The Calgary Flames will be picking 6th overall at the upcoming NHL entry draft, so is talented Swede Alex Nylander a good fit with the club?
The Calgary Flames have made it abundantly clear that they want to add more size in order to play a puck-possession game. But with the NHL becoming faster each year, skill and speed is now at a premium. Teams looking to add speed and skill should look no further than Alexander Nylander.
Nylander is 6 feet tall and weighs in at 184 pounds, he shoots right and can play either centre or wing, although he will likely be a winger in the NHL. In 57 games with the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL, Nylander put up 75 points, including 47 assists. Despite his lack of size, Nylander is still willingly to go into the high traffic-areas, and is a competitor. Craig Button lauds Nylander for his hockey IQ and even compared him to Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks.
While those are lofty comparisons for an undrafted prospect, it is hard to deny the skill-set that Nylander brings. His speed is excellent, including his edge-work and his explosiveness. His on-ice vision is very adept, as he is able to make plays in a variety of ways, and as Craig Button mentioned he is very smart.
Future Considerations had this to say about the talented swede:
“The son or former NHLer Michael Nylander, Alexander is a dynamic skating offensive catalyst that just produces points. His skating can go from effortless to shifty as he has the ability to use his edges to deke or juke through traffic with ease. Possesses soft hands and very creative puck skills plus the ability to make his teammates better with some jaw dropping passes. He is not a one trick pony however as he can also finish off plays. Top line NHL potential.” Future Considerations
Nylander had an absolutely fantastic playoff run with Mississauga, scoring 12 points in only 6 games. His great stretch of post-season play should really help push him over the top for teams looking to draft him.
There are some issues with Nylander however, as he is known to sometimes play a perimeter game, and while he is competitive, his lack of size could make him less effective in the NHL than he is in junior.
The fact that Calgary is throwing around terms like “black and blue” and “heavy puck-possession team” to describe their organizational direction make it difficult to see how Nylander would fit in under those circumstances for the Flames.
To be able to play the heavy puck-possession games you will need lots of size, and obviously this is something the Flames lack, and Nylander certainly wouldn’t make the Flames any bigger, but his high-end skill could be enough to tempt the Flames into drafting him.
Nylander is the third ranked NA skater for the draft behind only Pierre-luc Dubois and Matthew Tkachuk. He is almost assuredly going to go after Dubois and Tkachuk, meaning his range is anywhere from 6-10 in the draft.
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Nylander could fit in nicely as a right-winger for the Flames, as they have absolutely no right-shots in their prospect pool who could fit into their top-six. His skill and speed would’ve been very useful to the high-energy system Bob Hartley employed, but since the Flames are looking to play a heavier game, then perhaps they should look at adding size at the draft.
You can’t get players like Ryan Getzlaf or Anze Kopitar in trades or free agency, you have to draft them, and with bigger players who have shown better in Matthew Tkachuk and Pierre-Luc Dubois potentially available, then Calgary should avoid Nylander at the 6th spot, and instead go with Tkachuk or Dubois.
If worst-case scenario happens and both Tkachuk and Dubois are gone by the time that Calgary picks, then perhaps trading down and looking at players like Julien Gauthier or Logan Brown would be a better option.
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The Flames could do a lot worse than Nylander, and while I would want them to target the skilled players with more size, I wouldn’t be disappointed with Nylander as the Flames draft selection.
He does have undeniably skill, and the fact that he is a right-shot could make him a perfect fit playing on a line with John Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Nylander is still fairly raw, and because of a technicality he will have to play either in the AHL or NHL next season. Nylander likely needs one or two seasons in the minors before he is ready to make an impact for an NHL club.
But if the Flames want big skilled forwards in their organization, their going to have to draft them. Whether Calgary looks for skill or size at the draft, they will end up with a talented young prospect, and the Calgary Flames could do a lot worse then Alex Nylander.
Lord knows they have in the past.