Easton Adrian commits to RPI

The '05 defenseman brings a lot of size, strength and skill from the blue line

https://twitter.com/EastonAdrian1/status/1625880151367245829

Back in February, RPI picked up another commitment from an ‘05 player when defenseman Easton Adrian committed to the program. Adrian is a LD who is listed at 6’3 and 185 LBs. This year, he played for the Drumheller Dragons in the AJHL where he led the team in scoring among defensemen with 5 goals, 30 assists and 35 points in 52 games. Not only did this lead the team, but he also led the entire AJHL in U18 defenseman scoring.

Adrian’s size and reach jump out right away, and he also knows how to use it well in the defensive zone. He’s very strong in front of the net and along the walls, and he wins tons of puck battles in his own end. He uses his reach to force opposing forwards to the outside and keep them out of the dangerous areas of the ice.

Offensively, strength is a hallmark of his game too. He is strong on the puck and very difficult to bump off of it. Adrian is also very skilled and has good hands, which combines with that strength to make him great with the puck on his stick. He likes to have the puck on his stick to carry it in transition where he makes a big impact. He tends to get a lot of quality zone exits and zone entries. Adrian is a very good passer too and ran the power play for Drumheller. He was great at moving the puck quickly to get the team quality looks. Lastly, Adrian has a hard shot that can test goalies from distance; both his wrist shot and slap shot have a lot of velocity to them.

As you would expect from a player committing to RPI, Adrian cares about his academics as shown by him receiving Drumheller’s Academic Achievement Award. https://twitter.com/drumdragons/status/1632516223278907395. Another key point was his comfort with the coaching staff, which was the main factor in his commitment as written in the AJHL’s article on it.

Overall, Adrian is a great two-way defenseman who has shown a lot of positive qualities at a young age. In my opinion, he is the best defenseman in the current pipeline, and RPI has a lot of quality defensemen committed right now. With his ‘05 birth year, we project Adrian to enroll in 2024 after one more year of junior hockey. He was just drafted by the Madison Capitols in the 7th round of the USHL Phase 2 draft. https://twitter.com/MadCapsHockey/status/1653841878955982861?s=20. Hopefully, he will make the team and spend next year with them before coming to RPI. Congratulations to Easton and his family!