Pederson went through the 2020 NHL Draft without being selected but has the physical traits and the production that could see him get taken this time around. Pederson’s game benefits from playing with really strong playmakers, he’s a trigger man who can find the soft spots in the offensive zone and get off his shot in tight spaces. With his shot, he can effectively play on the power play because he has even more time and space to use his strongest offensive weapon. He’s a bigger player so his first few strides are a little slow, but he has average level skating that allow him to get up and down the ice against junior players, he will have to work on this if he wants to make it to the next level. In the defensive zone he can show signs of positional awareness but allows himself to become puck focused and causes him to make some mental errors that will have to be cleaned up. Players with Pederson’s size and ability to shoot are coveted by NHL teams, but there’s a lot of clean up that needs to happen in the other aspects of his game before a team can comfortably select him in the draft. The best thing he has going for him was a huge jump in production from 2020 to 2021 and that might allow him to sneak into the draft this time around.

– FCHockey’s 2021 NHL Draft Guide