With only eight games remaining in the regular season for the Colorado Eagles, it’s only natural to begin talking about awards. Since joining the AHL in 2018–19, an Eagles defenseman has won the Eddie Shore Award for Outstanding Defenseman of the Year twice. First, it went to Jordan Gross in 2021–22. And more recently, Jacob MacDonald won it just last season. But there’s a very good chance an Eagle will win this award again — this time, blue-liner Jack Ahcan, who I would argue has quietly become the team’s backbone.

Naturally, the assessment of defensemen always brings up the question of awarding offensive play versus reserving awards for defense-first players. In Ahcan’s case, he could win the award on either side of the puck.

Offense

Ahcan is currently second in the AHL among defensemen in points.

AHL Defensemen Stats

Ahcan has two game-winning goals so far this season. He’s also third in the league in assists among defensemen. Compared to all skaters on the Eagles, he’s second in points behind only Alex Barré-Boulet, and third in assists behind Barré-Boulet and T.J. Tynan. There’s no denying that Ahcan has a knack for getting the puck to wide-open players, like in this pass to Ivan Ivan.

Ahcan plays the quarterback position on the Eagles’ power play, often staying out for almost the entire two minutes. His power-play numbers overall are worth looking at: among defensemen, he’s third in the league in power-play assists and fourth in the league in power-play points. Here he comes in on a delayed penalty for the Eagles and immediately scores a goal.

The one defenseman who’s consistently ahead of Ahcan in just about every offensive category is Zac Jones of the Rochester Americans (BUF). But this is where we come to the defensive side of the puck.

Defense

Ahcan’s biggest advantage over Jones is in defense. The most basic stat for assessing defensemen is plus/minus. In that category, Ahcan crushes his competition with a plus/minus of +23. When looking at the top twenty defensemen in points in the AHL, the next-closest to Ahcan is Erik Gustafsson of the Grand Rapids Griffins (DET), who’s ranked fifteenth in points but has a plus-minus of +18. Looking at only the top ten defensemen in the league, the closest is Lukas Cormier of the Henderson Silver Knights (VGK) with a score of only plus four. Jones, the one player who’s consistently ahead of Ahcan in offensive stats, has a plus/minus of negative five.

I know many will say that plus/minus isn’t a great stat, but it’s one of the few we have for assessing defensemen in the AHL (a league that publishes very few stats overall). But just watching him, you can see how he uses his speed to his advantage when defending. There aren’t tons of highlight reels of defensemen making great plays — it’s just not as exciting as offensive highlights — but here are two examples of Ahcan’s great defensiveness in recent games.

In the first, you’ll see him keep the puck in the offensive zone just as he’s coming off the bench. After it comes back out again and looks like Calgary might get a breakaway, Ahcan steals the puck away and passes it to Ivan, who can re-enter the offensive zone with it.

In this one, we see him break up a developing two-on-one for Calgary.

Ahcan is also one of the Eagles’ top penalty killers. He also comes up big in unexpected ways, like when he saved this near-goal that bounced off Trent Miner‘s skate against the Calgary Wranglers (CGY) on March 27.

Summary

It seems likely that the decision for the AHL’s Eddie Shore Award will probably come down to either Zac Jones or Jack Ahcan. While Jones may be a bit ahead of Ahcan in offensive numbers, I think Ahcan’s defensive play makes him the best choice for Outstanding Defenseman of the Year.