Ty Nelson is an offensive defender that loves to activate himself into the rush using his skating ability. He has strong skating ability, using his powerful lower body to generate powerful strides, allowing him to get up to full speed quickly. When he has the puck on his stick he’s displayed high-end vision with the puck, finding teammates on the move and hitting them with crisp and accurate passes in stride. Defensively he’s a bit of a mixed bag, but because of his skating ability and vision on the ice he shows a knack for being a successful rush defender. He uses his skating ability and body positioning to angle defenders into the boards and he gets his stick into the lanes to take away passes and knock the puck off opponents sticks. His game really starts to struggle when the opposing team gets the puck below the goal line and starts to operate out of the cycle. He seems a step behind the play when it comes to his processing speed and it really hurts him in the defensive zone as he has a tendency to wander out of position and overcommit to the puck, allowing his assignment to get open and generate a quality scoring chance. His defensive zone play did improve as the season progressed, which is a big positive for his future outlook and draft status and if he does continue to show steady improvement he can easily become the top-four defenseman he is projected to be by scouts. The NHL Draft is loaded with two-way defensemen, and given his skillset and the fact that he’s a right-shot blueliner will certainly make Nelson appealing to scouts. He can be a solid five-on-five defender and play a significant role on the power play if he continues that development and reaches his full potential at the next level.

– FCHockey’s 2022 NHL Draft Guide