Prospect Info: Raivis Ansons, forward (5th round, #149 overall, 2020)

[Lust for Life]

Raivis Ansons at eliteprospects.com

Click to read more...

 

[Jacob]

Teammate of Legare but it appears he’s staying in Europe this year.

 

[Malkinstheman]

I was waiting for a teammate of of Poulin or Legare.

Stats probably dont tell the full story. The team is pretty bad.

 

[LRS87]

"He knows where to skate to continue supporting teammates on the rush. He pressures opponents, wins the puck, and protects it with his frame. Ansons does the little things that star offensive forwards sometimes prefer not doing. He's a trusted penalty killer, always adopts risk-mitigating positioning, and easily switches from one assignment to the other." Raivis Ansons at eliteprospects.com

 

[Peat]

From HP.com's Black Bible:

"Ansons is a not a high-end skills’ kind of guy, but executes a lot of small detailed plays to help his team win. He has good size that he uses well along the boards and to take the puck to the net. Some of the interesting elements of his game revolve around his skating abilities; he has good speed and a good burst that he uses often to get around opposing defensemen and cut to the net with the puck. He’s tough to handle when he can get to his top speed in the neutral zone; his combination of size and skating is intriguing and should continue to get quicker as he gets stronger. He has a good compete level; frequently getting involved in the play with his speed and hustle. He has good anticipation and a good stick, which help him create some turnovers while shorthanded. He’s got some good smarts, decent vision and can make some good passes to his teammates in the offensive zone. He also likes to slow down the play at times when making zone entries with the puck, providing his linemates some extra time to get open in the offensive zone. However, he has average hands, is not a smooth puck-handler, and not a great finisher at the net.

We don’t expect him to be a top scorer in the future, but he has the size, compete level and work ethic to be able to play a bottom-6 role if he can get to the NHL."

 

[Honour Over Glory]

"He knows where to skate to continue supporting teammates on the rush. He pressures opponents, wins the puck, and protects it with his frame. Ansons does the little things that star offensive forwards sometimes prefer not doing. He's a trusted penalty killer, always adopts risk-mitigating positioning, and easily switches from one assignment to the other." Raivis Ansons at eliteprospects.com

Sullivan reading that description...

 

[OscarsCards]

Yaaas!!! I was waiting for this.

Long story short is that there has been only 8 Latvian U18 players in CHL ever (2 in 19-20 season) so that's notable for Latvian hockey. Is he any good? Will he be any good? Only time will tell.

 

[Jacob]

Some good looks here

 

[HandshakeLine]

Sounds a bit like Simon, tbh.

 

[Ryder71]

Good value pick.

 

[PensandCaps]

Sounds a bit like Simon, tbh.

Simon for all the complaining about him, was tremendous value for a 5th rounder.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Simon for all the complaining about him, was tremendous value for a 5th rounder.

Absolutely agreed. I don’t think a future Simon is a bad thing at all.

It’s just not as flashy as we’d often like.

 

[OscarsCards]

Yaaas!!! I was waiting for this.

Long story short is that there has been only 6 Latvian U18 players in CHL ever so that's notable for Latvian hockey. Is he any good? Will he be any good? Only time will tell.

P.S. and pick comes from Penguins what is sweet!

 

[dogthateats]

Can always switch to G if forward doesn’t work out.

 

[Jesse]

Teammate of Legare but it appears he’s staying in Europe this year.

I think this is COVID-19 related, Jacob. He's still on the Drakkar roster. There are a few skaters that haven't made it to the CHL from abroad yet, they all seem to be playing domestically until the travel issues are resolved.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Sounds a bit like Simon, tbh.

Wasn't Simon considered more skilled? Sounds more like a ZAR/Spaling-type (ie. positionally solid with meh offense).

Edit: Nevermind. I just re-read and saw "offensive smarts" and realized that's not ZAR.

 

[Gumbercules]

On loan to a Latvian team currently as Canada isn't letting any foreign amateurs in the country currently. Rumour has it that may change in a couple of weeks. Not sure if he is loaned out for the year or whether he'll come over once allowed.

Not my preferred pick for guys remaining from the Q (Dufour went a few picks later). Has some tools to work with and thinks the game well. Always seems to be parked in front of the net or driving for rebounds which is a great quality to have. Seems a bit awkward in his skating out there to me though (not exactly slow though). I also have a long history of not knowing what I am talking about, so don't read too much into my thoughts.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Wasn't Simon considered more skilled? Sounds more like a ZAR/Spaling-type (ie. positionally solid with meh offense).

Edit: Nevermind. I just re-read and saw "offensive smarts" and realized that's not ZAR.

People assumed Simon was because of the Extraliga thing, but honestly production there is hard to map onto the NHL. The game is quite different here. He did have 30 points in 52 for HC Plzeň but Zohorna had 22 points on a worse team and fewer games. So who knows?

 

[maxpenguins6630]

Ansons has a high floor. Love his skating and compete. Not the greatest pair of hands but he protects his puck so well and Do lots of small details. He goes to the net. I see this guy playing in the NHL. One of my favourite guy from the Q in this draft. He plays 200 foot.

 

[Rakell67]

Ansons has a high floor. Love his skating and compete. Not the greatest pair of hands but he protects his puck so well and Do lots of small details. He goes to the net. I see this guy playing in the NHL. One of my favourite guy from the Q in this draft. He plays 200 foot.

Who would be a comparable in style of play?

 

[Jacob]

Looks like a big straight line guy with decent hands.

 

[maxpenguins6630]

Who would be a comparable in style of play?

A guy like Chandler Stephenson maybe

 

[GX]

On loan to a Latvian team currently as Canada isn't letting any foreign amateurs in the country currently. Rumour has it that may change in a couple of weeks. Not sure if he is loaned out for the year or whether he'll come over once allowed.

He'll come over as soon as the borders are open. Definitely not tied to the Latvian league for the season.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

A Latvian to go with Blueger.

As for Simon, who knows what he could have turned into if we made our cup runs with him on the team compared to what happened these past 3 years since hes been on it. Maybe he makes that impact...things start to click faster. And we are looking at him in a diff light than we are now. I still think he has the potential.

Going on long playoff runs(dont have to win it all) does wonders for young players development. Which neither ZAR or Simon have had. Neither has Blueger yet. Or even McCann.

For example what if Rust happened to make the team during this time instead of 16 and 17? He never gets to show what he can do in the playoffs. He may not have developed into the player he has. Maybe he is Simon right now and vice versa.

At least back then we made it past the first round so we did see our whole team get playoff experience.

So hard to judge half of our team based on these last two playoff exits.

 

[Rakell67]

People assumed Simon was because of the Extraliga thing, but honestly production there is hard to map onto the NHL. The game is quite different here. He did have 30 points in 52 for HC Plzeň but Zohorna had 22 points on a worse team and fewer games. So who knows?

I remember reading that one of Simon’s strengths was his ability to play with/compliment higher skilled players having done so with Jagr.