[Flames Draft Watcher]

Teams that value skill by far above all other attributes will likely have Nylander top 5. Wouldn't surprise me if some teams do.

But size does play a role. It's undeniable. Big guys with skill are almost impossible to shut down because you can't physically hold them, push them down, contain them along the boards, etc. Small guys with skill can be pushed down, contained along the boards, held back.

Little Johnny is obviously one of the most skilled players in the entire league. He has elite elusiveness, stick handling and agility and it allows him beat larger players fairly regularly. Little Johnny negates his size disadvantage through skating, agility, puck handling, hockey sense, etc. But that size disadvantage does exist.

Nylander is extremely skilled. And he isn't that small. But going against NHL defenders he will be pushed down, leaned on, dominated along the boards, crushed in the crease, etc. Will he still succeed? It's likely he will.

But guys like Laine, Puljujarvi, Tkachuk, Gauthier are bigger, stronger players. They are not going to be easily pushed down, leaned on, moved out of the crease, dominated along the boards. In fact they may hold the size/strength advantage on some smaller defenders in the NHL and be able to shrug them off. Their size/strength gives them an advantage in puck protection if they use their size to their advantage properly. And the bigger they are (Laine, Puljujarvi, Gauthier) the more the advantage could be over more medium sized guys like Tkachuk. Is Nylander more skilled than some of those guys? Yeah. But because of their size their game can translates more easily against NHL defenders.

Now obviously there's a tipping point where the skill ends up completely erasing any size disadvantage. Nylander is going to be a top 10 pick for sure and will probably go ahead of some big, skilled players like Gauthier. He has elite skill and average size. He fits our needs but ideally he'd be bigger because we're stuck in the Pacific against some fairly big lineups. You prefer him over Tkachuk thats fine, but lots of people like Tkachuk ahead of Nylander and he'll end up a beefier, stronger, more physical player it would appear. Dubois is skilled but has better size and strength as well. So who's best? Pure skill (Nylander)? A blend of skill, size, physicality (Tkachuk/Dubois)?

I think Nylander definitely should be in consideration if we're drafting in the 5-8 range. I don't see him being in our top 4 though.