Projection: Puck Moving Upside

Tools: Mobillity, Puck Moving, All Around Involvement

Development Opportunities: Strength, Physicality

Huisman has been a favourite of mine since the early days of the season. He's a highly mobile and active defender who moves well, especially laterally, and shows a constant desire to activate and involve himself. Whether in defensive situations or transition, Ayden doesn't want to sit back and be passive, he wants to be at the heart of the play. I like how he uses his footwork to defend, shadow attackers, and close down space, and the agile skating is a real asset when faced with pressure, allowing him to evade forecheckers and keep play flowing up ice.

Every team is looking for something a little different out of a depth defender, but Huisman has consistently shown flashes of elements I'm looking for. The mobility and smart puck-moving are real strengths, and I could see him developing into a solid 5v5 transition defender. Adding strength and leaning a bit more into the physical side of things will be important down the road, but there is a promising set of tools to build off of here.

Huisman had a lot of strong performances over the Silver Stick, but I thought this was his best one. His mobility and defensive involvement were impressive. Ayden was always looking to jump pucks, shut plays down, and always aggressive on the defensive side of the puck to apply pressure. Especially in the neutral zone, he was proactive, using his feet to apply consistent pressure and held the defensive blueline to kill plays before they develop. While the defensive play was the primary element I noted, he was more than capable as a puck-mover, operating well under pressure and finding his outlet passes to spark clean breakouts. Huisman sparked one of the Flyers goals when his point shot got tipped into the back of the net. The mobility and all-around involvement were apparent all Silver Stick and doing it against tough competition like HoneyBaked was a great way to cap off the weekend.

Huisman begins a trio of standout defenders on the Flyers’ blueline, and I thought he brought a steady presence to their mix. Ayden is mobile, sturdy on his feet, and made smart decisions whenever he had his opportunities. He defended well, breaking up numerous entries and upon forcing turnovers was able to quickly turn plays around, connecting on almost all of his passes. There were some moments of offensive creativity and involvement, but the simple plays in his own zone to win pucks and spark breakouts was the key to what made Huisman a top performer.

Huisman was one of the players in this series that impressed me the most. I noticed him time and time again for his mobility and strong defensive stick, showing his aggressive defensive play and then turning turnovers into clean exits. Ayden consistently defended the blue line with confidence, shutting down entries and denying passes to the interior, making navigating into his zone difficult for his opponents. With the puck, he made simple but effective plays, whether stretch passes, quick outlets, or carries through the neutral zone, Huisman was getting pucks up ice with control shift after shift. It wasn’t anything flashy or fancy, but I just thought he was always making something happen when he was on the ice, doing the little things right, and helping the Flyers keep pucks out of their zone.