| Tristan Sarsland | Benilde St. Margaret’s | Minnesota HS | R | D | 6’0″ | 182 | Colorado College | 2023 | Wayzata, MN | 2004 | 2021-2022: C |
Neutral Zone NHL’s Ian Moran’s comments, September 2021: In today’s NHL transition is a real key for five on five success. Well Tristan is a defenseman who provides it. He really believes in his skating ability so he plays tight gaps and looks to force turnovers early in the neutral zone. His passes are hard, flat and on the tape. He should devour high school hockey this year and really put himself in the draft conversation. And oh yeah, he can play both sides equally as well. There’s a lot to like about where his game is heading.
USA Hockey Selects 17’s, July 14, 2021: Sarsland is a tall, fluid skating defenseman out of Benilde-St. Margaret’s who played some games with Fairbanks (NAHL) at the end of the season and netted 4 assists in 6 games. He’s a talented puck mover in that he keeps his head up ice and doesn’t get distracted by forecheck pressure, he finds the seams and has real zip on his delivery and hits the tape every time. He’s got a powerful and actually best showed on a play where he tried to do too much and skated the puck into a 1v3 and turned it over but immediately stopped, backchecked hard and used his edges and balance to seal the puck carrier off along the boards and regain possession. He was able to carry pucks out of jams, can skate through contact and make plays up the ice with his passing ability and mobility. Sarsland was a bit raw when he had a forechecker on his hip retrieving a puck but when he had even a half second more time where he can turn up ice, he was fine because he could skate away from pressure, he could make a quick move or snap a pass off up ice. He created more odd man rushes and clean zone entries than nearly any other defender here from the backend. He’s strong on his edges, he can knock opponents off the puck and off their line and showed well on the penalty kill getting to pucks, getting his stick in lanes, blocking shots and clearing out loose pucks. He didn’t generate many offensive chances other than a crisp backdoor feed on the power play that his teammate fumbled and shot into the chest but he was stout, he proved he can gap up and defend both power forward and skilled forwards and has the skating ability to play tight on speedy forwards. A lot to like here from the Colorado commit and could even put himself on NHL Draft radar with his size and athleticism. Grade: B+
NAHL: Fairbanks Ice Dogs vs Janesville Jets, April 22, 2021: Sarslund earned 14:51 of ice time including 2:53 on the power play. He did not play while short handed. Statistically Sarslund finished with 1 power play goal and 1 power play assist, a plus/minus rating of -2, 3 shots on goal with 1 “grade A” scoring opportunity and 4 give aways compared to 3 take aways. In offensive transition the right shot defender looked comfortable playing on either the left or right side and he consistently worked to be an outlet for his partner. Although we feel the offensive side of the puck is where he’s most comfortable, he looked much more confident joining the rush as a second wave of attack and providing an option than he did a month ago. Defensively, Sarslund showed a powerful base that allowed him to be quick to loose pucks and end the cycle quickly. There were a few times that he ended up outside of the dots in defensive transition, but we feel this is a habit that can be broken when playing consistently at the junior level.
NAHL: Fairbanks Ice Dogs vs Chippewa Steel, March 27, 2021: In his first game of junior hockey action Sarslund earned 13:42 of ice time, 19 seconds of which was on special teams where he was not a significant factor. Statistically he finished with an even plus/minus rating, 1 shot on goal and 4 give aways compared to 5 take aways. Sarslund looked comfortable playing on both the left or right side. He kept his gaps tight and showed quick lateral movement in either direction. We liked how he retrieved dump-ins with his head on a swivel scanning the ice for Chippewa’s forecheckers. Offensively Sarslund kept it simple, choosing to make the early read and quick decision to move the puck quickly. His is passes were on the tape and he worked well with his defensive partner when going D to D on the breakout. His NAHL debut was a great building black for Sarslund.
MN High School: Benilde St. Margaret’s vs Eden Prairie Eagles, February 19, 2021: Tristan is another strong defender for BSM. He has good size and great skating ability he uses his edges well and moves up and down the ice with ease. He made great decisions on when to jump in the play and support the rush and when to stay back and prepare for the lethal EP transition. He played against the EP top unit alongside Yakesh and they did a fantastic job communicating and supporting each other in all three zones. Grade A-
Minnesota Elite League Review, October 28, 2020: Sarsland is a smart, efficient, puck moving defenseman out of Benilde St. Margaret HS. His game is a bit understated because of his sophisticated approach but he makes really smart decisions with the puck and knows how to read the sheet and place pucks into spaces for his linemates to skate unto. An example is in week 4 when he chipped a pass indirect in the neutral zone behind a defender which sprung Laylin for a 2v1 break. Most defenders wouldn’t have seen that option and tried to thread a low percentage pass through the defenders stick but Sasland knew Laylins speed and knew he had a step on the defender so put it in space for him to win the race. He is pretty safe with his puck decisions on the breakout and through the neutral zone but he gets more aggressive in the offensive zone and likes to activate from the blue line to become a fourth forward. He shoots the puck whenever he has a lane whether it’s shooting to score or just to get it on net for rebounds and second chance opportunities. The Colorado College commit has 3 goals and 2 assists through the first 10 games of the fall season and continues his steady improvement in rounding out his overall game.
MN Elite League Week Four, October 8, 2020: Displayed great vision and patients on the blue line. He is a fun skater to watch along the blue line and while he carries the puck up. Able to break out on his own using his feet and sense of awareness. Grade: A-
Minnesota HS: Tradition at the Park Tournament, January 2, 2020: A strong weekend in terms of offensive production for Tristan as he finished with 4 pts in the tournament. He has some length to him for a young defender. He played confident with the puck and made strong decisions resulting in production. Defensively he pressured the puck in the corners and looked to gain possession back. He can continue to let the game come to him at times and not press, but that is very normal for a young defenseman. Grade: B
U15: USA Hockey Select 15 Development Camp, August 24, 2019: Tristan was a high pick in our NZ All-Star draft. His game was hard and heavy and he was tough to play against. He hammered opponents. In his end, he was physical near the net and below the goal line. He cut the cycle off and his stick was active. On the breakout and through to middle zone, he was strong on the puck. Tristan absorbed hits while maintaining possession, can curl off a body check and make a quick pass. He made the simple outlet, hit the stretch and used the indirect pass well. Showed he valued possession and can hammer it on net up ice. On one shot Sarsland’s fired and the velocity and follow through ff his shot knocked the stick right out of his opponent’s hands. Trsitan showed great anticipation; picked off passes and started transition. He scored three goals, in the three games here. One was a top corner wrister from the point and another hard wrister as he jumped up and found a rebound on the rush. His game on the power play was solid as he has a cannon from the point. He showed he could slide along the offensive blue line to create shooting and passing anes. His steps at the lines were strong and well calculated. There were flashes of speed but our scouts also noted his feet looked heavy at times. It’s a lot of hockey but an area for him to work on as he is plenty strong. He is a solid player with good instincts up ice and a high ceiling. Grade: A- College: Colorado College
U15: Minnesota CCM High Performance 2004’s, July 17, 2019: Tristan is easily one of the top defensemen in the camp. Highly skilled and a strong offensive player, contributing on the scoreboard almost by himself most of the time. He’s an elite offensive player with the size and strength that is well above the rest of the players at camp. We noted that he did not move the puck particularly well because he was so focused on trying to do it all by himself. While this strategy might work at this level, as he continues to move up he will have to develop this aspect of his game. However, when he did move the puck, his teammates either found themselves in a scoring opportunity or he they moved the puck back knowing that he has the abilities to make plays exceptionally well. College: Colorado College.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
Game Stats are from InStat.