Nikolaj Ehlers

[TGokou]

After hearing all the differing opinions on most of the prospects in our range I would say definitely pick one of the top five if still available but after that I'm starting to really see the argument in drafting Ehlers. To be honest we are not likely to get top impact player from this draft so I would be willing to take a chance on the most high risk high reward player. I also dont believe that it is redundant to draft Ehlers because Shinkaruk has not proven he will play in this league. Dont forget the kid moved over from Europe and adapted extremely well to smaller ice surface. I give him extra points for that. He is a smaller frame but if he even grows one inch he will already be at 6'. It is way easier to gain 20 lbs of muscle than it is to develop elite skill.

[Vancanwincup]

What of the other 'kids' who have bodies of men?

We're talking about pro athletes here.

There is nothing special about Ehlers. He plays in a high-scoring league with a very high-scoring linemate. If it was him carrying the team instead of Drouin, nobody on earth would consider him 6th pick worthy.

There are 177 NHL players under six foot, weighing between 215 and 150 pounds. Almost all of them weight under 190, most between 185 and 170. Ehler could easily weigh between 185 and 170 in his prime and if he grows an other inch or more he could weigh in the 190's. His size will not be a factor with his skill set.

Compared to the top 6 picks his skill is similar or better, compared to the rest of the draft class his skill sets him apart by a large margin. Once again we have a draft pick who could be fighting to be a number one draft pick , if his was 1.5 inches taller and 20 pound heavier.

Nothing special about the kid except coming over from the bigger ice surface and dominating.

He is a smart pick at 6th. Ehler or Nylander at 6th. Canucks already have Guance, Horvat , Cassels as two-way players that can play in all three zones. Now they need to add to Fox and Shinkaruk with another sniper/ play-maker ( Ehler / Nylander). With Kassian and Jensen as power-forwards(one ,more of ,a sniper and the other more of a play-maker). The Canucks will have a good mix of young players.

Who knows maybe one of the top 5 will fall, then of course the Canucks take that player at number 6th.

Then again if this report is any where close you take the risks:

In the past 12 months or so, he helped the Danes get up to the top bracket at both the under-18s and the world juniors; an obvious point of pride for him."

From Ryan Kennedy in a The Hockey News 'NHL prospect hot list' post - March 4th

Imported from Denmark, Ehlers has replaced the scoring void quite nicely after Nathan MacKinnon made the leap to the Colorado Avalanche. Like his predecessor in Halifax, Ehlers is one of the fastest skaters in the draft, blazing past defenders and utilizing his dynamic elusive cuts in and out of traffic to create room. The depth of intelligence Ehlers possesses for the game allows him to adopt both a shooter and playmaker’s mentality. Rising up draft boards quickly.

Profile from: Brendan Ross of Dobber Prospects - Feb. 16th

I'll give you one thing, Nikolaj Ehlers was a dark horse coming into this draft, slotted to be a second round choice at the beginning of this season. Now he's gaining serious consideration, and a likelihood, of getting picked in the top ten of this year's 2014 NHL Entry Draft. The correct pronunciation of this offensive dynamo's name is ("Nick-oh-LIE" "EEL-hers"). He hails from Denmark and played in the Swiss Men's League in Biel posting strong numbers like 12 points in 2 games and 8 points in 2 games at the age of 14. He is by far the fastest player in the draft, and faster than almost all of the players in last year's draft, which sets him apart by a huge margin. He's had his speed compared to that of Pavel Bure and his style of offensive play compared to Peter Forsberg - something which scouts may well use to further back their opinions of Ehlers as being one of the most dynamic players in this year's draft. He has voiced his want and need to gain size, particularly to about 185-190lbs, so he knows exactly what he needs to work on, where his goals lie, and how he will get there. He has an absolute laser of a wrist shot; an accurate rocket that he snaps off at top speed. He plays for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. He's 5'11 and about 175 lbs so the same size of William Nylander. The thing that is going to make him a special player in the future is that he's a leader. He played with the Dallas Stars' Tyler Seguin and the Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane during the NHL lockout, and learned amazing english and a very unselfish style of play from them during that time. He sees the ice with an uncanny eye and makes plays for the team, not himself. If there is a tiny slit in the defense, he's already slid through it and scored on the goalie before you can blink. He works the hardest out of most of the players on the team, first to get to training last to leave. Vancouver Canucks fans have already dubbed him "The Electric Ehl" due to his electrifying, explosive style of play.

Comparable Players:

Markus Naslund (Skill)

Pavel Bure (Speed)

• Peter Forsberg (Seeing the ice)
• Mix (Nathan MacKinnon/Jonathan Drouin)

.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Ehlers is ranked 13th in NHL central scouting. Taking him at #6 is not smart.

Vancouver Canucks fans have already dubbed him "The Electric Ehl" due to his electrifying, explosive style of play.

This confuses me. Is Ehlers already Canucks property? Or was this article written by the OP?

[Vancanwincup]

Ehlers is ranked 13th in NHL central scouting. Taking him at #6 is not smart.

This confuses me. Is Ehlers already Canucks property? Or was this article written by the OP?

And going off the NHL central scouting after the top 5 is smart!

[TOMapleLaughs]

And going off the NHL central scouting after the top 5 is smart!

Based on?

[Shinkorvat]

Here is a good take on Ehlers (pronounced EEL-HERS )

http://www.mynhldraft.com/2014/NHL-Draft-Profiles/Nikolaj-Ehlers

Nikolaj Ehlers's Player Profile

"An incredibly skilled forward, Ehlers makes plays at high speeds and doesn’t mind going to the tough areas in order to score. Scouts see him as an excellent complementary player and have even hesitantly brought up teammate Jonathan Drouin as a comparable, as lofty as that sounds. While playing for Biel last year, he even got to practise with locked-out NHL stars Tyler Seguin and Patrick Kane. And along with getting the Mooseheads back to the Memorial Cup for a title defense, Ehlers will be counted on at the world juniors next season with Denmark.

In the past 12 months or so, he helped the Danes get up to the top bracket at both the under-18s and the world juniors; an obvious point of pride for him."

From Ryan Kennedy in a The Hockey News 'NHL prospect hot list' post - March 4th

Imported from Denmark, Ehlers has replaced the scoring void quite nicely after Nathan MacKinnon made the leap to the Colorado Avalanche. Like his predecessor in Halifax, Ehlers is one of the fastest skaters in the draft, blazing past defenders and utilizing his dynamic elusive cuts in and out of traffic to create room. The depth of intelligence Ehlers possesses for the game allows him to adopt both a shooter and playmaker’s mentality. Rising up draft boards quickly.

Profile from: Brendan Ross of Dobber Prospects - Feb. 16th

I'll give you one thing, Nikolaj Ehlers was a dark horse coming into this draft, slotted to be a second round choice at the beginning of this season. Now he's gaining serious consideration, and a likelihood, of getting picked in the top ten of this year's 2014 NHL Entry Draft. The correct pronunciation of this offensive dynamo's name is ("Nick-oh-LIE" "EEL-hers"). He hails from Denmark and played in the Swiss Men's League in Biel posting strong numbers like 12 points in 2 games and 8 points in 2 games at the age of 14. He is by far the fastest player in the draft, and faster than almost all of the players in last year's draft, which sets him apart by a huge margin. He's had his speed compared to that of Pavel Bure and his style of offensive play compared to Peter Forsberg - something which scouts may well use to further back their opinions of Ehlers as being one of the most dynamic players in this year's draft. He has voiced his want and need to gain size, particularly to about 185-190lbs, so he knows exactly what he needs to work on, where his goals lie, and how he will get there. He has an absolute laser of a wrist shot; an accurate rocket that he snaps off at top speed. He plays for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. He's 5'11 and about 175 lbs so the same size of William Nylander. The thing that is going to make him a special player in the future is that he's a leader. He played with the Dallas Stars' Tyler Seguin and the Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane during the NHL lockout, and learned amazing english and a very unselfish style of play from them during that time. He sees the ice with an uncanny eye and makes plays for the team, not himself. If there is a tiny slit in the defense, he's already slid through it and scored on the goalie before you can blink. He works the hardest out of most of the players on the team, first to get to training last to leave. Vancouver Canucks fans have already dubbed him "The Electric Ehl" due to his electrifying, explosive style of play.

Comparable Players:

Markus Naslund (Skill)

Pavel Bure (Speed)

• Peter Forsberg (Seeing the ice)
• Mix (Nathan MacKinnon/Jonathan Drouin)
• Patrick Kane (Style of play)
• Profile from: Curtis Joe - Feb. 11th

Why do I get the feeling that SNYPERS was the one that wrote the last profile...

[Vancanwincup]

Based on?

If was that easy why have any scouts in your system just go off the NHL central scouting. No need to have the first round of the draft just give the players to the team that falls in their projected draft position.

[TOMapleLaughs]

If was that easy why have any scouts in your system just go off the NHL central scouting. No need to have the first round of the draft just give the players to the team that falls in their projected draft position.

Um, that's not even close to explaining why you'd go off the board at #6 as opposed to, say, #10?

The Canucks have gone off the board many, many times and they've all been horrible, horrible decisions. So yeah.

Anyway, there are many highlights of Ehlers heading up the ice full speed with his head down along the boards. That has train wreck written all over it. Only in the Q do you get away with that garbage.

[Outsiders]

if the top five are gone take him. he is almost 6'0 which isnt that short. Surprised Brenden Gallagher hasnt been brought up in this thread. Obvs Ehlers has way better skill but they play a hard fought game and will go to the dirty areas to score goals

[RonMexico]

Why don't people understand.

ANYONE we pick this year won't step into the league for three years at least.

We have a solid team and the ability to wait and develop these kids properly.

So if its Ritchie, Ehlers, Draistl, Bennett, Reinhardt, MDC or Virtanen expect to not see them for a while if you want them to pan out properly.

whoever we pick this and next season, it is imperative we develop them properly with a minimum of one full AHL season.

And hope for Ekblad, Reinhart or Dal Colle....

while I do agree that this is how it is, WH, this is the old way of thinking. The NHL is in a salary capped world where first round picks need to play; especially the top 10. Teams need to have the flexibility of having instant contributions at a lower cap hit. Though the major stumbling block is the draft age which needs to be higher so more guys are NHL ready in terms of physical development. This is usually the only thing holding back a prospect's chances of immediate contribution. You never hear of NFL first round picks needing some seasoning on the practice roster....why? Because they are physically ready (some might say mentally ready but thats highly debatable!) due to them not being drafted at 18. I would argue that players aren't ruined by being rushed, they are ruined by being held back due to physical immaturity. These young men have been playing hockey since they were knee high to a grasshopper and the coaching in Canada is so good that these players are learning the game at an elite level early. Their skills are there and they just need to be older and need some slight refinement to be successful. Until a shift in draft age is implemented, then we are stuck in the old 'it takes to time develop players' cycle.

[5Fivehole0]

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

This is what's wrong with the world, no offence...

Throw money at it because I want it NOW!!

Prospects take time to develop... Neugent-Hopkins prime example... Rushed

[Absent Canuck]

Central scouting has him at #13 but others have him as high as 4th. I think taking him at #6 is a good pick.

I also think he and Ekblad are the only 2 who have true superstar potential . The others are solid picks but none are going to be franchise all star players in my opinion.

I also think Nylund is a dark horse to become a game changer at the NHL level.

[TGokou]

Ok, I had made my opinion on Ehlers earlier but I am more prepared to make a better argument now that I have more time on why Ehlers is not a bad choice at all. *Warning - Long Read*

First let's tackle whether we should pick him at #6. A lot of argument is being made that Ehlers is not 'worth' being drafted 6th overall when he is ranked 13th overall. I can guarantee you right now that central scouting which had him at 13th is no longer accurate after these playoffs. Ehlers will be ranked in the top 10 I'm pretty sure after 'so far' contributing 20 points in 9 games. Don't forget those final rankings were prior to the playoffs. Either way your looking at 2 points per game, in the playoffs I might add, which is actually quite comparable with Jonathan Drouin in his draft year.

Another major consideration about draft order is that it's not like there's a huge gap from 6th-10th in terms of order. So to say that we shouldn't draft a guy because he's ranked 10th is absurd logic. That's why we have teams drafting the 10th in ranking at #6 or a player drops from 6 to 10. Fact is that not all teams will rank a player the same. Perhaps a team is more interested in size, they will draft higher/lower based on player available. So please, no more "We shouldn't draft him because he's ranked 10th"

Second, let's look at total production over his rookie season. Ehlers came over from Europe and you can expect to see some transition period from the open ice to a smaller ice surface. This is quite evident if you look at his production from Sept-Dec/Jan-March. In his first 36 games Ehlers had 22 goals 28 assists 50 points for a respectable 1.38 ppg. His last half of the season, after presumably adapting to North American ice, he had 27 goals 27 assists 54 points in 27 games for an eye-popping 2 ppg. I think that if Ehlers didn't have to adapt to the North American style he would have been posting an average 2 ppg over the course of the season for around 120 pts. Once again I point out that in the playoffs he has maintained this 2 ppg average.

I realize that points are not all scouts look for as there are a lot of intangibles such as size, attitude, work ethic, ability to play defensive hockey, as well as position. So let's just look at the closest comparable which is in my opinion Jonathan Drouin. Drouin is also 5'11' but weighs 192. I am unclear whether that was his draft weight or his current weight. In his draft year, he was able to post 105 points in 49 games good for 2.14 ppg and in the playoffs 35 pts in 17 games. If Ehlers didn't have a transition period and we can assume he is able to post 1.9-2.0 ppg then I think we can agree that Ehlers is almost on a similar skill level as Drouin. I think we can also argue that if Ehlers weighed 20 lbs more he would easily be a top 3 pick. However, one skill that Drouin does not have compared to Ehlers is speed. Ehlers is according to most scouts the fastest player in the last two drafts. This skill will be critical for Ehlers success because he does have a smaller frame but that can be filled out.

Lastly, I wanted to point out that after the consensus top 5 there is likely going to be only a few impact players if any. As many previous drafts have shown, drafting from 6th-10th is a crapshoot at best and is almost no better than drafting 10th-15th. Furthermore, most players that do make it into the NHL are serviceable players at best posting .4 - .5 ppg good enough for a second line player. If we were to select anyone else, this is the kind of player we are likely to get. However I think Ehlers is an exceptional talent that is worthy of taking a high risk/high reward play for as he could be a Claude Giroux and I think most would agree that having a superstar would be better than having a serviceable player.

[messier's_elbow]

I might take Ehlers at the 8th pick if we were picking in that spot. If one of the big 5 are available we take one of them. If not, Id take Ritchie or Virtanen over him.

[Honky Cat]

Central scouting has him at #13 but others have him as high as 4th. I think taking him at #6 is a good pick.

I also think he and Ekblad are the only 2 who have true superstar potential . The others are solid picks but none are going to be franchise all star players in my opinion.

I also think Nylund is a dark horse to become a game changer at the NHL level.

Nylander is a 17 year old playing in a men's league....17 gp 11g 8a 19pts...pretty impressive!

[MoneypuckOverlord]

They better not draft Ehlers at number 6. One hell of a dangerous pick. This kid has Nikita Filatov, Alexer Daigle written all over him. this guy speeds pass defenders and scores points. That type of style of will NEVER translate into a NHL player, let a lone a top line winger. Drafting him with our 6th pick is a huuuuuuuuuge mistake, and the Canucks will regret down the road.

[messier's_elbow]

Nylander is a 17 year old playing in a men's league....17 gp 11g 8a 19pts...pretty impressive!

Id like to hear what Gradin thinks about him and Kapanen. Too bad 1040 is useless most of the time.

[DrChill]

Um, that's not even close to explaining why you'd go off the board at #6 as opposed to, say, #10?

The Canucks have gone off the board many, many times and they've all been horrible, horrible decisions. So yeah.

Anyway, there are many highlights of Ehlers heading up the ice full speed with his head down along the boards. That has train wreck written all over it. Only in the Q do you get away with that garbage.

Canucks went off the board for Bure. Worked out ok

[Honky Cat]

Id like to hear what Gradin thinks about him and Kapanen. Too bad 1040 is useless most of the time.

Yeah,..That's what bugs me about picking Europeans...How can they be gauged against Canadian players...?..We need to see more than highlight reels..

[theminister]

They better not draft Ehlers at number 6. One hell of a dangerous pick. This kid has Nikita Filatov, Alexer Daigle written all over him. this guy speeds pass defenders and scores points. That type of style of will NEVER translate into a NHL player, let a lone a top line winger. Drafting him with our 6th pick is a huuuuuuuuuge mistake, and the Canucks will regret down the road.

I honestly don't think we will.

If the expected top 5 go as assumed (Reinahrt, Ekblad, Bennett, Dal Colle, Draisaitl) then I'm quite confident we will take Ritchie or Nylander.

If we want the offensive dynamo we take Nylander. If we want the dominant power player we take Ritchie. I'm just not sure how Ritchie can be passed over at 6th. I am strongly of the opinion that he's a VERY unique package. There isn't even a great comparable playing in the game today.

If I had to guess, Ritchie will be a Canuck.