The 2025 NHL Draft once again saw the Edmonton Oilers without many picks to work with, which is usually the case for teams contending for the Stanley Cup.

That doesn’t mean you can’t recognize certain skill sets that aren’t as sought after and make something out of a later selection. The name of the modern NHL game is offence, and the high-potential scoring players are usually the ones you see go in the top 100, but defence matters too.

Asher Barnett wasn’t listed in the latest Oilersnation’s Top 10 Prospect Rankings or the honourable mentions, and that is rightfully so, as the Oilers do have some higher-end prospects now. Still, the 2025 fifth-rounder brings a unique skillset to the pipeline, and that’s a modern-day defender.

Asher Barnett put up a modest 11 goals and 17 assists across 79 total games played with the USNTDP this year, but had a minor spike in scoring at the U18 World Championships with two goals and four assists in seven games. Point producing isn’t the calling card in his game — defence is.

Mattias Ekholm is a fascinating player to me because he doesn’t have a tool that stands out unless you watch closely, and I can say the same about the Michigan University commit. What do they have in common? Close-out speed.

In the clips below, watch how quick and hard Barnett is on the puck carriers, including a couple of excellent sequences against newly acquired prospect Ike Howard.

Why does this matter? The NHL is a league where, if you give any player time and space with the puck, they will find the next play. Being hard and quick on close-outs reduces the opportunity for the opponents to get their head up and make a play. Also note how he uses his legs to gain power and finishes through the hands, sealing off the attackers, excellent tendencies being shown.

Another strength of the American defenceman’s game is his retrieval tendencies. In the following clips, watch how he values position over possession of the puck and his shoulder scans pre-puck touch.

In this clip, he gets knocked over, but you can still see the tendencies shining through.

In the next clip, he gets hit; however, he is trusting his outside edges instead of throwing away the puck.

When evaluating defencemen, I always put a ton of weight into how they retrieve the puck. If you can’t get off the boards, you will struggle to create any offence for your team. I watched defencemen selected in the top two rounds of the NHL draft not have as good retrieval tendencies as Barnett does. There is some fine-tuning that can be done, of course.

For example, he doesn’t have to always go in with speed. He can sharpen his outside edges so he isn’t falling over as much as he is, and the puck skills while under pressure will need work (more on that to come).

The final strength of Asher’s game I want to note is his gap control. This ties in with close-outs because if you aren’t close to the attacker to begin with, chances are he will already make a play before you can even get in their vicinity. In the following clips, you’ll see how he makes opposing players dump in the puck, turn it over, or just not allow them to do what they want.

Below is a great combination of his tight gap control and excellent retrieval tendencies.

Maintaining proper gap control slows down opposing attackers, and it buys time for your forwards to get back. It is rare that the U18 captain allows anybody to enter his side of the defensive zone with control. Most of the time, he forces them to make a play at the red line. Quick close-outs, strong retrieval tendencies, and tight gap control are what propel his game.

Now, let’s look at what holds Barnett back and why he wasn’t a top 100 pick.

Like many defensive defencemen, one of the main weaknesses in Barnett’s game is his puck skills. With the puck on his stick, he doesn’t have the skill to move it under pressure effectively, whether it be by pass or by skating it out.

Not only does it affect his breakout ability, but it does affects what he can provide in the offensive zone. Below are clips that will illustrate the main reason he wasn’t a top 100 pick and a critical part of development if he wants to feature in NHL games.

The clips above also showcase the lack of a strong two-step acceleration, which I also like to call “Escapability Skating.”

Asher needs to work on his ability to skate away and use some deception to gain him an extra second. The clip below shows a perfect example of what he needs to continue to work on if he wants to play at the next level.

Excellent execution on display, throw a fake and then a couple of hard strides to get away from the forechecker. Textbook.

Getting any NHL games from a draft pick outside the top-32 is usually great, but now that number dwindles down when it comes to players after pick 100. However, the defensive ability brought to the game by the 6-foot-0, 200-pound blue liner is well above average right now.

The main goal is to continue to work on his puck skills under pressure and to continue to work on the two-step acceleration to get Barnett out of tight scenarios. Asher will be attending Michigan University next season, and I believe that’s the perfect landing spot for him.

The program emphazises skill and fluidity throughout the whole lineup. Even if his puck skills get to above average and he maintains the trajectory of his defensive game, I can see him working fine as a bottom pairing defenceman that will provide you with some penalty killing upside. Let’s not forget they traded a future 2026 fifth-round pick to select the future Wolverine. They might see the same thing, thinking his defensive game carries a lot of value still.

Remember folks, not everybody can be the goal scorer. Defence matters too.