2022 NHL Draft Profile: Lian Bichsel
Unique playing style and one of the most physical defensemen in the draft
In today's post, we'll take an in-depth look at Switzerland-native defenseman Lian Bichsel. Bichsel has quite a unique style of play amongst draft-eligible defensemen and is one of the most physical players in the draft. For most of the season, he played in SHL for Leksands (29 GP) and played 11 games for Leksands' J20 team.
VIDEO ROOM
OFFENSIVE PLAY
BREAKOUT PUCK RETRIEVALS
Bichsel does many positive things on retrievals, but it's an area of his game that will need to improve before playing in the NHL.
Positively, he uses his size well to gain body positioning, protect the puck, attract two FC'er, then makes the play to bypass them. He has good agility (punch-turn) to change direction in possession to escape/beat F1 and is a confident puck carrier who can skate the puck out of the zone. As the net-front D/D2, he's involved and loves to activate on the weak side.
To improve: The first thing to improve, in my opinion, is to carry the puck with more purpose. Many times, he skates out of the zone and trusts his size/strength/speed to carry through the opposing team's pressure. As you can see a few times in the video, using the net as a shield to attract F1 and beat him on the other side before carrying inside dots could be a great solution for more efficient carry. Hip pocket puck placement when carrying is also an important detail to make the next play.
The quick puck retrievals can improve, which is normal and expected for such a big and strong defenseman. Working on pivot efficiency can be the first step to improving this aspect.
NEUTRAL ZONE TRANSITION
Overall, he was pretty efficient in transition, in the games I tracked. He likes to carry with good puck handling skills and forward skating. This is good to influence the play in the right direction. Like on breakout retrievals, Bichsel can improve the efficiency/passing in his puck carry.
Without the puck, he's good at activating and joining the rush as F4.
OFFENSIVE ZONE PLAY
That's my favorite part of Bichsel's offensive play.
With the puck in the offensive zone, he is patient, looking for the best play (not shooting/throwing the puck away). He's able to possess the puck a lot with his strength in puck protection and agility with the puck (punch-tun, quick change of direction).
Without the puck, he's always looking to activate in different ways, which is great to create chaos and a big plus for how NHL teams play in the offensive zone.
DEFENSIVE PLAY
RUSH DEFENSE
Overall, Bichsel makes a lot of stops when defending the rush. He's strong and has a long reach with decent skating, which makes him hard to get around. Some details will need to improve in his rush defense to be constantly efficient against NHL'er.
He's at his best when defending aggressively skating forward, whether it's a pinch in the offensive zone or a strong side step up in the NZ. He's absolutely scary in these situations, completing huge hits and making stops. Would not like to play against him as a winger.
He defends the strong side well, gaining the inside to keep forwards on the wall, and he's able to defend decently on change of side play in the neutral zone.
As D2, he's efficient at sealing and taking care of his check early.
The rush defense foundation is strong, but here are some individual details he'll need to work on:
Backward skating: Better posture with fewer crossovers to defend quick change of direction. The pivot can improve technically to generate more power and can use his reach more efficiently (often two hands on his stick).
DEFENSIVE ZONE COVERAGE
Overall, he's really good in the defensive zone. He gets back inside to identify situations and cover/box out his check when the puck is at the blueline. He's physical in the corner and limits time & space for the opposing forward.
The thing I'd work on with him would be when to jump aggressively, versus when to keep a little separation between him and the forward to not get caught in a quick change of direction/roll/agility move by the forward.
PROJECTION
I'm a believer in Bichsel's upside, and I believe he'll be gone pretty early on draft day. He's still raw and has many details to improve in his game, but his unique style and the finished product in his prime are interesting for teams. With a strong development staff, the reward could be high. With the reach, physically and aggressive defensive play, he’ll will be scary to play against. Offensively, he'll be able to complement his team play well with surprising agility/puck skills and off-the-puck activation.
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