We took a look at all 35 players in the system that are aged 25 or younger (as of October 1, 2023) and ranked them. Welcome to the Top 25 Under 25. At #14, it’s the captain of Boston College, offensive defender Eamon Powell looking to win some hardware in his senior year before joining the crowded Syracuse Crunch defense group.
Bio
Age: 21
Position: Right Defense
Draft: 2020 Round 4 (#116 overall)
2023-24 Team: Boston College (NCAA)
2022 Ranking: 14th
Stats
Scouting Report
Eamon Powell has aged as well as you could hope for an offensively defensive prospect in the NCAA. By the time of his final year, Powell has become the most important defenseman on his team, which has allowed him to both be on the ice for all the right scoring shifts and forced to play against the best forwards in the league. Even if he’s not the best defensive defender in the world, his experience playing against top lines in the NCAA will help him transition his game to the AHL.
Some of Powell’s best skills involve him jumping up into the rush as the fourth attackers and using his soft hands and vision to make plays under pressure. When his team has the puck, he can turn into another forward on the line and be a dynamic part of the rush and cycle. Without the puck, Powell is an aggressive defender, who challenges forwards with his skating by keeping his gap as small as possible to reduce chances of passes being made.
At 6’0″ according to BC, Powell won’t fit the big, long defensive defender mold the Syracuse Crunch have plenty of, but he’ll be in the Jack Thompson range of defenders who drive playup the ice with the puck and can hopefully play a shift stuck in their own.
At 21, the same age as Thompson, Powell has plenty of time to develop a wider variety of hockey skills once he reaches pro at the end of this NCAA season. Depending on Boston’s postseason schedule, we might see Powell join the Crunch on an ELC sometime in April at the age of 22 and build on his reliability for a season or two before looking forward to an NHL job.
Highlights
