30. New Jersey Devils : Kasperi Kapanen 29. Los Angeles Kings : Brendan Lemieux 28. Tampa Bay Lightning : Julius Honka 27. Chicago Blackhawks : Conner Bleackley 26. Montreal Canadiens : Nick Schmaltz 25. Boston Bruins : Alex Tuch 24. Anaheim Ducks : Jack Dougherty 23. Colorado Avalanche : Travis Sanheim 22. Pittsburgh Penguins : Nikolay Goldobin 21. St. Louis Blues : Joshua Ho-Sang 20. San Jose Sharks : Brendan Perlini 19. Tampa Bay Lightning : Ivan Barbashev 18. Minnesota Wild : Roland McKeown 17. Philadelphia Flyers : Sonny Milano 16. Columbus Blue Jackets : Jakub Vrà¡na 15. Detroit Red Wings : Adrian Kempe 14. Dallas Stars : Robby Fabbri 13. Washington Capitals : Dylan Larkin 12. Arizona Coyotes : Jake Virtanen
11. The Nashville Predators select Left Wing William Nylander of MODO in the Elitserien
5’11, 181lbs, 1996-05-01 : 18 years old
22 – 1g – 6a – 7p
To analyze Nylander’s year is very difficult. It has been a mountainous journey for the son of Michael, with some fairly low lows and very high highs. In general though, after a bit of a cruddy start (Which was extra weird considering his play at the Ivan Hlinka); Nylander has risen from the ashes throughout the year ending in a dominant U18 performance. He was named the Best Forward and tournament MVP despite Sweden not even medalling, which sort of sums up his part for them. He had 6 goals and 16 points which was good for the fifth highest scoring in tournament history. Canada had to send what I would describe as the “A-Team… of defensive forwards and defenders at him to slow him down in the Bronze game, a list that includes McCann (centre) and Fleury (defenseman who won Best Defenseman in the tournament), both considered some of the better defensive players in the draft.
He played for five separate teams and four separate leagues this season domestically (3 if you want to count MODO’s development system as simply “MODO.…). It’s hard to imagine the rollercoaster he has gone through and still persevere. What we have seen is a dominant offensive player with the mind and physical talent to stun opponents at any given time. Of course…he does need some ice-time to get going *cough* MODO *cough.* He dominated the Allsvenskan when he was on loan with Södertà¤lje scoring 11 goals and 19 points in 17 games. Now that might not sound like much, but compare that to fellow Swedes with high draft rankings in recent years and we see that his offensive capabilities are a notch above. Filip Forsberg went 11th and was ranked 3rd after an 8 goal and 17 point performance in 47 games for Leksand, while Alexander Wennberg went 14th after a 14 goal and 32 point performance in 46 games for Djurgà¥rden. Now both have differences and other strengths compared to Nylander, but the point remains, Nylander brings elite offensive awareness and is one of the deadliest forwards in the draft. Hell, he might be THE most potent offensive player in the draft and that is no exaggeration.
The problems begin obviously with two things, his play style and his defensive game. Some would call him “soft,… which is a very accurate description. This is not a player who will grind things out or you want out there when the game is on the line and you’re protecting a 1 goal lead. He’s a high octane scorer and playmaker who will dazzle with the man advantage. Sometimes he stays on the perimeter too much or hangs onto the puck looking for the perfect play rather than getting it deep. Two things that the modern NHL can punish. The potential for Nylander is so high, it truly is, but there is risk.
Teams wanting him to play centre which he sometimes does (SuperElit and the J18 Allsvenskan) might find he is better suited to the wing. If only to delineate the need for extra defensive awareness, sort of a similar thing happened with Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel when entering the NHL. With Nashville already acquiring prospects Filip Forsberg and Calle Jà¤rnkrok, there seems to be a bit of a Swedish revolution going on. With Trotz gone and a more offensive demanding coach in place, you have to imagine their drafting philosophy will take a bit of a right turn.
Comparison : Jason Spezza (sans size)
Thanks for reading.
Lastly yes I know I'm drawing this out painfully slow. I will try to be faster, but this isn't my day...or night...job you know. It will be done before the draft and one other article about potential steals will be up, rest assured if you can't contain your effervescent excitement.