Photo Credit: https://saskatoonblades.com/article/two-blades-named-on-preliminary-players-to-watch-list
Basic Player Overview
DOB: February 22nd, 2002
2019/20 Team(s): Saskatoon Blades
Nation: Canada
Position: Defense
Height/Weight: 6’0″/183 lbs
Handedness: Left
Introduction:
Aidan De La Gorgendiere is a defenseman for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League. Originally from Langley, British Columbia, De La Gorgendiere played for the Yale Hockey Academy of the CSSHL for his 14-year-old season where he impressed scouts with his shutdown defensive play, which was good enough to get drafted by the Blades 5th overall in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. Aidan’s rookie season with the Blades did not go as hoped as he played sheltered minutes was given little to no opportunities to produce any offense with the backend being led by Dawson Davidson who tied the league in points by a defenseman. He did show great upside defensively in his rookie season which made many excited for the next season which would be his first year being NHL Draft eligible.
Defensive IQ:
De La Gorgendiere is a very intelligent player in the defensive zone. He is consistently putting himself in the right position. When it comes to stick checking he is one of the best in the draft. When he made the decision to use his stick it would usually end in deflecting the shot away or preventing a pass from turning into a scoring chance. There are some areas he can improve in the defensive zone though. For example, Aidan could commit to blocking shots with more consistency, which is probably why he relies on stick checking so much.
Below are some examples I feel represent De La Gorgendiere’s Defensive IQ:
Puck Carrying:
While De La Gorgendiere is known for being great defensively, he does a tremendous job bringing the puck into the offensive zone. He is not afraid to take the puck from behind his net and carry it in if the opponent lets him. That’s not to say he prefers to carry it all the time, he seems more comfortable passing or dumping it in instead. There is the added benefit of defenders not knowing what option he is going to take. Aidan also displays smart play when it comes to pinching on plays. I’m a big believer in committing to a pinch whether its the best choice or not. De La Gorgendiere follows this rule. He doesn’t pinch often especially when playing with defensive partner Nolan Kneen who loves to try and create offense, but when he does he will fully commit. He will also again use his IQ to position himself so that if his teammates happen to lose the puck he can come in and prevent odd-man rushes coming back the other way.
Below are good rushes and pinches from last season:
Offensive progression:
De La Gorgendiere’s rookie season saw him post 5 assists in 47 games which made a lot of Blades fans question if he would be able to produce on the back end and be worthy of the 5th overall pick. While his shot still needs a lot of work he always possessed good puck-moving skills along with a eat vision for the game. What he was really missing in his rookie season was confidence… and ice time. He started getting lots of ice time this season playing on the second defensive pair but still wasn’t producing much as he wasn’t showing much confidence. He started the season with 1 goal and 4 assists in 17 games, not great. On November 2nd,2019, things started to change. Aidan was put onto the powerplay and gained more and more offensive zone time as a reward for gaining more confidence and his next 10 games he got 8 assists. He did show glimpses of being a great puck-moving defenseman but he did slow down after those 10 games and was still very inconsistent throughout the year. There were 2 games that highlighted how much he could provide for the team. January 18th, 2020 Aidan had his only 2 goal game and first 3 point game of his WHL career as he led the Blades to a victory over the Swift Current Broncos 7-2. His best game yet took place on his birthday February 22nd, 2020, as he led the Blades to an 8-1 victory over the same Swift Current team they beat a month ago. De La Gorgendiere had a 4 assist game en route to being named Player of the Week for the WHL as well as making the CHL Team of the Week (Feb. 17-23)!
Image from: https://chl.ca/article/vaughn-chl-team-of-the-week-feb-17-23
Physicality:
De La Gorgendiere has a big gap in his game, his physicality. I’ve seen him make good hits but it’s almost like he hates to do it with how much he avoids it. If a player can avoid his stick checks it becomes a big issue one on one. This is something I feel he needs to fix in order to be a legitimate NHL prospect as he doesn’t have the offensive abilities or foot speed to dominate and change the game in a meaningful way.
Draft Year Environment:
While De La Gorgendiere’s season got off to a very slow start (As did the rest of the Blades) He was eventually put onto the Powerplay where he showed that he could hold his own and help produce more than just defense. He played big minutes during this season averaging 22:34 minutes per game and he will play a big role being the number one defenseman for Saskatoon this upcoming season whether he gets drafted by an NHL team or not.
Statistics:
Draft Rankings:
Ranked #197 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Expected Round of Selection:
I personally would select De La Gorgendiere somewhere in the 6th or 7th round.
NHL Projection:
De La Gorgendiere is an NHL player. He will not be a top pairing defenseman, but I believe he can be a 4-5 defenseman on a decent team.