lot of reliance on his teammates to get him the puck in these spots. Pinelli does make some careless passing decisions at times, and these typically happen when he has no confidence left in the tank. This is something that happens with Pinelli at times, he lacks confidence and the drive to do something efficient with the puck.
Pinelli is the 3rd forward on this rush, as he usually is, and his gliding into the zone opens up a lot of room for Pinelli to generate a scoring chance. He probably could have done something better with the puck, but he is constantly delaying his entry into the zone to give himself that extra space with the puck.
Seemingly every play that Pinelli makes, relies on his teammates in one way or another. You will rarely see him trying to rush the puck himself. Here is a rush where he fills a supporting role and draws the defender towards him, which opens a lane for his teammate.
Sneaky and slippery are words used to describe Pinelli quite often, and this is why. Quietly, Pinelli delays and makes his way into the slot without any defender noticing him. When he recognizes that he is in an open passing lane, he taps his stick, and by this point it is too late for the defense to catch him.
There are both good and bad decisions that Pinelli makes on this offensive shift. He does a good job controlling and picking up the puck, but he just sends a pass through the slot that could have easily been a turnover. He regroups in the offensive zone and utilizes his teammates to generate a scoring chance.
Here is when one of those risky passing decisions does not pay off. A sloppy drop pass results in a scoring chance against. This is a pass that Pinelli does not need to make, and he could have driven it further into the zone.
Smarts: 50
Physicality/Compete:
With Pinelli’s lack of size, he isn’t going to be the type of player to throw big hits or dominate physically. He uses his feet and hands to win battles along the boards and uses his shiftiness to create separation. There are times when Pinelli gets into a rut where he lacks confidence and drive, but when he is going into the boards with an opponent, he is doing everything he can to gain body position.
Pinelli begins this play by attempting to slip away from the defender, but the defender pins him instead. To counter, Pinelli does a great job staying strong against the boards and fighting to use his feet to maintain possession, which he does. Pinelli shows a lot of compete on this play, where he could have let up with all the pressure on him.
This is a purely lazy play by Pinelli, he gains possession with tons of time and space to either curl back up towards the point, or cut towards the middle. Instead he sends a soft pass into the middle of the ice.
Pinelli is almost afraid to go into the boards on this play. He begins on the right side of the puck and could gain body position, but instead he tries to go to the outside and beat the attacking player. He does show compete on this play, attempting to beat the defender using his feet. If the second opponent was not there, Pinelli would have won this battle.
Physicality/Compete: 55
OVERALL: 54
A note on the 20-80 scale used above. We look at five attributes (skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ and physicality) for skaters and six for goalies (athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling). Each individual attribute is graded along the 20-80 scales, which includes half-grades. The idea is that a projection of 50 in a given attribute meant that our observer believed that the player could get to roughly NHL average at that attribute at maturity.