[Sandman]

RHD Jake Martin,6'0"190lbs (USNTDP Juniors): 20gp/2g/4a/6pts. Defenseman who specializes in his defensive play, and in transition. Well developed defensive awareness, and highly polished positioning. "Martin shines in the defensive end of the ice, and is particularly adept at keeping play from the zone entirely with potent defending through the middle-third"-EPRinkside. High-level defending, snuffs out the opposing team's play, and turns defense into offense, or sends them back to square-one. His prowess in this area is top-5 in the draft, and his defensive tracking is the best in the USNTDP. He shows how vital good defense is to puck-possession, and therefore offense.

Many times, Martin will break up the rush in transition before it even enters the zone, but failing that, he will angle attackers to the boards, before sealing them off at the half-wall. Great gap control, and an active stick to consistently break up plays, and steal possession. Limits time and space, and is adept at denying entries, and breaking up the cycle. Applies suffocating pressure,active in front of his net, and boxes attackers out to low-danger. He's confident and poised under pressure, always making the right play with the puck. Minimizes the time spent defending, and facilitates more time on offense for his team-his advanced stats in this regard are sterling. He has many ways of separating man from puck-he battles hard in 1-on-1s, and fights for the puck along the boards, and in the corners. Fantastic PKer as well. Transition is the other main pillar of his game-he is efficient and accurate in his breakout passes, while still exhibiting poise and patience in evading forecheckers, and maintaining control for his team. Martin is one of the best in the draft at affecting controlled breakouts, but he also creates entries with his vision and passes-or by himself with his feet and puck control. He holds the line well, and keeps pucks alive. Even when playing in the offensive zone, he is still keeping track of his defensive responsibilties-he doesn't stray too far into the zone, and is always ready for when and if the puck comes back the other way. He reads the play very well in all three zones, and has the innate ability to know where the puck is going. His passing, shooting, and stickhandling are all above-average-perhaps indicating that he's got much more to give offensively.

Martin has fluid mobility, with good agility and edges, but he needs to add an extra gear or two to win more footraces to pucks. His basic mechanics need polishing, but he'll be a lot faster as he gets stronger. It is believed that as his mobility improves, so will his offensive game, as he already has a solid base of skills. He has a pretty high floor, as he could conceivably grow into a bottom-pairing, shutdown defender-but if developed properly, he could add enough of a dimension to his game to be a top-4 puck-mover. 3rd/4th round.