It’s been an interesting few seasons for Dyllan Gill. He missed most of one season with a shoulder injury and then spent last season with the Syracuse Crunch before being reassigned to a new team in junior hockey. Hopefully this season is a bit calmer for the young defenseman.
| Name | Dyllan Gill |
| Position | Defenseman (Right-handed) |
| Age (as of October 1) | 21 |
| Height/Weight | 6’3″, 194 lbs. |
| Expected 2024-25 Team | Syracuse Crunch |
| Draft – Year, Round | 2022, 7th Round (223) |
| Previous Rankings | 22 (2024), 23 (2023) |
| Justin G. Ranking | Unranked |
| Final Rank | 13 |
Stats:
Our Thoughts:
It was an interesting season for the then 20-year-old defenseman. He managed to crack the Syracuse Crunch line-up at the beginning of the season and had a dynamic first game, scoring two goals, including the game-winner.
Unfortunately, those would prove to be his only two goals in a Syracuse uniform. In early January, the organization made the decision to return him to junior hockey. Even that wasn’t a typical move. Instead of going back to Rouyn-Noranda where he was the captain in 2023-24, he reported to Moncton after the Wildcats acquired his rights in a QMJHL deadline deal.
He posted 24 points (6 goals, 18 assists) in 27 regular-season games and then another 8 (2 goals, 6 assists) in 19 playoff games as Moncton captured the Gilles-Courteau trophy, defeating Rimouski in six games in the playoff final. They were knocked out of the Memorial Cup playoffs by the eventual winner – London.
All-in-all it was a solid season for the lanky defenseman. Perhaps the most important aspect of the season was that he was healthy for the entire year after appearing in just 12 games in 2023-24 due to a shoulder injury. After a full off-season to prepare, he’ll embark on his professional career full-time this season as he’s slotted to be with the Crunch in 2025-26.
In doing so, he joins a group of Lightning prospect defensemen aged 21 to 25 that all have basically the same ceilings and floors in their career. Max Crozier, Gill, Roman Schmidt, and Declan Carlile have all found themselves at similar points in their career where they are going to be fighting for ice time in Syracuse. They all project out to be bottom-pairing defensemen or NHL/AHL tweeners. Such is life for an organization that relies on lower-round draft picks to stock their prospect classes.
That’s not to say that this quartet won’t be important to the Lightning moving forward. Being able to fill out the bottom of a roster with home-grown talent is key to affording the higher-salaried stars at the top of the line-up card. The teams that are successful in the league not only fill out the roster, but get some production from those third-pairing defensemen and fourth-line forwards.
He has the high hockey IQ that the Lightning treasure in their prospects and moves well on the ice. He cuts down on attacks by taking the proper path to the opponent and is rarely caught out of position chasing the puck. Gill is physical enough to push players off of the puck and win the puck battles in front of the net.
While he doesn’t show up in any of the major publications “Top Lightning Prospects” lists, and even by our voting results is the fourth-best defensive prospect under 25 (spoiler alert – there are more defensemen to come on this countdown!). Still, Gill has the skill to have a decent NHL career. He isn’t super flashy in any aspect of the game, but at the same time he doesn’t really have any holes in his game. Those types of players tend to find their way into the league and stick around, even if they bounce from organization to organization. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s a right-handed shot.
While offense isn’t his path to a big paycheck, he does have the capability to run a power play, at least at the AHL level. His shot is decent and usually on net and he has the offensive awareness to pick out open teammates in the attacking zone. Expect him to see some time on the Crunch power play this season, and he should be one of their ice-time leaders as well.
Highlight Videos:
PING 💥
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 31, 2025
WHAT A SHOT FROM DYLLAN GILL TO TIE IT AT TWO! pic.twitter.com/W3Nx2Xnesf
Gill starts the play with a pass down low and then follows the open pace to the top of the slot. When he receives the puck back, he has a couple of options – pass the puck down low to his winger or take the shot. The forward checking him is aware of that and gives him space. A slight hesitation from Gill freezes the checker and gives the defenseman a lane to wire the puck on net.
Most of his highlights feature this type of hard wrist shot from shooting areas. There aren’t many one-timers, and the ones that are, tend to be half-clappers. His focus is getting the puck on net for deflections (see next highlights) or rebounds. That is exactly what the Bolts expect from their defensemen in the offensive zone.
Gabe has 4 in 4 games. https://t.co/gIv1TZp2rL pic.twitter.com/tSihP72SpU
— Moncton Wildcats (@monctonwildcats) April 2, 2025
Again, it looks to be a little flick onto the net. So many of his highlights follow the same path, but it’s one of those plays that’s a little harder than at first glance. Because his release is so casual, it catches the other team a little off guard. That allows him to get the puck past the initial wave of blockers and into the chaos in front of the net.
Gill springs Lounsbury for his 13th this season. https://t.co/v4UuBuO5pU pic.twitter.com/bMCqUcGq3D
— Moncton Wildcats (@monctonwildcats) March 1, 2025
Gill has his head up as he exits the zone and sees his teammate the entire way. By putting the pass right on the stick it allows the forward to enter the zone cleanly without slowing down. The Lightning love these types of passes to their forwards.
