Prospect Info: Nicklas Jensen

[GranvilleIsland]

Because he didn't have a great season.

He started off on a decent goal scoring streak but after that fizzled out and was even benched by his team. Finished the year with a bad stint in the AHL.

Jensen just isn't very good... Been saying it since the year after he was drafted.

Will remember to quote you on this.

 

[Bale]

From what I understood in regards to his team benching him... They wanted to trade him to a playoff team but the Canucks blocked the trade. So because of that they cut Jensens Ice time to "get back " at the Canucks

 

[CanucksSayEh]

He didn't look all that good in his brief stint. His AHL time is a lil concerning. Hope he turns into a stud, cuz we prob could have made a good deal around him at crunch time.

 

[MS]

This has to be the most utterly bizarre interpretation of the preceding thread that I've ever seen. How on earth do you get that these posters are saying any of these things - he owes them, accountable to them, his boss, sign his cheques, etc?? They are saying - and it really isn't all that hard to understand - that they EXPECT Jensen to start playing at a certain (higher) level next season in order to satisfy their expectations of him as a future top 6 forward. As a fan that is certainly anyones right to set their expectations of a player. It doesn't mean i think I own him or any of that weird crap, it simply means this is what I need to see in order to sustain my support for him as a prospect or player. How anyone can read this as anything else is mind boggling ...

Thanks for that! I was fairly sure that what I was saying wasn't really that controversial or self-entitled.

I'm on the fence on Jensen - think he's a 50/50 proposition at this point, and that this season will tell us which way he'll go. If he comes out and has a Toffoli-type rookie AHL season and is a legitimate AHL goalscoring threat, we can be relatively confident he's a quality building block for this franchise for the future. If he blends into the woodwork as an average AHL player and has a 40-point season, the odds are overwhelming that he won't be a quality NHL player down the road. So yeah, if we're looking at what he needs to do, the bar should be set relatively high.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

I agree that this year expectations should be higher.
I thought he was actually developing quite well up until his last AHL stint. However, we need to keep in mind that a prospect's development is often not linear. Sometimes they hit a wall and then take a while to adjust to the next level. We saw the same thing with Hodgson to an extent in the AHL. It could go either way with Jensen at this point but there is no denying he has the skills to make it. It's whether or not he can put it all together. This year will be key, IMO. We need to see significant improvement.

 

[MS]

I agree that this year expectations should be higher.
I thought he was actually developing quite well up until his last AHL stint. However, we need to keep in mind that a prospect's development is often not linear. Sometimes they hit a wall and then take a while to adjust to the next level. We saw the same thing with Hodgson to an extent in the AHL. It could go either way with Jensen at this point but there is no denying he has the skills to make it. It's whether or not he can put it all together. This year will be key, IMO. We need to see significant improvement.

Expectations should also be higher because he has substantial experience playing against men - he isn't like some other kids his age who have been playing in the WHL/OHL and are making a HUGE step up to the AHL this season. He's had two AHL stints already (one extended) and a full season in the SEL playing against men. He should be pretty well adjusted already to the pace, and if he still has trouble stepping up and being a top player at this level, there's reason for concern.

 

[PhilMick]

So we've fully turned on Jensen now eh? Classic.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Expectations should also be higher because he has substantial experience playing against men - he isn't like some other kids his age who have been playing in the WHL/OHL and are making a HUGE step up to the AHL this season. He's had two AHL stints already (one extended) and a full season in the SEL playing against men. He should be pretty well adjusted already to the pace, and if he still has trouble stepping up and being a top player at this level, there's reason for concern.

I'm not really concerned at this point. I've come to expect some ups and downs with most prospects. As long as we see progression this year I think that should be good enough. A solid year in the AHL with maybe a few games in the NHL should be the expectation. Anything else is a bonus.

 

[MS]

So we've fully turned on Jensen now eh? Classic.

Out of 80+ posts in this thread, there have been maybe 2 or 3 that were legitimately negative. That's hardly 'we've fully turned on Jensen'.

I've had a hard time getting a read on Jensen (and I think a lot of others have too) as he clearly has some tools and has had some very promising stretches but also some really unimpressive stretches as well. Very inconsistent.

IMO this upcoming season will give us a very clear indication of where his career is headed - absolutely no excuses ... he should be acclimated to the AHL, we now own the team and there are no coaching excuses, and it's 3 years since he was drafted.

I'm not really concerned at this point. I've come to expect some ups and downs with most prospects. As long as we see progression this year I think that should be good enough. A solid year in the AHL with maybe a few games in the NHL should be the expectation. Anything else is a bonus.

Agreed, generally. And to me, I'd classify 'solid' as a 30-goal, 55-65 point sort of pace/80 games. He should certainly be getting the icetime to deliver.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Out of 80+ posts in this thread, there have been maybe 2 or 3 that were legitimately negative. That's hardly 'we've fully turned on Jensen'.

I've had a hard time getting a read on Jensen (and I think a lot of others have too) as he clearly has some tools and has had some very promising stretches but also some really unimpressive stretches as well. Very inconsistent.

IMO this upcoming season will give us a very clear indication of where his career is headed - absolutely no excuses ... he should be acclimated to the AHL, we now own the team and there are no coaching excuses, and it's 3 years since he was drafted.



Agreed, generally. And to me, I'd classify 'solid' as a 30-goal, 55-65 point sort of pace/80 games. He should certainly be getting the icetime to deliver.

Solid post. Agree completely.

 

[LeftCoast]

Out of 80+ posts in this thread, there have been maybe 2 or 3 that were legitimately negative. That's hardly 'we've fully turned on Jensen'.

I've had a hard time getting a read on Jensen (and I think a lot of others have too) as he clearly has some tools and has had some very promising stretches but also some really unimpressive stretches as well. Very inconsistent.

IMO this upcoming season will give us a very clear indication of where his career is headed - absolutely no excuses ... he should be acclimated to the AHL, we now own the team and there are no coaching excuses, and it's 3 years since he was drafted.



Agreed, generally. And to me, I'd classify 'solid' as a 30-goal, 55-65 point sort of pace/80 games. He should certainly be getting the icetime to deliver.

I do think this is a bubble year for Jensen. He has to prove that the can re-adjust to the NA game and be a big factor for the Comets.

 

[CanaFan]

So we've fully turned on Jensen now eh? Classic.

How is having expectations of a player "turning on him"? At worst, I see that fans are adopting a wait-and-see attitude with Jensen and stating what they feel would constitute a strong progression in his game next season. I do find it funny how sensitive the rah-rah-Jensen crowd is to any talk of performance-based expectations. For some reason, those in this camp seem to think that his evident tools - size, skating, shot - should be sufficient proof that he is on track to become a top 6 NHLerr, and get highly defensive whenever anyone suggests that, in addition to having good tools, it at some point becomes necessary to also see production in order to sustain the view that he is on this track.

 

[biturbo19]

I'm still holding out hope that he turns into a a Rick Nash-lite type player. And despite his poor results in the AHL to close out this season, i'm really not too worried about him at this point.

This year definitely is a critical one for Jensen though. He absolutely does need to show some promising scoring ability at the AHL level if that's where he lands, if he's going to have much hope of becoming a legitimate NHL top-6 scorer.

 

[Samzilla]

IMO this upcoming season will give us a very clear indication of where his career is headed - absolutely no excuses ... he should be acclimated to the AHL, we now own the team and there are no coaching excuses, and it's 3 years since he was drafted.

3 years? He was drafted in 2011. That's two. In years and seasons. 11/12 and 12/13 season.

 

[canuck4life16]

It would be nice if jensen go dominate the AHL and get 60 points.....I don't think we have someone like that for a long time...Grabner and kesler both reach 30 goal mark so I expect him to get there

 

[FOurteenS inCisOr]

It would be nice if jensen go dominate the AHL and get 60 points.....I don't think we have someone like that for a long time...Grabner and kesler both reach 30 goal mark so I expect him to get there

Grabner had 22/22/44 in 76 games in his first full year in the AHL at the same age.

I'd be happy with that type of production from Jensen.

 

[MS]

3 years? He was drafted in 2011. That's two. In years and seasons. 11/12 and 12/13 season.

I was referring to the upcoming season, which will be the 3rd season since he was drafted.

 

[Hansen]

So we've fully turned on Jensen now eh? Classic.

I don't like it. I've been on the Jensen bandwagon full on since before we drafted him.

 

[thefeebster]

Besides Tim Calhoun or one other poster in the other thread, I don't think there is anyone else who has really turned on Jensen. I get the feeling its more cautious optimism with "demanding" expectations, rather than blind optimism.