I was impressed with Caden's ambition and desire to activate and carry the puck up ice. If there was open ice in front of him, Bell almost always seized the opportunity and tried to carry the puck through the neutral zone. He successfully evaded oncoming forecheckers on nearly all of these sequences, mainly with slick moves with the puck, and frequently transitioned the puck into the offensive third with control, leading the way as JRC's primary playdriver on their blueline. These assertive and aggressive defenders who like to involve themselves up ice are always the ones who catch my eye early in the evaluation process, and that's what I saw from Bell, making him one of the top Ontario defenders at the Silver Stick.

Bell played quite well over the Titans Tournament and showed flashes of why he entered the year highly regarded in my books. He's a smooth, effortless, and highly mobile defender who can maneuver in any direction without losing momentum. The four-way mobility is among the top of the class and is the primary ability that allows him to impact the game so much. To add to the impressive skating, Bell's puck skills are also at the top of the defence class, often operating with the puck on a string to solve his way out of any problem. When he put all of those abilities together, it made for some really high-end moments where he'd shake a forechecker so cleanly and off he went up ice, successfully transitioning the puck. Similarly, in the offensive zone, there were some really impressive moments where he deceived the oncoming defender, beat them cleanly and walked in for quality scoring chances. The confidence and desire to play this push-play-forward with control game is something I always rave about in defenders, and that's what Bell showed over the Titans Tournament. As a whole, I just came away thinking his tools are incredibly high-end, and while he may not have flashed them as much as I would have wanted, I still hold those high-end abilities offer great potential to what Bell could develop into in a few years, which is what landed him in my first round.

Bell was, without a doubt, the top defender at the Draft Day Showcase. Caden made most of his impact as a puck-carrier, dominating with the puck on his stick no matter the situation. He was so aggressive, activating to push play up ice, carrying the puck end to end all weekend long. Bell had all the lateral mobility and puck skills at his disposal to dodge, skirt, and deke his way by defenders, rarely being contained in his efforts to transport the puck up ice. Time and time again, Bell was able to transport the puck up ice with complete control, having every tool necessary to problem-solve his way in and out of forecheckers. Upon entering the offensive zone, Bell flashed incredibly high-end puck skills and had the confidence to maneuver his way around defenders to access the dangerous parts of the ice. He had a few highlight-reel worthy plays, executing the perfect toe drag around defenders and then walking in to roof pucks over the netminder's shoulder. These moments were some of the most impressive flashes of offensive flare among Team ETA, which was highly impressive coming from a defender. I've liked Bell's game in viewings of JRC over the winter, but this was certainly a new level for him and made me extremely optimistic about him moving forward.

Caden’s skating stood out to me due to his superb four-way mobility. As a mobile defenceman, he was able to control the play well during the transition, either setting up breakouts on exits or effortlessly traversing it through neutral ice evading forecheckers, and securing offensive pressure down the middle. Highly impactful, he has a lethal element to his game, which he might not have activated as regularly as he should have, possibly due to the offensive firepower that was already surrounding him. Yet, he showed he has the tools and knows how to use them to control the game during transition.

Caden Bell is our second Toronto Red Wing to make an appearance in this article – teammate of Tyler Lee, he was strong in transition on both ends of it for his squad. Mobile, big, and smooth, he covered lots of ice and anticipated passes well, getting sticks on pass attempts to deny zone entries. In 1-on-1 situations he showed off strong enough skating to match pace and keep his opposition wide, his active stick protecting the middle of the ice whilst his size managed to rub opponents off the puck. When moving up ice he displayed a deep and powerful forward stride, joining the rush in transition a couple of times, he managed to find some ice to fire shots on net, showing off a heavy wrister with some nice power and a quick enough release to catch defenders by surprise.