[Sandman]

Draft Thoughts (Swedish Edition, Vol. 4):

RHC Eric Nilson (6'0",154lbs)
Djurgardens (J20): 31gp/ 10g/ 24a/ 34pts, +18, 30 PIM

Calgary-born Swede Eric Nilson (son of former Flame Marcus Nilson) is a lot like his old man, wielding a gritty, hard-working approach with unrelenting hustle, and a detailed defensive game with good habits. The team that drafts the younger Nilson however, will be banking on his offensive ability, and he has plenty of that as well. Nilson plays middle-six minutes on a deep Djurgardens club, often patrolling their third-line, and is still over a point-per-game so far this campaign- earning him a call-up to the Allsvenskan squad, posting 1 point in 4 games. In the most recent World Junior A Challenge, Nilson was 3rd in scoring for Team Sweden (7th-overall in the tournament) with 6 points in 5 games, and put up 3 goals and 4 points in 5 games in the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup last summer. Central Scouting put him 6th for European Skaters in their Midterm-rankings as well.

Nilson is primarily a playmaker, and gets the job done without being flashy or dynamic, but he does have above-average hockey sense and vision to make smart decisions after scanning the ice with his head on a swivel. He's a puck-hound who is always in his opponents' faces, and as one would guess, he causes opponents fits on the forecheck by being constantly disruptive. He has good spatial awareness, using patient delays and cutbacks off the rush to pry open seams in coverage, draws pressure to make room for teammates, and he employs plenty of manipulation by deception with the goal of funneling pucks to the slot. He attacks the middle with-or-without the puck, spins off of checks, and plays a heavy game despite being physically underdeveloped and thus, lacking strength. He battles hard for every loose puck, and competes well in all three zones. Nilson is not really a huge scoring threat, and the velocity on his shot could use some work- though this might be due to his lack of strength, which pervades many areas of his game at this stage of his development. His one-timer is already fairly hard and heavy though, and he goes to the net hard for second-chance opportunities, with an eye for finding open space in the slot to get open. Off the puck, his smarts and positioning are top-notch, and are an underrated part of his game; he reads the play very well and knows where to be to best support his team's play. He's a strong faceoff performer, and further upgrades to his strength will make him even better in this area. In transition, he commands a perceptive small-area game to connect plays through the neutral zone in order to facilitate controlled entries.

Defensively, Nilson seals off the boards to attackers, puts himself in every lane, and displays exemplary positioning, paired with high-end defensive awareness to kill plays aplenty. He's an excellent penalty-killer, and looks engaged in defensive situations. Unfortunately, he's an average skater who needs to develop his lower-body strength in order to build a better first-step, a more explosive stride, and another top-gear. Even with deficient mobility, he still manages to push pace (thanks to his high-end workrate), and is light on his feet with smooth edges in pivoting and changing direction, with a fairly good short-burst in small-area situations. For the next level, he will need to build strength and bulk up considerably to be able to handle bigger pros, as he already looks a bit overmatched against men in the Allsvenskan. There are some scouts who wonder if he has enough standout traits, or enough translatable skill to be a producer at the NHL-level- his handling is nothing special, his shot needs work, and he struggles at times with puck-control when under pressure. These scouts wonder if he could be no more than a bottom-six player at best, but the general consensus is that bottom-six center duty is his floor, and not his ceiling. I really like this kid, and would easily take him in the second-round this summer.