Jake Sanderson (4.75 Star Amateur Rating, NHL Grade — A-) Defense
(1) Brain – High hockey IQ at both ends of the rink. Defensively he can be patient and take very smart angles to limit options, but as soon as the opposition bobbles the puck Jake explodes through their hands to create turnovers. Once the transition game has started Jake moves his feet to open both passing or skating lanes and consistently shows the hockey sense to make the proper decision very quickly. He does not just carry the puck to carry the puck. He’ll change speeds and hand positioning to expose the opposition and uses his body to create more time and space for himself and his teammates. He works to be an outlet for his partner in every breakout situation and is very loud / clear when telling his partner what the opposition fore-check looks like. When Jake calls out “Wheel” or “D-D”, etc you can be damn sure that he is giving his team mate the right call. Very High IQ.
(2) Vision & Poise – Both with and without the puck Jake plays with his head up and on a swivel. He has excellent ice awareness and seems to never be caught off guard. Defensively, he surveys the entire ice sheet and looks for the second and even third wave of attackers on every rush. As the defensive zone weak side defenseman he sees the entire zone and acts as a quarterback for his line mates. Offensively, it is more of the same. His head is up and his eyes are moving. He sees passing / shooting lanes quickly and has the ability to pass through a fore-checkers feet without it appearing to be a high risk play. That may sound like he is forcing a play, but it is actually quite the opposite. By playing with his head up he can get the opposition to lean or go in the direction he wants so he can make a hard tape to tape pass in just about every situation.
(3) Feet – The only way to say it, Jake is an excellent skater. He is strong and quick in every direction. He has loose hips and a low base while pivoting or while making a tight turn to evade the fore-check. He has a very easy glide and maintains top speed without much effort. He has quick powerful C-cuts when accelerating backwards and can stop on a dime if the opposing forward delays or button hooks.
(4) Compete & Effort – Jake rarely loses a battle. And when he does, he battles to maintain defensive side positioning and limits his opponents options.
(5) Contact or Physicality – Jake is not a threat to lay any one out at center ice. But he makes consistent body contact and contains along the wall as well as anyone. He uses his feet and low leverage to maintain net side positioning and his hands are strong enough to control sticks when there are rebounds.
(6) Release – Quick, accurate and unpredictable. Although we would not consider him a goal scorer, he fires high hard snap shots that are a threat to score from the blue line and on a line rush. He hits the net and his shot creates rebounds.
(7) One Timer Ability – We did not see Jake attempt any pure one timers, but he does have a the ability to fire sweeping wrist shots off a pass.
(8) Body Language – He is the Captain of Team USA and it is obvious that both his teammates and the coaching staff look for Jake to set the tone. Team USA was losing to Team Switzerland at the 5-Nations Tournament and Jake literally took over the game. He scored the tying goal to make it 2-2 and from that point on Switzerland did not have a sniff. Jake is a leader. He treats his teammates and the officials with respect. He will be a captain at both North Dakota and during his professional career.
(9) Special Teams Potential – Jake will play in all situations. He may not run the first power play for an NHL team. But he will play in man advantage situations and could play the off-side on a first unit that plays off of an umbrella set-up. He will be looked to in 6 on 5 situations when his team needs a goal or is holding a lead. Jake will kill penalties and he will do so at a very high level.
(10) Intangibles – Please re-read above and then realize that Jake’s Father, Geoff, played over 1100 games in the NHL ,was a high draft pick and also worked as a Development Coach for the New York Islanders. Jake has a resource that not all high NHL picks have and we have no doubt that Geoff’s experiences and first hand knowledge will be a huge asset to Jake as he continues to develop.