INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Meet the Prospects, my new series profiling the top players becoming available for selection in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. We will be going over all the important information that you will need to know prior to next summer’s selections, including background stories, individual attributes, and in-game scouting reports. Enjoy!
BIO
Ty Nelson played for his hometown Toronto Jr. Canadiens in the top-tier Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) AAA minor program starting in the 2018-19 season. As a competitor in the U16 division, Nelson posted 14 points (5g9a) in 35 games at the age of 14, giving a small taste of the talent that was yet to come. By the time he began his second year in the GTHL (2019-20) he was the leading scorer among all players at his position (and seventh overall in the entire league) with 65 points (18g47a) in 61 games. Named one of the Jr. Canadiens’ alternate captains that year, he carried a 19-point advantage over the next highest scoring blueliner and was widely considered the most promising young player in the entire league. The North Bay Battalion agreed and made Nelson the first overall pick of the 2020 OHL Priority Selection. Unfortunately, the OHL would delay then cancel its 2020-21 campaign altogether, leaving Nelson with no major junior rookie season and a lost year of development. You would hardly notice based on the way he has performed as a 17-year old rookie this season though, as the North Bay blueliner has been counted on for big minutes at big moments of the game and has thrived with the responsibility. He currently ranks third in scoring among OHL rookies and fifth among all OHL defensemen with 29 points (6g23a) in 36 games.
AWARDS/ACCOLADES – GTHL Defensemen Scoring Champion (2019-20), First Overall Pick – OHL Priority Selection (2020)
ATTRIBUTES
The go-to term you might hear attached to Ty Nelson’s name is “offensive defenseman”. While he certainly is a talented offensive contributor on the back end, there is a lot more to his game that hasn’t gotten the attention it probably deserves. First, let’s start with what really makes Nelson a unique talent: his size. He’s 5’10”, a bit undersized by NHL standards, but weighs 197 lbs. and has significant lower body strength that allows him to play a more rugged, physical style than a defender in his height range would normally employ. That is what separates Ty Nelson from the pack and gives me reason to believe in his big-league potential. He’s an impressive open-ice hitter who shows no fear of throwing himself headfirst into board battles or engaging bigger, stronger opponents behind the net. Many times it is Nelson who initiates contact himself, as he understands that to be an effective defender in his own zone he has to be able to compete (and win) in those areas. He can get caught out of position puck chasing or rushing the puck carrier at times, but that is a common theme among teenaged defense prospects. For the most part he plays an intelligent, structured defensive game and knows how to angle opponents away from the puck or use his quick stick to get into shooting/passing lanes. Though he loves to skate the puck end-to-end on an occasional solo rush, he remains conscientious of his positioning and rarely pinches needlessly.
Nelson is an outstanding skater with elite acceleration and footspeed, which helps him play the two-way puckmoving game he is known for. Not only can he accelerate past opposing defenders in the blink of an eye or maneuver his way through the neutral zone untouched, but if the puck gets turned over while he’s on the attack he has the speed to quickly fly back into position and defend his net. He has great edgework that enables him to walk the blueline with authority and shift his body or skates to elude pressure from opponents and, somehow, he never seems to run out of gas while constantly skating from one end to the other. He can pass the puck at a very high level too, and demonstrates excellent playmaking vision to go along with a pair of soft, skilled and accurate hands. The long-range breakaway pass is something of a specialty of his, which should tell you a little about how truly talented he is at dishing the puck.
Nelson also packs one hell of a blistering shot, putting every square inch of power he has into unloading a quick, lethal snapshot or an absolute bomb of a one-timer slapshot. As he continues to develop and sharpen his technique his shot will almost assuredly become even more devastating. The dual threat passing/shooting skill he possesses makes him an extremely dangerous weapon on the point during man-advantage situations, meaning he has all the tools to be a powerplay quarterback at the next level. He has excelled in that role as an OHL rookie this season and is just getting started.
PROJECTION
Despite being 5’10”, Ty Nelson has the upside of a first or second-pairing defenseman and powerplay specialist, plus the type of player who can be trusted on the penalty kill and last-minute-of-the-game scenarios if need be. The defense position is changing in the NHL, with smaller, more skilled blueliners starting to increase drastically in numbers. That bodes well for Nelson to become a top-flight two-way stud one day.
IN-GAME SCOUTING REPORT
North Bay Battalion vs. Sudbury Wolves (January 22, 2022)
Final Score: North Bay 4 vs. Sudbury 6
Game Stats: 0g1a-1pt, 0 (+/-), 4 SOG
First Period: He’s out on the top defense pair to start the game, and hangs back behind his net to provide support for his defense partner, receives a pass and quickly passes it up to a forward so it can be skated out of the zone. He beats an attacker to a Los puck in the defensive zone and throws it back around his net, then immediately jumps up into the rush and receives a drop pass once he enters the offensive zone. He patiently waits for a lane to open up and then attempts a backhand pass into the middle of the ice, but it gets picked off. He does great work on the second PK unit to get in front of an attempted pass and block it, then throws a big hit that flattens an attacker. He enters the offensive zone and awaits a pass but it’s behind him and an opponent picks it up and heads the other way. Nelson uses his speed to chase him down from behind, then lifts his stick and steals the puck to negate the opportunity against. What a play. It seems like he was on the ice every other shift this period.
Second Period: He consistently hangs back when his teammates head up ice on a rush unless there is a clear lane for him to safely join. The puck gets turned over on one of these rushes, but Nelson is back in the d-zone and does his best to block the shot against. On the top PP unit he skates across the blueline while handling the puck and looking for passing options. He then dishes it down low and heads to the side of the net looking for a pass. He attempts an ill-fated cross-ice pass that is picked off, but he flies back at full speed in time to defend against the 2-on-1. He tries to block the pass but it gets past him and the attackers get a great chance out of it. There’s a sequence where he has a forechecker in his face so he makes a quick move and then banks a perfect pass past him and onto the stick of his teammate. In a later sequence he springs a forward with a pass up ice who then takes it into the zone and scores. A primary assist for Nelson.
Third Period: He gets hauled down 20 seconds into his first shift of the period and draws a penalty. He looks dangerous on the PP, shifting and maneuvering around the zone to avoid checks, and then makes some cross-ice pass attempts that never really connect. Most times it’s because the intended recipient couldn’t handle the speed of his pass. The puck gets turned over and again Nelson is the first one back, and he is able to steal the puck and thwart a chance again. He seals off an opponent’s rush by laying a big hit on him against the boards. Later, under pressure, he sells a behind-the-net pass before swinging the puck around his body to the other side and unexpectedly passing off to a different teammate. Smart play. As a puck is on its way out of the o-zone, Nelson flies into the zone and manages to just keep it in at the blueline. Once he has a handle on it, he rips a wicked shot on goal but it is stopped. With less than 2 minutes left and his team down a goal, he first unloads a cannon one-timer from the point that nearly scores and then gets some time and space to wind up and fire another slapper but it is saved as well. Then, with just over 30 seconds left he makes another ill-advised pass across the ice which is picked off and fired into the empty net to seal the loss for North Bay.
The Draft Report 