Prospect Info: Leafs pick - #65 - Andrew Nielsen (D) Lethbridge WHL 6-3 207lbs

[diceman934]

valiev is a 21yr old excellent ahl dman.

loov is a 24yr old bottom pair ahl dman.

they're not comparable.

Very true....Valiev is our best D prospect currently. Others may pass him.

 

[Randy Randerson]

Nielsen keeps exceeding expectations. If a redraft were done today, I wonder where he'd go.

Really hope he pans out, he'd provide that mix of skill + size that we're lacking.

I just did a quick look over of the 2015 top ~80 picks, I thought I would be saying he moves into the 20's but I don't know. Top 40 for sure, the back end of that 1st round is probably the best I've ever seen from the perspective of 18 months later, probably better than half of the guys in the 20-40 range still look like they could be NHL impact players. I think if a scout is looking at a 6'3" defenseman with a mean streak and a big shot, and you were to tell them that defenseman would be the highest scoring Dman on a good AHL team at a near .8ppg clip in his D+2, that guy goes top 20 in most drafts pretty easily...just crazy how good the 2015 draft looks right now


Side note, we should feel very lucky that Boston let Barzal, Connor, Boeser, Larsson and Aho go outside of our division for Zboril, Senyshyn and Debrusk

 

[diceman934]

Interesting thought indeed. I've never seen him play so it's interesting (and encouraging) to read about how well he's doing. The only fly in the ointment is diceman's concerns and he's been pretty accurate when it comes to assessing the skating of Percy, Finn and Marner so hoping he'll become a top pairing guy is probably a pie in the sky thing. If he becomes a top 4 guy I'd be ecstatic.



This.

Thanks....I am hopeful that he is still in the awkward stage as far as his feet goes. Dirk (Dale Derkatch) thinks that he is. If so and his feet are still in the awkward clumsy stage then we nay have found a gem....Physical and mean with some offensive upside. We need him to be a player as we lack a big D man who is mean and can skate at the NHL level.

 

[Apotheosis]

Looking more and more like he could develop into a top four guy - like a better version of Franson (ie a guy who can actually skate)

He plays nothing like Franson. His ceiling is top pairing.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Thanks....I am hopeful that he is still in the awkward stage as far as his feet goes. Dirk (Dale Derkatch) thinks that he is. If so and his feet are still in the awkward clumsy stage then we nay have found a gem....Physical and mean with some offensive upside. We need him to be a player as we lack a big D man who is mean and can skate at the NHL level.

Yup let's hope so. Now that it seems we have a decent goalie the one single biggest ingredient we're lacking is a quality d-man with size who plays physical and ideally has a bit of a mean streak. If he could fill that role and play at a top 4 level it would be a dream come true.

 

[moon111]

Well look at Colton Parayk, he went from paying $60 for a try-out in the AJHL, to scoring 33 pts for St.Louis while making $858,750. Middleton was 15 picks behind where Parayk went in the draft. You just never know. Is it worth burning a 4th round pick on a 6'5" player? Middleton went from 1 goal, 6 assist in 66 games last year, while being a -24. To now he's 1g 4a for 5 points and his plus/minus is currently even. If you let Middleton brew for four years, who knows where his game will be then.