Sam Dickinson Is A Future Top Pairing Defenseman; Models His Game After Miro Heiskanen

Sam Dickinson is going to make one NHL team immensely happy on Jun. 28 in Las Vegas at the 2024 NHL Draft. And he won’t have to wait very long until he hears his name announced inside of The Sphere.

The London Knights defenseman is coming off a Championship-winning season where he led his team in the regular season in plus/minus with an incredible plus-56, and his 70 points from along the blueline were most by a Knights defender. In the playoffs, he was a plus-11 and added another four goals and 13 points. 

However, unlike fellow draft-eligible defenseman from Saginaw, Zayne Parekh. The highlight of Dickinson’s game isn’t his offensive skills. It’s how well-rounded of a defenseman he already is at the ripe age of 18.

The 18-year-old is an incredible athlete and displayed that at the NHL Combine. He recorded the eighth-best bench press score. And he measured in with a body fat percentage of just 3.64%. Having less than 4% body fat while nearly 6-foot-3 and over 200 pounds is frankly absurd.

The Hockey News, Ryan Kennedy, had Dickinson ranked No. 5 in his final rankings list. Here was his scouting blurb on the young man: “Scouts see a kid who already plays like an NHL veteran - and that's saying something for a blueliner. Dickinson is just built differently. With his defensive play and physicality, he's already figured out the hard part. Plus, he exploded offensively this year.”

He couldn’t have said it any better. Dickinson thinks, plays, and executes at an NHL level already. His ability to always make the right play for his age is astounding. His scanning habits are off-the-charts good.

When asked at the NHL Draft Combine this past week in Buffalo about why he thinks he should be the first defenseman off the board, Dickinson replied, “For me it’s just my completeness and overall aspects of my game that make me the best. I think it’s just about playing a complete game. Offense, defense, transitionally.”

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"Completeness" refers to his ability to efficiently play both offense and defense. If you need someone to match up against the other team's top line, he's ready to jump over the boards with his smooth skating and size, effectively positioning his body to block players and control the puck.

Then, once he’s got the puck back, he can either fire a crisp, flat pass to a teammate in the neutral zone, or take matters into his own hands and use that high-end skating ability to transport the puck out of his end.

Dickinson told members of the media that he likes to model his game after Dallas Stars defenseman, Miro Heiskanen. And when you look closely, he has a lot of similar tools to the Norris-caliber rearguard.

Dickinson creates offense through his effortless stride to create space and open up room for himself and his teammates. He’s terrific at reading when to jump up into the rush to add that second layer of attack, but is quick to get back defensively. He’s also got a booming shot from range and he’s not afraid to flash a bit of skill one-on-one.

In The Hockey News 2024 Draft Preview, scouts would like to see him develop more of a physical game.

He certainly has the size to become a brute out there and one that opposing forwards will be scared of when going into the corners with him. That level of physicality should come as he matures and is mentored at the NHL level. Once he establishes a meaner game in net front or board battles, watch out forwards.

There are a lot of high-end defensemen available in the 2024 NHL Draft and they all bring a different style of game to the table. It sounds like Chicago is likely to select right-shot defenseman, Artyom Levshunov with the second-overall pick.

But can Dickinson be the first OHL player taken off the board? He’ll be fighting that battle with Saginaw’s Zayne Parekh and Oshawa’s Beckett Sennecke.