2022 NHL Draft: Taking a look at some USDP defensemen
Lane Hutson, Seamus Casey, Ryan Chesley
Every season, the USA Hockey National Team Development Program does an unbelievable job developing potential NHL players. Multiple dominant NHL defensemen played at the USDP, like Adam Fox, Charlie McAvoy, Quinn Hughes, Zach Werenski, Cam Fowler, Noah Hanifin, Justin Faulk, etc. In today's post, we'll take a look at their top three ranked defensemen for the 2022 NHL Draft.
Notes: This is not an in-depth profile like I did on Kevin Korchinski, but some detailed observations from three recent games I watched of the USDP.
#23 Lane Hutson LD 5-foot-8.25, 158 pounds, Boston Univ. commit
Hutson's season was just outstanding. According to Byron Bader's Hockey Prospecting projection tool, Hutson has the 2nd most Star Probability & NHL'er probability (after Nemec, tied with Mateychuk) in the 2022 NHL draft-eligible defensemen:
Hutson had the 2nd best season ever by a USDP defenseman, behind only Cam York, and the best point per game season for a defenseman ever in the program. Cam York played on the stacked edition with Zegras, Hughes, Boldy Caufield, Turcotte, etc.(what a fun team to watch), but still an high-end and impressive accomplishment:
Source: eliteprospects.com
What's not to like? High-end hockey sense and creativity, manipulative skills, active everywhere on the ice, and high compete level.
On the breakout, his poise and deceptive skills allow him to find the best play. I like how he uses body positioning on retrievals to cut hands/take away the FC'er stick. In transition, he executes well with under handle skills. He can lead the rush or fill lanes without the puck. Obviously, size is the question mark here and why he's not ranked higher. The offense is obviously dominant, and the defensive details are fine at this level. If I'm the team drafting him, the main focus would be on his skating without the puck. Although he's a fine skater, there are some technical things that can improve, and mostly, he needs to kill plays early with his skating at an elite level to defend against NHL'er when you're a small defenseman. Love his game and upside!
#26 Seamus Casey RD 5-foot-9.5, 173 pounds, Univ. of Michigan commit
Beautiful skating abilities and is one of the smoothest defensemen in the draft. I really like how he retrieves the puck in the defensive zone. He's patient and poised under pressure, and his puck skills allow him to make plays and be deceptive in small areas. He can move the puck quickly or skate and attract pressure to open ice for teammates in transition. His wrist shot and ability to create shooting lanes seem underrated. The defensive game is fine, with some great defensive footwork (posture & limited crossovers). Casey's rankings are a bit all over the place in the industry because although he impacts the game well in many ways (BO, transition, shooting, decent defense), some would like to see him more offense/dynamism in his game with all the talent he has. Although I would agree with that, I like the foundation of his skill set and transition abilities (offensively and defensively) to influence the game in the right way. If he can be more hungry offensively (like activating more in the offensive zone and making plays with even more purpose), his game can take another step.
#27 Ryan Chesley RD 6-foot-0.5, 201 pounds, Univ. of Minnesota commit
Plays a different style than Hutson and Casey, but made a tremendous duo and good complimentary style with Hutson. As you can see in the video, the best attribute of his game is the strong side rush defense. He's great at gaining the middle (inside dots) to keep the carrier on the wall, then pivots to defend forward and close him with a good stick and physicality. He's hard to play against because he's strong, competitive, and a good skater. On retrievals and in transition, he can make some good things with his tools and uses his body well to protect the puck before making his play. He needs to make sure to scan multiple times to make the correct read, and the execution needs some refinement to make sure he can transition the puck efficiently at the next level. In the offensive zone, Hutson was obviously the more active D on the pairing, but Chesley made some decent off-the-puck activation when needed to use his hard shot in better locations.
Combine heights & weights taken from THW
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