The Scouting Report
Colton Roberts is an 18-year-old defenseman that was born in Maple Ridge, BC, Canada on June 8, 2006. He spent the 2023-24 season playing in the WHL for the Vancouver Giants, he played for them in 2022-23 as well.
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Draft Projections
#72 Inside The Rink
#36 NHL Central Scouting (NA Skaters)
#79 Elite Prospects
Conrad Jack of Inside The Rink has Colton Roberts projected at 72nd overall.
Diving Deeper
Colton Roberts is a very smooth skater despite his size, standing at 6’4″ and 194 pounds. He has spent the past two seasons playing for the Vancouver Giants. During the 2023-24 season Roberts accrued 27 points over 62 games with seven goals and 20 assists.
NHL-Calibre Skating
Roberts is a tall, mobile defenseman with a lot of breakout skill and shutdown potential. He is a patient player and knows when to accelerate. He is also more than capable of providing secondary offense and beating opponents to the puck and taking away their space, when rushing the puck he utilizes different angles and crossovers.
Roberts moves very well, has great size, and he’s a coveted right shot defenceman. He projects as a two-way defenceman who can provide some secondary offence. There are times his routes when defending his zone can improve, but he’s also had some tough luck in his zone with plays breaking down around him that led to goals against.
Jason Bukala, Sportsnet
Strong Passing Abilities
Roberts has good hockey sense and his passing abilities are helped out by his vision with the puck. He is not a strong scorer but is frequently willing to get involved in the attack on the puck, creating the opportunity to see and make plays before they happen. He’s been more involved in the power play this past season and had three power-play goals.
His smooth skating skills allow him to read the play and stand out amongst players in his age group. He is an offensive play-driver from the back end who is adept at activating in the offensive zone to create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates.
Nathanial Duffett, FCHockey
Areas for Improvement
Roberts could improve his one-on-one defensive play, which is something that he has continued to work on. He also can get stuck watching the play rather than being a part of the play that is happening, which gets him a but stuck. With his skill level and skating abilities, he should be able to put the two together to be a better defenseman but that can take time to accomplish.
Prospect Potential
With his skill-set, size and speed paired with the need to put everything together in a way that works best for him, he will likely be a second, or third-round pick. If Roberts continues to work on these things it is possible that he could become a third-pairing defender at the NHL level. His offensive play and good hockey sense he could also be utilized on the power-play.
Final Thoughts
Even though Roberts has a handful of things to work on, he would be a solid addition to a team willing to help him with those things. His hockey sense, speed, offensive abilities, and right-hand shot, which is a hot commodity, make him a valuable player.
ITR 43: It's Winning Time – Inside The Rink
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