Willingness to defend his own end has Colts’ Passmore on NHL draft radar

Evan Passmore has always been at home on the blue line.

From the day the Barrie Colts defenceman stepped on the ice at an early age, defending his end of the rink was primarily of importance for the Elmira native.

While his young teammates relished the opportunity to score at every opportunity, Passmore was content to stay back and make sure all was good in his own end.

“I can remember my parents telling me that they’d watch me play when I was really young and I’d always sit back and defend the game first and take care of my net,” recalled the 18-year-old. “I was never like skating around and trying to score. I started out playing defence and I guess it’s kind of just in me.

“It’s a natural instinct to me, I guess.”

Passmore has played the position ever since he can remember.

“It’s the position I started out playing and I’ve loved it ever since,” he said.

Turns out, he is really good at it as well.

So much so, that the now six-foot-foot-five, 210-pound defender is expected to hear his name called at next weekend’s 2025 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles.

“He blocks shots. He protects the front of the net. His play with the puck and his decisions got better over the year and he’s willing to use his size and play hard minutes,” an NHL Eastern Conference told Barrie 360 of Passmore’s game. “Barrie used him on the penalty kill a lot. He has a lot of those intangibles you look for when you’re looking for a defenceman.”

Marty Williamson believes Passmore would help any organization. He coached the physical blueliner the past two seasons and has seen him develop into a big, reliable stay-at- home defender.

“I think he’s a great later pick,” said the former Barrie head coach and now vice-president and general manager. “To get a big man like him at six-foot-five and right-shot defenceman would help any team. Plus, he’s just a real character kid. Always comes with a smile on his face.

“He’s going to get drafted. He’s got a couple of years of junior eligibility left and it’s a process. Just keep improving, you know, his foot speed and different things. I think it’s a really good pick for some team.”

Hearing his name called would be pretty special for an OHL eighth-round pick in 2022 who has been dreaming of this day since he was a kid.

“It will mean everything,” said Passmore, who plans to spend the weekend watching the NHL draft at home with his friends and family. “It’s been a goal of mine for a really long time. If everything works out, that would be really awesome.

“I’d be really happy, and I couldn’t have done it without my friends and family around me.”

A defender who uses his size to his advantage, Passmore played a regular shift on the back end for the Colts this season while also playing a key role on the team’s penalty kill.

His sound, steady play didn’t go unnoticed, says our NHL scout. While many NHL scouts came to the rink to watch his Colts’ teammate Kashawn Aitcheson at first, it wasn’t long before Passmore put himself on the NHL radar.

“With Evan, it’s a case of you come to watch the big defenceman (Aitcheson) and then he slowly catches your attention,” said the NHL scout. “The one thing now, watching playoff hockey and watching how the good teams are playing and the way their back ends are put together, he’s a guy that has the physical tools with his size and his strength, but also he also is a guy with more development will be one of these good players that teams have on the back end.”

 That means keeping his game simple. For Passmore, that means clearing the front of the net, blocking shots, battling for loose pucks, and getting the puck out.

“I definitely think of myself as a very simple hockey player,” said Passmore, who had three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 62 games this season. “When I play a simple hockey game that’s when I’m at my best.”

“I think of myself as a shutdown defenceman,” he added. “I play a very physical game and I’m not afraid of getting in anyone’s face. I’m a very defence-first-minded defenceman.”

Passmore tries to pattern his game after two current defencemen with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“I try to model myself after Brandon Carlo,” he said. “We got a similar frame and he’s a very simple defenceman. He’s got really good defensive awareness.”

Veteran Chris Tanev is another whose game the Barrie blueliner tries to emulate.

“He’s fearless on the penalty kill,” Passmore said of Tanev. “He’s always getting in lanes and blocking shots. I think those are two guys I really try to model my game after.”

Part of a deep, veteran Barrie team that made a run to the Eastern Conference finals this season, Passmore will play an even bigger role next season with the expected departure of Triston Bertucci and Beau Akey to the pro ranks and the trade of Grayson Tiller to Niagara.

“I’m a player that will do whatever my coaches need me to do to win,” he said. “Whether that’s standing in front of a slapshot, I’ll do that all day. I’m happy to do that for my team.”

Passmore is ranked 87^th overall among North American skaters on the NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings, but while he’s expected to go in the later rounds this weekend, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go earlier according to the NHL Eastern Conference scout. There’s always a need for big, physical blueliners who take care of their end of the rink.

“With what he brings, he could mid-rounds. You never know,” said the NHL scout. “The only people that know how the draft is going to go is the team that is selecting No. 1 overall because after that it’s a new animal every pick.”

Passmore is just hoping some team will call his name and he’ll be able to show them that he can help them down the road.

“It’s just the first step,” he said. “Being able to be drafted, that’s just the start. There’s lots of work ahead and I’m looking forward to putting the work in.”

The NHL draft begins Friday night (June 27) with the first round starting at 7 p.m. at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles. Rounds 2 through 7 will be held on Saturday (June 28) beginning at 12 p.m.