Nick Blankenburg is an effective NHL defenseman whose value comes from the accumulation of small, repeatable actions that help his team win.
His undersized stature creates a legitimate limitation, but it can also cause his overall impact to be overlooked.
At 5-foot-9, there are situations where Blankenburg’s lack of size and strength can limit his effectiveness, particularly when he’s forced to deal with heavy physicality in small areas. Those limitations are real.
But Blankenburg has developed a remarkable number of solutions for those limitations.
A depth defenseman doesn't need to drive an entire team's offense or be the best defender on the ice every night. Their value can come from consistently winning small moments within their role.
A clean retrieval.
A controlled exit.
A positive puck touch.
Breaking up a rush chance.
Forcing a dump-in.
Finding the weak side.
Moving the puck quickly after a defensive stop.
Those individual actions can be easy to overlook because they don't necessarily produce a goal, assist or highlight.
But they accumulate.
Blankenburg's ability to consistently execute these types of plays is what makes him an effective NHL defenseman. He has learned how to use processing, anticipation, positioning, skating, stick positioning and timing to solve problems before his physical limitations become decisive.
That ability also helped him earn a more demanding role in Nashville last season, where he established career highs in goals, assists and points while averaging nearly 18 minutes per game before being dealt to Colorado at the trade deadline.
Now, after arriving at Toronto's training camp on a PTO and earning a roster spot, Blankenburg has signed a one-year contract worth $1.4 million.
Toronto didn't acquire some hidden superstar.
They acquired a defenseman whose value comes from a collection of relatively subtle, repeatable actions, at a relatively low cost.
And that's the kind of player who can provide more value than his production or physical profile would suggest.
Given the perception surrounding his size, Toronto may have acquired a defenseman whose impact ultimately exceeds his $1.4 million price tag.
Production
There are simple, effective mechanics that factor into how Nick Blankenburg creates offense. When putting pucks towards the net, there’s a distinct trend. He’s not placing an emphasis on power or carelessly putting pucks to the net. Everything is about finding precise lanes and making sure the puck gets through traffic.
His entire philosophy revolves around placing pucks. He moves along the top of the zone, identifying clean lanes to move the puck through and funneling them towards the net while accounting for what the puck sees as it moves along its trajectory towards the net and which areas within the net cause goaltenders the most trouble.
He isn’t looking for the flashy, highlight-reel style goal. It’s about placing the puck, often low glove or low blocker, where he can handcuff a goaltender and potentially create a rebound.
Blankenburg also capitalizes on a goaltender’s movements as the play shifts from one side to the other, forcing the goaltender to move laterally. He regularly looks for traffic as well, sending pucks into these chaotic areas looking for a redirect or a high tip to create confusion.
When jumping up into the play, Blankenburg executes with purpose. He fills a lane, drives the net and pulls an opposing defender with him to create time and space for his teammates. He also looks for plays that create the highest-danger chances possible, often identifying seams and east/west plays that cross the midline of the ice.
Retrievals
Blankenburg approaches his puck retrievals in a cerebral way, often having a set game plan long before he touches the puck. While he works back to the puck, he takes a proper angle and adjusts his pace and urgency depending on the severity of the forechecking pressure he’s under. He’ll shoulder check and pre-scan, effectively planning out his retrieval as he processes his options before securing the puck.
What makes Blankenburg unique is that he’s often adjusting his retrievals, especially when he’s under heavy pressure, to account for the usual size difference between the forechecker and himself. Blankenburg will often establish inside position before pivoting early to play through the opponent’s hands, giving him further leverage to establish clean possession and secure the puck. This adjustment helps prevent the retrieval from turning into a 50/50 situation where the opponent can use their physicality to influence the battle.
Another common tactic Blankenburg uses to prevent a contested puck in these areas is a well-timed pre-emptive stick lift. When Blankenburg establishes inside position, he’ll often come underneath the opponent’s stick and quickly execute the lift, giving himself the extra time and space he needs to cleanly secure the puck.
Due to Blankenburg’s stature, it’s imperative that he executes these retrievals with incredible precision, and he does just that. He’s able to effectively retrieve the puck and start his team up the ice, identifying the right player to move the puck to at the right time. He dictates the pace of the play while deviating based on his read and the information he processes during his pre-scan.
Playmaking
With the puck on his stick, Blankenburg has developed a reputation for being extremely efficient as he creates offense. A key component to the way he looks to create is that he plays a very low-risk style, despite being fairly creative and proactive with the plays he makes.
This is important, as depth players often aren’t afforded the same offensive freedom that their more productive counterparts may receive from their coaches. Opportunity for a defenseman in this role often hinges on the ability to execute cleanly while providing steadiness and minimizing risk.
There are three kinds of outcomes when it comes to puck touches.
A negative puck touch effectively means either turning the puck over or making a play that puts a teammate into a poor spot, often leading to a turnover.
A neutral puck touch often leads to simple continuation or development of a play. It doesn’t create a negative outcome, but it also doesn’t improve their team’s situation, whether that means driving play up ice or creating offense. These are routine puck touches.
Finally, positive puck touches directly lead to driving play or creating offense that improves the team’s situation on the ice.
Blankenburg finds a way to regularly fit into that third category. When he has the puck and is put into situations where he can be creative, this is where the play-influencing mechanics start to show through in his game. He’s comfortable hanging onto the puck for an extra second to pull in opposing players or use deception in the form of subtle hesitations or stick-leans to freeze an opponent before making a play that exposes the opposing defensive coverage.
He shows creativity by often passing on the neutral or routine play, recognizing when a more positive play is available, identifying seams and getting pucks to the weak side. Blankenburg executes this in a way that mitigates risk.
He makes intelligent decisions as he jumps into the play, keeping the puck in front of him so he’s always in position to recover should the puck get turned over. When carrying the puck and leading the rush, Blankenburg’s routes are carefully selected. He gets his eyes up to scan and process how the play is developing as he works the puck into quiet ice.
Rush Defending
Rush defending might be the most impressive part of Blankenburg’s game. He finds ways to effectively kill plays through the neutral zone, often stemming from his ability to process the play and recognize patterns within the way plays develop.
Blankenburg is always a step ahead mentally, evaluating the opponent’s options, their route selections, where soft spots may be available to exploit and what areas his team’s backpressure is working towards.
This allows him to understand the likelihood of different scenarios and anticipate where the opposing team will have to attack based on their formations and options.
He’s excellent at jumping up and grabbing ice to slow up the rush, preventing opposing players from taking a direct route as they work through the neutral zone. This ability to prevent high-paced attacks allows his teammates to apply backpressure and get back in position above the puck.
Blankenburg approaches rush defending with the mentality of killing plays as early as possible. He establishes his gap within the offensive zone, and we’ll see him use perfectly executed surfs to push from inside the dots towards the wall, effectively angling off the puck carrier to kill the play cleanly or, at the very least, force a dump-in that his team is easily able to retrieve.
Each of Blankenburg’s surfs follows a similar process, and his attention to detail in this regard is a significant part of what makes him such an effective defender. He times the play perfectly as he attacks at a proper angle, placing his stick in a position to eliminate passing options as he closes.
He attacks inside out, pushing opponents from the middle of the ice, inside the dots, towards the wall, limiting their time and space as he closes. He’ll reach his stick underneath and behind the puck carrier’s stick, then sweep the puck away in one swift motion, ensuring that he follows his body through the opponent’s hands as he effectively kills the play.
Small Area Defending
With his small area defending, Blankenburg is constantly scanning. Chaotic defensive zone situations and broken plays are frequent when playing against teams that play with pace, recover pucks, and execute small area plays. Blankenburg is able to handle these situations with calmness and poise as he quickly scans and processes information.
He’s able to process information in real time, identifying all of the potential scoring threats on the ice and working himself into positive defensive positions that allow him to cut off the largest threats.
The way he’s able to anticipate plays as they develop is a significant asset in Blankenburg’s small area defending. He shows how he can take away options with his body positioning, but also with his stick positioning. He’s detailed with his stick, deliberately and purposefully closing off lanes, eliminating options when necessary, and breaking up plays whenever possible.
Blankenburg’s ability to understand and utilize timing to his advantage allows him to have success when defending in these small area situations. He applies his reads and understands exactly when to be patient and when to jump to engage. The consistency in his decision making within these scenarios ultimately leads to consistency in how he kills plays.
An added bonus to Blankenburg’s effectiveness within the constructs of defending in these contained scenarios is his ability to efficiently advance pucks to his teammates as he breaks up a play and starts a quick counter-attack, often while moving his feet to join the play. He finds ways to turn opposing offensive pressure and contained possession into transition plays that start his team up ice.
Contending With Physicality
One particular area where Blankenburg can struggle at times is in situations where he has to contend with heavy physicality. This is the one consequence of Blankenburg’s stature. That said, Blankenburg is aware of this disadvantage and cerebrally approaches the game, finding solutions to avoid these situations wherever possible. However, there are situations in a game where it’s unavoidable.
These scenarios are where Blankenburg struggles. His lack of size and strength can factor into small area situations, particularly as Blankenburg attempts to contain a forward in a tight area and break up cycle attempts. He can struggle along the walls if he is unable to execute his pre-determined puck battle strategies, and can have a difficult time pinning opponents at times. Should the opponent continue their momentum and keep their feet moving as he engages, they can often power right through him, preventing him from killing the play.
In the event where Blankenburg attempts to surf and angle an opponent, if a large opponent attempts to drive him wide, they’re able to use their momentum and pace to push right through him, despite Blankenburg attempting to establish inside position.
Blankenburg faces the same obstacles when retrieving pucks under heavy pressure. While he’s generally excellent at preparing for this physical mismatch when going back for a puck, bringing in those early pivots and pre-emptive stick lifts, there are times where the heavy contact is unavoidable. And while he doesn’t shy away from contact or show unwillingness in any way, it can limit the effectiveness of the play he makes.
The interesting part of Blankenburg’s game is that none of these individual details are particularly difficult to understand. The challenge is recognizing how often they show up, how consistently he executes them and how much they influence the play over the course of a game.
That’s where depth players can become difficult to evaluate. A player can consistently improve his team’s situation without generating the type of production that immediately draws attention. Over 60 minutes, those small advantages can add up to a meaningful impact.
For Toronto, this creates an interesting value proposition. They’re paying a depth-defenseman price for a player who has already shown he can handle more than a traditional depth role, while his perceived physical limitations may have helped keep his market value down.
The next step is seeing how those details translate within Toronto’s lineup.
But the evaluation of Blankenburg shouldn’t start with what he lacks physically. It should start with how often he finds ways to make the next play better for his team.
Chris Whalen
Chris Whalen is a Player Development Expert, Hockey Analyst and former OHL Executive with nearly a decade of experience in OHL Hockey Operations. Through executive management, scouting, video coaching and player development, Chris has built a career around analyzing the game and breaking down the decisions, habits and details that separate players at the next level.
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