A poised defenseman who makes good decisions with the puck. Erkamps does not seem to get nervous with any sort of pressure on him. His name has not been mentioned very much when scouts talk about the 2013 NHL Draft, but
he could be a player on the rise if he keeps up his overall play up and continues to improve.
Erkamps dishes the pucks well. He always has his head up and recognizes opportunities quickly. He rarely goes for the home run type of pass, or ones that are very high in difficulty, but his strength is to keep things simple and get the offense going. He has a good shot from the point, and likes to use his wrist shot often to get the puck on net before a crowd is formed in the slot. He could learn to jump into the rush and be a bigger threat when his team has the puck.
Defensively, Erkamps plays a smart game. He is not physically imposing, so he does a good job of anticipating plays to take away lanes and shots instead. For his size, he is good along the boards, but he must improve his strength to be more effective. He is very effective on the penalty kill, and positions himself well to take away options. Erkamps has a tendency to be too aggressive at times and takes himself out of the play, creating an odd man rush for his opponents, especially when they are rushing the puck up the ice. He needs to learn to hold his ground and just take away options instead.
Erkamps is very underrated in terms of his play. He does not make any eye catching moves or hits, so he can go under the radar. You really have to watch him closely to appreciate just how effective he is as a defenseman.
I laughed. Hard.
