Lincoln Stars defenseman Caeden Herrington leads all USHL defensemen with four power-play goals and is establishing himself as a re-entry candidate to watch in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Caeden Herrington is focused on putting the puck on net more often this year. The 18-year-old, who developed primarily as a pass-first defenseman, is seeing the benefits of doing just that.
So far this season, he has registered 30 shots, which is the highest among all defensemen on the Lincoln Stars roster, even though he has played fewer games than his teammates.
Herrington's shot has yielded positive results this season, as he recorded the game-tying power-play goal in Lincoln's 4-3 shootout win at Waterloo on Saturday. Added, his four power-play tallies are tied for the most by all defensemen in the USHL.
The Vermont commit has been centered on improving this aspect of his game in the early stages of the season. Repetitions have been crucial, though, as Herrington aims to take 100 one-timers each week.
"Whether it's 30 from one spot, 30 from five feet over, 30 pushing it to the middle -- just kind of switching it up," Herrington said. "I do a ton of work with (Tanner) Henricks. He's usually the one passing it to me, so we work on it a lot for sure."
During the summer, Herrington spends a lot of time in the shooting room. In season, he practices his shot on the ice. All that work has made him an intriguing re-entry candidate for the 2025 NHL Draft after being overlooked in his first year of eligibility.
The consistency of playing with one team should also help.
Last year, Herrington spent the majority of the year with the Holderness Prep School hockey team, where he racked up seven goals and 49 points in 29 games.
At the time, he was still a member of the Green Bay Gamblers organization. He made his USHL debut in early March and finished out the season there. Herrington skated in 16 games and collected four points, but the limited sample size allowed him to get his feet wet and set him up for a big year this season.
"That was a growth period for me," he said. "The jump from prep school to juniors, it definitely isn't easy, and especially, being the best junior league in the world, it's not going to be an easy task. Doing that was one of the best things that could have happened for me in my hockey career, personally.
"I think that I kind of learned throughout the 16 games, and especially in playoffs, how important it is to become a complete player. If you want to continue to move up levels, it's just every little detail and consistency is just going to become more and more important."
Following a summer in which he was traded to Lincoln and participated in the Nashville Predators Development Camp, Herrington knew what he had to do to get ready for the 2024-25 season.
The right-shot defenseman has accumulated five goals through the first 16 games this year, and while he has missed some time with injuries, he continues to make an impact when he's on the ice, which was evident on Saturday.
Trailing by a goal with just over a minute to play, the Stars called a timeout before heading to a 6-on-4 power play. After winning the faceoff, Etienne Lessard set up Herrington for the one-timer, and he connected on a missile from above the left-wing circle.
"We spend a ton of time in practice working on that," he said. "I've taken that shot a million times in practice this year. Usually, you practice it and hope you get one shot in the game to make it correlate. I was lucky enough to find the back of the net there with a great screen from (Jack Pechar) and (Layne Loomer)."
So, while right-shot defensemen can come at a premium, Herrington just might be a name to keep close tabs on for next year's draft.