He’s another player who had a strong event. With 10 points in 6 games from the backend, Nolan is big, strong, and fast. He’s such a prototype player as he already has all those natural physical traits that teams love to see in their top-4 defenders. His play included the ability to get into the neutral zone and force pucks in deeper to spur a quality forecheck. I love that he doesn’t just sit on the point in the offensive zone too. Instead he’s constantly looking to pinch deeper down in the zone and take advantage of spacing given to him. There were some bobbles, passes that led to a too many men call, and a turnover from heavy pressure below the goal line. It does leave room for more consistency from him but he already excels in all areas of the ice that those little awareness moments or small tweaks will certainly come over the long term. A player like him that can outmatch physically in the defensive zone and score with heavy releases from the point will certainly have strong appeal to teams high up in the draft. I thought defensively he showed his best too as he gave second effort, quick stick checks, and blocking passes from the exterior into the slot.

The big 6’3” defenseman for NAX, Nolan Wolitski, caught my eye with a play style perfectly suited to his size. He was extremely tough to play against, effectively using his long reach and physical presence to shut down rushes and keep opponents to the outside in the defensive zone. Wolitski’s skating was impressive, featuring long strides and underrated agility, allowing him to pivot quickly in different directions. Offensively I thought his hands were occasionally stiff, causing pucks to bounce off his stick and cause him trouble here and there, but his size and reach allowed him to recover and make quick, accurate passes. Nolan plays all situations effectively as he’s a huge obstacle for opponents when he’s penalty killing, a strong force in all zones at 5 on 5 and he also quarterbacked one of the teams powerplay unit, efficiently distributing the puck with poise.

Wolitski was his team’s most reliable defender on the defensive side of things from start to finish. He was very aggressive and instinctual in his rush defending, timing his step ups very well and utilizing his body and stick to stop opposing transition plays right in their tracks. Along the perimeter in the defensive zone he could also leverage his above-average frame to lean on attackers and nullify plenty of cycle opportunities as a consequence. He kept his head on a swivel while defending the front of the net as well, which allowed him to read and anticipate the play around him and break up passes directed towards dangerous areas of the ice. Wolitski flashed some offensive creativity from the point as well, keeping his head up and spotting seams to thread pucks through to get it to his teammates down low.

Wolitski was one of Canada’s better defenseman, his play in his own end is what really impressed me. He showcased his hand eye coordination making a couple of nice plays knocking pucks down in the defensive zone. He was also not scared to block shots as there were multiple occasions where he blocked a couple of heavy shots. Wolitski had a couple of excellent defensive plays, my favorite was when a player bigger than him was battling in the corner with him, Wlitski won the puck battle and made a clean breakout pass to get play going the other way. Overall I was impressed with Wolitski’s sound defensive game and poise on the back end.

On top of his stout defensive play, I thought Wolitski was able to show a bit more of his offensive side as well. The aggressive rush defending and strong net-front positioning were huge positives yet again, even if he did throw himself out of position a couple times trying to deliver a big hit. What impressed me most was his ability to create offense from the blueline, keeping his head and spotting seams before executing passes through them to teammates down low. Wolitski was also making some intelligent reads off-puck by jumping down from the blueline and getting in behind the defensive coverage to make himself a backdoor option for teammates.

In such a wide-open game, I thought Wolitski’s defensive-oriented game stood out in all the right ways. He was aggressive in his rush defending, utilizing an active stick and physical step ups to stop attackers in their tracks and get the puck going the other way with a quick play up the ice. He was defending physically along the perimeter in the defensive zone as well, using his frame to rub out puck-carriers and nullify cycle plays from the opposition. Wolitski was also getting his stick and body into lanes, blocking shots and cross-ice feeds and stymying dangerous chances in the process.