Nico Pearce Junior Review

[Spartan 4,531]

 

Nico Pearce - LW

6'2 | 180 lbs | 21 y/o | Thessaloniki, Greece

 

Nico Pearce is finally approaching his first professional hockey draft, and surprisingly, there's a decent amount of drama and confusion about how it'll all go down. According to VHL/E/M staffers, all three leagues are likely to hold their drafts from Friday, September 17th and Sunday, September 19th, making it very soon. However, Nico still does not know whether he'll be playing in the VHLM next season, or if he will bypass the developmental league in an effort to face more staunch competition in the VHLE. He doesn't have the prerequisite experience to participate in the VHLE, but a decision is expected to come from the league offices by Sunday night if the young Greek will be allowed to participate in the inaugural VHLE season. However, scouts had the following scouting report for Nico:

 

Strengths:

 

Shot: The formerly undersized winger certainly understood that his ticket to success came from his offensive capabilities, as the 6'2 winger has developed a nasty wrist shot and an above-average slap shot that makes him a lethal sniper.

 

Puck Handling: As mentioned earlier, Pearce developed strong puck skills due to a lack of size in college and has very soft hands for his size, allowing him to maneuver through a crowd with relative ease. He finds ways to get past defenders with clever stick handling and can use his hands to keep the puck away from defenders as well.

 

IQ: Pearce generally finds his way into the right spot on the ice and his positioning is quite decent, both offensively and defensively. He finds ways to pressure opponents when in his own zone and avoids taking penalties due to a lack of an overly aggressive style.

 

Weaknesses:

 

Speed: A forward growing into his body causes issues with speed. Pearce still hasn't fully adjusted to his new size, and his stride seems off. While he has good IQ to anticipate plays and to get into the right spot, he's easily beaten by defenders and doesn't have elite speed yet. 

 

Strength: Similarly to his issues with speed, Pearce hasn't grown into his lanky frame and still lacks muscle. He's outmuscled by defenders and struggles to play any kind of physical game, which does have the side benefit of less penalties.

[Viper 530]

god its weird seeing you write as someone other than letang

[Spartan 4,531]

20 minutes ago, Viper said:

god its weird seeing you write as someone other than letang

Still hasn't really sunk in that Letang is done, especially with the season he just had and still chatting in LA. He frustrated me every season and made me want to retire early up until the last  one, and it was worth it tbh. Hopefully Nico won't take as long to get good lol.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Spartan

[Viper 530]

4 minutes ago, Spartan said:

Still hasn't really sunk in that Letang is done, especially with the season he just had and still chatting in LA. He frustrated me every season and made me want to retire early up until the last  one, and it was worth it tbh. Hopefully Nico won't take as long to get good lol.

I still remember when I rai- ok partly raised that guy in Vegas.