PLAYER IDENTITIES
Your Player Identity is the kind of player you are. It shapes what your game reports focus on and how your weekly plan is built.
Every player selects a Player Identity during onboarding. Your identity tells our coaching engine what to prioritize when evaluating your game. It affects three things:
Reports grade you against your identity's job. A Sniper who didn't shoot gets flagged. A Shutdown D who over-committed gets noted. Two players with identical box scores get different feedback based on their identity.
Game reports evaluate your play through the lens of your identity. A Playmaker gets graded on pass completion and zone entries. A Grinder gets graded on effort and physical play.
Your weekly plan is tailored to the skills your identity needs most. Danglers get puck-handling drills. Butterfly goalies get lateral movement exercises.
SNIPER
sniperPure goal scorer with a lethal shot. Finds open ice, gets into scoring positions, and finishes with accuracy and power.
NHL comparisons
Alexander Ovechkin — The most lethal one-timer in hockey history. Scored from the same spot on the left circle for 20 years.
Auston Matthews — Wrist shot release that goalies can't read. Gets to scoring areas without the puck better than anyone.
David Pastrnak — Creative shooter who finds angles nobody else sees.
Leon Draisaitl — Power and precision. Can beat you from the slot or set up teammates with elite vision.
PLAYMAKER
playmakerThe architect of the offence. Sees plays before they develop, threads passes through traffic, and makes everyone around them better.
NHL comparisons
Connor McDavid — The fastest player in NHL history with vision to match. Creates offence at a pace nobody else can sustain.
Nikita Kucherov — Deceptive passing and patience with the puck. Makes the perfect play look effortless.
Mitch Marner — Elite vision in traffic. Threads passes through three defenders like they aren't there.
Jack Hughes — Speed plus hands plus vision. Creates plays at full speed that other players can't see standing still.
POWER FORWARD
power forwardPhysical force with offensive upside. Wins puck battles in the corners, creates havoc around the net, and scores dirty goals.
NHL comparisons
Matthew Tkachuk — Gets under your skin while putting up first-line points. The perfect blend of agitation and elite skill.
Brady Tkachuk — Relentless net-front presence. Scores the dirty goals and makes the crease unlivable for goalies.
Tom Wilson — Proved a power forward can also put up 50 points. Physicality with purpose.
Chris Kreider — Pure speed into the net-front. Uses his size and skating to crash the crease at full speed.
TWO-WAY FORWARD
two way forwardComplete player, both ends of the ice. Trusted in all defensive situations while still producing offensively. Coaches give them the hardest matchups.
NHL comparisons
Patrice Bergeron — The gold standard for two-way play. Won faceoffs, killed penalties, and still put up 60+ points.
Jonathan Toews — The ultimate winner. Led by example at both ends and stepped up in every big moment.
Aleksander Barkov — Dominant at both ends without ever taking penalties.
Anze Kopitar — Big-body center who controls the game in all three zones.
GRINDER
grinderBlue-collar, outworks everyone. Blocks shots, finishes checks, wins puck battles, and creates energy. Effort never takes a shift off.
NHL comparisons
Cal Clutterbuck — Hit machine who also chips in offence. Plays every shift like it's his last.
Ryan Reaves — The ultimate team-first player. Protects teammates, finishes every check.
Brandon Tanev — Relentless energy and speed. Outworking everyone on every shift earns you a Stanley Cup ring.
DANGLER
danglerPuck skills wizard, individual creativity. Beats defenders one-on-one, makes highlight-reel plays, and generates offence from impossible angles.
NHL comparisons
Patrick Kane — The best hands in a generation. Made defenders look foolish with dekes that shouldn't be physically possible.
Pavel Datsyuk — The Magic Man. Combined Houdini-level puck skills with elite defensive play.
Connor Bedard — Generational release and creativity. Sees passing lanes and shooting angles nobody else can.
Trevor Zegras — Redefining what's possible on the ice. Creative plays that go viral.
OFFENSIVE D
offensive defensemanDrives play from the back end. Jumps into rushes, quarterbacks the power play, and produces points from the blue line.
NHL comparisons
Cale Makar — Skates like a forward, thinks like a coach. Revolutionized what a modern defenseman can do.
Bobby Orr — Changed the position forever. The first defenseman to lead the rush and dominate the scoresheet.
Erik Karlsson — Effortless skating and passing from the point. Makes the breakout look like art.
Quinn Hughes — Elite edges and puck-moving ability. Turns defensive zone pressure into offense in one stride.
TWO-WAY D
two way defensemanComplete package on the blue line. Reliable in their own zone, moves the puck efficiently, and contributes offensively without taking risks.
NHL comparisons
Victor Hedman — 6'6" with the skating and hands of a forward. Shuts down elite players while producing offensively.
Jaccob Slavin — Takes zero penalties while neutralizing the best players in the world.
Devon Toews — Quiet dominance. Controls gaps and makes the clean first pass out of the zone.
Nicklas Lidstrom — The Perfect Human. Made zero mistakes and controlled the game through positioning and intelligence.
SHUTDOWN D
shutdown defensemanGaps up, blocks shots, wins net-front battles. Makes the other team's stars invisible. Offence is a bonus — defence is the job.
NHL comparisons
Charlie McAvoy — Physical shutdown defender who also moves the puck. Plays the hardest minutes and thrives.
Hampus Lindholm — Gap control master. Forwards run out of space before they realize it.
Jonas Brodin — The invisible wall. Doesn't make highlights because he prevents them from happening.
Niklas Hjalmarsson — Blocked shots, cleared the crease, won three Stanley Cups. The ultimate selfless defender.
BUTTERFLY
butterfly goalieDrops and seals, takes away the low game. Relies on positioning, angle play, and quick lateral movement to track pucks across the crease.
NHL comparisons
Connor Hellebuyck — Pure positional goaltending. Takes away the bottom of the net with textbook efficiency.
Igor Shesterkin — Athleticism meets positioning. Makes the impossible saves look routine.
Jonathan Quick — The ultimate big-game goalie. Compact, explosive, and at his best when everything is on the line.
HYBRID
hybrid goalieBlends styles, reads plays instinctively. Adapts save selection to the situation — butterfly for low shots, stand-up for high, desperation for scrambles.
NHL comparisons
Andrei Vasilevskiy — Big-body hybrid who covers the net with size and reads the play with intelligence.
Sergei Bobrovsky — Explosive athleticism blended with positional discipline. Can steal a series single-handedly.
Carey Price — The most composed goalie ever. Combined every style into one seamless approach.
Your Player Identity does not change your OVR. The OVR is an impact score — how much your player helps the team, compared against their own league and position — and it uses the same fair math for every identity. What the identity changes is the feedback: what your game reports look for, and what your development plan works on.
Examples
Sniper: Reports focus on finishing, shot selection, and getting to scoring areas.
Shutdown D: Reports focus on defensive reads, gap control, and battles won.
Playmaker: Reports focus on vision, puck distribution, and chance creation.
Want the full breakdown of how the rating is calculated? Read how ratings work.