C Nolan Patrick - Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL (2017, 2nd, PHI) II

[Hammer Slammer]

Scored a weird one and got in a scrap on Tuesday.

 

[Daximus]

Scored a weird one and got in a scrap on Tuesday.

I hope he gets into lots of scraps in the NHL I want to see him fight some actual tough opponents.

 

[tacogeoff]

good things happen when you go to the net

 

[Jakey53]

Disregard anything he says as he's daft and doesn't actual watch nearly as much as he lets on. In junior point production is very misleading sometimes but Patrick is the driver of every line he's on and isn't gifted special treatment by getting all the PP minutes like Hischier. His teammates also don't force passes to him and only look for him when he's the obvious option. Patrick was the playoff MVP because he was the main reason Brandon won the WHL championship as he took over the games. Also for the linemates argument Patricks linemates benefit far more from playing with him than he does with them. The ineptitude of certain posters is amusing at times

Come on over to the Coyote board. It has far surpassed amusing.

 

[Elias Pettersson]

Picking Patrick over Hischier will almost be as bad of a move as picking Matthews over Laine

 

[Hammer Slammer]

http://sherwin-williamstopprospects.ca/video/robert-thomas-on-ice-sport-testing

Cool video, but if you skip right to the end Thomas and Lodnia are watching Nolan mess around. "Come ooooon"

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Picking Patrick over Hischier will almost be as bad of a move as picking Matthews over Laine

The 2nd team will be lucky picking Hischier.

 

[S E P H]

True, but for example, the guy you like at 1 also plays with a boatload of offensive talent and isn't putting up those types of numbers. In some ways, Windsor's current depth (when not injured) actually hurts Vilardi's ability to get prime ice-time and play in his desired position.

I'm more familiar with the OHL, I watch the Knights a lot, and have obviously seen them run rampant over terrible Sudbury, Flint and etc style teams. But, I think the stacked teammate argument is sometimes a bit overstated unless you are talking about fringe prospects playing with ridiculous talents. Obviously, a guy stuck on a very bottom level team will have trouble putting up elite numbers in that situation. But, let's be realistic, most elite talents never even report to these teams. So in a bunch of cases, it is less ice-time but playing with better teammates on a more balanced team or playing on a good to middling team but getting a boatload of ice-time. I just wish one day the CHL accurately tracked TOI so we could actually see this effect. We have eTOI but that is far from perfect.

Then it must come down to the eye test and relative opinions on how one see's a particular player. From your opinion on Vilardi, maybe we can conclude that Wheat Kings brought Patrick perfectly up in terms of his development. His first season, he was on the 2nd/3rd line and played secondary PK minutes. Second season, he was 1st line centre and played in all the top situations on again, a very deep club that made the Memorial Cup. Remember that Patrick was a very late birthday for last year's draft. While Vilardi is missing a season and from what you said, is being brought up more slowly which is entirely fine (playing out of position could be also be a result from not superior numbers). Nonetheless, that extra season absolutely helps Patrick right now, where Vilardi can explode next year once they play the same amount of games.

Vilardi has 92 games of OHL experience.
Patrick has 142 games of WHL experience (should be more if not for injuries).

 

[93LEAFS]

Then it must come down to the eye test and relative opinions on how one see's a particular player. From your opinion on Vilardi, maybe we can conclude that Wheat Kings brought Patrick perfectly up in terms of his development. His first season, he was on the 2nd/3rd line and played secondary PK minutes. Second season, he was 1st line centre and played in all the top situations on again, a very deep club that made the Memorial Cup. Remember that Patrick was a very late birthday for last year's draft. While Vilardi is missing a season and from what you said, is being brought up more slowly which is entirely fine (playing out of position could be also be a result from not superior numbers). Nonetheless, that extra season absolutely helps Patrick right now, where Vilardi can explode next year once they play the same amount of games.

Vilardi has 92 games of OHL experience.
Patrick has 142 games of WHL experience (should be more if not for injuries).

Yes, but I was putting their respective 16 and 17 year old season against each other. I like Vilardi as a player, and I would comfortably have him 3rd in this class. My main point though is that, being on a good team isn't always a positive for someones numbers, especially if they are a key drive in that situation. Vilardi, most of the year was used as a winger next to Logan Brown on the top line, who is a comparable talent to the Wheat Kings players you mention. His season has also been disjointed due to injuries. Only reason, I would put Patrick above is that his stride and skating technique is alarming.

There really isn't much to say about Patrick's season. We have 12 games broken into two portions coming off a sizeable injury. He probably won't be back to full health til mid to late February.

 

[sbtatter]

Then it must come down to the eye test and relative opinions on how one see's a particular player. From your opinion on Vilardi, maybe we can conclude that Wheat Kings brought Patrick perfectly up in terms of his development. His first season, he was on the 2nd/3rd line and played secondary PK minutes. Second season, he was 1st line centre and played in all the top situations on again, a very deep club that made the Memorial Cup. Remember that Patrick was a very late birthday for last year's draft. While Vilardi is missing a season and from what you said, is being brought up more slowly which is entirely fine (playing out of position could be also be a result from not superior numbers). Nonetheless, that extra season absolutely helps Patrick right now, where Vilardi can explode next year once they play the same amount of games.

Vilardi has 92 games of OHL experience.
Patrick has 142 games of WHL experience (should be more if not for injuries).

Not that it really matters but Patrick has 194 games in the CHL, 12 as a 15, 74 as a 16, 93 as a 17, 3 at the Mem Cup and 12 as an 18....lots of games on that body already

 

[Ducks Nation*]

Picking Patrick over Hischier will almost be as bad of a move as picking Matthews over Laine

I don't get it.

 

[HisNoodliness]

I don't get it.

Either it was just trolling or (hopefully) he was just saying that you can't go wrong here because both guys will be great players who make a big impact and have comparable careers (The same way Laine and Matthews both look like great players and choosing either first wouldn't have been a mistake).

 

[93LEAFS]

Strong game from Patrick. As usual winning battles all over the ice and playing with a consistent intensity. He racked up 4 assists on the nights, some a result of winning said battles allowing his team to retain possession and create chances. In some cases, his timing with his passing still was a bit off but I believe that will come back with the more game time he gets. Also could have played a 3 on 1 a bit better where he and his linemates got too patient and Patrick eventually got in too close.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

imo people are too hard on Patrick - he's not the next Crosby, but I think he has more upside than people are giving him credit for. I definitely see a scenario where he's a decent 2-way 1C and certainly a serviceable top-2 C.

 

[TT1]

I do agree that Patrick is an extremely dominant ES player, he completely controls the game when he steps on the ice. A case can be made for either one getting picked #1 OA imo, Patrick is the prototypical "oldschool" center and Hischier is more of the modern day Marner, Ehlers, Pastrnak (etc.) type player.

Players like Hischier who have highend skill have transitioned extremely well into the NHL, stylistically the game's changing and Hischier-type player's are flourishing in the modern day NHL.

 

[93LEAFS]

I do agree that Patrick is an extremely dominant ES player, he completely controls the game when he steps on the ice. A case can be made for either one getting picked #1 OA imo, Patrick is the prototypical "oldschool" center and Hischier is more of the modern day Marner, Ehlers, Pastrnak (etc.) type player.

Players like Hischier who have highend skill have transitioned extremely well into the NHL, stylistically the game's changing and Hischier-type player's are flourishing in the modern day NHL.

Still, guys like Schiefele, Monahan, and Barkov have been quite successful playing this relentless style and being able to convert their chances. Although, Barkov has been plagued with injuries and Monahan is having a down year. There is still a lot of room left for centers who play this style.

As for Hischier, it will be interesting if teams view him as the franchise center type. All the guys you have mentioned are wingers at the NHL level. Hischier has good skating and thinks the game highly, the question will be if the defensive responsibilities wear him down. It is similar to the issues the Leafs are determining whether Nylander can play through at the NHL level. I think both him and Hischier's games have similarities, while Hischier is a bit taller, and way more responsible defensively at 18 than Nylander ever was.

 

[57special]

Granlund is an example of a young NHL player who couldn't handle the grind of being a Center in the NHL, but has excelled at wing.

 

[sbtatter]

I do agree that Patrick is an extremely dominant ES player, he completely controls the game when he steps on the ice. A case can be made for either one getting picked #1 OA imo, Patrick is the prototypical "oldschool" center and Hischier is more of the modern day Marner, Ehlers, Pastrnak (etc.) type player.

Players like Hischier who have highend skill have transitioned extremely well into the NHL, stylistically the game's changing and Hischier-type player's are flourishing in the modern day NHL.

That's a great assessment

 

[sbtatter]

#19 looked a lot better last night on offence, great puck possession and passing, realistically he could have had a monster points night rather than just 4 assists. He shot over the net in his partial breakaway, he missed the wide open net on the one timer, and he miss played the 3 on 1. Then he made the behind the back pass to coulter that gave coulter a wide open net, but he missed, and he made the great back handed pass to Mattheos, but Mattheos couldn't beat dea. Wasn't all roses, a couple times he was late back on the coverage and that caused one goal against
But his pass for Dukes goal reminded us all of how he made coulter and hawryluk scoring sensations last season, what a pass!
I've always thought Patrick is a top 3 pick, with how Hischier has come on strong and is full of glitz, he may snag first overall, but Patrick will make the team picking second very happy. If Wpg could get him, imagine how Laine would benefit from Patrick's passing ability....
I think last night was his best game since returning.....

 

[Hammer Slammer]

I'm looking for a game to do shift-by-shift on Patrick, would the last game sum up his style of play or should I wait for him to play a few more?

 

[landy92mack29]

He's still not quite back to 100% but it was his best game since returning so I think it'd be an ok one to use.

 

[lanky]

Granlund is an example of a young NHL player who couldn't handle the grind of being a Center in the NHL, but has excelled at wing.

Granlund doesn't have the speed of those other comparables and certainly not the speed of Hischier.

 

[Jarey Curry]

Granlund is an example of a young NHL player who couldn't handle the grind of being a Center in the NHL, but has excelled at wing.

I feel like MacKinnon is just that. He's good at center but could be an absolute beast as a winger maybe next to strong 2 way center like Patrick.

 

[Chef de Cuisine]

imo people are too hard on Patrick - he's not the next Crosby, but I think he has more upside than people are giving him credit for. I definitely see a scenario where he's a decent 2-way 1C and certainly a serviceable top-2 C.

A decent 1C is one of the more generous assessments so far? Yowza.

 

[Hammer Slammer]