Woodhouse
Registered User
Baptiste is a solid, two-way right-winger who rocketed up Central Scouting’s ranking of North American skaters. He jumped 44 spots to 61st overall in the final rankings, based upon his commitment to focusing on the defensive zone. Last year, Baptiste was all offense all the day, but this year he improved in all facets of his game and the scouts have taken note.
FC
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Baptiste is a hard-charging, complimentary power winger who is hard to knock off the puck when playing a consistent physical game. He's not overly fast but is smart with his positioning and knows where to be and how to get there. He's the type to take the puck and drive to the net rather than looking for a passing play despite being effective in dishing the puck off the rush.
HF
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Baptiste is a solid, two-way right-winger who rocketed up Central Scouting’s ranking of North American skaters. He jumped 44 spots to 61st overall in the final rankings, based upon his commitment to focusing on the defensive zone. Last year, Baptiste was all offense all the day, but this year he improved in all facets of his game and the scouts have taken note.
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Nicholas is a player we’ve seen a ton of potential in, even before his OHL Draft season began. Unfortunately multiple shoulder injuries slowed his development that year. He was still selected first round, 6th Overall, by the Sudbury Wolves out of the Ottawa Jr. enators Minor Midget Program. He is a very quick, agile player that is physical and puts great pressure on the forecheck. Baptiste’s biggest asset as a player is his speed. He possesses good hands and the ability to create time and space for himself to make a play. He has a great work ethic, battles really hard for the puck and can protect it very effectively on the wide drive.He competes to get to the front of the net, cycles the puck really well and puts great pressure on the fore-check, making sure to finish his hits. His best asset is definitely his speed, as he is the fastest player on the ice most nights. He has some creativity to make plays with the puck, is not intimidated to go to the dirty areas and doesn’t panic when he has the puck. He needs to watch some of the turnovers trying to force passes at times. He also needs to hit the net with more consistency. Like many players he will need to get stronger so that he can become a forceful power forward with great speed and quickness. Baptiste is a sure fire pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and it wouldn’t be a surprise to us to see a team use a second round pick on him.
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Terry Pegula was touting hard workers in his most recent interview. That's what they're getting with Baptiste, a versatile forward with good size who can grind on a checking line or step into a more offensive role as needed. Baptiste blends a raging competitive spirit with nice power forward elements. He digs in and takes the puck hard to the crease and can certainly finish plays down low. The Wolves forward rode a solid second half of the OHL year into a strong showing for Canada at the 2013 IIHF U18 World Championship, where he scored three goals and eight points through the seven-game march to gold.
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A powerful skater propelled by a strong lower body .. generates a steady acceleration drive by pumping his legs hard and digging into the ice .. not overly fluid or graceful - and a bit awkward in startup due to a spread-out stance which doesn’t hamper quickness .. excels in down-low situations, creating plays using his wide, sturdy frame to bang bodies along with solid puckprotection skills .. impresses with his playmaking vision operating below the dots - and can find passing targets with surprising accuracy .. most effective keeping things simple .. doesn’t always keep his feet moving, and can be prone to over-handling the puck and getting trapped deep .. also plagued by some inconsistency - as he has a penchant for fading in the later periods after coming out flying in the first .. best attribute may be a steely determination - an ability to stick doggedly with plays and keep coming at opponents .. shows potential as a bottom-six NHL forward.
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At this point, Baptiste has to be a massive riser for the draft. He was lumped together with the likes of Dickinson, Bailey, Kujawinski, Moutrey, etc as a potential power forward, sometimes even at the back of that pack. But with the way he finished the season, I think he deserves to be moved to the forefront. If you ignore his slow start to the season, Baptiste was a near point per game player in the 2nd half. He's got good size at 6'1, pushing 200lbs, but he's also one of the premier skaters in the OHL. He moves effortlessly on the ice and possesses a serious extra gear. And he uses that speed pretty effectively to be a nuisance on the forecheck/without the puck. I thought he was fantastic for Team Canada at the U-18's, where he finished 2nd in scoring to Connor McDavid on the team. At the event, he was a very important player in all situations for the Gold medal winning team. In particular, I was impressed with his performance defensively and without the puck, forcing a lot of turnovers that translated to scoring chances. Like some of the similar players listed behind him, he needs to use his size more consistently. I'd love that physical component of his game to be present more often. I think he also needs to learn how to slow the game down in the offensive end and be patient with the puck. But there's a lot to like about Baptiste and the skill set he brings to the ice. The way he finished the season has to be encouraging.
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"It was really good for both me and Nick this season and something we kind of grew through together," Cull said. "That first weekend in Ottawa early in the season, a lot of scouts were asking me about him and I said, 'Don't rate him on how he's playing now. Rate him on how he finishes.' And I hold to those words now. Nick found his confidence and he really showed what kind of player he can be. Nick is our possible game-breaker for next year. He's a big, strong guy, his speed is a great asset, he can score and he does a lot of good work through his defence, the way he comes back and that's an underrated part of his game. And he's pretty durable, too. You talk to a lot of teams and there are always questions here and there about injuries, but he has held up well."
A/V Club
Draft-Day Interviews
2013.06.30 – Nicholas Baptiste meets with the media after being selected 69th overall. <2:02>
2013.06.30 – Nicholas Baptiste meets with the OHL media after being selected 69th overall. <1:04>
Full Games (Tourney Log)
2012.08.25 – Sudbury Wolves vs Dinamo Shinnik (Junior U20 Club World Cup). <144:42>
2012.08.26 – Sudbury Wolves vs Waterloo Blackhawks (Junior U20 Club World Cup Final). <158:39>
YouTube Clips
Draft-Day Interviews
2013.06.30 – Nicholas Baptiste meets with the media after being selected 69th overall. <2:02>
2013.06.30 – Nicholas Baptiste meets with the OHL media after being selected 69th overall. <1:04>
Full Games (Tourney Log)
2012.08.25 – Sudbury Wolves vs Dinamo Shinnik (Junior U20 Club World Cup). <144:42>
2012.08.26 – Sudbury Wolves vs Waterloo Blackhawks (Junior U20 Club World Cup Final). <158:39>
YouTube Clips
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Whether he pans out or not, this is the kind of player we need to be looking at every draft. Some leaguewide fans still think of Buffalo as that post-lockout team of little skating demons, but the truth is in the past few years we've been to my eyes one of the more underwhelming skating teams in the league while being of average at best in size/physicality. No guys with elite top speed. Ennis for example is reasonably fast but his elite attributes are more in his agility and anything to do with tight spaces.
