The blue line is a harder read than the forwards — fewer bodies, lower point totals by the nature of the position. But the gap at the same camp is just as real. The 2010s brought six Massachusetts defensemen to the USA Hockey National 15 Development Camp and got 8 points from them. The 2011s brought five and got 17.
2010s · NAT 15 · 2025
| Defense | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logan Cotter | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Brodie Anderson | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Brendan Martin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Shaun Farrell | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Guo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nicholas Ware | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 defensemen | 4 | 4 | 8 |
2011s · NAT 15 · 2026
| Defense | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jaxson Kilimonis | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Sam Archibald | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Alexander Bobrov | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Emmett Aufiero | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jake Reneau | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 defensemen | 6 | 11 | 17 |
Fewer players, more than double the points. The 2010 defense averaged 1.3 points per man at the camp; the 2011 defense averaged 3.4 — and did it with one fewer body on the sheet.
The top end isn't close. The 2010s' top-scoring camp defenseman was Logan Cotter, at 4. The 2011s had two clear that outright — Jaxson Kilimonis (7) and Sam Archibald (6). And Kilimonis did most of it as a shooter: his four goals matched the entire 2010 defense group's goal total by himself. Where the 2010 blue line had three defensemen held pointless across the camp, the 2011 group had none.
The Subplot: The 2010 Blue Line Got Drafted
Now zoom out from the camp to the full 2010 defense class — because the draft followed there, and deep. Nine 2010 defensemen were QMJHL selections; seven picked up USHL rights. And camp scoring didn't gate it: Nicholas Ware went pointless at the 2025 camp and still came away with Omaha in the USHL and Cape Breton in the Q, and Alex Guo, also pointless, was a Shawinigan pick.
| 2010 Defense | USHL / NTDP | QMJHL |
|---|---|---|
| Brodie Anderson | Dubuque Fighting Saints | Saint John |
| Logan Cotter | Green Bay Gamblers | Newfoundland |
| Sam Fishbone | Sioux Falls Musketeers | Halifax |
| Alex Guo | — | Shawinigan |
| Brendan Martin | Sioux Falls Musketeers | Rimouski |
| Jorden Marzi | — | Drummondville |
| Ryan Porter | Sioux Falls Musketeers | Drummondville |
| Tyler Poti | Cedar Rapids Roughriders | Rouyn-Noranda |
| Nicholas Ware | Omaha Lancers | Cape Breton |
Not every name on that board was at the National 15 camp — it's the whole 2010 defense class — but it's the backdrop the 2011 blue line is measured against. Scoring from the back end is a signal junior clubs weight heavily, and the class ahead cashed it in.
The Verdict
The result is decisive: at the same camp, the 2011 defense more than doubled the 2010 defense's output with one fewer player, and put two defensemen above the 2010s' top scorer. This blue line scores, and it scores across the group, not through one man.
The subplot is what it points toward. If a quieter 2010 blue line still sent nine to the QMJHL and seven to the USHL, a higher-scoring 2011 defense profiles to draft at least as well next summer. That part is a projection, not a promise. The camp result stands on its own.