Nause is a poised and dynamic two-way defender. His mobility is his best asset and really enables him to be effective on both sides of the puck. He is an intelligent player with incredible in-game communication, constantly directing the play. Defensively, he is excellent at using his skating and sound positioning to deny center ice and keep an excellent gap on the backcheck. Through the neutral zone and upon defensive zone entry, Nause has impressive positioning, keeping his stick in passing lanes and really dictating where his opponents go. He’s capable of separating opponents from the puck with a good poke check or rubbing them out physically. His East-West mobility is excellent and allows him to cover a wide range of the ice. When Nause is on the ice his team doesn’t spend a ton of time in the defensive zone as he’s excellent at turning the puck up ice. His passing isn’t fancy but it gets the job done. He’s an effective puck distributor and finds the best pass available with relative ease. He’s also very intelligent at anticipating the play and knows when to jump up into the zone, or when todrop back. Offensively he’s got decent hands but is just very good at reading the play and making a pass more than being highly dynamic with his offensive play. The rearguard is very willing to jump in board battles, and has the ability to distribute solid hits along the wall. He uses his frame effectively in puck battles, working hard with his upper body strength and feet positioning. Nause has developed the habit of keeping his head up in his movement, allowing him to keep an eye on every developing lane and attackers, and be much more calculated. Combined with strong passing abilities, Nause has the ability to find simple, efficient outlets to restart the counterattack. Nause displays excellent lateral agility to walk to blue line and throw the puck into open shooting lanes. With an already powerful wrist shot, if the blueliner can learn to lower the destination a bit, he could create a lot more chances on rebounds and deviations. Sometimes he does get himself in trouble with his pinches and doesn’t have the top-end speed to get back when he’s stuck deeper in the offensive zone. His puck skills have shown improvements, but are average at best.

– FCHockey’s 2021 NHL Draft Guide