2025 NHL Draft Scouting Report #3: LJ Mooney, RW/C, USNTDP

Background 

LJ Mooney is a native of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, and a cousin of current Utah Hockey Club star, Logan Cooley. Growing up, the hype was nearly immediate for the American speedster that quickly started to dominate the competition at an early age. With elite skating, and hands beyond his years, the attention around Mooney was warranted, and he backed it on the ice and in the box score. 

Throughout his youth hockey career, Mooney played for the well-renowned Pittsburgh Penguins Elite ‘AAA’ organization, scoring 30 points in just 13 NEPACK league games; which is often considered one of the hardest leagues in American youth hockey. Deservingly, Mooney would be called up for the remainder of the season to play for the Pens U15 team, scoring above a point per game pace for them as well. Putting up 17 points in 15 games. 

Entering his USHL Draft season with high expectations, Mooney would more than surpass them. Playing the entire season up an age group with the Pens Elite U16 team, Mooney would go ballistic - lighting up the nation with 80 points in 54 games, drawing headlines and comparisons to his cousin Logan (Cooley), who was at this point already a top 3 draft pick by the now Utah Hockey Club. Mooney would again dominate NEPACK play, however the Pens season would unfortunately get cut short behind LJ and co. could make a run at Nationals - losing before the semifinals of the Atlantic District tournament. 

Despite a disappointing end to the season, Mooney had made a statement to the nation, and with highlight reel video after highlight reel video piling up all over social media, one thing was abundantly clear: however big the size concerns may be, Mooney’s play suggested that he was something way bigger. His impressive track record leading up to the point, would earn him an invite to tryout for the USNTDP’s U17 roster for the 2023-24 season. Mooney would make it, and would fly high throughout his 2024 campaign. Posting a team leading 53 points in 61 games, during a season that was split between both the U17 and U18 teams. Standing at 5’7” and 157 pounds (according to eliteprospects.com), Mooney would stand tall on October 15th, 2023, announcing his verbal commitment to the University of Minnesota, the same school his cousin Logan Cooley played at.

Skating

Arguably Mooney’s biggest strength, Mooney is a sound skater. Similarly to Cooley, one of Mooney’s best attributes in his skating is his explosiveness. Into crossovers, out of turns and popping up out of stops and starts, Mooney’s low base and center gravity allow him to be a quick and powerful skater. His low base also helps him when in the corners. As a smaller player, he has to be quick in and out of cuts in order to out race his defenders to open ice; Mooney does just that. Not only does his explosiveness on his crossovers help him to generate speed, but they allow him to be a deadly puck carrier and passing option at all times, especially through the neutral zone. If you aren’t able to keep your eyes on him, good luck, because he’ll blow right past you. 

When people bring up size concerns, the simplest rebuttal when speaking on Mooney is the pace he brings to the game, which makes it hard for any player to keep up with him regardless of size. Mooney’s shiftiness and elite edges are a huge part of that. In terms of edgework, I’d argue that Mooney’s size is actually a benefit, as he can cut on a dime and leave defenders in his dust. When it comes to any possible weakness in his skating, there’s quite literally none. The amount of force he’s able to generate on his first couple strides as such a small player, alone, is enough to make him an elite skater. Match that with his dynamic ability to always seem to have a response to his lack of size through his skating abilities, and Mooney is arguably a top five skater in this year’s draft.

Offensive Game

LJ Mooney is an offensive-dynamo. Okay, let me back it up a bit.

Mooney’s greatest strength offensively is that he’s always on the attack. His willingness to go to the high danger areas of the ice is as impressive as it is brave for a forward that is hovering around 68 inches tall. He’s always moving in and out of lanes, slicing through the defense and looking for weak spots that he can attack. An added bonus is that not only does this create constant offensive opportunities for himself, but it draws defensive attention towards him, leaving open spots on the ice for his teammates to attack. 

With the puck on his stick, Mooney is a wizard. He has both the processing and hands to be extremely effective offensively at the NHL level. One of his best strengths is his ability to carry the puck in transition, and that is thanks to those quick crossovers, and 0 to 60 speed that he can really get up and get off with. When in the neutral zone, Mooney has no problem making a series of quick moves in order to freeze defenders and leave them behind, as he zooms into the offensive zone with control of the puck; more often than not setting up a high danger opportunity. When he’s zipping around the zone, it’s nearly impossible to catch him. Evading pressure and making dynamic plays to avoid traffic, but also creating chances and making smart plays while in it. This is more or less the bread and butter to Mooney’s game, and how he’s really able to be the most effective when he’s at his best.

When talking about Mooney’s vision, there’s no pass that he can’t make. He always has his head up, and he’s always observing the ice. He was tied for his team’s lead in assists (31) while missing 15 games, while consistently playing around 12-15 minutes a game, which speaks volumes about how efficient and effective his playmaking skills are. Something that really stood out to me while I was watching him was his ability to pass on his backhand. No matter where Mooney is on the ice, he always finds a way to move the puck. 

Of course, you can’t avoid the shooting aspect when talking about someone’s offensive game, and for Mooney - although 8 goals in 42 games isn’t the prettiest stat line - he’s never afraid to rip the puck. He has a snappy release, and when given enough time, can really zip the puck past a goaltender. The biggest thing for Mooney will be how he’s able to find the space in order to create enough time for him to shoot. Many times this season, he went stretches of a couple games where he went shotless. The positive side to that, is that in many of those games he recorded assists, and positive plus/minus ratings, which shows that even when his shot is being minimized, he can still have a huge impact on a game. 

Defensive Game

Say all you want about Mooney’s size and then some, but you still can’t deny that the fight and effort that Mooney puts in physically everywhere on the ice outweighs that of some of the most physically built players in this year’s Draft. Sure, from time to time will he get bullied in the corners, along the wall in board battles, and off of faceoffs? Simple answer, yes. But that doesn’t negate the fact that he’s an extremely hard worker, and doesn’t show any consistently lazy or bad habits in his defensive/off puck game. Mooney loves to play offensive, but rarely flies the zone, and when he does make a risky spring out to the neutral zone, he’s both willing and able to speed back to get into the right position once again.

Making an honest evaluation of Mooney’s game, his best defense is his best offense. When Mooney is buzzing around the offensive and carrying the puck in transition, you don’t have to worry about defense because the puck is on Mooney’s stick. He’s very good at advancing the play, and usually the moment that the puck can exit the defensive zone, it will. 

The only real shortcomings in Mooney’s defensive game lie in his reach and wingspan. Standing at only 5 '7”, Mooney sometimes struggles to clog up all potential passing lanes, or winning loose pucks in dangerous areas, because he doesn’t have the extra length to tap the puck into a safer area before an opposing player can swing in and take control of it.

Hockey IQ

As an undersized, offensive forward, Mooney has to thrive mentally in order to produce. He plays with extreme poise in his game, and with his skill and skating is able to dictate the pace and flow of the game. To me, what makes him such a smart player is his simple habit of never stopping his feet. Mooney always is looking for open ice, and is great at getting ahead of the play by putting himself in great areas to receive the puck. Since he’s always a step ahead mentally, it makes it easy for him to stay a step ahead with his speed and skill. 

Mooney has an innate ability to know where all his linemates are on the ice at all times. He knows that he can easily draw multiple defenders with the puck on his stick because he is so dangerous, so he uses that to his advantage by deceptively keeping the puck on his stick to buy enough time for his teammates to get open. When the time is right he’ll slide a silky pass to them for a quick finish that finds its way into the back of the net.

Off-puck in the neutral zone, Mooney can sometimes be too aggressive for his own good. Skating full speed into areas of the ice that are completely covered, simply because he was a second or two ahead of the play, and didn’t give it enough time to develop. However, this isn’t a result of simply going to the right place at the wrong time, but usually the product of something more subtle, such as not swinging deep enough on regroups, (I will give him the benefit of the doubt at times, since the USNTDP isn’t all-around as good of a team as it normally is, he sometimes will find himself in what would be a good position if a teammate previously had moved the puck on time, but because of a delay in the play, found himself out of position, but not to his own fault). 

A time when Mooney’s aggressiveness comes in handy, is defensively when he has to cover up for defenders who make poor pinches and get beat along the wall. One of Mooney’s slickest attributes mentally is understanding how probable a pass may be to advance the puck. If he realizes that what may appear to be a simple pass - D-to-D for example - would in actuality kill the advancement of the puck, he’s smart enough and skilled enough to evade an oncoming forechecker 1-on-1, and then make a better pass. Or, for example, if he’s posted up along the boards and receives a dangerous pass, he acknowledges his surroundings by shoulder checking, and will turn into the puck before he actually receives it. Allowing him to catch the puck with speed and with a better chance of moving it to a teammate.

Player Projection

Mooney is a tricky player to evaluate when it comes to projecting what his NHL career may look like, not because of the player he is, but because of the situation that he might land in. If he goes to a team that is willing to be patient, and wait for him to learn how to be dominant and play his style of game at his size at each level he plays at now until the NHL, he could end up being one of the biggest steals of this year’s Draft. He has the fearlessness and flat out desire to play the game of hockey regardless of size that no other player except for Nathan Gerbe has played with. He’s physically engaging in the play, which is something that should definitely be catching the attention of scouts. When it comes to skating, and offensively commanding the pace of play in such a confident way, no one is a better comparable for him than his cousin, Logan Cooley, of the Utah Hockey Club. 

Most likely, NHL teams will simply look at his size and assume that Mooney is an easy pass. I’d beg to differ. Mooney possesses all the intangibles of being at worst one of the best middle-six forwards in the NHL, that can consistently bring a winning competitiveness to the game while transitioning the puck extremely well. Right now, he's projected to go anywhere between the 3rd to 6th rounds, with NHL Central Scouting having him as low as 206th on their North American skaters list. That’s ludicrous. Considering the circumstances, I’d be exuberant to march up to the mic and announce that my team is selecting him as soon as the clock starts to tick on pick #33 in the 2nd round.

Thanks for reading!

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