Jackson Dorrington
2021-22 Team: Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
Date of Birth: April 13, 2004
Place of Birth: North Reading, MA, USA
Ht: 6-foot-2 Wt: 192 pounds
Shoots: L
Position: D
NHL Draft Eligibility: 2022 first-year eligible
Rankings
- NHL Central Scouting: 71st (amongst NA skaters)
- Draft Prospects Hockey: 102nd
- McKeen’s Hockey: 150th
Jackson Dorrington, along with his brother Max who plays for St. Lawrence University, are distant cousins of the late Art Dorrington. Art was the first black hockey player to sign an NHL contract, though he never played in the NHL. Now, Jackson looks to hear his name called in the NHL Entry Draft ahead of his first collegiate season.
Related: THW 2022 NHL Draft Guide
First and foremost, he’s a big guy who looks to play a two-way game. He uses his size to engage physically and can use either his size or his stick to take the puck from opponents in puck battles. He’s also used that size to defend opposing rushes and deny zone entries. Additionally, he had decent gap control and the ability to pivot well to either side.
He doesn’t take many risks with the puck, and can use that safety to make smart breakout passes to help his team transition into the offensive zone. Given the time and space, especially while on the power play, he can make some good passes to set up teammates.
He struggles with certain aspects of skating, despite some of the aforementioned successes. He doesn’t have the best agility or acceleration and can be beaten wide by opposing forwards. He also has some low-IQ moments that he’ll look to improve upon at the collegiate level, and can be caught out of position and cheating in some cases in the defensive zone. He’ll play for Northeastern University starting in the 2022-23 season.
Other THW Draft Profiles
Jackson Dorrington – NHL Draft Projection
Dorrington’s size is going to attract some teams, but he has a lot to work on. He’s not going to be stepping into the NHL in the near future, and will really need to put the work in at the collegiate level. He could be taken in the latter rounds of the draft, say the sixth round or later. It’s a bit of a drop-off, considering he was ranked as a B-prospect on the NHL Central Scouting 21-22 Preliminary Players To Watch List, which projects a prospect to be a 2nd/3rd round candidate.
Quotables
“Dorrington is a two-way defender who made calm and poised plays with the puck on his stick in all three zones. He has really good gaps and angles that allow him to hold the blue line and break up zone entries. He uses his size and strength to play with an active stick and edge defending. He pivots well to both sides, but must continue to work on his foot speed and agility. There were times in the game where he was puck watching in his end. He will need to clean up some defensive zone deficiencies for the next level. He projects to be a mid-to-late round pick that could end up playing a depth 5-7 role in the pros.” – Anderson Clark (from Nov. 13, 2021 Jackson Dorrington Scouting Report,’ FC Hockey, Nov. 13, 2021)
“Jackson loves to be physical, has great instincts, he can skate the puck out, makes great passes and he can be a big shut-down guy. Both him and Max, every practice, every game, they make an impact.” – Steve Jacobs, Cushing Academy boys hockey coach (from “Color of Hockey: Dorrington’s legacy lives on” by William Douglas, NHL)
Strengths
- Size
- Physicality and stick positioning
- Defending the rush
Under Construction – Improvements to Make
- Positioning
- Acceleration and agility
- Can get caught puck-watching
- Loses his man and allows him to get open for chances-against
NHL Potential
He will need a lot of development and rounding out his overall game before making the jump to pro. He has a good amount of tools to build on, and taking his time at Northeastern University will hugely benefit him. He could find himself in that bottom-pair/depth defenseman role should he gets to the NHL level. Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Cal Foote, son of former NHLer Adam Foote, is someone who came to mind as a comparison.
Cal is also a bigger defenseman, even bigger than Dorrington, and plays a two-way game. He sees relatively third pair minutes with virtually no special teams time, and has been the seventh defenseman at times. That fifth-to-seventh defenseman role looks like one for Dorrington, though he could see some secondary special teams time should his agility and positioning improve. However, it really depends on the team that drafts him.
Risk-Reward Analysis
Risk – 3.5/5, Reward – 3/5
Fantasy Hockey Potential
Offense – 5/10, Defense – 4/10
Awards/Achievements
- Drafted 2020, 2 #19 overall by the Des Moines Buccaneers in the USHL Futures Draft.
- Drafted 2020, 11 #186 overall by the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL Entry Draft