Out of 136 ranked prospects
GAME REPORTS
Daniel Gee: April 21st, 2023 - Sioux City Musketeers vs. Omaha Lancers - USHL
Cheslock was average in this one. Thought he struggled with the pace of the USHL at times, especially under sustained pressure. On one shift in the first, he overloaded to the far corner to push pressure, rushing back to the net front. He wanted to clog the pass to the right circle but just ended up reacting late to a goal-line to backdoor pass, even shifting out of position right before the pass. On a play in the second, Cheslock was reactive again on a one-touch passing play on the goal line. He's overly aggressive in this one -- a common trait from high-minute high school defenders. He wants to step up to disrupt every shot attempt. There were some flashes of his secondary threat lockdown that he pushed so regularly with Rogers; stick lift plays, box outs, into supporting endboard battles. Cheslock was stronger in transition. Gap control and aggression with not only his positioning and stick created stops. He actually faced a one-on-one, combated an inside push from behind, and caused a cutback and reset. Cheslock killed a dangerous 4-on-2 in the third. He stepped up, anticipated one of the early passes across and passed right into a counterattack. Sacrificed a lot to stand in shooting lanes as well.
Wasn't a lot of transition effort in this game. Pre-scans and leverages his 6-foot-3 frame to tank physicality, but he looked a bit shocked with how fast the forecheck mounted. Some smart pinch activations. He took a pass through his legs on a d-to-d pass, mid-activation on the right wing, but just ringed the puck after. Not sure there is much here at all -- none of the playmaking flashes we saw at the high school level - maybe next year. Should make our final board. He's huge, defends well enough and the base is made to be built upon in college. Probably not more than a five or six in the NHL, but he could be useful with some time.
Mitchell Brown: April 15th, 2023 - Omaha Lancers vs. Sioux Falls Stampede - USHL
Another solid game from Cheslock, who continues to make an impact on just about every shift at this level. The defensive stick is the standout. He's always disrupting, deflecting, and contesting plays. Pressures shooters if he can't eliminate the shot outright.
Ties up opponents at the right moment (timed lifts with the incoming pass/shot). Mostly plays to his blue line off the rush, where he closes opponents and forces dump-ins. But, he also got on his check at the opposing blue line late in the game, forcing a turnover before carrying the puck back into the zone. He has breakout skill and vision, but he's limited a bit by his handling in motion. He spots teammates through layers, skates into lanes, and adapts to lanes. Backhand skill, too. A lot of impact from his activation across all three zones. Supports plays, becoming an option and creating more space for his teammate. He looks like an early-third candidate. Likely bottom-pairing upside, but could be valuable in that role given the versatility of his game.
Mitchell Brown: April 14th. 2023 - Waterloo Black Hawks vs. Omaha Lancers - USHL
More of a defending and physicality game from Cheslock. He's overpowering at this level. When he leans on opponents along the boards, they don't move. Easily quashes plays. He tries to get on opponents early, too. But with limited success at this stage.
With the puck, he's smart but limited by skill and scanning. Doesn't look enough before going into the boards. Full credit, he tries to invert pressure with cut backs or pass through it, but none of his plays worked. Hands failed when moving his feet and he struggled with passing receptions. Activated a few times, not in the garden variety way. He jumped into space to become an option for his defensive partner on breakouts and used the weak side. A solid game in a mismatch, suggesting some NHL upside. But the mechanics must improve substantially.
Mitchell Brown: April 7th. 2023 - Lincoln Stars vs. Omaha Lancers - USHL
A quieter game from Cheslock, but a solid one. He makes quick bump plays off retrievals then jumps into the rush. Activates immediately. Some flashes of long-range passing and breakout skill. He recognizes options instantly, but also shows patience to wait for those options to materialize. When he tries to handle and move his feet at the same time, it looks bleak. He loses control of the puck. Little offence, but the defence is solid. He's physical, disruptive, and plays with pace. Eliminates options. More of a mid-round game.
Mitchell Brown: April 4th, 2023 - Omaha Lancers vs. Tri-City Storm - USHL
Another really impressive from Cheslock, who honestly looks like one of the most exciting blue-liners in the league already.
Twice, he pinched down the boards and deked through an opponent's legs to gain the middle. He has handling skill inside an otherwise stiff and rigid style. Uses space before shooting and tries to create shooting lanes, although he can't always complete plays. He's always activating, which isn't unique for Omaha, but his ability to space and create with his off-puck movement stands out. His activation creates lanes on the breakout. He tracks players high and then immediately becomes a forward once receiving the puck. Stays activated. The defence has flaws - overskating, primarily - but it could be a significant strength. He's physical, aggressive, pokes pucks away just as the opponent exposes it, and almost always makes a quick play after getting the stop. One time, he even went look-off pass up the middle for a breakout within a second or stealing possession. He looked like a potential late-second, early-third in this game.
Daniel Gee: April 1st. 2023 - Des Moines Buccaneers vs. Omaha Lancers - USHL
First USHL viewing of Cheslock and surprise, surprise, he was good at this level too. There is an obvious level of adjustment he's going through, in particular, his level of aggression when defending the rush, but you can see him adapting in real-time.
Cheslock was burned from his aggression a few times in the second period. On one shift he made a push up the far boards, but the Buccaneers forward had already slipped the check. Very much a difference in pace issue. He remains a stout secondary threat lockdown defender at this level. Stick clamps, lifts, and boxouts are all present. He establishes body position, flashes his ability to anticipate the next play and disrupts the release of shots. In the second, he intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and sent it right back after the OZ entry. He didn't have a tonne of time in his own end. He had a hilarious play in the second where he muscled a puck out of a double team and broke it out -- showed just how strong of a player he is. He made an aggressive push all the way up to the right point on another shift, disrupting the cycle -- it was a deft play at the moment, a switch-off with a teammate.
While attacking on the rush, he flashed some higher-end playmaking. In the first while in pressure, he activated his edges and hooked a pass to his partner. He activated regularly in this one. In the second he joined a rush as a weakside option and filed backdoor, but the puck carrier had tunnel vision and didn't scan how open he was. He has so much poise in pressure. On one shift he corraled a bouncing puck and was double-teamed as the forwards looked for a break. Cheslock settled it down and got the pass off in pressure. Scanning habits on retrieval but like in high school, not much manipulation -- more tanking the physicality or moving the puck quickly after the first touch. In sustained pressure, Cheslock was simple to a fault. Low-impact shots from the boards did little to create anything for Omaha. He one-touches passes. but we didn't see the crazy cross-rink feeds he pulls out at the high school level. Regardless, this was a great game by Cheslock -- he should make our final board. A defensive defender with size -- possible bottom-pairing option in the NHL down the road.
Mitchell Brown: March 31st, 2023 - Des Moines Buccaneers vs. Omaha Lancers - USHL
Mostly spacing and defence from Cheslock. The spacing's really strong. He stretches the ice with his activation, making small adjustments to always stay in a passing lane. Activates up the weak side, middle, and becomes the trailer. Provides short support, reads hand offs, jumps into space, and tries to set up teammates. The defence is all instincts. He overcommits when making up ground and leaves his skates too much. But he angles attackers, gets inside their hands, pokes away pucks away as they expose it, and easily pins attackers to the outside. Hands failed him a few times, he skated into pressure, and the passing was variable. He's capable of quick-possession cross-ice passes under pressure, but he also will pass into heavy pressure with wide-open teammates. Lacks manipulation ability. He's a bit limited by his hands, but he still looks like a draft pick. Killing and creating plays like this is rare for a High School player in the USHL.
Mitchell Brown: March 19th, 2023 - Sioux City Musketeers vs. Omaha Lancers - USHL
A top-two rounds game from Cheslock, what a performance. He was everywhere, activating into every play, creating offence, and killing plays coming back the other way. He has projectable NHL habits. He receives every puck in motion, immediately claims space, keeps his head up, and even deceives opponents. In back-to-back shifts, he took a puck off the boards on the backcheck while moving, stepped inside, then created a walk in chance with a look off pass and then activated, exchanged, and passed for a deflection in the slot. Uses the weak side frequently, jumping above his forwards, gaining the zone, then slowing down for support. Scored by working laterally and firing back against the grain. The backwards crossovers are powerful, providing separation at this level. The hands are rigid, but he also took pucks off the backhand directly into his hip pocket. The defence was also a strength. He angled attacks wide, stepped into opponents, and immediately made the next pass after the steal. Played most of the game on his off side. Manipulated once, but he has some corrective ability. For the most part, he has quiet feet - few crossovers, just c-cuts and heel pushes as he eliminates space. A couple of the retrievals were almost turnovers
- he enters the boards blind and doesn't wait for pressure to fully commit before passing. A really curious to watch more of him down the stretch. A pretty dynamic performance.
Daniel Gee: February 7th, 2023 - Rogers High vs. Moorhead High - USHS-MN
Another game, another strong showing at the high school level for Chase Cheslock. Continued the trend of showing off a more developed offensive game than I initially realised, especially while exerting sustained pressure off the blue line. He's simple in the way he operates. Activations downhill to add a weakside option, smart pinch efforts to keep possession alive, and a lot of board-to-middle puck movement. On one first-period shift, Cheslock activated to the end-boards, popped into 10-and-2 to slip a check, and then worked high, cut into the middle of the ice and got a shot off -- missed. Came away more impressed with his playmaking off the point. Multiple one-touches funnelling into the middle - - he recorded an assist with a one-touch to the left point. On one first-period shift, he sent a cross through huge layering (4 players) to hit a teammate on the left-hand circle. Cheslock was even using slap passes -- in the second he just missed his target backdoor. Cheslock showed a lot of sophistication in transition. He jumped up into multiple rushes. Tanked physicality on one retrieval, allowing him to send a 2-on-1 the other way. His best sequence was in the second. On a controlled carryout, Cheslock protected in his hip pocket and passed off on the entry but crashed the weak side, just tipping the puck wide with one arm.
There wasn't a lot of defending in this one. His defensive skating looks fine -- crossovers and c-cuts to establish a solid gap, and
10-to-2 edges to add lateral ability. Cheslock understands when possession is unstable. On one second-period odd-man rush, he
aggressively poked a puck off the carrier's stick, killing the chance. There's enough here to justify a C-grade.
Daniel Gee: February 2nd, 2023 - Rogers High vs. Anoka High - USHS-MN
Cheslock continues to push a tone of translatable defensive habits. Super aggressive in transition, he constantly pushes a proactive gap, even switching off to take out more pressing secondary threats. Cheslock is robotic in his scanning of the weak side. On one first-period penalty kill, he read the potential threat backdoor and got back tip a hope-centring pass away.
His frame is pro-ready and he tanks/absorbs physicality to create advantages. In the second he stepped up, tracked the puck carrier, stepped in their path, absorbed the contact and stole the puck. In more sustained pressure, Cheslock is a scary presence when he's locked to the net. He's like a beaver when it comes to his disdain of opposing players' sticks. Constant chops, lifts, and timed disruption plays make it near impossible to get a shot off in the crease. Box outs, physicality, punishing crosschecks -- he makes the crease hell. Cheslock's defensive awareness is outstanding for this level; being able to switch off and cover breakdowns to work better positioning is a key aspect of his game in his own zone.
More of an offensive threat in this game, Cheslock showed more ability to transport the puck. Wheels into cutbacks, two-touch breakouts out of the pass reception, and even some pace increases leading to odd-man attacks. He still doesn't protect the puck well, always in front of his body -- I struggle to see him be an overwhelming puck mover at higher levels. Some of Cheslock's off-puck habits suggest he could be useful, however. He walked into a one-time shot in the third and drove the slot off-puck. Flashed some ability to shake off the pressure as well. When set up in the OZ, Cheslock activated well in this one.
Deep weakside jaunts create an extra option for his teammates. Shows some passing skill as well - - slip passes into give-and-go movement. Cheslock adds some lateral ability by opening his hips, but he's missing the manipulation habits to be an offensive creator in college. I like this player, he's a defensive defender but has some nice flashes on the offensive end of the puck. D grade prospect potentially, but unsure if he makes our main board.
Daniel Gee: January 14th, 2023 - Maple Grove High vs. Rogers High - USHS-MN
Cheslock is a player that we need to watch more. He was a monster defensively in this one, completely nullifying Maple Grove's best players. Cheslock is always gapped and ready to push aggression; he was constantly swinging across and killing one-on-one attacks in this one. Aggressive stick checks on his blueline, full-on tracking of secondary threats. He's a pressure pusher, a disruptor, and loves to drive carriers wide. In the second, he angled off a man and annihilated them on the end boards. On the same shift, he took the separated puck and wheeled out into a counterattack. He's mean at the net front, constantly harassing backdoor threats and screens. A bit of a throwback in that way. His positioning was almost always sound to make an impact and limit pass options. Pre-scan habits, proactiveness, battle wins, his tracking was unreal. His best play was in overtime, a sprawling leg-down block to prevent a cross-crease that would have ended the game.
Clunky edge-to-edge, Cheslock also struggles to truly handle the puck with efficiency. His shoulders bounce in the crossover and he lacks manipulation habits. He understands how to file in as a trailer. In the second, he joined a rush, took a pass, faked a shot, and passed to the middle. The puck was deflected, but Cheslock tracked it and sent a low shot on goal from the hash marks. He is not much of a shooting threat - - mechanically he's all arms. Doesn't leverage his enormous frame or lower body to transfer weight. Had an assist on a D-to-D pass, but beyond that nothing special. May not be well-rounded enough to be drafted, but those defensive habits are unreal. Will follow up on him and push for some crossover.
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