Hey everyone, another Islander fan wishing Frans signed with us again. He's my favorite NHLer and I loved the two-way game he brought to the island; certainly going to be missed. Very glad he ended up in an organization such as Detroit... very respectable team. A lot of people seem worried he will fade in a couple years, and although I do agree the term is a bit too long, I certainly will guess (take this with a grain of salt) that due to his style of play, he won't decline as badly as many other players his age.
He's still got speed and a great hockey IQ. For the people complaining about his point totals: he's a defensive center, so don't expect more than about 50 points. Although it's hard to say how he'll do with different line mates in a different system and his point totals have been trending upwards lately. I feel like he was under-utilized as an offensive producer most times but that's just my own little conspiracy theory... I certainly enjoyed the short but sweet Nielsen-Tavares-Okposo experiment (Tavares 3-5--8 in 3 GP with that line in last regular season games... was also good in the playoffs too).
Here are some interesting tidbits on Nielsen that I can recall looking up:
- PP: Past 3 years, more points aggregated on PP than Kyle Okposo, just 3 points behind Stamkos. Good playmaker who can pass around the puck to the goal scorers while being able to score some himself.
- Very good on PK, definitely a first unit penalty killer. Uses his speed as an advantage on breakaways. Takeaway count among the highest in the league last few years (although last season he regressed for some reason).
- Faceoffs (last season): 55.2% PP, 45.6% SH, 50.7% EV. 49.4% in the offensive zone, 47.2% neutral zone, but 52.9% in D zone.
- Last season, out of all forwards, tied with Kesler for most blocked shots in the league with 92.
- One of the best shootout scorers of all time. 42 goals on 82 shots. Used to be a career 60%(!) shooter a few years ago but goalies are starting to figure out his patented Danish Backhand of Judgement©. As a result he's been trying different moves.
OK I'm done rambling now.