What stands out the most about Boyko is how composed he looked most night and in any scenario, which couldn’t have been easy on a struggling Americans team. He’s deceivingly strong with his lower body and makes controlled lateral movements with seamless pushes that help him readjust to angled movements and seal the bottom of the net and 5-hole. He is a big kid and has reach, but also doesn’t play overly aggressive in his net, sitting deeper than most and allowing size and reactions to compensate for busy feet to adjust to shooters at the top of his crease. This does have it’s downfalls in certain situations, though, providing shooters real estate to his midsection and high areas with him playing so deep. When he goes into the butterfly on his short side he tends to cheat towards the near-side post when cupping his shoulders to control the puck, which can leave the far side of the net wide open. He also tends to play the odds on long-range shots or bad-angle possessions, going down early and leaving more of the top of the net exposed. Shots through screens are an area of weakness. As a relaxed player he doesn’t go searching around screens or battle for sightlines that his defense couldn’t open up, instead going down into the butterfly and rolling the dice that he could block and control the rebound or catch a glimpse of the puck in motion. To his midsection, blocker and middle of body he is great at controlling puck deflection and suffocating rebounds if they are in front of him, however, his glove hand and the extremities of his pads cause more trouble for him, as pucks can pop off his pads back to the slot that create second looks, and there is simply inconsistency in snaring pucks that handcuff him. As he evolves his game he does have the ability to improve on areas of weakness and tweak his motions to have continual success down the road.

– FCHockey’s 2021 NHL Draft Guide