Noel Fransen

April 2024 – Stylistically similar to Alfons Freij, Noel Fransen has impressed us with his refined sense of space and timing on-puck, which in tandem with his plus-level mobility, handling, and passing gives him intriguing upside as a puck-moving defenseman. Offensively, he is a play-connector on the blueline and has shown – with increasing regularity – flashes of deceptive playmaking. These strengths would have him even higher on our board were it not for some of the off-puck growing pains. He has a tendency of crowding his puck-carrying teammates rather than stretching defensive structures, and his defensive game is more reactionary than it is controlled or prepared, with inconsistent defensive scanning and a fiction on the puck-carrier holding him back. The foundation for a creative puck-moving defenseman is here, but he will need to progress his off-puck habits and defensive consistency in order to threaten hitting his NHL upside. (April Rankings: #46) Sebastian High