ANDERS NILSSON SELECTED TO TEAM SWEDEN
Will likely back up Markstrom at WJC
Congratulations to Anders and to Ryan Jankowski, Vellu-Pekka Kautonen, Anders Kallur, Sudsie Maharaj and the scouts who selected the goalie with the first pick in the third round in June. Florida stud prospect Jacob Markstrom is the expected No. 1 for Team Sweden, but this is a great honor and experience for Nilsson - who is on our list of the Islanders’ top ten prospects (out any day now!).
29 Responses to “ANDERS NILSSON SELECTED TO TEAM SWEDEN
Will likely back up Markstrom at WJC”
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How about Koskinen for team Finland??
Nice job Anders! Props to Ryan and Garth are well deserved. Many are drafted, few make the NHL. Fewer goalies are drafted, and it looks like they made their picks count.
Now about that top ten list…PETROV! PETROV! PETROV!
Koskinen is too old for WJC…
Nilsson has put up pretty good stats in the Elite league this year.
So our weakest depth position last year is now our strongest in one offseason?
Now the Isles need to draft more D.
AJ- It’s an easy call that Henrik Lundqvist is the teams first choice. I would think they would choose either Johan Hedberg or Jonas Gustavsson to be the backup.
Good for Nilsson for making the WJC. I remember Figren had a very good tourney last year.
CB, What’s the chance that De Haan and Hamonic play for team Canada?
I seem to recall a little belly-aching (no, a LOT of belly-aching) about this pick during the draft, after the draft, and at all times in between.
I said at the time that maybe the pick represented “best value” where Isles were picking.
Now I’m NOT saying this one bit of good news justifies the pick, but I wish people would at least acknowledge that the scouts and GM know way more about these draftees than the armchair draft analysts and that the only true test of drafting prowess is over an extended period to see who hit and who missed.
We need more grit. Great “D” prospects in the pipe, but no next Clark Gillies in sight. Skill only wins when complemented with size.
Petrov looked pretty good in the Super Series. 5 points in 5 games (3g, 2a) and 6 PIM. Of course, as we all know he may never touch the ice in North America, but he is definitely a nice prospect. Some of our college picks are looking good too which is always nice.
Very nice to hear. I’m looking forward to watching the WJC on the NHL Network this year.
#7: de Haan and Hamonic are pretty much locks to make it.
Matt Donovan, Blake Kessel, and Aaron Ness are dark horses for Team USA. I have nothing to substantiate this, but you have to figure that with Anders Lee’s performance in the USHL, he may be somewhere on the radar (a longshot, though, at best).
Petrov is a lock to represent Russia.
Looks like the WJC is gonna be pretty exciting.
CB - Figuring that goalies play to their abiliaties, how much playing time will Nilsson get?
I don’t think De Haan or Hamonic are locks to make Canada. They have three d-men returning and a lot of talented d-men trying out, including Jared Cowen.
de Haan and Hamonic are not locks. de Haan is not having a standout season. Of the two, Hamonic - a year older - may have the better chance…CB
Fornabaio mentioned Klementyev possibly can join the Russian team if Snow allows it. Not too shabby the 2009 draft class
CB - do you know what the deal with Klementyev is? He doesn’t really play often in Bridgeport and he’s eligible to play for London in the OHL. Is it just a case of Snow knowing he’s got some injury prone defenseman and doesn’t want to leave Bridgeport short handed? It doesn’t make much sense not to let him play in the WJC given his lack of playing time in Bridgeport.
CB,
Do you know what’s up with de Haan? Yes, I know that he was hurt in one of the early games and missed some time, but still, you would think that his production would be much better than it has been. Should we be concerned?
And there’s Jiri Niemi for Finland
#9—you dont draft to fit need, you draft talent. talent always has value. drafting for need forces you to accept less talent. you trade surplus talent, aka deal from strength, to fill need.
how is DeHaan not having standout. I believe he leads his team in mins and has Plus Rating. Its not all about offensive stats from dman position. But i see what you are saying CB. A NHL #1 rounder should be head and shoulders above others in junior hockey.
De Haan has no Tavares this year.
I have felt since the draft that Nilsson with time to develop will eventually be a decent goalie and could be our number one in years to come. I think he has more portential than Koskinen, who now has a short list of injuries. But what do i know. It’s time to draft for size and strength on the blueline, of course talent comes first.
Nilsson in the WJC is a nice feather in the cap for the scouting team. The curious thing is that after taking Nilsson in the third Snow signed three goaltenders who could actually play in the NHl… and searched behind a dumpster for top 6 forwards and a veteran D that could play 20+ mins in their tough division games. Just on size and numbers (because I don’t really have a clue) I’d have taken Brayden McNabb based on having ZERO quality defensemen with any size. McNabb looks like he plays a physical game as well, unless he has 140 mins in obstruction penalties.
#12-Almost sure that Kessel is too old.
Minnisota has not been good, which will hurt Ness’s chances.
With all that we gave up for DeHann I would have expected a dominant year.
Lets not start giving credit to Snow quite yet…..should we mention our Top Goalie selection has had hip issues.
I would feel if better if Hamonic cracked the Canadian top 6.
yo, 9…Clark had skills too. Don’t think he was just a goon. Read “The Boss” other teams had to look out for him not only becayse he would hand them thier own adams apple, but when riled up, he turned into a scoring machine.
He was fun to watch.
Chris,
A week ago on HNIC radio Jeff Marek said that de Haan realy stood out as the best player in the game he watched. Sorry forgot who they played but he was really gushing about Garth picking him and how good he was.
Last time I checked only one goalie can play at a time , we have more goalie prospects than d men. What happens when DP is ready for NHl action ?
Really looking forward to your Isles Top Ten prospects list,C.B. Please don’t keep us waiting too long!!!