I'm actually a really big fan of Draisaitl, and have been since I saw him at the 2013 World Juniors. Wouldn't put him over Reinhart, but I definitely like him more than Bennett (although most would disagree with that).
I don't really see the comparison to Nichushkin though TBH. I guess they're similar in that they're tough to contain 1-on-1 and are bigger bodies, but outside of that, I don't see too many similarities. By far Draisaitl's best attribute is his offensive hockey sense. It's so apparent when you watch him. His vision is pretty remarkable and you can tell he thinks the game very well. By far his weakest attribute is his skating. He's not fast and is not a particularly good skater either. Nichushkin on the other hand is a great skater. I personally don't think his skating is that big of a deal as it can be improved. The biggest asset a prospect can have is hockey sense, and he has a ton of it. He does need to work on his defense though. He kind of reminds me of a poor man's Tavares coming out of junior actually. Tavares was way more of a goal scorer and Draisaitl is more of a playmaker, but they both had big questions about their skating, but were good in 1-on-1 battles and had a better understanding of the offensive side of the game than anyone in their draft class.
Also, it can't be overstated how weak of a team he was on. The quality of his teammates was really poor. Kind of reminds me of Seguin coming out of junior, where he was a one-man show in his draft year.
|