The top 10 of the NHL Draft this year, as I’m sure you’ll no doubt notice from all the profiles that follow, are packed to the gills with defenseman of all calibers. To start, we’ll take a look at a player who’s got a little bit of everything before we go into the extremes of the position; Sam Dickinson of the London Knights.
So! What’s got everyone so excited about Sam Dickinson?
Who is He?
Sam Dickinson is a Canadian-Born Left-Handed Defenseman who measures in at 6’3, and weighs in at 194 pounds. He plays in the OHL for the London Knights.
What is he good at?
Decision-making.
Sam Dickinson is a big boy who can skate well. That’s already a huge plus for him; he moves smooth as butter on the ice, able to pivot and explode out from a stride into full-blown racing speed, and he’s more than willing to use it in order to break out of his own zone, help his teammates keep the offense going, and cut down on forechecking pressure. But there are big guys in this draft who can move. There’s a Russian kid bigger than he is who can skate on a similar level. So what sets him apart? When the chips are down and he is getting forechecked, Sam Dickinson’s play recognition seemingly can’t be beat.
Dickinson’s speed, and stick-handling are strong positives, but the fact they’re being utilized by Sam Dickinson’s brain is what makes him dangerous to the other team. His ability to shut down lanes, recover the puck, and then find a way out of the zone through stretch passes, off-the-boards passes, and quick, short passes to beat forecheckers and backcheckers alike is on the level of maturity well beyond many of his peers, and his play recognition is at a level well beyond that of your average junior player. Wrap all that up with an absolute cannon of a shot that he can pull from anywhere in the offensive zone, Dickinson is very much a complete package if you’re looking for a high-draft defender. He seems like a player who will not need a whole lot more time in Junior to mature, if he needs it at all.
What does he need to work on?
Squeezing more out of his offense and aggressiveness.
Somebody with Dickinson’s shot, play recognition, and speed should probably have way more than 18 goals as a defenseman in Canadian Junior. He was in the top 5 as of this year, but he theoretically could be in the top 3. He can put it on with the best of them, and has the ability to acknowledge plays to create scoring chances for what they are, but has usually been placed in a more passive role with the Knights, usually being the last man back on his pairing. His job defensively has generally been as more of a “remove the puck via stickwork and body position” rather than “remove the puck via big bungus hits” defender, and for the most part that does work for him. But given that he’s 6’4 and could probably put on some pounds, you kinda want that extra element of physicality so that you can still dig pucks out of the corners while also creating separation from your opponent.
But really, his biggest knock is that offensive game. Namely his timing and patience on it. While Dickinson does have the capability to to join plays and often did for London, one thing he can get caught doing is trying to force plays out of his own end or the neutral zone, and end up losing the puck or cuts off his own ability to create transition by losing track of the puck. In Junior, that can be overcome. In the NHL, that could be devastating; especially given the speed involved.
More than anything; he needs to figure that out a level of patience with the game in front of him if he wants to transition his game to a fully 200-foot style game at the NHL level. He’s got just about everything else; if he can simplify his game down, he could be a genuine problem for anyone who doesn’t draft him.
My Verdict
Sam Dickinson would be a very good pick for the Kraken if he’s available at 8th overall. I would personally be on board with him donning Deep Blue!
His skill-set is very attractive to a blueline that could use some skating speed and some levelheaded decision-making when leaving their own end, and the fact that he happens to facilitate the kind of offense the Kraken built themselves on during their Good Season makes him a really attractive choice. That being said, this is a good draft if you’re looking for defensemen in the top 10. Most of the prognostication on
The options available to Seattle and the 7 other teams ahead of them means that while Dickinson is absolutely a great call…you may need to make sure he’s part of a “Top 3” choice, because there’s a decent chance he could get snapped up beforehand.
Just gonna have to hope other defenders catch other’s eye before him.
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