NHL Draft Profile: Brandon Wheat Kings F Nolan Patrick

NHL Draft Profile: Brandon Wheat Kings F Nolan Patrick is regarded as the consensus number one pick in 2017. His father (Steve) and uncle (James) are both former players, giving him deep NHL roots/bloodlines.

Set to be held on June 23/24th in Chicago, Illinois, the 2017 NHL Draft will mark the 55th time for the annual event. There isn’t a lot of buzz surrounding this year’s crop of talent, but it doesn’t mean that teams won’t find cornerstone pieces for the future.

To help get fans better acquainted with draft-eligible prospects, we plan to roll out a whack load of draft profiles and numerous mock drafts over the next few months. Make sure to keep us bookmarked for all your NHL draft coverage.

With the NHL’s 31st franchise set to debut, we’ll obviously have one extra pick in each round for a total 217 opposed to 210 from previous years. The Vegas Golden Knights will be given the 3rd highest odds in the Draft Lottery, the same spot Edmonton occupied in 2015-16 before dropping to 4th. Las Vegas will then receive the 3rd pick in each subsequent round.

Nolan Patrick, Brandon (WHL)

Height/Weight: 6’3/200lbs
Position (handedness): C/RW (right)
Date of Birth (mm/dd/yyyy): 09/19/1998
Birthplace: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Bloodlines

As mentioned, Nolan Patrick has NHL bloodlines. His father Steve was a first round (20th overall) pick of the Buffalo Sabres back in 1980. He played a total of 250 games between 1980-81 and 1985-86 with Buffalo, NY Rangers, and Quebec.

His uncle James was a 9th overall selection of the New York Rangers in 1981. James Patrick enjoyed a lengthy NHL career spanning 1280 games. He first made his NHL debut back in 1983-84 and played his final season in 2002-03 (with Buffalo). Since retiring, he stepped behind the bench serving as the Sabres assistant coach between 2006-07 and 2012-13. James followed Lindy Ruff to Dallas in 2013-14 and is now in his 11th season as his right-hand man.

Player Bio/Stats

Scouts have been slobbering over Nolan Patrick ever since he racked up 30 goals (56 points) in 55 games as a 16-year-old. He followed it up with a big 2015-16 scoring 41 goals (102 points) in 72 games. Logic would dictate that Nolan could have easily challenged for the lead in CHL scoring in 2016-17. Unfortunately, he was sidelined after just six games (nine points) with an upper-body injury. His status went from day-to-day, to week-to-week, resulting in his absence from Team Canada at the World Juniors.

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Some people have been wondering how this affects his draft status. Simple answer. It doesn’t. The Montreal Canadiens weren’t shy to use a third overall pick on Alex Galchenyuk after missing most of his draft year. This isn’t the type of player teams will pass on since he projects to be an elite number one center.

That being said, I don’t think we’re looking at a generational type of talent or anything close to that. This isn’t a Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or Steven Stamkos type of talent. He’ll likely be a great player, but he might fall somewhere between the likes of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nathan MacKinnon.

Nolan Patrick excels in all situations. He’s not a flashy player by any means, but does a good job at both ends of the ice. He has an ability to seemingly slow the game down by making tough split decisions look easy. A nice combination of size and superb hockey IQ, Nolan has all the tools to be a number one center in the NHL.

Quotes

via Craig Button (TSN),

“Nolan’s style of play is similar to that of fellow Manitoban Jonathan Toews. He’s skilled, smart and capable of playing and making a difference in all situations of the game. Like Toews, he does it without much flash, but brings significant determination and reliability every time he steps on the ice. “

via NHL Central Scouting’s Peter Sullivan,

“He reminds me of guys like Sam Reinhart (Buffalo Sabres) or Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers) because he’s not flashy, but so good and smart,” NHL Central Scouting’s Peter Sullivan said. “He reads the ice as well as any forward I saw in the WHL (in 2015-16). He’s a scorer and playmaker, because even though he’d rather set you up, he still scored 41 (goals) this year. You want him on the ice in critical situations at the end of a game.”

Next: Vegas Golden Knights Mock Expansion Draft Roundtable

NHL Player Comparison: Jonathan Toews, Sam Reinhart, Leon Draisaitl

If you didn’t get a chance to see our NHL draft coverage in 2015-16, have a look at our final 2016 rankings with seven rounds of player profiles. We plan to roll out a similar format in the New Year with in-depth coverage for June’s draft.

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