Tyson Jugnauth is a defenseman who possesses a good offensive mind and toolkit. He’s a very smooth skater who likes to have the puck on his stick and does so with a lot of poise. He’s confident in his breakout ability to make that first forechecker miss him, all while scanning the ice ahead of him and deciding what his best options are. He is extremely comfortable with the puck on the offensive blue line and is calculated when working it around the outside. He routinely threads passes to teammates arriving at the back door. He has that subtle ability to fool opponents by using his eyes, looking like he’s going to pass to one side of the ice, and then firing a tape-to-tape, no-look pass to a teammate on the other side. His footwork along the line is active and coordinated. He’s capable of opening up shooting lanes for himself, however, his shot doesn’t pose much of a threat on its own, so he’ll have to be more of a deflection shooter. He uses his feet and stick to keep tight positioning when defending in his zone, which is good because he doesn’t possess the strength to separate players using his body and likely won’t be able to add a lot to his frame. He can get caught flat-footed at times when skating backwards defending on the rush, so look for him to try and improve that aspect of his game, which shouldn’t be a problem given his skills. He is still underdeveloped physically, but will luckily get much-needed development time in the college ranks. Whoever drafts him will be looking for him to round out his game to become more reliable defensively, but his real calling card will be as an offensive defenseman who transports the puck up ice and can also open things up from the offensive blue line.

– FCHockey’s 2022 NHL Draft Guide