6th Pick: 2014 NHL Entry Draft

[DownUndaCanuck]

If Nylander slips down to 6th and the "big 5" are taken, we should definately pounce on him. I don't know what the 2015 draft is going to be like and whether it'll be powerforward heavy, but we have to ignore Ritchie and Virtanen and pick this skilled guy up. The Canucks have had plenty of success with Swedes and the twins (and Edler) can help groom the kid to becoming a star.

Just imagine, Nylanders speed and skill combined with the Sedins' mentoring to make him a true professional, similar to how Gonchar made Malkin more comfortable in Pittsburgh. These kids from Europe have a lot of skill, often more than the Canadian players, and they just need to adjust to North American hockey. What better mentors than the Sedins who went through the same hard-ships. They could turn Nylander into a superstar in a couple of years easily. Here's what we could look like 2 years down the line:

Jensen - ? - Shinkaruk

Sedin - Sedin - Nylander

Kassian - Matthias - Higgins

Burrows - Horvat - Hansen

[shiznak]

Haha

Nice input, keep on bumping your post count.

He must add mass, and become better along the boards and in front of the net. He also needs to make smarter decisions with the puck, sometimes he should make the simple play when it is available, instead of making the more complicated and riskier play.

Nylander will also need to work on his defensive game over the coming years. He has a tendency to float and puck watch in the defensive zone that will need to be addressed. He needs time, and a good coach, to teach him to be in the right spots defensively, and he needs to become more tenacious on the back check. Despite some flaws, the high-end skill is as good as anyone in the draft. He has the potential to be a top line NHL centre if he can fix those issues. Still the boom or bust potential for Nylander is more prevalent in my opinion than those ranked above him, and thats why he is seventh on the list. His style (not potential, just style), compares well with Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes.

[LeanBeef]

Decided to look more onto Nylander and Ehlers.

Nylander looks like Kane out there, but still Ritchie's my first choice.

Ehlers looks solid (reminds me of Shinkaruk) but Nylander seems much better to me.

1. Ritchie

2. Nylander/Virtanen

[RustyShackleford]

If the canucks hire Willie Desjardins for coach and we draft Ritchie WD would go from coaching the older Gaunce and Ritchie to possibly coaching their younger brothers with the canucks in a few years time. Just thought that was something a lil intresting about the possible WD hire and if we choose Ritchie that he would be going from one Gaunce/Ritchie duo to another

[BureisBest]

If Nylander slips down to 6th and the "big 5" are taken, we should definately pounce on him. I don't know what the 2015 draft is going to be like and whether it'll be powerforward heavy, but we have to ignore Ritchie and Virtanen and pick this skilled guy up. The Canucks have had plenty of success with Swedes and the twins (and Edler) can help groom the kid to becoming a star.

Well, most of them, anyways.

[Off_The_Schneid!]

Horvat was slow and underachieved in the world juniors, memorial cup, and through out the playoffs. Everyone is so high on him because MG made a stupid trade for Schneider and an even stupider move by not picking Nishkushin. Yes he's good at face offs and great defensively, but that #2 center spot should belong to Henrik in 3 years and it's not difficult to get a #3 center. Or use Cassels, Gaunce, FA pickup

If we can get a future #1 center that happens to be from Vancouver, pull the trigger.

Up until the final week we would have picked

Anywhere from #6-14. We need to stop saying ohhh it's EHLERS and Horvat for Reinhart!

We were lucky to even get that pick, if we can turn it into a franchise center then do it, it might be our only chance to draft a true #1

[theminister]

Nylander is one dimensional, all flash and flare.

Not that I agree but....

Scoring is a pretty important dimension.

[RustyShackleford]

Horvat was slow and underachieved in the world juniors, memorial cup, and through out the playoffs. Everyone is so high on him because MG made a stupid trade for Schneider and an even stupider move by not picking Nishkushin. Yes he's good at face offs and great defensively, but that #2 center spot should belong to Henrik in 3 years and it's not difficult to get a #3 center. Or use Cassels, Gaunce, FA pickup

If we can get a future #1 center that happens to be from Vancouver, pull the trigger.

Up until the final week we would have picked

Anywhere from #6-14. We need to stop saying ohhh it's EHLERS and Horvat for Reinhart!

We were lucky to even get that pick, if we can turn it into a franchise center then do it, it might be our only chance to draft a true #1

Haters gonna hate. Horvat>Nishkushin IMO. Nylander might be as good as any player in the draft and might even be the best. From what Ive seen Nylander will be a 1C and having Horvat the 2C in 4-5 years time the canucks are going to be a really strong team up the middle. BTW I have way more faith in Lack then I ever had in CS he just seemed way overrated because Luongo was taking alot of the blame for the Canucks failures.

[elvis15]

Not that I agree but....

Scoring is a pretty important dimension.

Psh...

[TOMapleLaughs]

Not that I agree but....

Scoring is a pretty important dimension.

So with 1 goal in 22 SHL games....

[TOMapleLaughs]

I'm watching the finals and the flashiest goal last game was scored by Dustin Brown. But wait, he's not small or known for his pure offensive abilities.

It's like... Wait, what?... Bit hitting guys can possess skill as well?

Who knew?

I don't know about you guys, but i'm done with the upselling job being done with guys like Schroeder and Rodin. Drafting for, yup, speed and scoring, despite lack of NHL-ready size or elite skill. With Nylander and Ehlers, i see much of the same. Perhaps a more legit upside with these kids, but a Hemsky-esque one.

Perhaps Linden and Benning are here now to correct the massive errors we've performed in past drafts. Let us hope.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Horvat was slow and underachieved in the world juniors, memorial cup, and through out the playoffs. Everyone is so high on him because MG made a stupid trade for Schneider and an even stupider move by not picking Nishkushin. Yes he's good at face offs and great defensively, but that #2 center spot should belong to Henrik in 3 years and it's not difficult to get a #3 center. Or use Cassels, Gaunce, FA pickup

If we can get a future #1 center that happens to be from Vancouver, pull the trigger.

Up until the final week we would have picked

Anywhere from #6-14. We need to stop saying ohhh it's EHLERS and Horvat for Reinhart!

We were lucky to even get that pick, if we can turn it into a franchise center then do it, it might be our only chance to draft a true #1

Horvat is an important piece in any rebuild effort.

Don't trade up in this draft by selling off major rebuild pieces. That's so short-sighted it's ridiculous. Instead use the NEXT draft to acquire the franchise player we need.

If the Canucks trade Kesler, this easily is within reach.

Time for a plan that involves more than panic decisions and half-baked trades.

[Speed or Size]

I'm watching the finals and the flashiest goal last game was scored by Dustin Brown. But wait, he's not small or known for his pure offensive abilities.

It's like... Wait, what?... Bit hitting guys can possess skill as well?

Who knew?

I don't know about you guys, but i'm done with the upselling job being done with guys like Schroeder and Rodin. Drafting for, yup, speed and scoring, despite lack of NHL-ready size or elite skill. With Nylander and Ehlers, i see much of the same. Perhaps a more legit upside with these kids, but a Hemsky-esque one.

Perhaps Linden and Benning are here now to correct the massive errors we've performed in past drafts. Let us hope.

I am confident a lot of the Nylander supporters are Swedish Canucks fans who just hate seeing all the comments about drafting a Canadian.

If they personally cheered for Nylander in youth leagues I could see them never giving up on getting the Nucks to draft him.

[Nicklas Bo Hunter]

or could be because we want talen and not just a bunch of fat guys who are "big" on our team. Kassian is enough.

[elvis15]

I am confident a lot of the Nylander supporters are Swedish Canucks fans who just hate seeing all the comments about drafting a Canadian.

If they personally cheered for Nylander in youth leagues I could see them never giving up on getting the Nucks to draft him.

You mean when he played in youth leagues in Canada, or the US?

I'm Canadian and have been a proponent of drafting Nylander at #6, what 'explanation' do you have for that? I'd like to get Reinhart, Ekblad or Bennett as Canadians, or even Draisaitl as a German. Doesn't matter where they're from so long as they're the best hockey player.

So with 1 goal in 22 SHL games....

7 points overall after you don't omit he also had 6 assists as a 17/18 year old. And 43 points (15 goals, 28 assists in 27 games) in the J20 the previous season, 15 goals and 12 assists in 35 games in the Allsvenskan this year, plus the 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists) in the seven WJC-18 games, etc.

But I'm sure I've seen Patty Kane bang in a rebound in front of the net before or make a hit/defensive play too. I've seen Higgins lay out Chara with a hit and he's only 6' tall. I've seen Keith Ballard fight Corey Perry, Colin Fraser and Justin Abdelkader. I've even seen Nylander put in a loose puck at the side of the net in the World Juniors this year, does that mean we should draft more skilled players because we don't need those strong, defensive guys?

or could be because we want talen and not just a bunch of fat guys who are "big" on our team. Kassian is enough.

Well, Kassian plus Bieksa, Stanton, Lain, Matthias, Archibald, Sestito, etc. is enough maybe. Some young names in there to carry us forward, but maybe not quite the same yet with our top end skill so there's certainly reason to look at drafting for talent more so than size.

[aGENT]

Drafting for, yup, speed and scoring, despite lack of NHL-ready size or elite skill. With Nylander and Ehlers, i see much of the same.

How is 5'-11" and 180lbs at eighteen, "small"?

Nylander certainly isn't in the "huge" category but he's by no means small. Ehlers, sure, Nylander...not so much. If the top 5 are indeed gone I take Nylander at 6 all day long. Next choice...probably Virtanen.

[Goal:thecup]

Ritchie isn't being considered at 6th because he's a big fat guy with no talent, please stop with this nonsense.

He has lots of speed and talent and can physically dominate as well, that is why pro scouts like him, he has the whole package.

Size and weight are not the benchmarks of success, but they are two descriptors of the ingredients necessary for a successful power forward.

Everyone knows the old maxim, "It is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog".

Obviously there are players (like Dustin Brown - second smallest King) who bring a lot to the contest without being the biggest players.

Size and weight are just some of the indicators that scouts look for and if a player has them, those boxes are checked off.

While they are highly skilled, neither Nylander or Ehlers bring size, weight, or "fight".

You can ask the rest of the team to look after this type of player as long as you do not have too many of them and only if they are good enough to be elite players.

Nylander may be creeping up into the top 6 in a weak draft and Ehlers has moved up as well, but it is unlikely that they are in that very top class or they would be rated there, especially in a weak draft. This is where the risk becomes less acceptable. If they do not end up being top class, we cannot afford to keep them on the team.

Ritchie is way less risky because he is much more likely to play somewhere in the lineup even if he does not become a top power forward.

I personally am tired of throwing away our top picks hoping someone will make the team.

I think we were lucky to be able to dump Hodgson and get such a good return for him.

Schroeder we can only hope shows well enough to interest someone else; it is very unlikely he will be a top centre for us.

Let's not waste another 2 or 3 years hoping another flyweight will somehow put on 30 pounds and grow a couple inches, and/or magically turn into Pat Kane or Pavel Bure.

[And what is with the height and weight discrepancies from a month ago?

Nylander and Ehlers sure grew taller and added a lot of "fat" since this thread started, according to some on here.

Recently-absent (thank Mod) Absent Canuck had Ehlers at about 6 feet and 195 after the combine, from what? 5-10 162 or something?]

I also do not think that Benning will waste the quality of assets required to move up in this draft.

I think they will make a good choice at 6 (and it might be Nylander, who knows?) and be satisfied with that.

Then they will go on to make very good choices throughout the rest of the draft.

Crawford did a good/great job of that last year and Benning can only help us do even better.

If Nylander and Ehlers are as good as some here suggest, they may go before our pick at 6 and therefore we can opt for perhaps Dal Colle or Draisaitl.

I'm not sold on Bennett, don't know much about him but was extremely disappointed with his strength test results (and we already have an American centre who can't reconcile playing for the Canucks and Team USA).

Can't see Ekblad or Reinhart still being available but of course we would take them if they were.

Bottom line then is: Ritchie, unless Dal Colle or Draisaitl falls to us.

[Nicklas Bo Hunter]

Nylander >>>>>>>>>>>> Ritchie

[TOMapleLaughs]

7 points overall after you don't omit he also had 6 assists as a 17/18 year old. And 43 points (15 goals, 28 assists in 27 games) in the J20 the previous season, 15 goals and 12 assists in 35 games in the Allsvenskan this year, plus the 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists) in the seven WJC-18 games, etc.

But I'm sure I've seen Patty Kane bang in a rebound in front of the net before or make a hit/defensive play too. I've seen Higgins lay out Chara with a hit and he's only 6' tall. I've seen Keith Ballard fight Corey Perry, Colin Fraser and Justin Abdelkader. I've even seen Nylander put in a loose puck at the side of the net in the World Juniors this year, does that mean we should draft more skilled players because we don't need those strong, defensive guys?

Oh i'm sorry. I thought we were talking about... Scoring goals... (Details.)

Those other leagues aren't tremendous. The qualcomp of which he scored his power play WJC-18 points in was very low, and against USA and Canada he accomplished nothing. He just didn't impress me all that much whenever I watched him play. Fast, but easily below prospect-level Kane in terms of skill and drive. Both Nylander and Ehlers are mainly just a power play threat. Nylander is more of a leader than Ehlers in this regard.

I haven't seen much battle at all from Nylander or Ehlers and both guys cheat up ice and avoid traffic often. This flies in the face of what we see done by successful players in the NHL these days.

If Nylander puts up ppg numbers in the SHL next season, then there's reason to get excited about him. But he's a long ways away from that if he's not all that trusted in that league currently.

[elvis15]

Oh i'm sorry. I thought we were talking about... Scoring goals... (Details.)

Those other leagues aren't tremendous. The qualcomp of which he scored his power play WJC-18 points in was very low, and against USA and Canada he accomplished nothing. He just didn't impress me all that much whenever I watched him play. Fast, but easily below prospect-level Kane in terms of skill and drive. Both Nylander and Ehlers are mainly just a power play threat. Nylander is more of a leader than Ehlers in this regard.

I haven't seen much battle at all from Nylander or Ehlers and both guys cheat up ice and avoid traffic often. This flies in the face of what we see done by successful players in the NHL these days.

If Nylander puts up ppg numbers in the SHL next season, then there's reason to get excited about him. But he's a long ways away from that if he's not all that trusted in that league currently.

You certainly want someone to put the puck in the net, but you also need someone to set up those players. They aren't all going to be individual efforts driving to the net or tap in rebounds.

But your position is well known. So well known in fact I wouldn't have replied if you hadn't been continuing to parrot the same line about his '1 goal' and ignoring any other points he may have contributed.