TRISTAN LUNEAU

2025-04-21

Scout: Jeremy Vercillo

Skating:

Luneau is an effortless skater. He isn't particularly fast or explosive, but I was impressed at how he closed the gap and handled forwards bearing down on him.

Passing/Handling:

Luneau is a classic transitional D, capable of making crisp passes both in transition and in-zone.

Shooting:

Luneau has a hard one-timer that he's been able to showcase on San Diego's powerplay. I didn't see many opportunities for him to shoot off the rush though.

IQ (Vision, Anticipation, Panic/Poise):

Elite -- Luneau is one of the more mature 20 year old defensemen I've seen. I think he's better than a shutdown guy, but worst case I think he'd be very successful at that. He closes gaps, makes impactful plays, and makes it all look easy.

Forechecking:

N/A

Defense:

Luneau has a great stick defensively. He isn't a huge bruiser, but uses his body positionally to box out in the corners and in front of his own net. He also is willing to block shots, as any modern defenseman must.

Best Asset:

IQ/Positioning

Biggest Concern:

Lack of dynamism -- I think he's a good player, but I question how he'll distinguish himself from other Ducks D.

Top Tier/Role Potential:

Big minute top-2 defenseman with lots of offensive impact.

Justification for Top Tier Assessment:

If he gets the chance to step into an offensive role, he could really blossom. He already showed a ton of growth with San Diego this year, so we'll see where he ends up on next year's depth chart.

50th Percentile Tier/Role:

Middle pairing shutdown defenseman

Justification for 50th Percentile Tier Assessment:

He's got a great defensive skillset and IQ. Depending on how the Ducks' other prospects pan out, he may not be pressed into offensive duties the way fantasy managers hope -- I could see him being deployed similarly to how Mo Seider has been, where they always seem to find someone else to run PP1

Stylistic Comparable:

Devon Toews

Scouts Final Thoughts and Additional Stats/Info:

"I really want to see him at the NHL level next year. He's obviously had a flashy season compared to Zellweger and Mintyukov, so I think people will be tempted to bump Luneau ahead of those two. But I don't want to understate the difference between getting your feet wet in the NHL and playing in the AHL. I think LaCombe really established himself this year too.

In a perfect world I think those 4 are Anaheim's top-4 D in 3-5 years, probably with Luneau playing big EVSTR minutes but not on the PP. But if one or two of those guys bust, Luneau could be in line for PP2 or even PP1 time in addition to the top-4 slot.

I do think he's one of the safest D prospect bets to be a regular 18+ minute guy in his prime though."

Games Scouted:

AHL late-season games

2024-05-24

Scout: Jarno

Skating:

Smooth skater with quick feets and good balance so it looks quite easy for him. Has some speed so can join the rush on transition situations or get the puck to the opponent's zone with skating. Also can change the position at offensive zone with puck by his skating. Mostly I would still call him puck distributor than puck carrier (like Zellweger).

Passing/Handling:

Puck distributor at own zone when starting attacks, usually has the main responsibility to pass out from the own zone to center or the wing. On junior games, played more as QP in powerplay but that probable will not be his main role on pro level. On rush situations and plays which starts at offensive zone has the skills to find own players in free slots. Also much of his scoring assists could come from secondary assists instead of really be that final guy to provide the crucial pass.

Shooting:

Not looking overly powerfull. Scores some goals from the blueline but mostly more closer on the circles or from after the rush attacks. Can be used on PP on left hand side as a shooter with his right hand shot. Heat map is especially stronger on the right to center area at the zone.

IQ (Vision, Anticipation, Panic/Poise):

Plays with calm nerves, I don't see any panic on his play. Has good IQ to read the play and be on the right position bot in attacking or defending situations.

Forechecking:

No special remarks for this.

Defense:

Plays calm and quiet defense play. Stays between the opponent and own goal and in own zone usually parks to the front of the net and is active to defend opponent sticks away. Uses his body well for his advantage in puck battles and is not looking for big hits that could make him lose his position. Would see him playing together in D pair with some more dynamic offensive defender like Zellweger and as with Luneau still having good enough puck skills, it would make them to complement each other well in all situations. Luneau should be a regular on SH situations.

Best Asset:

Allround play. His play looks very easily to be translated to pro level and he doesn't have any clear weaknessess and as such can be trusted with both offensive or defensive situations.

Biggest Concern:

Don't maybe have any special elite level talent which would raise him above vs normal regular NHL level players and as such atleast limit his fantasy value some level.

Top Tier/Role Potential:

TOP-4 allround defender with playing 20+ minutes for his team. In special situations should be one of the first defenders on shorthanded and perhaps getting some PP2 usage. Point scoring would be coming mainly from 5vs5. Point scoring will be a bit limited, 30-40 points. Medium BASH.

Justification for Top Tier Assessment:

Basically justification as per his definition of his best asset: Great allround play but maybe I'm not seeing any top fantasy points role for him, atleast yet.

50th Percentile Tier/Role:

I'm not looking him to drop too much of this top tier. In case that happens basically he would then be more focused to more defensive playing situations without too much of powerplay usage as then point scoring usage vise somewhere 25-30 points and maybe playing more as a 3rd pair D.

Justification for 50th Percentile Tier Assessment:

I see NHL player there, so I don't think there should be question marks for him gaining atleast that status.

Stylistic Comparable:

Jake Sanderson