Here are some non-potato quality clips.
He scored goals like this before. Maybe it will become one of his signature mooves...
Fast forward to 0:35
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He scored goals like this before. Maybe it will become one of his signature mooves...
Fast forward to 0:35
Missionhockey
Registered User
vtdevils2k
"Lets Go Baby!"
Nico is just amazing and everything the Devils needed and wanted with the number one pick.
He's playing #1C with Taylor Hall, hes fantastic as an 18 year old playing great defense, he's been snake bitten offensively in terms of scoring more goals which will come soon, he's just incredible. Wait until he puts on more weight.
I believe as well he has more offensive moves that he hasn't unleashed yet that he did in juniors. He's already fantastic, and I can't wait to see what he does 3 years from now. Devils finally have the 1C that was desperately needed.
He's playing #1C with Taylor Hall, hes fantastic as an 18 year old playing great defense, he's been snake bitten offensively in terms of scoring more goals which will come soon, he's just incredible. Wait until he puts on more weight.
I believe as well he has more offensive moves that he hasn't unleashed yet that he did in juniors. He's already fantastic, and I can't wait to see what he does 3 years from now. Devils finally have the 1C that was desperately needed.
Emperoreddy
Show Me What You Got!
Points in three straight including two goals. Kid is about to explode
VoidCreature
Before you see the light, you must die.
He's definitely hitting that groove where he knows how much time he has and how to take advantage of it. Tonight's goal was his nicest snipe yet. I expect they'll start coming in bunches for him.
Nico has been fantastic, particularly at even strength. Besides drawing an unreal amount of penalties he's 2nd in ES scoring (1 point behind Barzal).
Not that anyone here has accused him of doing so, but it should be noted that he's drawing these penalties without diving/embellishing. The kid just never stops hustling when he's out there.
Though I will say I think this season will wear him down a bit, he's look exhausted out there at time. It's a demanding schedule, and he'll figure out how to prepare for it in the years to come.
But he's been a real pleasure to watch. He and Hall are something else - I feel like he's really brought the best out in Hall again. He looks absolutely dominant out there with Nico. It probably helps having players that can actually keep up with him I suppose.
Though I will say I think this season will wear him down a bit, he's look exhausted out there at time. It's a demanding schedule, and he'll figure out how to prepare for it in the years to come.
But he's been a real pleasure to watch. He and Hall are something else - I feel like he's really brought the best out in Hall again. He looks absolutely dominant out there with Nico. It probably helps having players that can actually keep up with him I suppose.
RememberTheName
Conductor of the Schmid Bandwagon
There was no doubt in my mind the Devils made the right selection at the Draft. This kid is a stud.
SteveCangialosi123
Registered User
Weak draft meme that so many people parroted seems pretty dumb now. Sensational player. Not being McDavid doesn’t make him a weak first overall.
NJ DevLolz
The Many Saints of Newark
- Sep 30, 2017
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This guy might be the next Bergeron/Kopitar/Toews by the time he's done bulking up. He's that skilled, smart and defensively aware. I'm usually pretty conservative when it comes to projecting prospects, but I see no reason why he can't be a top 10 center in a few years. He's already a borderline 1C at 18 years old with hardly any muscle.
Emperoreddy
Show Me What You Got!
The bulking up meme is being overplayed.
Nico’s problem is more a rookie problem. He hasn’t learned that you don’t have as much time to slip away from an NHL player as opposed to a juniors player. So he doesn’t react in time or correctly and ends up getting splatted.
As he gets more experienced he will adapt. He is actually already adapting if you compare his games now to the beginning of the season. As he makes better, quicker reads he will become more and more elusive. Strength is never going to be his game.
He will grow into his body more but he really shouldn’t put on too much muscle. It will limit his speed and mobility, which is his bread and butter.
Also people act like he is Johnny Hockey small, but he really isn’t.
Nico’s problem is more a rookie problem. He hasn’t learned that you don’t have as much time to slip away from an NHL player as opposed to a juniors player. So he doesn’t react in time or correctly and ends up getting splatted.
As he gets more experienced he will adapt. He is actually already adapting if you compare his games now to the beginning of the season. As he makes better, quicker reads he will become more and more elusive. Strength is never going to be his game.
He will grow into his body more but he really shouldn’t put on too much muscle. It will limit his speed and mobility, which is his bread and butter.
Also people act like he is Johnny Hockey small, but he really isn’t.
Totally disagree about adding muscle. If anything, it will increase his burst speed and explosiveness. Have you ever seen Olympic sprinters?
Cult of Hynes
Hynes is never wrong.
- Nov 9, 2010
- 13,369
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Adding muscle will help him, but you can do strength training with out bulking up too much. So yea, saying he needs to bulk up is getting ridiculous. He just needs to get stronger, which you can do without blowing up like a balloon. There are people saying he needs to add 20-30 lbs of muscle. That is absurd. He is probably around 180 lbs right now. He just needs to add 10 lbs, 15 at the very most, and he will be fine. You don't want him adding too much weight and slowing down and not being as quick. His quickness with his hockey IQ is what makes him dangerous. Slowing him down won't take away his mind for the game, but it will make him less of a threat.
I mean there are quite a few athletes out there in their respective sports that are just as physically taxing as hockey and require just as much strength that are not huge bulked up people.
There are quite a few surfers out there that surf 40-60+ waves that aren't bulked up, but they are able to paddle in extremely strong currents and swim in them as well after a wipe out. Quite a lot of Motocross and Supercross riders aren't exactly huge either, but they are able to ride and control 225-250 lb bikes in the dirt, and sometimes mud, that travel at 60+ MPH and can launch up to 3 stories in the air. They do this all while riding 15-20 laps in Supercross, and riding 2 motos that last 30-minutes along with 2 additional laps in Motocross.
Hall came into the league at 175 and has since got up to around the 200 mark without adding significant bulk and sacrificing speed. Hischier is going to need to get up to about 195 which will help prevent him from getting knocked off the puck easily
I think the weak draft trope came from Mittlestat not managing even one pull-up at the combine
Yes, because this draft is just excelling at the NHL level....... Compare it to where guys were from the last 5 drafts. Even drafts like 2012 had guys doing alright in the NHL in their draft +1. Weak draft doesn't mean that everyone in it is going to be bad. Just that outside of 2012 and arguably 2014 Hischier wouldn't have been drafted before 3, and would have been compared with the 3-5 of that grouping. Of recent center prospects, at a minimum he was viewed as behind McDavid, Matthews, Eichel, and Mackinnon. Guys like Barkov, Drai, Reinhart, Bennett, and Strome were viewed as in the same tier at a minimum. He'll probably be better than most of those guys, but to say people calling this draft weak were misinformed just ignores the recent classes. I mean, the only immediate NHLers are Patrick and Hischier. 2013 had Mackinnon, Barkov, Jones, Monahan, Nicushkin, 2014 just had Ekblad and Pastrnak for a half a year, 2015 has McDavid, Eichel and Hanifin, 2016 had Matthews, Laine and Tkachuk.
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SteveCangialosi123
Registered User
It was repeatedly said that the top of the draft was weak, including whoever was taken first overall. Countless posters saying how this was a bad year to win the lottery. Many even said Nico wasn’t even a sure thing to be NHL ready. All false. I don’t care how many other players from the draft are in the NHL, that’s not what I’m talking about. He’s on pace for a few less points than Matthews had last year, I don’t wanna hear about what arbitrary tier you think he’s in.
Critical13
Fear is the mind-killer.
It's a bad year to win compared to the Mackinnon/Matthews/McDavid/Hall years. That's what people meant, and I don't see this years results changing that so far.
However, Peterssen, Tolvanen, Heiskanen all look like blue chippers as well. Might turn out to be a decent year.
You and I both know that something nuanced like the perceived strength of a draft class becomes a bit of a runaway train with the uninformed hf pundits who latch on to it as some sort of “gotcha” moment for teams that traded a first round pick away or had playoff success and hence a low pick or had a high pick pushed down with the lottery results. The backlash from NJ fans is not to your position but to the stream of comments about Hischier being a poor first choice and a likely mediocre NHLer with limited upside because it’s a weak draft.
HenriquesJawLine
Registered User
- Mar 6, 2009
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VoidCreature
Before you see the light, you must die.
Through 27 games, same number of points as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Clayton Keller, Jeff Skinner, Mats Sundin and Trevor Linden.
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