Will Nico Hischier replace the Matterhorn as the regional figurehead? #NHL #QMJHL #HalifaxMooseheads #NHL-Draft

Source: Thomas Roost Published: 03 December 2016 - 3:04 pm

The Matterhorn is one of the most beautiful mountains on this planet and that’s why the region where Nico Hischier grew up is rather famous and well known. This region, the canton of Valais, is known for a hard to understand dialect, tasty Raclette-cheese, and high-end white wine. And let’s not forget: they always “produce” world-class skiers such as Olympic Champion and World Champion Pirmin Zurbriggen. I guess there is a good chance that this canton will soon have another great “export,” another great poster-boy for their region: Nico Hischier, from Naters, Valais, Switzerland.

Approximately five years ago, I attended a regional U14-tournament in Romanshorn. This is a provincial place in the eastern part of Switzerland. Nico Hischier played there and was about twelve years old at that time, competing with players one or two years older and two heads taller than him. In this tournament, something happened which had never happened before or happened again afterward. After just 15 minutes of watching this young stud play, I sent a text to my then scouting client SC Bern and told them to try and get this guy, Nico Hischier, immediately. I wrote the text in CAPITALS and with many exclamation marks!!!! This little story is astonishing because I usually need about five games before I really dare to present a confident statement about a player. Not so with Nico Hischier: At the tender age of twelve, he already controlled the game like a professional, dished out passes and smart plays. Something I had never seen before in a player that young. His way of playing just blew me away.

In the next years, I followed Nico’s career pretty closely and the more I dug into this, the more I was impressed. He grew up in a small, picturesque place in the Valais, close to the famous mountain Matterhorn. I found out that he had won some sort of mountain-race-half-marathon-thing running up or around in the Matterhorn-area and he had been –by far– the fastest. He was also good at football and all kind of sports.

His father calls me here and there and always asks very smart questions. His father, an insurance specialist, used to be a soccer coach and his mother is a PE teacher. Both parents are very smart, polite, and down to earth. Nico’s older brother, Luca, is a pro, playing with the SC Bern and is on the verge of becoming a really good player in our league.

He is still one of the most important role-models for his younger brother. Talking with the coaches who have worked with him, I always hear that Nico is so smart and immediately understands even the most complex exercise and does it correctly. He is a fast learner. Former NHL players playing for SC Bern (Kobasew, Ebbett, Conacher) were immediately impressed when they practiced with Nico.

And again and again, I dug deeper, tried to find negatives or question marks here and there…. and didn’t find any. Nico’s mentality is state of the art at this point. He shows confidence and humility at the same time; he is a keen learner and wants to understand the complete, the perfect game. Not only the flashy, point-producing aspects but he also wants to know what to do without the puck. His work ethic and habits on and off the ice are already as good as they can be.

What kind of player is Nico Hischier?

He is already an almost complete package. Nico Hischier impresses me in different respects. He is the opposite of a one-dimensional player. He takes pride in the defensive aspect of the game. He is already really good in the face-off circle and seems to love learning this part of the game as well. His best asset is probably his understanding of the game, his off the chart vision – he finds passing lanes that other players simply don't find. His decisions are usually smart and clever; his positioning is already the one of an experienced pro. Nico is very competitive, plays with heart and underrated grit; he is a smart puck-mover, a quick shot release is already there, and his body-play is also pretty impressive. Although slightly built, he is not afraid to go to the dirty areas at all; he definitely plays “bigger” than his size.

Hischier is a player who always wants the puck, he is very proactive, the opposite of a pure reaction-player. If he has the puck, almost always something happens. His skating is most impressive. He skates in different gears and he also seems to have this extra gear that just a few players have. But what really separates him in the skating area is – once again – his smarts.

Nico Hischier uses his skating skills in a smart way; he is not like a one-dimensional speedster that always and in every situation wants to impress you with his north-south-speed. Nico is a selective skater and, choosing his ways wisely (he doesn’t only go north-south but also east-west). But he is also a sneaky, patient, unpredictable skater: he changes gears when nobody thinks he would and he does it without the puck as well to close gaps. I guess that pro-players agree with me that it is most difficult to play against players with unpredictable skating and Nico is exactly such a player.

What is still missing?

Of course, he still has to work on everything: he still has to improve his shooting, although it’s already on a decent to good level. But, mainly, he has to gain muscle mass and weight, but not too much and not too fast. He has to do it smart and with patience and I have no doubt at all that he will do this. This current lack of strength just shows that he still has room to develop. He still has room to grow, unlike players with already fully grown bodies that dominate games because they are bigger and stronger than others.

Player-comparison:

I really don’t know. I have read some experts comparing him with Joe Sakic, Jonathan Toews, or Henrik Zetterberg. Whatever... I just think he will develop into a high-end two-way centerman with the potential of becoming an NHL-franchise-player.

In the end, my bold predictions:

Nico Hischier will be the best Swiss player ever. He will be the highest Swiss draft pick ever (For this, he needs to get picked in the top four). He will be picked in the top five of the NHL-draft and this means he is meant to become a so-called franchise player, a player around which you build your team. And if I were an NHL-GM, nothing would make me happier than building a team around a player like Nico Hischier. In addition, I predict that Nico Hischier will be the most important centerman for Switzerland at the 2018 Olympics already! And no, Nico Hischier will not replace the Matterhorn and become the Valais' new poster child. I won’t go that far ;-)

And a little disclaimer: Yes, I know very well that prospect scouting is a tricky business and that there is this boring truth: Nobody can tell what will happen with this or that player in future. It’s just a guessing game so all predictions are always on very thin ice. But don’t forget, we (writers, scouts, coaches, players, team managers, readers, fans, analysts , critics, and so on) are all in the same boat called “Hockey” and this boat is part of the entertainment business. It’s not really entertaining if I tell you that Nico Hischier might become a great player and that everything also depends on various and foremost uncontrollable factors. This is probably the truth but it’s not entertaining. Predicting nothing is not entertaining. I guess we all enjoy it much more when I predict that Nico Hischier will be the best Swiss hockey player ever. All hockey observers who think that they really “know” hockey are already waiting eagerly to prove me wrong and I give them the chance to do so. ;-)

PS: You can also follow me on twitter: @thomasroost