Prospect Info: Luke Osburn: LD, Youngstown (USHL), (Wisconsin Commit) 108OA, 2024

Zman5778

Moderator
Oct 4, 2005
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Cressona/Reading, PA

First of all, he’s one of the youngest players in the 2024 NHL Draft; had he been born six days later, he would have qualified for the 2025 Draft. That gives him a significant disadvantage in terms of strength and expression, so to see him keep pace with his team and even claim the USHL’s Defenceman of the Week honours in early March is a promising sign.
Then there’s Osburn’s skillset. What is initially obvious is his skating. He’s a strong, smooth skater, both forward and backward, and uses a long stride and great edgework to match forwards’ pace and quickly close gaps. Although he’s not an overly aggressive defender, he thrives on the attack, using his strong skating and smart stick placement to eliminate most options for those he’s facing. Few rookie defenders are as effective as Osburn when it comes to neutralizing incoming scoring threats and regaining possession, and much of that is thanks to his skating.
Despite his lack of production, there are few negatives in Osburn’s game. One area that needs some improvement is his lack of strength, which limits his ability to effectively shut down opponents. He manages to hold his own most of the time, but he lacks the physical edge that could make him a dangerous two-way defenceman. He’s committed to the University of Wisconsin for 2026-27, so that shouldn’t be a major concern, but he’s definitely one of the bigger projects in the 2024 draft class.
 
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Chainshot

Give 'em Enough Rope
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Feb 28, 2002
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Dobber's write-ups :

April 2024 – Osburn may not be filling up the scoresheet yet, but make no mistake, he’s been indispensable for Youngstown as they chase the Clark Cup. A regular top-4 fixture on a very competitive blue-line, Osburn hasn’t been filling up the scoresheet, but been remarkable at pushing play the other way. He’s gotten remarkably more confident and has started calling his own number by diving deep into the offensive zone and taking on more pressure with the confidence he can shake it off. Put simply, Osburn’s game is one of pressure. Offensively, he knows how to apply it by effectively distributing the puck and making the plays that put his opponents in the most disadvantageous position possible. Defensively, it’s all about suppressing and taking pressure away with good anticipation and removing options before they exist. He’s not yet athletic enough or defensively developed enough for it to work all the time but he thinks the game at a very intermediate level. He’s going to be a very interesting one to follow. David Saad

April Ranking: 44th

February 2024 – Osburn has been making headlines at the USHL level. No rookie defenseman has found their game as quickly as he has. This is largely in part due to some otherworldly hockey sense; a great sense of timing and natural aptitude for playing in motion. He’s great at handling and applying pressure on both sides of the puck and has seemingly mastered the current level’s speed. There’s a lot of questions to be had with him as of now, namely some defensive inefficiencies and uncertainties around his toolset; but he’s one of the youngest draft-eligible players this year and the speed of his progression is staggering. He can soar if he can keep this up. – David Saad

February Rankings: 63rd
 

HOOats

born Ruffian
Nov 19, 2007
2,575
3,290
City of Buffalo
Definitely see the RyJo comp, with runway for more dynamism just because he's so young.

Him and Keohane from last year will be nice slow-roast college follows. More shrewd drafting.
 

Ralonzo

Я хочу!
Nov 6, 2006
16,178
7,270
Virginia
Does he bite heads off chickens?

The '75 playoffs might have gone a little differently if it was this guy instead of Lorentz?

OZ_SOTDHockey18_fb_1200x1200.jpg
 

Zman5778

Moderator
Oct 4, 2005
26,823
25,611
Cressona/Reading, PA

“Osburn is a very raw prospect. The most impressive part of his game is his skating ability. He makes escape moves look easy and his lateral skating allows him to gain space in all three zones. Osburn plays a very aggressive style of defense. He joins the rush every chance he gets and he loves to step on forwards. While he gets beat because of his aggressive approach, his skating helps him get back and helps minimize the damage done by his mistakes. He tends to get caught chasing in the D-zone. While he’s not the biggest guy, he doesn’t shy away from being physical.

Osburn has a good motor and strong work ethic. He has improved his positional play in the D-zone as the year has progressed and has shown better decision-making on when to pick his times to join the rush. I think that his offensive instincts are really solid. He has confidence with the puck and uses delays to trick defenders and gain space. I think that he has all the tools to become a solid, puck-moving, bottom-3 defender at the NHL level, who can be very efficient in transition and chip in offensively.” ~ Tait Borst, Head of North American Scouting
 

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