It’s that time of the year for The Win Column’s NHL draft rankings and draft profiles! Earlier this week, we released the TWC consolidated 2025 NHL Draft rankings. The 2025 NHL Draft will take place on June 27 and 28 in Los Angeles. This iteration has us looking at Barrie Colts defender, Kashawn Aitcheson.
Who is Kashawn Aitcheson?
PlayerPositionHandednessHeightWeightKashawn AitchesonLDLeft6’1″198 lbs
Aitcheson is a 2006-born defender from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The prospective first-rounder initially jumped on OHL scouts’ radars after posting 31 points in 47 games for the North York Rangers U16 team in time for the OHL priority selection draft.
This led the 6’1″ Canadian to be selected 50th overall in the third round of the 2022 OHL draft. From there, he quickly became acclimated to OHL hockey, joining the Colts the following season.
From the 2022–23 season, Aitcheson has shown significant growth, increasing his offensive, defensive, and physical acumen every season since, setting new career highs every season. This past season, he posted 26 goals and 59 points, good for seventh out of all OHL defenders.
Aitcheson’s on-ice production
YearDraft RelativeLeagueTeamGPGAP2021–22D-3U16North York Rangers U16AAA47922312022–23D-2OJHLGeorgetown Raiders1000OHLBarrie Colts231232023–24D-1OHLBarrie Colts6483139WJC-18Canada71232024–25D+0OHLBarrie Colts64263359
The stat sheet only shows part of Aitcheson’s evolution as he’s also shown just how he can take control of the game in all three zones, and in multiple ways.
Aitcheson’s strengths
Aitcheson plays a mobile puck movement game that sees him thrive in all three zones as a transitional defender. He’s also one of the most physical defenders in this draft class, and his 6’1″ frame is simply hard to play against.
His game is defined by strong physicality, quality senses, and solid puck/passing skillset. Aitcheson has a unique combo of soft and hard skills that should make him a likely first-round selection.
Physicality
Aitcheson is, without a doubt, one of the most physical defenders in this draft. He uses his frame and muscle mass to their full extent by employing relatively effective angles of attack, establishing favourable body leverage, and just administers crunching hits in gap control.
This use of physicality in transition displays risk isolation through heavy physical pressure and aggressiveness.
In his own zone, the Barrie Colts defender is a slot presence and board play asset. Aitcheson again prioritizes smart physicality and is a presence in board battles. On average, Aitcheson engages in 12 board battles per game with a 58% success rate, which hints at grit, angling, and toughness.
The OHL product also routinely shows solid hit absorption, which is needed when he’s handing out 1.13 hits a game and receiving 1.18 hits against.
In the slot, the Toronto product boxes out, ties up, and takes down opponents at will, because with top-notch muscle mass, he simply can. This grit is best exemplified by his 1.38 shot blocks per game this past season.
His physicality also blends with quality defensive awareness, which is demonstrated through physical isolation of high-danger lanes and higher-paced opponents. This pre-emptive physical isolation also shows quality defensive play anticipation.
This anticipation is best exemplified by the fact that he saves 0.73 scoring chances a game.
One hidden element that really showcases his physicality is his puck protection mechanics on retrievals that prioritize stability, inside body positioning, an extended reach, and body leverage that leans back into his opponent, making it more likely for a successful breakout.
Puck skills/Shooting
Speed is the name of the game for Aitcheson’s puck skills, as he shows quick option ID, smooth passing, and accurate passes in offensive transition. He shows high-end offensive pressure generation through quick, effective outlet passes that blend precision with vision.
Aitcheson makes an average of 23 passes per game with an 86% accuracy rate. These stats demonstrate his on-puck execution as he employs high-end on-ice vision, showing good pressure awareness and play anticipation, all of which routinely allow him to spring high-danger breakaways for Barrie forwards.
The previously mentioned puck protection, stability, and frame ensure that with Aitcheson’s handling, his club acquires a stable zone entry into the offensive zone.
Throughout this past season, the left-shot defender has also grown his offensive zone facilitation game. He’s done this through greater offensive poise, elements of deception (look off, slap passes), and generating further passing lanes. These passing intricacies are made even more effective with Aitcheson’s solid hand-eye coordination.
The Ontario-born defender was also voted the second-hardest shot in the OHL’s eastern conference, and that’s not for nothing. Averaging 4.9 shots per game, he shows higher-end shooting mechanics with a strong, slightly deceptive release point, good leverage, a quality weight transfer, and shot selection.
Aitcheson has a goals expected rate of 0.23 for a defender. In summary, he knows how and where to absolutely rifle pucks. There are minor concerns with accuracy as he only gets 53% of his shots on net, but mechanically, this explains how he found the back of the net 26 times this past season.
Senses
Aitcheson’s senses are highlighted by strong defensive instincts, a high hockey IQ, and playmaking. The OHL product shows good defensive awareness, play recognition, and risk identification in his own zone, which, when these senses are combined with his physicality, makes him a solid play killer.
These defensive instincts and play-killing ability help explain Aitcheson starting 50% of his shifts in the defensive zone, and his 3:21 of penalty kill time per game.
On the offensive side of the puck, Aitcheson drives pace of play.
His senses are highlighted by quality offensive instincts, playmaking upside, and space management. It’s honestly rare that Aitcheson doesn’t jump up into offensive plays, as he shows a high frequency of activation and an overwhelming willingness to go end-to-end.
These activations show offensive instincts, frequent scanning, route creativity, and rush awareness. He is frequently crashing the net, which also shows developing offensive option creation for the young defender. He manages and creates space well and can recognize shooting and passing lanes with ease.
This offensive acumen regularly generates chances for the Colts, to the tune of 1.66 scoring chances a game, with a relatively high 18% conversion rate. Talk about some hidden finishing.
Aitcheson’s areas of improvement
Skating
Aitcheson’s skating is not bad, but it could be better. His posture is slightly upright, and he lacks lower body flexion. These mechanics impact his stride extension and recovery, which makes his skates slightly drag, and this limits the overall agility of his movements.
Aitcheson often activates and leads rushes; his top speed/acceleration is reduced due to the previously mentioned mechanical errors. This allows incoming forwards to gain both body positioning and win puck races. This limited agility and acceleration equate to early pivots, which are most evident in his gap control and recovery game.
He can hide some of the mechanical flaws with good route creation, lane driving, and activation frequency at the OHL level.
Compete level
The Colts defender is inconsistent in terms of compete level, as the 6’1″ defender shows varied levels of play engagement, hustle, and intensity. In defensive zone play, Aitcheson shows inconsistent play engagement, spending some plays just waiting around scanning, while in others, he’s actively engaged.
This is particularly notable in his defensive zone, articulated by his occasional being a play passenger, which does hint at some needed growth in decision making, and more effective defensive awareness as the player ages.
A secondary issue is the Canadian’s overly aggressive puck tracking and positioning, which is fueled by overt offensive aggression. In short, the prospective first-round draftee tries to do too much, which overcomplicates his game and can generate significant and frequent chances against for opposing teams.
Further development in defensive poise could better manage these gaps in risk assessment.
Aitcheson’s comparables
NHL Comparable: Jacob Middleton
NHL ETA: 3+ years
Fit with the Flames
Aitcheson’s combination of two-way transitional game with both soft and hard skills is an enticing option for any NHL organization in need of a left-shot defender. That being said, the defensive pipeline for the Calgary Flames is quite deep already, so where he would not be an organizational need, Aitcheson could be a good fit.
Summary
A solid physical defender with both defensive and offensive upside, puck skills, and lethal shooting.
Risk: 2.5/5
Reward: 3.5/5
Projection: High Top six Defender floor with a Top four ceiling.
What do you think about Aitcheson? Let us know in the comments.
Check out all of The Win Column’s individual player profiles of selected 2025 NHL Draft prospects:
Matthew Schaefer | Michael Misa | James Hagens | Porter Martone | Anton Frondell | Victor Eklund | Roger McQueen | Caleb Desnoyers | Jackson Smith | Jake O’Brien | Carter Bear | Radim Mrtka | Lynden Lakovic | Brady Martin | Justin Carbonneau | Malcolm Spence | Cameron Reid | Logan Hensler | Cameron Schmidt | Ben Kindel
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