F Nate Danielson - Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL (2023, 9th, DET)

[Fantomas]

Danielson this, Dvorsky that. At the end of the day, both are pretty meh. Meanwhile look at Gabe Perreault cookin'.

 

[deca guard]

Danielson this, Dvorsky that. At the end of the day, both are pretty meh.

ide say yzerman would have to guess that to be the odds , same with the kasper pick at those places in the draft . so what he did was draft the guys with good size / that play important center position / can skate and be physical at nhl level . so even if they cant become top 6 stars they can become very valuable work horse centers somewhere in the bottom 9 . and when youve got guys like this they dont make 10 mil they make 5 . so you can have two solid middle 6 players , as opposed to having a 1st line star center and 3rd n 4th centers that are super meh . mean while yzermans bottom half centers can be sicked on opponants top centers and shut them down = the yzer'fence

 

[Fantomas]

ide say yzerman would have to guess that to be the odds , same with the kasper pick at those places in the draft . so what he did was draft the guys with good size / that play important center position / can skate and be physical at nhl level . so even if they cant become top 6 stars they can become very valuable work horse centers somewhere in the bottom 9 . and when youve got guys like this they dont make 10 mil they make 5 . so you can have two solid middle 6 players , as opposed to having a 1st line star center and 3rd n 4th centers that are super meh . mean while yzermans bottom half centers can be sicked on opponants top centers and shut them down = the yzer'fence

I hope it works out for you, I really do.

 

[nbwingsfan]

His play has certainly been concerning, which is at least somewhat eliviated by the fact he looked so much better (and produced better) in the pre season against better competition

 

[Hinterland]

Danielson this, Dvorsky that. At the end of the day, both are pretty meh. Meanwhile look at Gabe Perreault cookin'.

Danielson was fantastic in Redwings camp and preseason. He looked NHL ready there. Outplayed many vets. A different front office might have given him a handful of NHL games but that was never gonna happen under Yzerman's watch.

Dvorsky was always a punt where he was picked. High bust potential but also serious upside. If he hits then he's gonna be way more than just another soft, smallish winger.

It's also not uncommon for bigger players to need more development time.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Danielson was fantastic in Redwings camp and preseason. He looked NHL ready there. Outplayed many vets. A different front office might have given him a handful of NHL games but that was never gonna happen under Yzerman's watch.

Dvorsky was always a punt where he was picked. High bust potential but also serious upside. If he hits then he's gonna be way more than just another soft, smallish winger.

It's also not uncommon for bigger players to need more development time.

Dvorsky has skating concerns. Danielson is a pretty high level to elite skater.

And in the NHL world, I think a lot of scouts are of the mentality that if you haven't figured out skating by your draft year, the chances that it's going to drastically improve post-draft are slim to none.

 

[Indrid Cold]

Dvorsky has skating concerns. Danielson is a pretty high level to elite skater.

And in the NHL world, I think a lot of scouts are of the mentality that if you haven't figured out skating by your draft year, the chances that it's going to drastically improve post-draft are slim to none.

This is what I keep thinking. You can teach a lot of things, but you can't teach speed.

 

[Fantomas]

And in the NHL world, I think a lot of scouts are of the mentality that if you haven't figured out skating by your draft year, the chances that it's going to drastically improve post-draft are slim to none.

This is going a bit off-topic, but Jason Robertson's success in the NHL has changed the thinking on this a little. Skating can be improved and some guys have weird growth spurts which affect how well and when their skating develops. What you really can't teach is hockey sense.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

This is going a bit off-topic, but Jason Robertson's success in the NHL has changed the thinking on this a little. Skating can be improved and some guys have weird growth spurts which affect how well and when their skating develops. What you really can't teach is hockey sense.

The weaker your skating, the smarter you need to be. I don't think there is any question about that. Personally I think skating can improve from a mechanical perspective after 18, but pure athleticism will always be a limiting factor and it is very difficult to improve on a relative basis at that age (or any age for that matter).

Danielson will be fine. I have zero doubt that he will be a center after watching him in the preseason, which was the point of taking him where they did.

 

[Hinterland]

Dvorsky has skating concerns. Danielson is a pretty high level to elite skater.

And in the NHL world, I think a lot of scouts are of the mentality that if you haven't figured out skating by your draft year, the chances that it's going to drastically improve post-draft are slim to none.

You don't need to convince me that Dvorsky is a bad skater and was drafted too early. I wrote that myself many times.

However, Dvorsky's upside is easy to see as well and the Blues just took a punt. Plenty of poor skaters had an impact at NHL level. Think of Joe Pavelski for example.

 

[Hale The Villain]

This is what I keep thinking. You can teach a lot of things, but you can't teach speed.

Skating is one of the easiest attributes to "teach".

Hockey sense and talent, by comparison, are much harder to improve.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

Skating is one of the easiest attributes to "teach".

Hockey sense and talent, by comparison, are much harder to improve.

That is correct. However the nuances of skating should be looked at in terms of, for example, if the feet catch up to the hands or not. Some players are uber-skilled but slow and can only light up the AHL/KHL at best because their skating lacks dynamic elements of separation/agility that's required to be successful in the NHL.

If Danielson plays/skates fast, can change pace, and has the brain and hands to match (which imo he really does) then he will be a successful player. The question is just a matter of how good he can become.

 

[Hale The Villain]

That is correct. However the nuances of skating should be looked at in terms of, for example, if the feet catch up to the hands or not. Some players are uber-skilled but slow and can only light up the AHL/KHL at best because their skating lacks dynamic elements of separation/agility that's required to be successful in the NHL.

If Danielson plays/skates fast, can change pace, and has the brain and hands to match (which imo he really does) then he will be a successful player. The question is just a matter of how good he can become.

There's nothing to worry about with Danielson's skating and hands, but I do think his IQ doesn't quite match his tools and it's part of what is driving his underwhelming production at the WHL level.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

There's nothing to worry about with Danielson's skating and hands, but I do think his IQ doesn't quite match his tools and it's part of what is driving his underwhelming production at the WHL level.

I do like his understanding of the game elsewhere on the ice as he showed nicely in preseason, so offensively applying his IQ may need some time to come around to be more consistent overall and not just a middle 6er.

However I think he's pretty underrated in the offensive zone and good at manipulating plays in his favour. Just not consistently dominant yet but I'm optimistic he will put that together. He seems to get the game and will figure it out eventually in that sense.

Added context too that it doesn't help Brandon lacks good puck moving D and scoring forwards. He spent a lot of last year creating slam dunk chances that his guys couldn't convert on. This year he's been playing with McQueen on his wing the last handful or so games and it's been helping him get going in terms of not forcing plays as much. Team is not going to run well through two good WHLers no matter who you are. Hope he gets traded.

 

[Sticktape]

I saw everything I needed to see from Danielson during the preseason. Maybe I'm in the minority but there's almost nothing he could do this season to make me worried.

 

[Nipsey]

Cody Glass also looked great in preseason. 5-6 sample size of games where teams aren’t playing at 100% of their ability. Danielson was one of the oldest players of his draft class and had mediocre production. Now isn’t even PPG in his draft plus one, is very concerning. He should be lighting that league up, close to 2.00 PPG or better for where he was drafted and his age. With that said I think he’ll still be a low end 2C who puts up 55ish points and is solid defensively. You just hope for more out of a top 10 pick in a stacked draft especially with how bad Kasper is looking right now.

 

[TLEH]

I saw everything I needed to see from Danielson during the preseason. Maybe I'm in the minority but there's almost nothing he could do this season to make me worried.

He had a great pre season but I’m not sure why a 4-5 game sample size would make you that certain of anything.

 

[Indrid Cold]

Skating is one of the easiest attributes to "teach".

Hockey sense and talent, by comparison, are much harder to improve.

Skating is, but foot speed isn't. I guess my analogy applies far more to football.

 

[Fatass]

Cody Glass also looked great in preseason. 5-6 sample size of games where teams aren’t playing at 100% of their ability. Danielson was one of the oldest players of his draft class and had mediocre production. Now isn’t even PPG in his draft plus one, is very concerning. He should be lighting that league up, close to 2.00 PPG or better for where he was drafted and his age. With that said I think he’ll still be a low end 2C who puts up 55ish points and is solid defensively. You just hope for more out of a top 10 pick in a stacked draft especially with how bad Kasper is looking right now.

Yup. Cody Glass is a good comparable at this point.

 

[deca guard]

LETHAL WRISTER FOR HIS 5TH

https://x.com/TheWHL/status/1728605221193138463?s=20

 

[AintLifeGrand]

Yup. Cody Glass is a good comparable at this point.

that aint great- that baw has like 1 pt all season - hes a waste of space on the preds roster

 

[Ezekial]

Yup. Cody Glass is a good comparable at this point.

Is it?

Because they both played in the WHL or something? Because Cody Glass isn't a good NHLer?

I mean kind of a weird comparison, Cody Glass had 102 points in his D+1 on a playoff team in Portland and was 7th in scoring in the WHL

 

[AintLifeGrand]

at this pt Cody Glass is a fringe nhl player

 

[Ezekial]

at this pt Cody Glass is a fringe nhl player

Cool


Still don't see how it makes him comparable to Nate Danielson other than they both played in the WHL and were considered 2 way players.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

i didnt make that original comparison my baw