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Sam Dickinson Scouting Report: 2024 NHL Draft #4

Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day our LWOS Prospects Writers will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2024 NHL Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow Ben Kerr, and Frederik Frandson on Twitter, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! Last Word On Hockey Prospects is your new headquarters for everything “NHL Draft”! Today we bring you our Sam Dickinson Scouting Report.

The London Knights have a long history of producing elite NHL talent. This year is no different as defenceman Sam Dickinson is one of the 2024 NHL Draft’s top prospects. He started his draft season as an alternate captain for Team Canada at the Under-18 Hlinka/Gretzky Cup. Dickinson put up three assists in the tournament and helped Canada to a gold medal. He scored 18 goals and 52 assists for 70 points in 68 games for the Knights. As the season went along and he continued to produce over a point-per-game pace, Dickinson quickly rose up public draft rankings. Born in June 2006, Dickinson’s relatively late birthdate also suggests that there is even more room for improvement in his game.

Drafted 4th overall by the Niagara Ice Dogs in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection Draft. Dickinson was soon traded to the Knights. He scored nine goals and 23 points in 62 games in 2022-23. Dickinson was named to the OHL First All-Rookie Team. He also captained Canada Black at the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge and was named to the tournament all-star team.

Sam Dickinson 2024 NHL Draft Scouting Report

Left Defence — shoots Left
Born June 7th, 2006 — Toronto, Ontario
Height 6’3″ — Weight 204 lbs [191 cm/93 kg]

Skating

Dickinson is an excellent skater in both directions. He has an excellent first step and great acceleration, winning plenty of short races to loose pucks, or quickly changing directions to deliver a hit. His pivots, agility, and edgework are extremely smooth. This gives Dickinson the ability to transition from defence to offence, and vice-versa, extremely quickly. He also uses his agility to move side-to-side and maintain gap control. His ability to quickly change directions allows Dickinson to cover 360 degrees of the ice. While his top-end speed is not quite as good as the rest of his skating ability, it is still above average. Dickinson is strong for his age. This makes him hard to knock off the puck and helps him to win battles in front of the net and on the boards. This should only improve as he continues to mature.

Offensive Game

Dickinson uses his strong skating ability as the basis for creating offence. He is a very good stickhandler and can lead the rush, carrying the puck through the neutral zone and generating efficient zone entries. He can quickly change directions, creating passing and shooting lanes. Dickinson has excellent vision and passing skills. This allows him to create chances for teammates off the rush. Combined with his poise on the puck, it also allows him to quarterback the play from the blue line. His quick stick and his agility allow him to walk the line, creating passing and shooting lanes.

Dickinson has vastly improved his shot over the last year. He understands to keep it low and get it through traffic and on the net. This allows his teammates to go to the net looking for deflections, screens, and rebounds. His shot is also hard and accurate. Dickinson can sneak in from the point, or let go his wrist shot off the rush. A quick and deceptive release helps him to beat goaltenders. He also has a very good one-timer. If a pass is slightly off, he is able to adjust his feet and still get good power on his shots.

Defensive Game

Dickinson’s size and skating ability give him the tools to be an elite defender. While his offensive game showed great improvements this season, his defensive game is special for a 17-year-old defender. He uses his skating ability to keep himself between his opponent and the front of the net. He maintains excellent gap control and forces attackers to the outside. Dickinson also uses his stick to cut down passing lanes and poke-check the puck away from opponents. Once he is able to create a turnover or retrieve a loose puck, he is quick to move the puck up the ice.

He also takes advantage of his physical gifts. If an attacker comes down his side of the ice with his head down, Dickinson can explode into a hit and take him out of the play. However, he also shows the discipline to avoid getting caught out of position looking for such a hit. Dickinson also does a good job of defending down low and keeping his man to the outside in the cycle game. He shows attention to detail and sticks to his assignments away from the puck as well. Dickinson is not afraid to put his body on the line and block shots.

Projection and Comparison

Dickinson is close to NHL-ready but like many defenders could still use another year of junior hockey.  He could change that with a strong camp though. In any event it won’t be long before he is ready to make an impact. Some added muscle on his frame and continued refinement of his offence would help his long-term development. Playing thirty-plus minutes at the OHL level on a top team would not hurt him in any way. The sky is the limit in terms of his potential. If he hits his ceiling, Dickinson has all the tools needed to be a number-one defender, playing in all situations and against top lines. While nothing is guaranteed, if things go really well, he could become a potential Norris-calibre player in the future. Dickinson’s game is reminiscent of Miro Heiskanen. This is a stylistic comparison though and not one based on skill and ability.

Highlights

The following is a compilation of some of the highlight packages and features of Sam Dickinson that are available on YouTube and Twitter.

 

Check back later for our latest draft article.

Main Photo: GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS / USA TODAY NETWORK

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