Vegas Golden Knights Top Prospect Peyton Krebs Scouting Report

Center/Left Wing - Shoots Left

Born January 26th, 2001 in Okotoks, Alberta

Height: 5’11” Weight: 181 lbs (180 cm/82 kg)

The first overall pick in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, Peyton Krebs played mostly left-wing in his first year with the Kootenay Ice. He converted to center in his second year there and put up 54 points in 67 games and led all WHL rookies in scoring. Last year, he has notched 19 goals and 68 points in 64 games on an awful Kootenay squad. Krebs also proved some leadership abilities, captaining the team. This season, he has lit up the WHL with 12 goals and 60 points in 38 games, putting him well over a point-per-game. During his draft year, he suffered an Achilles injury which hurt his draft stock as he slipped all the way down to #17 where the Vegas Golden Knights selected him. Should he have gone higher? Let’s take a look and see if he was a steal for the Knights. 

Think: 1B. Peyton Krebs is a smart player, in all three zones. His strong hockey IQ in the offensive zone lets him read the play and anticipate the movements of his teammates and his opponents. He is always making a smart play whether it’s to drive to the net, dish it to a teammate who is wide open, or anticipating a turnover and being a step ahead of the defenseman. He plays smart in the defensive zone, blocking passing lanes and uses his anticipation too. If defenders back off too far from him, he will slow down and use the extra space given to him effectively, either passing to an open teammate or delivering a great wrist shot. He can draw in multiple defenders and anticipates his teammate’s movements so he can lay a sweet dish for a high danger chance. On the powerplay, he plays smart, being active, and completing lots of high danger passes or east-west passes.

Move: 1B. Krebs is a great skater. He is an outstanding transitional player due to his skating and speed, and he takes defenders wide and cuts to the net effectively. He gets up to his top speed quickly too, having an excellent first step and great acceleration. Krebs’ edges are great too, stopping on a dime and being difficult to contain one-on-one because of his edges, speed, and general skating. His balance and strength are decent at the CHL level, but he will need to get stronger for the pro game. His low center of gravity and a wide stride is another one of his advantages. 

Get: 2B. Krebs is a hard worker in the defensive zone, supporting his teammates down low and works to break up passing lanes. He uses his smarts cutting down on the passing lanes and anticipating the play. Krebs is also effective on the penalty kill, creating turnovers with an active stick, and once a turnover is made, he transitions this to offense quickly with great skating and being smart. Krebs isn’t afraid to get dirty along the boards and in the corners, but he isn’t good there, and will need to add muscle to get better along the boards.

Pass: 1A. Peyton Krebs has phenomenal playmaking ability. He can thread pucks through the needle, and make strong saucer passes to his teammates. He also makes good passes on his backhand. His great hockey sense lets him read the play and make dangerous passes to his teammates in the offensive zone. His excellent vision lets him see the open man and his great passing lets him make the scoring chance from seeing the open man. On the powerplay, he is an effective player, generating high danger shot assist after high danger shot assist.

Shoot: 2B. Krebs has a decent shot all around. His skating lets him get opportunities to fire off his wrist shot which is powerful, accurate, and has a quick release. Krebs doesn’t shoot a whole lot, as he is mainly a pass-first type of player. He uses defenders as screens for his wrist shots which add even more lethality to it since the goalie can’t see it. His slap shot and one-timer are fairly accurate, but he could look to add more power to both of them to really make his shooting more lethal. 

Overall: 1B. I project Krebs right now to be a top-line winger, and if he gets stronger and gets better defensively, a great first-line center. His passing is phenomenal, his shot is decent, his stickhandling is very good as he is able to make moves at top speed and compliments his passing very well making open lanes. Krebs is always working hard in all three zones and is a smart player everywhere on the ice. His defensive game is alright, with his weakness being board play even though he isn’t afraid of it. Krebs’ skating is outstanding, with great speed, an excellent first step, good acceleration, and good edgework. He just needs to work on his balance and strength. Krebs also has leadership qualities, captaining his WHL team and Team Canada at the 2019 U18 World Championship. Krebs’ PNHLe is 71, which leads the Golden Knights, meaning he is projected to put up 71 points in his prime based off this year, which would put him as a future first-liner. Krebs should not have fallen all the way to #17 and should’ve been selected in the top 10 easily, but his Achilles injury scared other teams off. Krebs made up for 43% of his team’s points, the Winnipeg Ice.

By: Victor Beraja