LW Nikolaj Ehlers - Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL (2014 Draft)

[leafsfuture]

As much as Ehlers sounds tempting, I think I would rather take a big body power forward for the leafs. That being said, either Virtanen or Ritchie would make me happy.

Thats kinda how I feel.

The more talented players, and the players with higher pontential ceilings arent always the right picks for a team. Sure you need those guys to win, but you also need some size to win. Chicago has Hossa, Bickell, Boston has Lucic, LA has Carter etc. If those teams were all Patrick Kane's or David Krecji's even with their skill level it would be hard to win without guys to complement them.

Nick Ritchie is definitely a complementary player, but thats what a team like Toronto needs in the future.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Thats kinda how I feel.

The more talented players, and the players with higher pontential ceilings arent always the right picks for a team. Sure you need those guys to win, but you also need some size to win. Chicago has Hossa, Bickell, Boston has Lucic, LA has Carter etc. If those teams were all Patrick Kane's or David Krecji's even with their skill level it would be hard to win without guys to complement them.

Nick Ritchie is definitely a complementary player, but thats what a team like Toronto needs in the future.

Disagree, outside of JVR, Kessel, Bernier, Reilly, we lack talent.

Sure Kadri, Lupul have talent, but they aren't consistent game breakers, you can't build a line around them.

Most of our roster didn't help top line at all in terms of offensive output.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

Thats kinda how I feel.

The more talented players, and the players with higher pontential ceilings arent always the right picks for a team. Sure you need those guys to win, but you also need some size to win. Chicago has Hossa, Bickell, Boston has Lucic, LA has Carter etc. If those teams were all Patrick Kane's or David Krecji's even with their skill level it would be hard to win without guys to complement them.

Nick Ritchie is definitely a complementary player, but thats what a team like Toronto needs in the future.

It's stupid to draft with that mentality when you have a top 10 pick - you don't try to draft a complementary player at that stage of the draft. Teams with guys like you're describing typically draft them later on.

I also don't understand why you're grouping Hossa in with guys like Bickell and Lucic given that he has little in common with either of them - he is better at the age of 35 than either of them will be in their career - and he certainly isn't a complementary player. He's an elite offensive talent who has hit 100 points in a season and who isn't far off being ppg for his career.

That said, given how inept the Leafs have been at drafting, I fully expect them to blow their top 10 selection on someone who ends up as a bottom 6 grinder. They should really worry about actually having skilled forwards in their system.

 

[Sundinisagod]

Where will the Electric Ehl end up going on draft day? I'm guessing either the Islanders or Canucks.

 

[Pyrophorus]

If he's there at #8, grab him.

Virtanen and Ritchie are far down my list

 

[George Maharis]

If he's there at #8, grab him.

Virtanen and Ritchie are far down my list

Agreed.

My list changes every few days in terms of the 8-11th spots...

Dal Colle
Reinhart
Ekblad
Bennett
Draisaitl
Nylander
Ehlers
Fleury
Kapanen
Ritchie
McCann
Virtanen

 

[seafoam]

Agreed.

My list changes every few days in terms of the 8-11th spots...

GM, why do you have Dal Colle over everyone?

 

[Robin Hood]

Where will the Electric Ehl end up going on draft day? I'm guessing either the Islanders or Canucks.

I have no idea but this is where I hope he will end up

 

[Darnell]

I really hope Vancouver picks Ehlers, have a feeling he will be one of the better players out of this draft class. Especially if none of the top 5 are available at the 6th.

 

[iFan]

5#islanders (possible buffalo)
6#canucks
7#hurricanes
8#leafs
9#jets
10#ducks
11#predators

what is the best feat for him? having in mind that he would start in nhl in 2016 and possible some games in ahl/nhl in 2015... (that's just me i don't want rush the kid, want everything perfect 60 points by season )

I think Canucks would be a great spot for Ehlers, for one they have guys like the Sedins to help him grow also Ehlers with Horvat as a center and Kassian as a right winger this would be a great potential top 6 line and will give Ehlers some bigger power forward guys with skill. Also, I'm sure having fellow country man in Jensen and Hansen would be a plus. Canucks wouldn't rush him either as we have other good near ready wingers in Jensen, Shinkaruk and still growing Kassians game. If all goes expected in the top 5 I think the Canucks take him, although Virtanen and Ritchie are pretty tempting too, if LD drops I really can't see Canucks passing on LD as we need another center to build off of with Horvat.

 

[Seatoo]

I'll take one Ehlers to go please.

 

[FlareKnight]

It's stupid to draft with that mentality when you have a top 10 pick - you don't try to draft a complementary player at that stage of the draft. Teams with guys like you're describing typically draft them later on.

I also don't understand why you're grouping Hossa in with guys like Bickell and Lucic given that he has little in common with either of them - he is better at the age of 35 than either of them will be in their career - and he certainly isn't a complementary player. He's an elite offensive talent who has hit 100 points in a season and who isn't far off being ppg for his career.

That said, given how inept the Leafs have been at drafting, I fully expect them to blow their top 10 selection on someone who ends up as a bottom 6 grinder. They should really worry about actually having skilled forwards in their system.

To be fair the Leafs are pretty decent in terms of when they actually have picks to use in the top 10. Not completely perfect, but even Schenn got turned into a JVR so not exactly a bad pick at the end of the day. More a question of how the rest of the draft will turn out.

Do agree though that going for skill is worth doing. If you have a top 10 pick go for the guy you feel brings the most. Use the rest of the draft to make more personal preference picks. Of course if a guy has skill but red flags then be cautious.

If Ehlers is there at 8 I wouldn't be against the Leafs picking him. Lot of talent there and you can always use guys who have that.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

To be fair the Leafs are pretty decent in terms of when they actually have picks to use in the top 10. Not completely perfect, but even Schenn got turned into a JVR so not exactly a bad pick at the end of the day. More a question of how the rest of the draft will turn out.

Do agree though that going for skill is worth doing. If you have a top 10 pick go for the guy you feel brings the most. Use the rest of the draft to make more personal preference picks. Of course if a guy has skill but red flags then be cautious.

If Ehlers is there at 8 I wouldn't be against the Leafs picking him. Lot of talent there and you can always use guys who have that.

imo the Leafs need to get high end skill in their system. I've read stuff re them picking Ritchie - who've I've seen since he's fairly young...and think he's a great player...but w/ that said, if there's a legit skilled forward there, i'd hope they'd grab him.

...in any event, this is OT. If Ehlers is there (and other high end forwards are gone) - the Leafs should grab him.

...but who knows.

 

[Rrabb1t]

Question about Ehlers, has he played C at any level before and do you think that he could end up playing C at NHL-level?

 

[George Maharis]

Question about Ehlers, has he played C at any level before and do you think that he could end up playing C at NHL-level?

Not that I know of, but I'm sure Halifax will test him out next season there.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Any video, interview or info on Ehlers from the combine?

Considering his status there has been very little Ehlers stuff from the combine.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Any video, interview or info on Ehlers from the combine?

Considering his status there has been very little Ehlers stuff from the combine.

A google news search tells me nothing was written about him based on what happened there.

No videos on the NHL.com video section either.

 

[QuietContrarian]

A google news search tells me nothing was written about him based on what happened there.

No videos on the NHL.com video section either.

Cheers...

Weird, he must have had a sub-par combine, and by the looks of it, not one single gram of weight put on over the season.

I have a feeling I am right when I say he will slip out of the top 10.

 

[Paxon]

Cheers...

Weird, he must have had a sub-par combine, and by the looks of it, not one single gram of weight put on over the season.

I have a feeling I am right when I say he will slip out of the top 10.

If you're going by those combine media guide numbers for his height/weight they're not actually from the combine measurements. Anyhow, there's nothing wrong with a player not putting on weight over the course of a season. Most athletes lose weight over the season, but maybe it's a bit different for guys this age due to growth.

Now, many prospects put on weight between the end of their season and the combine as they train for it, but each player's dealing with different circumstances in terms of time frame, injury rehab, etc -- not to mention body type. Ehler's season went deeper than most. But again, as far as I know his combine measurements aren't known to the public. I'd be curious to see what his actual current height is. Too bad the NHL has the only combine that doesn't release all its information.

I wouldn't be surprised if he slipped out of the top 10 but I think it's more likely he goes in there. The thing is there are a few guys comparable to Ehlers like Nylander, Kapanen, and Fiala who all bring gamebreaking skating and puck skills with average/below-average frames. It's not hard to imagine several different teams keen on adding such a player would order their preferences among those guys quite differently. It's also not hard to imagine any one of those guys ending up the superior player.

 

[Bagge]

I have a feeling I am right when I say he will slip out of the top 10.

You are always so positive

I think you need to go back to Canada asap. When people ***** more about life than we do, then our job has been forfilled to perfection.

 

[Felix Unger]

If you're going by those combine media guide numbers for his height/weight they're not actually from the combine measurements. Anyhow, there's nothing wrong with a player not putting on weight over the course of a season. Most athletes lose weight over the season, but maybe it's a bit different for guys this age due to growth.

Yeah, it's completely normal for an 18 y/o athlete with an 18 y/o athletic metabolism to not be able to keep weight on over the season. I wish I still had that problem.

As you said, Ehler's height measurement is probably the most significant factor. Still, I don't see ANY way he drops out of the top 10 with the kind of production and obvious explosiveness he has. Hell, I doubt he makes it past 6 or 7.

 

[Patmac40]

He's easily 6'0" tall by now. He was much taller than Drouin at the end of the season.

 

[Sundinisagod]

I'm really curious what his combine measurements are, more so than any other prospect.

 

[Hansen]

I'm really curious what his combine measurements are, more so than any other prospect.

This, Im actually fairly disappointed by the amount of information to come out of the draft combine.

 

[Ace88*]

Im wondering if Ehlers keeps growing a little bit more. The skillset he had to develop to be successful as a smaller guy would be monstrously intriguing after a bit of height growth--would make for a pretty unique player. Kind of the NHL equivalent of Anthony Davis in the NBA, who played point guard his whole life until he suddenly grew like 10 inches in under 2 years and now plays PF/C with the mind of a PG.