Ryan Chesley is a strong, two-way defender who does tend to place more emphasis on the defensive side of the game. With his strong skating and positional discipline, he is a strong rush defender and more than adequate when the opposition has a longer stay in his end. He uses his footwork and his stick positioning to force puck-carriers away from the center lane to negate potential high-danger chances off the rush. Offensively, he does have the ability to drive transitional play. He’s a strong skater with good vision and a knack for making a crisp and accurate first pass. His offensive production doesn’t jump off the page at all, which may lower some people’s opinion of him, especially with the way the game is evolving but just because his production isn’t impressive doesn’t mean his ability to play the offensive game is lacking. There may be some hidden offensive creativity however, after he played the de facto stay-at-home role when routinely paired with the offensive Lane Hutson, who loved to push the envelope offensively. His biggest issue is his ceiling. He’s not all that flashy and won’t wow anyone with an abundance of highly skilled plays, but what he will do is play quality minutes and rarely put his team behind the eight-ball whenever he is out there. He flashed a bit of his offensive potential at the Under-18s and showed what he can do when he decides to take the reins off himself. If he can be the player he was at that late-season tournament more consistently, then there’d be more belief he has a much higher ceiling at the NHL level. Chesley isn’t the flashiest of prospects, but is the type of player who will carve out a long and quality career because of the reliable presence he brings when he’s on the ice.

– FCHockey’s 2022 NHL Draft Guide