Prospect Info: Andrew Nielsen 3rd in points amongst WHL D

[saltming]

There is no question you can improve someone yes. But to take a poor skater and turn them into a very good one, pretty darn tough. I still see slow feet on Freddy. Good stride sure, but getting off the mark has been his problem. And it still is, I don't see him making the NHL unless its just on a trial basis.

I agree there is a limit to what can be done, but I also believe that we should wait to see the finished product.
As for the goat he is pretty fast out there. Those long strides cover tons of ice. He looks quite at home, skating wise, at the ahl level and he is still young. Time will tell.

 

[saltming]

Hunter a fan of the goat? Link? Not saying I don't believe you, but never seen anything myself to confirm this.

I think he was refering to neilson as this is the neilson thread, but I'm guessing.

 

[Tonka]

I am impressed in his point increase from last year. Hoping he can be great top 4 player for the Leafs in the near future.

 

[Stephen]

His movements are rangy and uncoordinated and his skating seems to lack power in that Martin Marincin sense. Don't know how teenagers with those mechanics usually project as more mature pros, but he's having a great year and has a lot of time.

 

[TorontoTrades]

big kid with lots of tools. He's probably still 2-3 years away but has good potential.

 

[Stephen]

In contrast, Valiev looks a lot more polished than I thought he'd be at this point in his career.

 

[LeafFever]

I find Neilson underrated. Definitely could be a very good #2 or 3 D-Man. Yet people always say we have no good prospects at D.

 

[613Leafer]

I find Neilson underrated. Definitely could be a very good #2 or 3 D-Man. Yet people always say we have no good prospects at D.

If he were a former top 10-20 pick, HFBoards would be gushing over him after the 70 point season he just put up. That is if he werent a Leaf prospect

 

[rrc1967]

Hey dude, when was the last time you saw Leaf fans excited about a prospect?

every year?

I remember when Stefanovich was causing leaf fans to have to replace their shorts every day.

not to mention countless others.

McKegg, Biggs, DiDo, Finn, D'Amigo, Hayes, Earl .. god .. the list.. basically every single player the leafs drafted most of them were penciled into "future" lineups..

calling a player a steal when they are simply playing major junior as a 19 year old?

no, it's steal if they are playing in the NHL as a 19 year old. anything can happen between now and two translations to the NHL.

only 8% or so of Major Junior players go on to play in the NHL.

there's a whole bunch of premature .. well. figure out it.. happening here.

as a side note it's fantastic he's doing well, let's hope he can keep it up.

 

[showtime8]

every year?

I remember when Stefanovich was causing leaf fans to have to replace their shorts every day.

not to mention countless others.

McKegg, Biggs, DiDo, Finn, D'Amigo, Hayes, Earl .. god .. the list.. basically every single player the leafs drafted most of them were penciled into "future" lineups..

calling a player a steal when they are simply playing major junior as a 19 year old?

no, it's steal if they are playing in the NHL as a 19 year old. anything can happen between now and two translations to the NHL.

only 8% or so of Major Junior players go on to play in the NHL.

there's a whole bunch of premature .. well. figure out it.. happening here.

as a side note it's fantastic he's doing well, let's hope he can keep it up.

We used to get really excited about prospects because until they actually joined the organization previously, we had the highest hopes for each one.

Then, they were forced to play in the AHL or ECHL and then be after thoughts in 2-3 years.

There wasn't really much hope for any of them to make the line-up because the Leafs thought that bringing in 35+ year olds was the answer.


At this point I think that Nielsen is very raw still. But a lot of great qualities that you can't teach. He's a big kid and going to get bigger.