This scouting report was first written after the USHL Fall Classic. We mentioned then that we are very interested and excited to see Noah play after Christmas. Well, here we are and Noah’s update will be coming in the next few weeks.
Noah Ellis (4.25 Star Amateur Rating, NHL Grade — C+) Defense
(1) Brain – Noah is a confident defenseman who maintains a net side presence in the defensive zone. He has his head on a swivel and has good awareness of what is happening away from the puck. While defending line rushes he matches speeds well and does not look to take chances that will leave his partner in odd man situations.
(2) Vision & Poise – When breaking the puck out he makes quick decisions and tape to tape passes. We noticed that in the neutral zone he had a tendency to force the puck to the middle and telegraphed his board to board passes to the weak side. We will watch to see if this tendency leaves his game as the season progresses. In the offensive zone Noah walked the blue line with his head up and his shots got through. This is worth noting because in previous games we had noted a number of his shots were blocked.
(3) Feet – Noah is a big body who moves well. His hips are loose and the rigidity we saw when he was younger has vanished. He has a long powerful stride and is quick laterally.
(4) Compete & Effort – Even though Noah is a big boy who moves well we noted that he has a high compete level. He consistently won battles that were not in his favor.
(5) Contact or Physicality – He is not a banger. He uses his feet and brain to play with tight gaps and eliminates his opponents through smart angles. He is above average at boxing out and keeping the shooting lanes clean for his goalie.
(6) Release – His shot has improved dramatically over the past year. His head is up and his shots are no longer hitting shin-pads.
(7) One Timer Ability – We did not see Noah attempt any one timers in Pittsburgh
(8) Body Language – (Only Note Extremes)
(9) Special Teams Potential – We project Noah as a third pairing defenseman who will not be a power play guy. We do however see him as potential penalty killer. He has good feet, clears shooting lanes without getting tied up and is generally aware of what is going on around him.
(10) Intangibles – From what we can tell Noah has not played a whole lot of hockey while he was growing up. He has played in some high level games for his age group, gone to National Camps and done well and even played Internationally at The Hilinka, but he has only played about 65 games over the past two seasons. This is a plus for us because he has shown rapid development in a short time and is obviously very athletic. We feel that by Christmas Noah will have taken a huge step and we are looking forward to our next viewing.