ESPN’s Chris Peters asked Jake Sanderson and Jamie Drysdale to break down anonymous scouts‘ reports on Sanderson and Drysdale’s games themselves, with input from the respective players’ coaches, in a really superb story for ESPN+.
The subscriber-only story is excellent, and as the Wings have been linked a little more extensively to Drysdale than Sanderson, I’ll share some of Drysdale’s takes on his own game with you this morning:
Anonymous scout: I don’t know if it’s going to be Erik Karlsson-type offense, but he might fit more into that secondary offensive group.
Drysdale: I think you’re going to see offense. My goal is, I want to be a power-play guy, I want to be a guy to help produce for the team. That’s what I want to be at the next level. I’m confident in my style and my play, and it all works. I think it will translate. I just need to take what I have and challenge myself to continue to make a difference on the ice in that offensive role and help be a producer on the back end.
Chris Hartsburg, Erie Otters head coach: The thing that comes up with him a lot is what’s his ceiling going to be as a high-end offensive defenseman. He’s almost over-the-top responsible because he wants to win so badly. I challenged him earlier in the year to be a difference-maker every time he’s on the ice. I didn’t want him to fall into the trap of being a safe player. There may have been a few games where he was a little quieter, but there were more where he completely took over the game in the last five or 10 minutes. He’s just so competitive and wants to win so badly, he’s willing to sacrifice for the team. It may have hurt his offensive totals a little bit because he won’t cheat for his points, which a coach has to respect.
Continued (paywall)
