Nikolaj Ehlers

[eagleeyedak]

A week ago, I was all Dal Colle. Now, I'm warming up to Ritchie. Either could potentially compliment Kesler and Higgins, though beginning to believe the latter can contribute more quickly and has demonstrated his defensive skills. Unsure whether Ehlers tops these two. Lots of time though to keep digging.

[bluesman60]

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.

You mean that the Canucks regretted drafting Pavel Bure who speeds past defenders and scores points?

[CANUCKS FTW!]

I was all in for Ehlers but I also like Kasperi Kapanen.

[Gaudette Celly]

LOL, reminds people of Pavel Bure.

shakes head. There will never be a player like Pavel Bure. Ehlers again, has Nikita Filatov written all over him. Highly skilled highly offensive speedy winger, was equally as good as Steven Stamkos and were is he now?

There ya goes.

Yeah, anyone making such a comparison truly has no idea. If Bure had played but one game of junior in North America he would have been far and away the consensus #1 pick, yet Ehlers has had a full season and isn't even consensus top-10 in a weak draft.

[asian player]

Nathan MacKinnon had 1.94 ppg in draft year.

Nikolaj Ehlers currently has 2.1 ppg in his first year in CHL

[-- Alexander 89 Mogilny --]

I haven't seen Virtanen live, just hilites, and kid looks absolutely amazing. What's the knock on him? not a team player?

I just honestly want to know, because he looks like a stud. Amazing shot, amazing speed, strong. Seems to have the full package.

[Smashian Kassian]

LOL, reminds people of Pavel Bure.

shakes head. There will never be a player like Pavel Bure. Ehlers again, has Nikita Filatov written all over him. Highly skilled highly offensive speedy winger, was equally as good as Steven Stamkos and were is he now?

There ya goes.

I would say Nylander better fits the Filatov comparison than Ehlers.

I was all in for Ehlers but I also like Kasperi Kapanen.

Same, if none of the top 5 fall I would take one of those 2.

[Smashian Kassian]

I haven't seen Virtanen live, just hilites, and kid looks absolutely amazing. What's the knock on him? not a team player?

I just honestly want to know, because he looks like a stud. Amazing shot, amazing speed, strong. Seems to have the full package.

Low hockey IQ, doesn't have good hockey sense or playmaking ability. Sometimes can be lost when he doesn't have the puck (in the offensive zone), tries to create his offense by himself off the rush, not great when it comes to creating offense off a cycle. just doesn't seem to have high upside like some of the others available.

Think of the criticisms of David Booth offensively, or the Criticisms Ryan Kesler gets sometimes (about his offensive game) and those are the negatives with Virtanen.

[Tangerines]

LOL, reminds people of Pavel Bure.

shakes head. There will never be a player like Pavel Bure. Ehlers again, has Nikita Filatov written all over him. Highly skilled highly offensive speedy winger, was equally as good as Steven Stamkos and were is he now?

There ya goes.

How can you be so sure of this? Are you psychic? Of course there will never be another Bure, but Ehlers could be something special in his own right. I'm not saying that he'll be as good or like Bure, but you're just as guilty with your presumptions of him being the next Filatov. You shake your head at others for saying something, but meanwhile you're doing the same thing by comparing him to another player.

[Tangerines]

A week ago, I was all Dal Colle. Now, I'm warming up to Ritchie. Either could potentially compliment Kesler and Higgins, though beginning to believe the latter can contribute more quickly and has demonstrated his defensive skills. Unsure whether Ehlers tops these two. Lots of time though to keep digging.

How do you know that Kesler and Higgins will be on this team by the time Ritche is ready for top 6 minutes? Power forwards take time to develop at the NHL Level unless you're Ovi or someone in that category which Ritche isn't even close to being. Kes and Higgy may not even be here by the time he is ready.

[-- Alexander 89 Mogilny --]

Low hockey IQ, doesn't have good hockey sense or playmaking ability. Sometimes can be lost when he doesn't have the puck (in the offensive zone), tries to create his offense by himself off the rush, not great when it comes to creating offense off a cycle. just doesn't seem to have high upside like some of the others available.

Think of the criticisms of David Booth offensively, or the Criticisms Ryan Kesler gets sometimes (about his offensive game) and those are the negatives with Virtanen.

Thanks for the input!

Interesting, so he's a project. Those seem like coachable items. But I get the concerns. High risk, high reward I guess.

[Erik Karlsson]

I hope we pick Ehlers. I think his game will translate to the NHL fine. He has crazy speed and offensive skills.

[JeremyCuddles]

I like Ehlers but it'd be funny to see his reaction on us passing on Ehlers. Honestly I just want the best possible player there. Virtanen, Ritchie, Ehlers, Dal Colle, whoever. Just want this rebuild over as quickly as possible.

Really leaning towards Virtanen based on the hometown connection. Highly doubt Reino drops that far. Dal Colle or Virtanen are high on my list.

[Smashian Kassian]

Thanks for the input!

Interesting, so he's a project. Those seem like coachable items. But I get the concerns. High risk, high reward I guess.

Can really teach hockey sense/IQ.

You could try to get him to focus on passing more I guess. You can teach him defense, but hockey sense/hockey IQ just comes, you either have it or you don't.

I don't see him as a big point producer, he might become better, and he's got a great shot, but I can't see him being more than a 2nd liner. And at our pick I think there are better options.

[BurgerKing]

QMJHL numbers are always inflatted vs OHL and WHL. Plus he plays with Drouin, I would stay away.

[CANUCKS FTW!]

QMJHL numbers are always inflatted vs OHL and WHL. Plus he plays with Drouin, I would stay away.

For the last time Ehlers does NOT play on the same line as Drouin!

[BanTSN]

I can appreciate that he is not the pick you want. I have read lots of posts from guys who want Vit or Ritchie and if you have to lower yourselves down from an 8 inch prong , you reach for Nylander.

However, I would like to insist that you tell the truth. There is little point in having a discussion if the participant making the post is constitutionally disingenuous for the sake of trying to invalidate a draftee he doesnt want.

1) Ehlers does have Bures speed. Is it exactly as fast? I dont know. I do know is he is slightly faster than MacKinnon was. Nichuskin is not as fast as Ehlers. He is called the second fastest skater in the CHL. I suspect Druion is first. They did not say.

Ehlers is very strong on the puck. He cuts the the middle and fights very tenaciously along the boards. He also does not play with Druion. Like all teams, they will of course play together during the power play and if they pull their goalie etc.....

His stock was low because nobody knew anything about him. What most people do not remember is that he played in Denmark before this year. This was his first CHL season. He also plays on the same team as Druion so again the scouts had to take it with a grain of salt.

As the year progressed his stock has done nothing but skyrocket. He may have finished 13th but lets be honest. His stock will keep rising and we have 2 months before the draft. Many predict he will be a top 10 pick definitely. I think 6th is where he will go. I hope so anyways.

He was 5ft 11 at age 17 when he first arrived from Denmark. He was 162. According to reports he is now 5 ft 11.5 and 170lbs.

MacKinnon is 6ft and plays at 180. Nobody calls him small. By age 20 he will be 6ft and 185.

Its fine if you dont want the guy at 6, but lets not just spin the negative and assume things that just arent true. That resolves nothing.

One (There will be no two): Let's talk about speed. Ehlers has outside speed. Bure had inside speed. Ehlers has tunnelvision and gets stopped easily on the boards unless he has a clear path to the net. Bure went through all 5 guys at times and continuously scored spectacular goals in traffic. Ehlers legs, both of them, could fit inside one of Bure's thighs. Bure was a superstar. Ehlers will not be. Please stop comparing the two players. Maxim Afinogenov was also very fast, but in a similar, outside speed regard that Ehlers his. Please compare those two players instead as it's less disrespectful to one of the best Canucks ever.

Did Mackinnon score today? Yes, he did. So that means Ehlers and all his great QMJHL points will project the same way, right? No. No it won't. If scouts thought so, then Ehlers would be a consensus 1st overall pick.

Question: If he has such great speed and skill, then why is he not the consensus 1st overall pick? Because scouts don't know him? Please. Give scouts some credit here. It's because many scouts feel that his speed and skill won't translate to the NHL. Not unless it's in a Jeff Skinner kinda way. ie. He has to be in a puff division to score against puff opposition. Have you seen how easily Montreal is lighting up Tampa Bay? Freakin' Rene Bourque schooled their 'shutdown' pairing. This is the type of opposition Ehlers should be playing against. Why do you hate him so much that you want him to be absolutely crushed while playing against our opposition? That's not nice.

Big part of the reason of MacKinnon's ranking is that he had a complete game. He was a center. He played with a fair defensive acumen. He wasn't undersized. If Ehlers was all these things, he's be a better prospect and perhaps worthy of all the love he's been getting here. But unfortunately this is not the case. In fact the case is that the undersized factor means the risk of picking him is exceptional.

btw Ehlers was shut out today as his team fell down 0-2 in their series. Drouin had a goal and was once again the best player on his team.

For the last time Ehlers does NOT play on the same line as Drouin!

Instead of blindly yelling mythology, perhaps you should look at some playoff scoresheets. They've been assisting on many of each other's goals. So while you might be correct in believing they're on separate lines, their team obviously loads up to capitalize on opportunities all the time, making this point absolutely moot.

Jeez, they both have 100pts and are on the same team. Do you think maybe they affected each others' stats? I don't see how they couldn't.

Nathan MacKinnon had 1.94 ppg in draft year.

Nikolaj Ehlers currently has 2.1 ppg in his first year in CHL

Let's draft him then and trade him for MacKinnon. I'm sure they'll be excited to take him.

Oh wait. One problem with that. This is Earth.

[MoneypuckOverlord]

How do you know that Kesler and Higgins will be on this team by the time Ritche is ready for top 6 minutes? Power forwards take time to develop at the NHL Level unless you're Ovi or someone in that category which Ritche isn't even close to being. Kes and Higgy may not even be here by the time he is ready.

then take some time to develop them. Since when are we rushing our prospects?

Pass on Ehlers. Plenty of 6'0 footers 160 lbs wingers high flying goal scoring wingers in future drafts. As for guys that are 6'3 220 plus pounds who have offensive skills hits like hell fights like hell, runs the power play, carries his team down 3-0, who can also skate scores the game 7 ot winner, are faaaaaaaar more rare then 6 feet high fast skating wingers. Yea, how did Raymond and Grabner work out? The very best a 2nd line player, border line second line player.

[S N Y P E R S 7]

Holy cow, this topic hasn't been #banned?

Team Ehlers (Team Edward) vs Team Ritchie/Virtanen (Team Jacob)?

How about we just go BPA.

At 6, that encircles one of the Big 5 (Bennett, Ekblad, Reinhart, Draisaitl, Dal Colle) or Ehlers.

[Merci]

No Perimeter players.

That means we need Ritchie/