Rookie Profile: Aron Nielsen [1/2]

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ROOKIE PROFILE: ARON NIELSEN

Position: Defenseman
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 205 lbs.
Shoots: Right
Age: 19
Hometown: Tórshavn, Faroe Islands

 

The Faroe Islands aren’t particularly well known, especially not for producing hockey players.  Aron Nielsen has a chance at changing that perception.  Born in Tórshavn, the capital of archipelago, Nielsen grew up in a place that traditionally didn’t play much hockey.  But he would still skate often, and when his family moved to Denmark he quickly latched on to the sport.  Since then, Nielsen has played and impressed in Denmark’s highest league, the Metal Ligaen, for two seasons now with Aalborg Pirates.  He was still a relative unknown on the global stage - until he signed with the VHLM’s Ottawa Lynx at the trade deadline during Season 64.  The young defenseman got some playing time during the season, but still has yet to show all of his abilities.  The following a more detailed scouting report, based on his career both in Denmark and the VHLM.

 

Pros
Skating: Nielsen’s greatest strength is his natural skating ability.  He’s quick, agile, and in general a very smooth skater, which makes him a very useful player on a team - he can recover well from bad positioning, move well on the blue line, and skate well with the puck.  It makes him a true threat offensively, which can set him apart from other defenseman, and able to comfortably go up against quick, agile forwards.  The question, however, will be if he can develop his puck handling more in order to be a truly effective puck-mover.

 

Scoring: Nielsen has a venomous slapshot that he tends to use quite well, which makes for an important weapon on the powerplay.  He’s great at getting into scoring positions in a way that not only results in goals for himself but also for his teammates.  Combined with his top-level skating, coaches have at times attempted to play him at forward.  He’s shown that he could hold his own if needed in the position, but has looked far better and far more comfortable on the blue line, where his goalscoring ability proves to far more effective.

 

Defense: Part of what makes Nielsen such a unique and interesting prospect, despite how raw he is, is his defensive ability.  He shows great defensive instincts, and given the right amount of time and coaching could blossom into a great two-way defenseman.  There were flashes of brilliance, particularly with his stick, during his most recent season with Aalborg.  But more questions may be asked when he has to go up against higher-level opposition and may not be able to rely on his skating ability.

 

Cons
Strength/Checking: Nielsen has a decent frame, but still isn’t particularly strong.  He tends to shy away from contact at times, and can get muscled off the puck quite easily.  Physically, he might not be in the kind of shape that a VHL team would want him to be in in order to play regularly, so building upper body and core strength could very well be a focus for his future coaches.  Nielsen won’t need to have top-level strength, but he’ll at least have to be able to hold his own.  His tendency to shy away from physical contact can also make it easier for forwards to get by him on defense as he’ll be very hesitant to use his body.  This can also be worked around, should he be paired with a more physical defenseman or develop a better ability to stick check and poke check.  But early on in his career, Nielsen’s lack of physicality will be something that opponents work to exploit quite a bit.

 

Puck Handling: This is something that comes with a caveat, as Nielsen has demonstrated in the past that he has decent hands already, and ability with the puck seems to be something he’s working on.  But based on his current, offensive-based skill set, Nielsen’s puck handling will still need to be much better if he wants to develop into a better puck carrier and a more potent offensive threat.  He may have the skating ability, but he has a tendency to look nervous or unsure with the puck at times and will need to improve. 

 

Passing: This might come as a surprise based on his other strengths.  One glaring hole in Nielsen’s game is his relative lack of passing ability.  He can make a decent pass from time to time, but when it comes to the offensive end of the ice Nielsen leaves a lot to be desired.  Given his penchant for playing more offensively, teams will likely want him to play as a play quarterback - which requires much improved passing ability.  Nielsen has raw offensive ability and instincts, he just needs to develop the passing skills to match.

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I would like to have seen some stats to go along with the profile. But you filled out the pros and cons well.

 

Score 5/6