Nikolaj Ehlers

[ForsbergTheGreat]

I'm sick of all the CDC scouts who think they know more than the pro's. Not many pro scouting, in fact i've only seen 1 final scouting report had Ehlers in the top 10. We pick 6th and people want to jump all over him.

[Wonder__Bread]

For Ehlers to succeed he'll need to go to the east. At least for the moment. Out west it's more a man's game and he'll be crushed like Raymond and so many others have been.

And you're right about Shinkaruk. He played in the tougher WHL and he makes Ehlers redundant. Would be more obvious if he weren't currently out.

Marty? Is that you? Did you come back from the future with all the answers?!?! Oh... No... That's right you didn't so stop spewing your opinion as fact.

Here's what I've seen constantly being complained about on CDC:

-We're too slow and we lack gamebreaking speed

-Outside of Henrik Sedin, no one enters the Offensive zone on a consistent basis

-We don't score enough goals

-We have too many tweener forwards and lack a proper top 6

-We lack 1st line talent in our prospect pool

-We lack purely skilled players in our prospect pool

Now although some players in the draft could help with some of these points, Ehlers is the only one who could really help us with everything. Also he's danish, and guess what we have Jensen and Hansen who could help him settle in.

The fact that Virtanen is from Abbotsford is really blinding all of CDC. Haven't you all learned not to pick based on place of birth? Kyle Beach anybody? I like Virtanen, I think he'll be a solid NHL'er and if we pick him I hope he proves me wrong, but I think it'd be a waste to pick him at 6th overall. Like I said before, if one of the top 5 drop, I wouldn't hesitate to draft them over Ehlers, but outside of the top 5, no one is on Ehlers level.

[bohonos76]

Ho sang it !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Absent Canuck]

Here is another good article on Ehlers

http://thechronicleherald.ca/mooseheads/1192191-nikolaj-ehlers-super-sniper

You can’t get much hotter than Nikolaj Ehlers is right now.

The Halifax Mooseheads winger has 17 goals in his last eight games, including hat tricks in three straight games last week. The recently turned 18-year-old from Denmark already has the second most points (97 in 59 games) ever for a Mooseheads rookie, although it’s worth noting the franchise record (126) was set by Ladislav Nagy in 1998-99 when he was 19.

“I know it’s going pretty well but I couldn’t have done this without my teammates,” Ehlers said. “We’re on a winning streak right now and sometimes you’re a bit lucky when you’re winning. Sometimes goals happen that wouldn’t normally go in. I’ve been lucky the past few games. But we have been playing good hockey and you can see when you watch our games that I’m just getting goals because the team is playing well.”

The offensive outburst is all part of a season that has trended in one direction only for Ehlers: straight up. He started well, posting 23 points in his first 20 games, then improved to 27 points in his next 16 games. He now has 48 points in his past 23 games.

Overall, he has 47 goals and 50 assists, putting him fourth in QMJHL scoring. He also leads the Q at plus-61, which gives him a chance to break Nagy and MacKenzie Weegar’s team record of plus-55. Ehlers could also become just the fifth Quebec league rookie in the past 25 years to record 50 goals. Nagy, Sidney Crosby, Daniel Briere and Yanic Perreault are the others.

“As soon as we saw him in training camp, we knew how speedy he was,” said Halifax winger Darcy Ashley. “Anybody that’s fast like that and has some skill to go with it, they’re going to be an electrifying player. I think you saw before Christmas how good he was but he’s really taken off after the world juniors. He’s got a lot of confidence right now and he’s got one of the best shots in the league. He’s also one of the quickest skaters so if you put that together, it’s a pretty dangerous combination.”

The upward trend has not gone unnoticed in the scouting community. Ehlers is eligible for this year’s NHL draft but did not appear as a potential first-round pick on any pre-season lists. He has since risen into the top 10 in most rankings, checking in as high as No. 3 with one scouting service.

“Sometimes you think about the draft and I heard there were a lot of scouts at the Moncton game (last Saturday),” said Ehlers, who had one of his hat tricks that night. “Of course it’s nice to have a good game when the scouts are watching but when I go on the ice, if there’s 30 scouts or zero, I don’t really care. I want to go out there, do my best, play for the team and get the win.

“I’m not thinking a lot about the draft. There are still a lot of games left in the season, I hope. I just want to go out there and do whatever I can do to make our season as long as possible. That’s what I’m thinking about right now.”

From a skill point of view, there is very little Ehlers can’t do. He might be the fastest skater in the Quebec league, is arguably the most accurate shooter and the only Q playmaker who is clearly superior to him is Halifax teammate Jonathan Drouin.

Perhaps the only knock is his listed weight of 163 pounds, but he’s five-foot-11 and scouts are smart enough to realize he will fill out as he gets older.

“He’s one of those players who might not be as big as some of the other guys in the draft right now but scouts are looking at two or three years down the road,” Ashley said. “If you want someone on your team who can score goals, you’re not going to be looking for an 18-year-old to do that right away. You’re looking for a guy to do that starting when he’s 21 or 22. Nik’s a guy that will put on size. When you can skate like that and when he puts on 20 pounds or maybe even grows an inch or two, he’s going to be a superstar in the NHL.”

Scouts also notice how fearless Ehlers is. He never backs down from a bodycheck, even going so far as to seek out hard contact.

“One of the biggest things we noticed right away is he plays like a North American,” Ashley said. “I think sometimes it takes Euros time to adjust, coming from the big ice and maybe not being used to the game being as physical over there. But he looks forward to the physical play. He’s a big gamer. When you have someone on your team like that, it brings a sense of leadership. He’s a first-year player but he’s someone the guys look up to because of the way he plays.”

If Ehlers had to put his finger on it, he said his rapid adjustment on the ice has everything to do with his easy transition away from the rink. He admitted to being apprehensive about the culture change prior to leaving Europe for Canada but has found it much easier to adapt than he expected.

“I definitely thought that it was going to be harder coming over,” Ehlers said. “It was so far away from home and I was playing on a different size ice against new players. But the guys on the team really helped me and everyone here has done so much to make it easy for me. I think the adjustment went really fast. It gave me a good feeling about all of it. I’m really happy right now with my decision.”

[Tangelos]

It would be nice, but it usually doesn't work out that way.

Look at Tatar and Nyquist on the Wings. While they are rookies, they've been developing on the farm team for 4 or 5 years so that when they did join the lineup this year, they were able to hit the ground running and have an impact right away.

That's expected from late draft picks. We're likely picking 6th, so I don't expect a 5 year project. 2 at the most.

[NightHawkSniper]

And sometimes the experience of playing in the big leagues is more valuable than juniors. Just look at O'Reilly.

Probably easier to jump right in when you're a giant at your age.

[shiznak]

The only thing that concern me about Ehlers, is that he plays in the Q, which isn't so defensive oriented as the other Canadian leagues and it has a lot of open ice for him to skate.

[Tangelos]

Probably easier to jump right in when you're a giant at your age.

Huh? He's 6 foot...

[Tambellini's Wrist Shot]

He's having an absolutely monster playoffs so far. 20 pts in 9 games.

[pigs_eye10]

If the Qmjhl isn't so defensive oriented how come the last three winners of the Memorial cup came from the Q.

[McBackup]

Have you seen Ehlers play?

Yes. Not live obviously, but if Ehlers had a Patrick Kane level of skill he would not be ranked ~13 by all the scouting services. I don't think his game will translate that well to the NHL

[73 Percent]

If the Qmjhl isn't so defensive oriented how come the last two winners of the Memorial cup came from the Q.

i imagine it had something to do with drouin mackinnon and fucale playing on the same team...

[TOMapleLaughs]

Got a feeling the OP would take him at #1.

[canucks_kcchiefs]

If we are trading Kesler, I would like to get an NHL ready prospect. I would definitely trade Kesler if we got Mantha and a roster player like Nyquist or Tatar. That would really speed up the re-tool process.

Nyquist is a better player than Kesler right now. We aren't gonna get Nyquist alone, let alone him AND Mantha. Silly CDC.

[coastal1]

He's good, but he's definitely project. I'm tired of waiting 5 years for our prospects to pan out. I want a guy who can step in right away

You will be a very disappointed fan over the next few years.

[73 Percent]

Got a feeling the OP would take him at #1.

I got a feeling OP would take him roughly in a barn.

[TOMapleLaughs]

I got a feeling OP would take him roughly in a barn.

lol

[Dogbyte]

Ehlers sucks.

We'd better not waste our pick.

[pigs_eye10]

i imagine it had something to do with drouin mackinnon and fucale playing on the same team...

The Shawinigan Cataractes won the year before against London knights they weren't on that team....

[JeremyCuddles]

TWF's? So if you guys were in Lindens shoes, you would risk your first mega-huge move on a high risk, high reward player like Ehlers? You guys have bigger cohonahs then I do.

Cajones*, but Linden is a big believer in two way play. Not sure how you determine solid two way play from kids who's main focus is putting up offensive numbers. Generally I assume you go with players who are bigger then the competition. I'd take Virtanen or Ritchie before Ehlers. Isn't he similar to Shink? And Shink fell to the 24-25 spot.