| Carter Ansems | Acadie-Bathurst Titan | QMJHL | L | D | 6’7″ | 205 | Acadie-Bathhurst Titan | 2020 | Canning, NS | 2004 | 2021-2022: C |
Neutral Zone NHL’s Ian Moran’s comments, November 2021: Ansems is massive 6’7″ left shot defender with remarkably smooth feet and mobility. There are days when his posture may look stiff, but for such a big young man he has low hips and a powerful push through his toe when completing his stride. The mobility and offensive play that jumps out happened on a below the goal line spin-o-rama where he evaded a hard charging forechecker with a tight turn to his backhand and then easily completed a zone clearing breakout pass. He was confident along the offensive blueline, made hard accurate passes and genuinely looked like he was processing player movements a few seconds earlier than his peers. If I was running and NHL organization I would get to know Mr. Carter Ansems very well.
QMJHL: Acadie-Bathurst Titam vs Saint John Seas Dogs, October 24, 2021: In the 4-3 loss to Saint John Ansems earned 13:05 in total ice time. He did not factor into the special team’s game. Statistically he finished with 0 points, was +1, had 0 shots, 1 blocked shot and 4 giveaways versus 6 takeaways. This is the first game where we’ve seen him play more than eight minutes and we thought he played with confidence. We don’t mean that he was looking to dangle. We mean that he showed the confidence to know that a high flip out of the zone is a better decision than a low percentage hope pass to the middle. Through the neutral zone he showed nice lateral movement and did not cross his feet. He had a very active stick that forced poor passes and hurried decisions that lead to turnovers. Because he forces so many dumps one thing that we feel while give him more time in transition is improved communication with his goaltender.
QMJHL: Acadie-Bathurst Titan vs Saint John Sea Dogs, October 9, 2021: In the 4-3 loss to the Sea Dogs Ansems earned 8:13 in total ice time. He did not factor in the special team’s game. Statistically he finished with 0 points, was -1, 0 shots on net, 1 blocked shot and 1 giveaway versus 1 takeaway. The second game of a back to back where Ansems played under 10 minutes, but he did play 3 minutes more than game one. He played on both sides and looked confident while defending line rushes stepping up on a few poor passes on the offensive side of the redline to create turnovers. We liked that while defending the cycle Ansems looked to finish opponents with a little more pop and he certainly was using his stick to help him clear shooting lanes with authority. Physically he looked a little bit stiff in the hips today, but at his size we feel he he is a player to watch closely.
QMJHL: Acadie-Bathhurst Titan vs Saint John Sea Dogs, October 8, 2021: In the 5-2 Titan win Ansems earned 5:11 in total ice time, including 0:14 while shorthanded. Statistically he finished with 0 points, a 0 plus / minus rating, 1 shot on goal and 0 giveaways versus 4 takeaways. Another game where the 6’7″ lefty was used sparingly, but there were a few things that we noticed. First, he looked very comfortable on the right side again. He pivoted smoothly and pinched off line rushes near the offensive blue line. We did not like to see him defending from the weakside with his stick parallel to the ice. Ansems will need to correct this bad habit so he can fully use his reach to his advantage.
QMJHL: Acadie-Bathurst Titan vs Moncton Wildcats, October 1, 2021: In the 4-2 Titan win Ansems earned 4:05 in total ice time. He did not impact the special teams. Statistically he finished with 0 points, a 0 plus / minus, 1 hit, 1 blocked shot and 2 giveaways versus 3 takeaways. Although he has a smooth stride and does not cross over while pivoting, Ansems looked a little tight and nervous in his first major junior league game. Offensively he forced a few cross ice passes into coverage that opened up Acadie-Bathurst to Moncton’s quick transition game. Defensively he had trouble with Moncton’s forwards when they got low along the walls to avoid body contact, allowing them to roll under him into open ice. Ansems played both the left or right side tonight and interestingly we feel he made the simple decision more consistently while playing on his off-right-side.
Photo Credit: QMJHL
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