Nico Hischier
5'11
163lbs
Center
Switzerland
Left Handed
With half a season with the Bern U20 squad under his belt, Nico will be expected to spend 80+% of the 2015-2016 season with there U20 team. He should be coming into the camp with a whole lot of confident, after having a spectacular Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament. He came into the tournament as one of the lone 1999's and was expected to be a 2nd line player for the highly skilled Swiss squad. He surpassed all expectations, including my own, when he finished the tournament on the Swiss top line and tied for 3rd in tournament scoring with 6 points (2G 4A) in just 4 games. His Swiss squad did finish 2nd last in the tournament, but that doesn't take away from how great Nico did play. He was always on the ice, no matter the situation the Swiss were in, and always seemed to impress. I noticed that he was very strong on the PP as someone who plays off of the half-wall and who isn't afraid to walk into the middle of the ice with the puck and fire it past the goalie. He competed very well against his fellow 2017 draft eligible (Nolan Patrick, Kailer Yamamoto) and to me he was the most utilized and the most relied upon by there team.
Now talking about Nico's game, he's a very smooth skating forward that plays very low to the ice. He currently sits at 5'11 which is average for a forward of his age and is coming off of a 61 point season with the Bern U17 team in just 22 games. I saw him as a strong playmaker but he also showed off a side of his two way game in the way that he was very strong in his defensive zone and was a helpful support for his d man. He possesses spectacular vision and high end puck moving skills that he uses much of the time instead of shooting the puck. He is quite skilled with the puck and will embarrassed opposing defenseman once in a while with a quick move. I see him as a playmaker who can put up a tonne of points, he has finished almost all of his season with almost 50-50 goal to assist ratio which to me indicates his dominance at all levels he has currently played in.
A couple of down falls I found in his game were that he was really not physical at all, but I don't think that he will ever be used in a position where he will need to be physical. I also felt that he needed some work on his shot which is already decent but has much room for improvement. He will need to add on some weight as he currently sits at 163lbs.
Nico is still two years away from being eligible for the NHL draft. I'm hoping he will be taken in the upcoming CHL import draft and that he will spend his eligible season in North America. He will be competing against a tonne of forwards that are already playing North American hockey, but I think Nico will get the opportunity he needs to raise his stock. I felt that his performance at the Ivan Hlinka's was better then all of the other 2017 draft eligible that were there. It will be fun to see however if he can put up those numbers that he has in the past, at a much higher level of hockey this year.
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5'11
163lbs
Center
Switzerland
Left Handed
With half a season with the Bern U20 squad under his belt, Nico will be expected to spend 80+% of the 2015-2016 season with there U20 team. He should be coming into the camp with a whole lot of confident, after having a spectacular Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament. He came into the tournament as one of the lone 1999's and was expected to be a 2nd line player for the highly skilled Swiss squad. He surpassed all expectations, including my own, when he finished the tournament on the Swiss top line and tied for 3rd in tournament scoring with 6 points (2G 4A) in just 4 games. His Swiss squad did finish 2nd last in the tournament, but that doesn't take away from how great Nico did play. He was always on the ice, no matter the situation the Swiss were in, and always seemed to impress. I noticed that he was very strong on the PP as someone who plays off of the half-wall and who isn't afraid to walk into the middle of the ice with the puck and fire it past the goalie. He competed very well against his fellow 2017 draft eligible (Nolan Patrick, Kailer Yamamoto) and to me he was the most utilized and the most relied upon by there team.
Now talking about Nico's game, he's a very smooth skating forward that plays very low to the ice. He currently sits at 5'11 which is average for a forward of his age and is coming off of a 61 point season with the Bern U17 team in just 22 games. I saw him as a strong playmaker but he also showed off a side of his two way game in the way that he was very strong in his defensive zone and was a helpful support for his d man. He possesses spectacular vision and high end puck moving skills that he uses much of the time instead of shooting the puck. He is quite skilled with the puck and will embarrassed opposing defenseman once in a while with a quick move. I see him as a playmaker who can put up a tonne of points, he has finished almost all of his season with almost 50-50 goal to assist ratio which to me indicates his dominance at all levels he has currently played in.
A couple of down falls I found in his game were that he was really not physical at all, but I don't think that he will ever be used in a position where he will need to be physical. I also felt that he needed some work on his shot which is already decent but has much room for improvement. He will need to add on some weight as he currently sits at 163lbs.
Nico is still two years away from being eligible for the NHL draft. I'm hoping he will be taken in the upcoming CHL import draft and that he will spend his eligible season in North America. He will be competing against a tonne of forwards that are already playing North American hockey, but I think Nico will get the opportunity he needs to raise his stock. I felt that his performance at the Ivan Hlinka's was better then all of the other 2017 draft eligible that were there. It will be fun to see however if he can put up those numbers that he has in the past, at a much higher level of hockey this year.
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