NHL Draft Profile- Charlie Elick

The 2024 NHL Draft will be here before you know it, and Draft 412 will preview some of the prospects who will be probable first round picks. Draft 412 will review the strengths and weaknesses of each prospect, and where they should land in the NHL Draft.

Name- Charlie Elick

Pos- D

Team- Brandon (WHL)

HT/WT- 6’3” 199 lbs

Born- 1/17/2006

Home – Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Charlie Elick was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He played for Edge School U18 Prep in 2021-2022 and in 26 games he scored nine goals and added 16 assists.

He was selected 3rd overall by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft. He played in nine games to finish the 2021-2022 season for the Wheat Kings and had one goal and one assist. 

In 2022-2023, Elick played 56 games for the Wheat Kings and had three goals and eight assists. He also played in the World Hockey Classic- U17 for Team Canada white U17 and had two assists in six games.

This past season, Elick played 65 games at Brandon and tallied 4 goals and 23 assists and he played in the WJC-18 tournament for Canada U18 and added 3 assists in 7 games. 

Charlie Elick is a big bodied defenseman who plays a physical style. He can push skaters away from the scoring areas and does a solid job of hammering opponents against the boards. He is exceptional at winning puck battles and never shies away from hard contact to make a play.

Elick is efficient at making plays behind the net and moving the puck to safety. He uses his size in front of the net to move players away from his goalie and uses his stick to tie up forwards in the slot. He takes a lot of respect in keeping players out of his crease and will battle through the whistle.

Elick is a quality skater who transitions well from skating backwards and has effective mobility to turn on a dime. His skating is smooth and along with his size and reach keeps him in position more times than not.

Strengths

• Uses Stick Well
• Physicality
• Battles in Front
• Shot Blocking
• Size

Charlie Elick struggles at moving the puck and at times seems lost on what the next move is. He is easily frazzled with the puck on his stick and will ice the puck unnecessarily at times.

Elick has not learned how to use his big body to get off a hard accurate shot and this is a work in progress. His shot is flat at times and easily blocked by opponents. 

Overall his offensive game is very neutral and he plays a very conservative type game. The only time Elick gets aggressive is when he goes out of his way for big hits and can be lost position wise. 

Weaknesses

• Moving the Puck
• Power of Shots
• Conservative

Draft Nation sees a lot of similarities between Los Angeles Kings defenseman Matt Roy and Charlie Elick. Both play a defensive first game and have the smooth skating ability. Roy has a bit more offensive upside, but it has taken him some time to get to that point. 

Charlie Elick plays enough defense and skates well enough to be a solid 2nd round prospect. Even though he is more of an "old school" defenseman, the NHL still has a place for a big shutdown defenseman. His offense right now is not going to translate and he will need to keep working on his puck movement to maximize his ability.

Draft Nation Draft Projection- Mid- Late First Round