Draft Pick Watch - WE PICKED NYLANDER!!1!!

[L K]

Vancouver picks up Virtanen and McCann. Nice job by them.

It's going to be hard to make fun of them if their GM is competent.

Yeah, though, that still remains to be seen. No obvious screw ups so far, though. Not like Carolina taking Fleury 7th.

Carolina taking Fleury makes sense though.  He seems primed to be that guy who's decent but never great. He'll play in Carolina for 5-7 years, then get traded for a 4th round pick.  He'll play a year or two out West and then be brought back to Carolina for another 3-4 years.

You know, their standard player model.

 

[Tigger]

Dang, I was kinda hoping that the Leafs would trade and snag Ho-Sang, I think he's going to be terrific. Very happy with the Nylander selection though, nice pick for the Leafs.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

As far as I'm concerned Nylander is the best possible result for us.  We didn't make a stupid trade to get one of the higher players whose upside isn't that much better (if at all) than Nylander's.  Most skill of anyone left at that point. 

He definitely has the potential to be a 1C in terms of offense ? you can't teach skill, as the cliche goes (but it's true). 

I'd put him in the AHL next year (since they can) and maybe even for part of the following, and tell him to keep working on D.

Worth noting that scouts on Twitter have said he was basically exclusively a winger and being labeled a LW/C by a lot of places isn't really accurate.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

I'm eager to see what Nylander and Kadri can do together.  At least at one end of the ice, anyway.

 

[ZBBM]

As far as I'm concerned Nylander is the best possible result for us.  We didn't make a stupid trade to get one of the higher players whose upside isn't that much better (if at all) than Nylander's.  Most skill of anyone left at that point. 

He definitely has the potential to be a 1C in terms of offense ? you can't teach skill, as the cliche goes (but it's true). 

I'd put him in the AHL next year (since they can) and maybe even for part of the following, and tell him to keep working on D.

Worth noting that scouts on Twitter have said he was basically exclusively a winger and being labeled a LW/C by a lot of places isn't really accurate.

Huh, that's a little disappointing then. 

 

[bustaheims]

Worth noting that scouts on Twitter have said he was basically exclusively a winger and being labeled a LW/C by a lot of places isn't really accurate.

Yeah, though, that was as a teenager in the SEL, and European leagues often start younger forwards in lower pressure positions.

 

[Peter D.]

Extremely glad they went with a highly skilled forward to infuse the system. I can't help hoping he brings shades of a recent former Swede.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Thought  the Leafs were going to choose Nick Ritchie,  a guy not afraid to go in the offensive and make some noise.  Carlyle's type perhaps  No, they chose skill over brawn and good for them.

Willie (William) Nylander brings the qualities the team needs and can build on,  Good pick.

 

[hockeyfan1]

"He?s got high-, high-end skill. He might be the most skilled player in the draft," said Toronto GM Dave Nonis.

"Electrifying," he added. "He has NHL speed, NHL hands and an NHL shot right now. It?s whether or not the rest of his game can catch up."

'The son of former NHLer Michael Nylander, William was named best forward at the 2014 Under-18 World Championship after leading all players in assists (10) and points (16) in seven games for Sweden.

terms of foot speed, puck skills, ability to shoot the puck, he?s got all those down right now. So right now it?s going to be about hard work, getting stronger and prepared to play against North American men.

He?ll be given that opportunity and if he?s good enough to stick and play and contribute, then we would keep him. And if not, we?ll decide at that point whether it?s best to keep him over in North America or to have him go back to Sweden and play in the Elite League."

.Nonis says the young Nylander makes spectacular plays.

.Nonis also liked the way the young Swede stood up to the Canadians when the two teams met at the tournament.

"I think he was tying to prove a point," he said.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl-draft/leafs-take-swedish-forward-nylander-at-no-8/

 

[hockeyfan1]

Here  is the complete list of picks chosen in the first round, plus some analysis of each:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=724295


8.  Toronto Maple Leafs  William Nylander, C/W, Modo (SWE)
The son of former NHL player Michael Nylander is a mobile skater with outstanding hands, vision, puck-handling skills
and shot. He's considered a sniper capable of setting up
scoring chances from the outside or in traffic and is very
effective on the power play. He had one goal and seven
points in 22 games with Modo.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

So is it more or less automatic that he's going to be called Bill Ny the Hockey Guy?

 

[ZBBM]

So is it more or less automatic that he's going to be called Bill Ny the Hockey Guy?

Well done sir.

It would have been cool if he'd worn a bow tie last night.

 

[KW Sluggo]

Dang, I was kinda hoping that the Leafs would trade and snag Ho-Sang, I think he's going to be terrific. Very happy with the Nylander selection though, nice pick for the Leafs.

I was hoping too that the Leafs could find a way to get Ho-Sang. The talent is there and the personality is something that this roster needs. Every successful team seems to have one player who is a little "out there" and has an aggressive edge personality.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Maybe the best thing about this is Thommie Bergman would have had a ton of input with this pick and he's probably our best scout.

Some good video from Bergman and Nonis:
http://video.mapleleafs.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=802&id=626903&lang=en

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Worth noting that scouts on Twitter have said he was basically exclusively a winger and being labeled a LW/C by a lot of places isn't really accurate.

Yeah, though, that was as a teenager in the SEL, and European leagues often start younger forwards in lower pressure positions.

Yup. Although it does look like he played wing at the U18s though too. Still, he likely takes the Kadri/Seguin/Galchenyuk route and starts as a winger in the NHL too before the team considers moving him to centre.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Barbashev goes 33rd to St. Louis, which doesn't even seem fair. I'm just glad he didn't go at or after the 35th pick we wasted* on Holland.

* - Wasted because of the whole GP thing, not on Holland particularly.

 

[seahawk]

Does anyone think the Roland McKeown from Kingston would be a pick worth moving up for? Still available as of #42.

EDIT: Kings traded with Vancouver to get him at #50.

 

[hap_leaf]

Extremely glad they went with a highly skilled forward to infuse the system. I can't help hoping he brings shades of a recent former Swede.

It's actually been 10 years since Jonas Hoglund left, but I know, he gave a lifetime of memories.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

Would be real nice if Nonis grabbed another 2nd rounder. Teams seem to be trading them, what's he waiting for?

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

So it's not a mile from the 68th now, who are we hoping falls to that position at this stage?