It was an impressive showing at this year’s Q cup from the Saint-Eustache defenseman as he proved to be one of the more reliable and steady defenders on the Team Daigle blue line game after game. He coupled his quick footwork along with his intelligent defensive aptitude to consistently deny opportunities in the middle of the ice whether that was guiding opposing puck carriers to the outside during rush chances or eliminating opportunities for second chance opportunities around the blue paint with a strong defensive stick. There were also a few moments at this event where I thought he displayed smart puck management in his own end by making quick reads to advance pucks out of the zone or effectively using his legs to separate from forecheckers when he needed to.

This was the best hockey I’ve seen from Bonin-Lallemand since I started watching him last year, as he was flashing much more confidence with the puck and leveraging his tools and intelligence to make an impact in all three zones. He’s a tall, lanky and mobile defender who was able to kill plenty of plays in transition by closing in quickly on puck-carriers, taking away their time and space and get play moving the other way. His best moments came when he was going back for pucks in his own zone, utilizing deceptive head and shoulder fakes to rid himself of forecheckers, work his way into space and either move the puck up or skate it out of the zone for a controlled exit. He had some strong moments defending the rush as well by forcing attackers to the outside, maintain a good gap and deflect pucks out of play using his stick.

It became quite clear early on that Bonin-Lallemand’s bread and butter was his skating ability. He was at his most effective going back for pucks in his own zone, where he could use his agility and edgework to pivot away from forecheckers and either make an outlet pass to his winger or skate his way into space. He made some intelligent plays off-puck in the offensive zone as well, stepping down from the line to make himself a passing option backdoor looking for tap-ins at the side of the net. There’s still a bit of rounding out left to do in his game, but the foundation is there for a strong offensive defenseman at the U18 level.

The amount of strong defensive plays I noted down from Bonin-Lallemand made him a favourite of mine throughout this game. He showed great instincts on the defensive side of the puck whether that was using his solid footwork to keep close the gap on opposing puck carriers off the rush, tying up sticks around the net to avoid second chance opportunities or using his stick to disrupt plays coming into the middle of the zone. He was trusted to defend his team’s lead near the end of the game and made some really smart plays to clear opponents and their sticks from dangerous areas, not being afraid to get physically involved, and chew some of the remaining time left on the clock.

I wanted to highlight Bonin-Lallemand here for how he handled himself defensively and his ability to make simple yet effective plays all over the ice. He had some strong moments going back for pucks on DZ retrieval, demonstrating strong scanning habits to anticipate pressure before leveraging his edgework to turn away from the forecheck and facilitate clean exits out of the zone. He made a couple of strong defensive plays while defending 1v1 situations, staying square to puck-carriers and maintaining a good gap with his reach to thwart chances to the inside.