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C Nico Hischier - Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL (2017, 1st, NJD) II

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I've asked this on the Devils board but curious as to what some on the main-board have to say. Why the worry that Nico may not be ready for the NHL this season? Is it purely his size? Wanting him to continue to adjust to North American ice in juniors? I mean he's almost 6'2 180lbs, with the whole off-season to add muscle. Smaller players have made the jump to the NHL and have been fine. From all I've seen and read his skill-set is ready for the NHL. He has a fantastic work-ethic that coaches love and that'll help him even if he finds some struggles in his first season.

I just really don't see a reason why he shouldn't be in the NHL barring an awful training camp and pre-season. I think Shero and co feel the same, Shero has said there is a spot for him.
 
leafsfuture said:
Absolutely loved this kid at the World Juniors.

But please, for the love of hockey, do NOT rush him. If he looks anything less than ready to score 40+ points, send him to junior.

It doesnt matter who you are, at 18, going back to junior will not hurt his development.
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Thank you can you now convince the rest of the devils fan base.

Imagine him and Zadina playing together in Halifax. I hope they give him another year but that could as easily be in Bern of he's home town for my sake.
 
Reading this thread and the concerns about Nico reminds me a lot of the Pettersson thread.

like EP, I think this guys work ethic will override his size.
 
Cheddabombs said:
I've asked this on the Devils board but curious as to what some on the main-board have to say. Why the worry that Nico may not be ready for the NHL this season? Is it purely his size? Wanting him to continue to adjust to North American ice in juniors? I mean he's almost 6'2 180lbs, with the whole off-season to add muscle. Smaller players have made the jump to the NHL and have been fine. From all I've seen and read his skill-set is ready for the NHL. He has a fantastic work-ethic that coaches love and that'll help him even if he finds some struggles in his first season.

I just really don't see a reason why he shouldn't be in the NHL barring an awful training camp and pre-season. I think Shero and co feel the same, Shero has said there is a spot for him.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, he was a very good but not dominant Q player, and seemed to burn out down the stretch. I think one more year in junior would be best for him tbh, let him dominate the league and get another year more used to the North American schedule. There's no need to rush him.
 
Cheddabombs said:
I've asked this on the Devils board but curious as to what some on the main-board have to say. Why the worry that Nico may not be ready for the NHL this season? Is it purely his size? Wanting him to continue to adjust to North American ice in juniors? I mean he's almost 6'2 180lbs, with the whole off-season to add muscle. Smaller players have made the jump to the NHL and have been fine. From all I've seen and read his skill-set is ready for the NHL. He has a fantastic work-ethic that coaches love and that'll help him even if he finds some struggles in his first season.

I just really don't see a reason why he shouldn't be in the NHL barring an awful training camp and pre-season. I think Shero and co feel the same, Shero has said there is a spot for him.
Click to expand...

All of what you said is true. However, the question relates more to his ability to handle an 82 game season. I also believe that if he steps in and doesnt light the world on fire, he will get criticism for play relative to other 1st overalls.

I honestly believe that junior is an ok option for him. We all know this is a weaker draft, and that he just has one year of junior experience. You cant just plug a guy into the NHL because he went 1st overall. Look every year how many guys who are taken along slowly end up better than guys that came in at 18 and 19.

Hes a great talent, but many great talents need an extra year of junior
 
Goose of Reason said:
In my opinion, he was a very good but not dominant Q player, and seemed to burn out down the stretch. I think one more year in junior would be best for him tbh, let him dominate the league and get another year more used to the North American schedule. There's no need to rush him.
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leafsfuture said:
All of what you said is true. However, the question relates more to his ability to handle an 82 game season. I also believe that if he steps in and doesnt light the world on fire, he will get criticism for play relative to other 1st overalls.

I honestly believe that junior is an ok option for him. We all know this is a weaker draft, and that he just has one year of junior experience. You cant just plug a guy into the NHL because he went 1st overall. Look every year how many guys who are taken along slowly end up better than guys that came in at 18 and 19.

Hes a great talent, but many great talents need an extra year of junior
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Definitely some fair points and I see the validity of sending him back to juniors. Just looking up his eliteprospect page he played 90+ games this past season, all competitions factored in plus playoffs. And yes his play did dwindle towards the latter half (though didn't he also play through a hand injury?) but he'd also be a year older with more training under his belt. So as far as fatigue setting in for him I wouldn't be too concerned. Mental fatigue is another one, the pressures of being number 1 overall coming to not the best team may weigh on him. But he seems like confident kid with a positive attitude, I think he can handle that without much trouble. Shero and Hynes have also said that while there will be pressure on him simply from where he was selected, they know and everyone knows this was not a McDavid or Matthews draft. That the #1 pick this year isn't going to come into the league and take it by storm. Expectations will be tempered in that regard, at least on management's side. You can't really control what fans think.

There's also the benefit of being in the NHL, surrounded by top of the line staff, facilities and players. Learning from them both on and off the ice can be a huge benefit. Not to knock Halifax, I know they have a tremendous program down there but at the end of the day it's still juniors. What the Devils can offer Nico in terms of ways to grow his game and his off-ice habits is better than what Halifax can. Do all those positives outweigh the negatives that can come from being rushed? I have full faith in the coaches and management to make that call. Training camp and pre-season will be big deciding factors of course.
 
I think he has a great chance at making the nhl this season, but it might not be the best for him. He's a great player and is 6'2 . That is great size, but he lacks upper body weight. A lot of his weight is in his legs, which is good, but he might need to gain more weight to take on the blows in the nhl. In my opinion, he should play his season in the q and move him up to the nhl to get a taste of what its like.
 
Cheddabombs said:
I've asked this on the Devils board but curious as to what some on the main-board have to say. Why the worry that Nico may not be ready for the NHL this season? Is it purely his size? Wanting him to continue to adjust to North American ice in juniors? I mean he's almost 6'2 180lbs, with the whole off-season to add muscle. Smaller players have made the jump to the NHL and have been fine. From all I've seen and read his skill-set is ready for the NHL. He has a fantastic work-ethic that coaches love and that'll help him even if he finds some struggles in his first season.

I just really don't see a reason why he shouldn't be in the NHL barring an awful training camp and pre-season. I think Shero and co feel the same, Shero has said there is a spot for him.
Click to expand...
I don't think he's a guy who should be penciled in for an automatic spot. He could be ready for October, but he didn't look so far above the QMJHL that he's a must add addition to the Devils roster. Teams have tended to be more patient in recent years. Remember, guys like Drouin, Marner, Dubois, and Sam Reinhart have all been sent back in recent years. Dylan Strome has been sent back twice. All were fairly comparable prospects to Hischier.

Cap-wise, you also gain the most if you don't think he's quite ready for sending him back. It makes it more likely that he outperforms his ELC (which he is likely to do anyway).

A strong argument can be made either way. I fully expect him to be on the Devil's next year and I think he'll be a competent NHLer putting up somewhere between 35 and 50 points. I'm not sure if he's ready for the bump and grind at center yet, so I could see him moving between the wing and center most of the year, similar to MacKinnon.

Plus, if he gets Zadina on his wing in Halifax, you could see some ridiculous point totals and a team with Memorial Cup potential despite being quite young.
 
frankthetank91 said:
When was the last time a player picked 1st overall didn't make the team first season?
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Erik Johnson chose to go to College (and therefore couldn't go to camp) in 2006/2007. Both Fluery went back to junior. Dipietro rotated his first 2 years between the Isles and Bridgeport.

It is very rare for a forward picked first overall not to start in the NHL. The last one was Lindros (hold out). Prior to that it was Sundin and Modano in 89 and 88.

Now, in recent years though, we have seen prospects taken 2nd overall who are quite comparable to Nico going back down. This includes Sam Reinhart, Bobby Ryan, D. Sedin, Spezza, Legwand, Heatley, and JVR.
 
I fully expect that he will be on the roster to start the season, but there is no guarantee he stays up past 9 games. We'll see how he looks.
 
leafsfuture said:
Absolutely loved this kid at the World Juniors.

But please, for the love of hockey, do NOT rush him. If he looks anything less than ready to score 40+ points, send him to junior.

It doesnt matter who you are, at 18, going back to junior will not hurt his development.
Click to expand...

I think his agent said juniors is not happening, if he doesn't make the Devils he'll be playing in Bern next season.
 
SubbanForsberg said:
I think this guy will be a bust.
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judging based on his posting history...
Patrick Kane for Sam Reinhart
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Zach Werenski for Alex Galchenyuk, 1st Round Pick 2018, Jacob de la Rose
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Ryan O'Reilly for Noah Juulsen, 1st Round Pick 2018 or Nikita Scherbak, 2nd Round Pick 2019 or 2020
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Claude Giroux for Alex Galchenyuk, Andrew Shaw, Tomas Plekanec
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we can rest COMPLETELY assured that Nico won't be a bust
 
frankthetank91 said:
When was the last time a player picked 1st overall didn't make the team first season?
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Why is this remotely important for the conversation!?!

Send him to Switzerland to play for Bern and let him play against some tougher competition and then they could send him to WJC and when the season is over he could play WC. That would be an ideal way for him to develop other parts of the game while playing a long season.

I don't think it would be a mistake to let him play in NHL but I think he would benefit so much to choose this way. Hope New Jersey management see it the same way
 
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doug88 said:
Why would he play in the SHL when he can play in Bern? Makes no sense at all.
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Perhaps he ment in order to compare him to other elite talent who went the SHL route? NLA is a great league and Bern is a top notch org. Makes more sens to have him develop closer to home.

Fiala went the SWE Jrs / SHL route, however. Not uncommon.
 
I think he'll be with the Devils to start the season. I think management already pretty much expects him to be on the team. So I think the only

thing that would stop him from making the the opening night roster, is if in training camp he absolutely doesn't look ready.

And personally, I think he's ready enough. He'll have some ups and downs, but I don't think they'll be anymore than most rookies. I think he has

enough physical tools, even if slightly under weight, to handle the NHL level and season. I think he has a high hockey IQ and that will help a lot.

The only thing I think that could give him problems is if he gets frozen a bit by being in the NHL for his first training camp and such, and being

under the pressure of a #1OV pick.
 
Couture/Hugent-Hopkins caliber and style of player IMO if he pans out which he probably will.
 
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