Also you talk about how they are just "nice play or two"...I don't see any one of the current draft eligible players playing with that much strength, tenacity, skill in all aspects...whether it is beating a defender, backchecking, getting past a check. the guy is a physically gifted bull. you pick them over runts like RNH every single day of the week. Look at where RNH is now..getting shoulder surgery. Guy will bust.
Well then you must be ignoring the highlights of MacKinnon, Jones and Drouin. Drouin might not have as much strength but he has certainly shown as much, likely more, skill in his highlight reels. Jones and MacKinnon certainly play with as much strength and skill, and again likely more as well.
RNH already scored at close to a PPG as a rookie so saying he will bust seems to be a little silly and likely based more on the team he plays for than actual logic or evidence.
Well then you must be ignoring the highlights of MacKinnon, Jones and Drouin. Drouin might not have as much strength but he has certainly shown as much, likely more, skill in his highlight reels. Jones and MacKinnon certainly play with as much strength and skill, and again likely more as well.
RNH already scored at close to a PPG as a rookie so saying he will bust seems to be a little silly and likely based more on the team he plays for than actual logic or evidence.
All the Oilers #1 Picks have scored at a healthy rate. Even Eberle. But they don't score goals when it matters. Big goals like Toews and Kane score. Hell even the Sedins and Kesler. That is why that team is terrible and still goes on and on in mediocrity. At some point, the blame needs to be put on the Oilers #1 Picks for simply just not being gamebreakers.
All the Oilers #1 Picks have scored at a healthy rate. Even Eberle. But they don't score goals when it matters. Big goals like Toews and Kane score. Hell even the Sedins and Kesler. That is why that team is terrible and still goes on and on in mediocrity. At some point, the blame needs to be put on the Oilers #1 Picks for simply just not being gamebreakers.
The gamabreakers garbage again?
Hall is top 10 in PPG this season. He is a "gamebreaker" or the term is fairly useless.
The problem with the Oilers in that the team has a horrible make-up with too many similar players in the top 6 and weak players on the bottom 6, defense and in net.
Also seems silly to bring up RNH and the Oilers as reasons not to draft guys that haven't played in the NHL and guys that aren't similar to RNH at all.
How you pass up on this beast of a player would make no sense. Take him at #5 and lower. Even over Lindholm and every single time over Monahan.
This 18 year old boy is a beast of a man already. He made Ryan Murphy and Seth Jones look like Dmen from Bantam level. Enough said.
Ryan Murphy was a pylon all tournament long and Subban was terrible on that goal.
Watched that whole clip sequence and I don't see what some of you claim to see. He big and fast. Still not very strong on his skates. Fanned on multiple shots. Doesn't protect the puck as well as a "beast of a player" should. Unless his KHL play and under 18 play is significantly better he doesn't look like the player you claim he is.
This guy should hire you as his PR man. The highlights of Drouin and MacKinnon are much more impressive.
Watch him drop to our pick, the Flames pass on him and half the board go ballistic. Personally I'm hoping a team ahead of us picks him.
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Risky...But that kid is a beast! He dominates full grown men at 17 years old. He will still get bigger and stronger. I can see what all the hype is about.
Given the Flames situation, I would say you cant take the chance on him with your best pick, unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure he will come over. I would say they should package their other 2 picks to move up and take him....hopefully the blues or pens pick is low enough to get him without trading.
Watch him drop to our pick, the Flames pass on him and half the board go ballistic. Personally I'm hoping a team ahead of us picks him.
Half the board will go crazy no matter who we pick. Its the nature of the draft. Fans get fixated on guys they've never seen before in their life beyond a few highlights and then go beserk when scouts and GMs disagree.
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The big question is, do we absolutely need our drafted player to be in the NHL next season? I'm not sure that outside of Mackinnon and Jones, any player in the 1st round is a guaranteed NHLer next season.
This rebuild is going to take time, realistically this team is still years away (i'd say 2015-2016 to be honest) from contending for a play-off spot. With that timeline in mind, I think taking a player with the upside of Nichushkin is a smart move even with his KHL contract in place for the next two seasons. If it comes down to it, I'd rather take Nichushkin knowing that he won't be in the NHL until 2015, over someone like Shinkaruk/Nurse/Monahan, or anyone else in the 5-10 range, who won't be on the team next year anyways.
That said, this is the Flames we are talking about. I'd be shocked if we do end up taking him! Nice to dream though.
There's a lot to like with Nichushkin and I won't be upset if the Flames draft him. The video above is not as impressive as the one on page two but there's no denying that he has a good combination of size, speed, and skill.
He's not as impressive as an 18 year old Lindros who, without a game of NHL experience, made Team Canada's World Cup roster and did not look out of place. If Nichushkin is as good as made out to be, he should be on Russia's Olympic roster.
Half the board will go crazy no matter who we pick. Its the nature of the draft. Fans get fixated on guys they've never seen before in their life beyond a few highlights and then go beserk when scouts and GMs disagree.
Well to be fair, we did draft Pelech, Chucko, Irving etc with our first rounders so the berserking rage around here is often warranted.
BTW Mark Cundari is the most searched player on hockeydb.com right now
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Just a couple possible negatives about the guy I've noticed from the videos. He's very much a protect the puck guy, but not so much close to his body but more relying on his reach. He does this too often with his head down looking at the puck. When he's playing against guys his own age, this won't cost him, but in the NHL he'll be paired up with guys his size who will be able to take the puck off him fairly easily, and who'll lay him out hard for keeping his head down for prolonged periods of time. Unlike a guy like Jagr who sometimes relies on his reach, Jagr often protects the puck closer to his skates. This guy uses his reach more and I'm not sure that'll work on smaller NHL ice where guys are faster and the game relies on a better passing game. So far these videos don't really show his offensive awareness of where his teammates are and I'd like to see some of that smaller stuff.
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There's a lot to like with Nichushkin and I won't be upset if the Flames draft him. The video above is not as impressive as the one on page two but there's no denying that he has a good combination of size, speed, and skill.
He's not as impressive as an 18 year old Lindros who, without a game of NHL experience, made Team Canada's World Cup roster and did not look out of place. If Nichushkin is as good as made out to be, he should be on Russia's Olympic roster.
Seriously? If he was thought to be anywhere near that good right now, he'd be the consensus #1 overall. It still happens with Russians, believe it or not.
EDIT: I realize this post isn't particularly coherent or well-thought out, and it could have been brought up at an earlier point, but why Nichushkin is being compared to Eric Lindros is confusing at best.
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Last edited by GreenLantern2814; 04-23-2013 at 01:55 PM.
Yeah I don't see what all the hype is for Nichushkin.
He's physically dominating a league that prefers to play softly. You are talking about a league that had Roman Cervenka as a top scorer. There may be a few guys who will throw big hits in the KHL, but the physicality in that league is nothing compared to any North American league.
He's the classic example of a guy who is physically mature relative to his peers (dominating a soft KHL and smaller players in his age group at the WJC) and benefiting, much like how Mark McNeill put up big points in junior due to his physical strength.
From the highlights, I don't see Malkin or Ovechkin, I see Kvasha and Nazarov.
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This kid just ditched his team in the middle of a playoff drive, so he could go and play in the U18 tournament.
This is completely not true. He did play all the games in KHL finals. And the decision on the clash between KHL finals and U18 tourney was not Nichushkin's, but the one of Tretyak (Russian Hockey Federation president).
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Yeah I don't see what all the hype is for Nichushkin.
He's physically dominating a league that prefers to play softly. You are talking about a league that had Roman Cervenka as a top scorer. There may be a few guys who will throw big hits in the KHL, but the physicality in that league is nothing compared to any North American league.
He's the classic example of a guy who is physically mature relative to his peers (dominating a soft KHL and smaller players in his age group at the WJC) and benefiting, much like how Mark McNeill put up big points in junior due to his physical strength.
From the highlights, I don't see Malkin or Ovechkin, I see Kvasha and Nazarov.
With all due respect, calling a guy over-hyped because he plays in the KHL when his fellow prospects are down in the CHL or Finnish league is a little ridiculous. Secondly, as has been stated, judging a player based on a higlight reel is also not the most accurate formula when deciding what kind of a future he will have.
Last edited by ignite09; 04-23-2013 at 06:18 PM.
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Seriously? If he was thought to be anywhere near that good right now, he'd be the consensus #1 overall. It still happens with Russians, believe it or not.
EDIT: I realize this post isn't particularly coherent or well-thought out, and it could have been brought up at an earlier point, but why Nichushkin is being compared to Eric Lindros is confusing at best.
That's my point. I was saying if he's as much of a "man", "beast", "elite", the next Malkin, as some have suggested in this thread, then he should be able to compete at the Olympic level for the Russian team just like Lindros did before he even played an NHL game.
Igor Eronko @IgorEronko
Valeri Nichushkin says he likes #Flyers & #Rangers most of all, wants to spend summer in NA to train hard #NHLdraft2013
Igor Kleyner @IgorKleyner
Nichushkin is not doing himself any favors re #NHLdraft2013 by stating he will only go to NA to play in the NHL, not minors
Nichushkin's plan for summer is a short vacation in Turkey after U18 WJC and then training all summer long in the US
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