While he isn’t the strongest or fastest skater, he can read the game relatively well and his anticipation helps offset his slower feet. The biggest knock on this defender is his skating. His feet are quite heavy, and he has a penchant for hunched-over skating style, two things that prevent him from generating any speed. The only saving grace for his skating is that he does have great balance and lower-body strength, helping him shrug off pressure and making it incredibly hard to knock him off his feet. His defending ability is average. While his gap control, defensive zone positioning, sticks in lanes and ability to tie up opponents are all exceptional, he tends to throw the puck away blindly under pressure. He is an all-situations, workhorse defenseman and does everything for his team, excelling on both sides of special teams. He’s above average with the puck, receiving passes with ease and settling down bouncing pucks. His puck protection is impressive, keeping it on a string and swinging it around while also twisting and turning his body to prevent forecheckers from stealing it. On the penalty kill, he can use his thick frame and rugged style to defend his goalie and keep dangerous chances away from the crease. On the powerplay, he shows a lot of poise moving the puck around at the blueline, and his powerful slapshots and one-timers are a frequent weapon. Overall, needs to learn to maximize his strengths while heavily improving his skating ability.

– FCHockey’s 2020 NHL Draft Guide