The combination of size and mobility are what make Aucoin such a hounding presence in the defensive zone as he’s able to cover a lot of ground below the hashmarks and swiftly put an end to his opponent’s plays with both his physicality or defensive stick. It is a pretty low event style of hockey with Aucoin on the ice yet plays won’t die on his stick either; I thought he was able to make some strong heads up plays with the puck throughout the event, most notably at the offensive blue line where I was impressed with his ability to keep possessions alive and quickly spot an open teammate to continue to circulate the puck around the zone. Although he doesn’t have that flash to his game, he has the tools that make him such a projectable defender at the next level and he seems to be continuing to piece them all together quite well.

Possessing one of the best frames, and athletic skillsets amongst the defensive class for the 2009-born American blueliners, Kaden Aucoin out of Illinois is a top player on his team with the Chicago Mission. The way in which he can traverse the ice, cover ground, and quickly take away space as a result with his lanky reach and high levels of power and strength make him an incredibly effective defender at breaking up plays, denying zone entries, and smothering play. With his speed and ability to quickly change direction he is able to adapt to play a high speed, stop on a dime, and process the game at a high level, putting himself in positions to succeed regularly. Listed at 6’1 and 174lbs, Aucoin won’t necessarily look for those opportunities to be physical and lay a firm bodycheck, but he will make the most of his size if the opportunity does come his way as he looks to close gaps or pin a puck carrier to the boards in his defensive end. I’d wager that Aucoin is one of the most trustworthy puck handlers amongst his peers as well. He may not own the same stretch pass ability or creativity in the face of pressure as some other defenders in the class, but it’s rare you see him make an error, and when opting for the simple play in a timely manner, he is consistent at sending pucks up ice and limiting turnovers. He has some soft and quick hands so if needed he can execute a flashy move to get around a forechecker or two, but often he chooses to go for the safer, simpler play when working out of his defensive end. From the blueline in the offensive zone he’s one of the more dangerous defenders in the class, both through his awareness of the play, along with the physical shooting talent he owns, he finds that time and space high in the zone working off of quick puck movement with his teammates and ultimately can rip strong wrist shots at the net. The slapshot is somewhat of a dying tool as the game progresses, but he has also shown to have a very hard shot from the line in regards to powering it on net if needed. This right-shot blueliner with some size has only continued to grow his game in terms of speed, mobility, doubling down on his strengths, and minimizing his weaknesses, and is a player I can see the NTDP being very interested in come the spring.

Aucoin’s above-average toolkit allowed him to play a simple yet effective game throughout the event. The skating is really fluid and powerful as he uses a long stride and hard pushes to cover a ton of ice in order to recover loose pucks in the neutral zone and defend the rush adequately. He used his large frame in the defensive zone to defend physically along the perimeter, forcing attackers to bad spots by angling them and rubbing them out along the boards to remove them from the puck. He had some moments in the offensive zone as well by making aggressive pinches along the end boards and showing off his hands to make a quick dash to the middle of the ice from off the wall before feeding a teammate for a scoring chance. Besides that, Aucoin’s offense mostly came from trying to get pucks through from the point, which he was able to do more often than not.

Kaden Aucoin was one of a few very strong defenders for Chicago Mission in their victory on Day 2. His long, smooth, and powerful stride was a large component to his success. He powered around the ice with ease, building speed very nicely and showing some good control of the puck as he executed control defensive entries and utilized some of the space in front of him to skate through the neutral zone. In 1-on-1 battles and other plays that demanded physicality he did a great job at holding off opponents, protecting the puck, along with winning battles with good strength, pushing opposition off the puck and quickly swooping up the loose puck. His mobility and edgework makes him quick to get on opponents, angle off puck carriers, and get leverage when going into battles, making him all the more effective. He was firing pucks on net all game long from range, his release was snappy and quick and consistently was able to get pucks through to the net. On the 6-4 goal he fired a shot on net leading to a rebound chance that practically put the game away for the Chicago Mission.