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

[diceman934]

Who was it that always ran down his elite skating i forget. Anyways i had you mistaken with a other poster. You actually always got it how good he was going to be.

Well anyways complete mistake on my part. On his skating though. He looks a little choppy but he actually moves around the point really smooth on the powerplay. I have no doubt that in 2 years he will be showing signs of being our best defenseman or will be by then. This kid has some jam in his game that is not matched in the system by anyone else yet.

His skating is not really that bad, he is tough on the boards and at the front and sides of the net. Passes very well, sees the ice and makes quick decisions with the puck generally. The choppyness should get fixed easily by underhill. That shot he has from the point though will be elite because he gets it through consistently and hard. That shot of his is a absolute rocket that he can eep about 10"to 12" off the ice.

He is going to be a big part of our defense in the very near future i believe. Most don't really get it yet with him i think. He is getting better so quick that its mind boggling.

Our best D man.....not a chance....a 3 pairing perhaps.
I like his game and his skill, but his weakness is the hardest one to over come for a D man in today's game...

Just to be clear, Barb can help with stride length, skate recovery and basic mechanics but very little when it comes to bad feet....if so Finn would be an NHL D man, let me tell you Neilson has had plenty of power skating instruction before we drafted him.

I say most on here are over rating him and judging by the comments in this thread and ranking prospect threads this summer he is expected by most to be a can not miss NHL player real soon.

I also think that he needs to improve his puck management part of the game, but I think that it is a result of the speed of the game, and he should adjust.

 

[burpsalot]

I would love to know the scouting process on Nielsen.

He was ranked 5th rd or later in 2015. The Leafs took him with a third/65oa not wanting to risk losing him to another team. They obviously did their homework on this guy.

He flew up the central scouting list with each new report. If I recall correctly, he wasn't even on the preliminary players to watch list. Malarchuk & Hunter liked what they saw & with the huge strides in development they jumped at him.

His big steps in development last year & into the AHL are VERY encouraging. Most of the defensive blunders I see from him are more of the thinking he's still in Junior level errors. He may think he could recover in time or get away with something that you can't at this level. The occasional flub on the blue line isn't a concern, when you're fed the puck as much as he is at this higher level, it's expected, that will correct over time.

I think his offensive game is NHL ready, but the defensive side would leave him exposed, especially without a strong partner. Let his defensive game catch up in the AHL before leaping to the next level.

 

[mallory67]

Our best D man.....not a chance....a 3 pairing perhaps.
I like his game and his skill, but his weakness is the hardest one to over come for a D man in today's game...

Just to be clear, Barb can help with stride length, skate recovery and basic mechanics but very little when it comes to bad feet....if so Finn would be an NHL D man, let me tell you Neilson has had plenty of power skating instruction before we drafted him.

I say most on here are over rating him and judging by the comments in this thread and ranking prospect threads this summer he is expected by most to be a can not miss NHL player real soon.

I also think that he needs to improve his puck management part of the game, but I think that it is a result of the speed of the game, and he should adjust.

Good points. But you have to believe in the power of the late bloomer. Guys who's potential was misjudged for quite a while. Shea Weber was drafted #49 ... so a lot of people had to have misjudged him relative to other players in his class.

At some point AHL production means something. Nielsen putting up good points in the A ... something Finn did not do at all ...

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Good points. But you have to believe in the power of the late bloomer. Guys who's potential was misjudged for quite a while. Shea Weber was drafted #49 ... so a lot of people had to have misjudged him relative to other players in his class.

At some point AHL production means something. Nielsen putting up good points in the A ... something Finn did not do at all ...

Takes a good staff to find a Weber. He was behind WHL leading pt dman, captain Gorges and promising college kid Duncan Keith. Would be tough to scout a kid getting 3rd pairing mins in his draft year. Here is hoping Neilsen is one of those overlooked prospects.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Our best D man.....not a chance....a 3 pairing perhaps.
I like his game and his skill, but his weakness is the hardest one to over come for a D man in today's game...

Just to be clear, Barb can help with stride length, skate recovery and basic mechanics but very little when it comes to bad feet....if so Finn would be an NHL D man, let me tell you Neilson has had plenty of power skating instruction before we drafted him.

I say most on here are over rating him and judging by the comments in this thread and ranking prospect threads this summer he is expected by most to be a can not miss NHL player real soon.

I also think that he needs to improve his puck management part of the game, but I think that it is a result of the speed of the game, and he should adjust.

It was fairly well documented that 2 years ago only Nielsen started taking the game seriously and training right. His rise since then is along the lines of Ed Jovanovski's rise from a late starter. Thats the closest and most recent comparable i can come up with. He should be the adam foote,Jovo, Krupp type in two years for us. That shot on the point is not the only good part of his game. He is translating very well to what i consider a very difficult league and jump in the Ahl.

I really do not believe i am over rating him. Actually if we removed or swapped out Dermott and Neilsen for Hunwick and Polak i think we would be better off right away. I just believe that but development trumps that also. Valiev and Loov shouldn't be overlooked i believe too. They are also two more that could replace hunwick and polak without much or any loss of quality of play. Loov looked really close last year.

Possibly its management avoiding bringing them up until after the expansion draft but we are not icing our best possible defense at present.

 

[Stephen]

Takes a good staff to find a Weber. He was behind WHL leading pt dman, captain Gorges and promising college kid Duncan Keith. Would be tough to scout a kid getting 3rd pairing mins in his draft year. Here is hoping Neilsen is one of those overlooked prospects.

Well, seems like the Leafs have been on the trail for someone like that for a while. Apparently Morrison and company were pretty interested in Colton Parayko when he was out west.

 

[supermann_98]

Every really good team usually has a home grown/drafted 3rd/4th rounder to come in and play like a 1st rounder.

If Neilson could be that guy I'd be excited because the Leafs D sure as hell need someone exactly like what he projects to be .... big, tough as nails, mean streak, canon from the point, sticks up for teammates.

Nobody on the Leafs comes close to filling that description

 

[saltming]

Our best D man.....not a chance....a 3 pairing perhaps.
I like his game and his skill, but his weakness is the hardest one to over come for a D man in today's game...

Just to be clear, Barb can help with stride length, skate recovery and basic mechanics but very little when it comes to bad feet....if so Finn would be an NHL D man, let me tell you Neilson has had plenty of power skating instruction before we drafted him.

I say most on here are over rating him and judging by the comments in this thread and ranking prospect threads this summer he is expected by most to be a can not miss NHL player real soon.

I also think that he needs to improve his puck management part of the game, but I think that it is a result of the speed of the game, and he should adjust.

My thoughts are that he is relatively new to the sport so his skating is still maliable enough that he can be moulded.

 

[7even]

My thoughts are that he is relatively new to the sport so his skating is still maliable enough that he can be moulded.

Connor Brown really improved under Underhill, hoping Nielsen can as well.

 

[schenneuf]

Watched LA and Anaheim recently... their D just glue you to the boards with their size/strength... I even mistook Kesler for a dman once... we need some of that

 

[hullsy47]

Our best D man.....not a chance....a 3 pairing perhaps.
I like his game and his skill, but his weakness is the hardest one to over come for a D man in today's game...

Just to be clear, Barb can help with stride length, skate recovery and basic mechanics but very little when it comes to bad feet....if so Finn would be an NHL D man, let me tell you Neilson has had plenty of power skating instruction before we drafted him.

I say most on here are over rating him and judging by the comments in this thread and ranking prospect threads this summer he is expected by most to be a can not miss NHL player real soon.

I also think that he needs to improve his puck management part of the game, but I think that it is a result of the speed of the game, and he should adjust.

hes smarter than jake gardiner already ,hes big ,hes not afraid ,,,,zaitsev bought the leafs time on valiev etc ,but made gardiner expendable

 

[613Leafer]

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.

 

[Nithoniniel]

hes smarter than jake gardiner already ,hes big ,hes not afraid ,,,,zaitsev bought the leafs time on valiev etc ,but made gardiner expendable

He made Gardiner expendable in the world where you are not allowed to have more than two top four D-men.

Zaitsev had no impact on Gardiner. What will make him expendable is when one of our youngsters look poised to overtake him, and so far we are not even close.

 

[Gary Nylund]

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 T that we're lacking.

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.

He made Gardiner expendable in the world where you are not allowed to have more than two top four D-men.

Zaitsev had no impact on Gardiner. What will make him expendable is when one of our youngsters look poised to overtake him, and so far we are not even close.

This.

 

[WTFMAN99]

He made Gardiner expendable in the world where you are not allowed to have more than two top four D-men.

Zaitsev had no impact on Gardiner. What will make him expendable is when one of our youngsters look poised to overtake him, and so far we are not even close.

You're going to want deep defense if we plan to win a cup.

Hell, some teams have a guy who is probably overqualified for the 3rd pairing when they win.

 

[Bullseye]

Really Nielsen is the only fast rising defensive prospect in the organization. Carrick is at the NHL level so he doesn't count.

Everyone else despite their individual talents have not shown a package of skills that warrant a ton of optimism about their potential NHL impact down the road.

The focus for the organization's future drafting should be pretty clear - defence and goaltending - find top tier guys at both positions.

 

[Walshy7]

Really Nielsen is the only fast rising defensive prospect in the organization. Carrick is at the NHL level so he doesn't count.

Everyone else despite their individual talents have not shown a package of skills that warrant a ton of optimism about their potential NHL impact down the road.

The focus for the organization's future drafting should be pretty clear - defence and goaltending - find top tier guys at both positions.

Dermott had a really good jr career and a good start in the AHL before injury, He was everywhere when I went to the home opener and other posters commented the same in the few games to follow before injury. I wouldn't write him off yet.

But the rest look like its bottom pair or AHL career so far (Valiev & Loov) I will agree on that

 

[hullsy47]

Good points. But you have to believe in the power of the late bloomer. Guys who's potential was misjudged for quite a while. Shea Weber was drafted #49 ... so a lot of people had to have misjudged him relative to other players in his class.

At some point AHL production means something. Nielsen putting up good points in the A ... something Finn did not do at all ...

finn wasn't drafted during shanaplan ,,,neilson was

 

[Bullseye]

Dermott had a really good jr career and a good start in the AHL before injury, He was everywhere when I went to the home opener and other posters commented the same in the few games to follow before injury. I wouldn't write him off yet.

But the rest look like its bottom pair or AHL career so far (Valiev & Loov) I will agree on that

Agreed about Dermott but he's yet to show anything surprising the way the Nielsen and Carrick both have. Not righting him off by any means just hasn't yet shown anything beyond junior(he's injured).

Greenway may be a middle paring guy - potential wise in 3 years after he finishes college we'll start to get an idea.

Loov and Valiev. Bottom pairing guys if they make it. Middleton, Mattinen are not top even middle tier prospects.

 

[Walshy7]

Agreed about Dermott but he's yet to show anything surprising the way the Nielsen and Carrick both have. Not righting him off by any means just hasn't yet shown anything beyond junior(he's injured).

Greenway may be a middle paring guy - potential wise in 3 years after he finishes college we'll start to get an idea.

Loov and Valiev. Bottom pairing guys if they make it. Middleton, Mattinen are not top even middle tier prospects.

oh I agree with the rest. But Dermott maybe couldn't be surprising because he has higher expectations and more expected of him than Nielsen had, hence being drafted higher? im not sure just a thought

 

[Menzinger]

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)

 

[Johny Drama]

oh I agree with the rest. But Dermott maybe couldn't be surprising because he has higher expectations and more expected of him than Nielsen had, hence being drafted higher? im not sure just a thought

I think both Dermott and Nielsen will be given at least a full year in the AHL, and probably even longer. Be interesting to see if we focus a bit more on dmen in the next 2 drafts. Thing to remember though, you only need 6 and we likely already have 2 in place (Reilly and Zaitsev). Jury still out IMO if Gardiner is here long term and Carrick seems to be making a case he can be bottom pairing guy in the least. We hit a home run with one of our current prospects and another one or two develop into reliable NHLers, we are in great shape.

 

[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.

 

[zeke]

valiev is a 21yr old excellent ahl dman.

loov is a 24yr old bottom pair ahl dman.

they're not comparable.

 

[diceman934]

He made Gardiner expendable in the world where you are not allowed to have more than two top four D-men.

Zaitsev had no impact on Gardiner. What will make him expendable is when one of our youngsters look poised to overtake him, and so far we are not even close.

Gardiner is going no where at this time....unless it is for a similar level D man who plays a more physical game.

I can see us packaging up some forward talent for D man, at the trade deadline or perhaps a trade with Vegas this off season. Vegas should get some talent on the back end this summer.