At the forefront of Allen’s game is his skating ability. His pivots and turns are clean, allowing him to be incredibly mobile all over the ice. He can generate speed in any direction and leverage crossovers (forwards or backwards) to gain momentum. In conjunction with his skating ability, Dryden has puck skills and the confidence to challenge oncoming forecheckers and easily navigate around them. He also actively joined the rush, frequently carrying the puck into the offensive zone for a quality shot attempt. A few blunders on reverse plays resulted in turnovers, but otherwise, a stellar performance.

Allen was the defenceman I noticed the most for his impact on disrupting play in the neutral zone. He used his stick and body position to cut off passes in the neutral zone and regain possession for the Admirals. At the forefront of this ability is his backwards skating. He is extremely competent moving backwards and can mirror oncoming attackers’ every move before picking his moment to pounce with a disruptive stick check. His mobility also enabled him in other scenarios as he excelled at the offensive line using his footwork to gain separation and find a shooting lane. I saw only a few moments where Dryden pushed transitions in the offensive direction. I’ll be watching more of Dryden before the season’s end and looking closely for his impact in this area of the game, as it will further cement my projection of a versatile puck-moving defender.