What does a player need to make the NHL?

[gilbert11]

I have always followed football, basketball and baseball more than hockey and have wondered what does a hockey player need to do to make the NHL?

 

Hockey is most similar to baseball in that most players start in the minors and have to work their way up, while football and basketball players that are drafted usually make the team but may not start right away. A common comment from NBA and NFL rookies is they have to adjust to the speed of the game.

 

In baseball, a pitcher usually starts off with wild control and has to learn to pitch rather than throw. A batter may have to adjust to hitting a breaking pitch and/or adjust to the speed and control of major league pitchers.

 

So, what does a hockey forward or defenseman have to work on in the minors? If a forward has a strong shot and good vision, you'd think if he can score goals or is a good puck handler and playmaker, that isn't going to change much with maturity. Is it that the NHL requires its players to be 2-way players and the better scorers don't play much defense in the minors?

 

Also, how does a player like Jonathan Choochoo score 56 goals in a NHL season, never come close to that again and was pretty much no longer an effective player a couple seasons later? What skills for an NHL player erode with age as many consistent scorers seem to all of a sudden not be able to put the puck in the net? Do they lose strength and quickness on their shot or is it skating speed?

[ubkev]

I like this post. I'm still trying to figure out how to answer it. I'm just posting this because I felt you deserved a response. If I come up with anything articulate I'll post again. But I warn you, if articulate is what you're looking for, don't hold your breath.

[darksabre]

It's all about being able to skate in the modern NHL. Maybe ten years ago you could have lumbering clods on your team, but not anymore. You can have no hands or no vision and still make it to the 4th line if you can skate and check.

[3putt]

I disagree with the hands part. I think that is what separates the wannabe NHLer from the guy that makes it. Hands, and I am not limiting it tonscoring touch, but the ability to control the puck at NHL level speed and pace is the biggest difference between those that stick and those that don't.

[ubkev]

It's all about being able to skate in the modern NHL. Maybe ten years ago you could have lumbering clods on your team, but not anymore. You can have no hands or no vision and still make it to the 4th line if you can skate and check.

Yes and no. Tyler Ennis can skate. He's an absolute player. He can skate his balls off. Breathe on him and he's gonna drop to his knees and cough up the puck. He used to have avoidance, but he seems to have lost that.

 

Vision, balance, edge work and handle. I'm pretty sure those are the attributes I value most.

[darksabre]

Yes and no. Tyler Ennis can skate. He's an absolute ###### player. He can skate his balls off. Breathe on him and he's gonna drop to his knees and cough up the puck. He used to have avoidance, but he seems to have lost that.

 

Vision, balance, edge work and handle. I'm pretty sure those are the attributes I value most.

He's in the NHL though, isn't he? If he couldn't skate he wouldn't be here.

[ubkev]

He's in the NHL though, isn't he? If he couldn't skate he wouldn't be here.

True, that was the question, wasn't it. Should he still be though? To me it's a no. He's useless. 26 points in 2 years. That sucks.

[Randall Flagg]

If some genie allowed me to select two hockey attributes to substantially increase instantaneously, I would choose skating and hockey sense. 

[ubkev]

If some genie allowed me to select two hockey attributes to substantially increase instantaneously, I would choose skating and hockey sense.

But then would we bitch that he shoots it into the goalies chest every time? Or that he passes to Kane to shoot it into the goalies chest?

[Randall Flagg]

But then would we bitch that he shoots it into the goalies chest every time? Or that he passes to Kane to shoot it into the goalies chest?

Well if you switch the hockey sense with shooting ability, then the player is Kane, and if you switch the skating with shooting, he's what, Corey Perry? Or maybe more like Ales Kotalik?

 

You get the player with speed and hockey sense to attend a few O'Reilly practices to work on his shot and hands, and boom Connor McJesus

Edited May 30, 2017 by Randall Flagg

[SwampD]

I disagree with the hands part. I think that is what separates the wannabe NHLer from the guy that makes it. Hands, and I am not limiting it tonscoring touch, but the ability to control the puck at NHL level speed and pace is the biggest difference between those that stick and those that don't.

I couldn't agree more. Everyone can skate. It's the guys with hands who are the difference makers.

[Tondas]

But then would we bitch that he shoots it into the goalies chest every time? Or that he passes to Kane to shoot it into the goalies chest?

 

Agree 100%.  Skating, edge work, stride, and ability to recover. I heard someplace that Gretzky could skate a minute shift, sit for 30 seconds, and that his heart rate would be back to resting.  We've all played with a few guys that would never seem to get tired no matter how much they played.  So skating is #1. 

 

The hockey sense part is more difficult to articulate.  Some guys are born with the patience to wait for you to turn away before making a play.  Also, is a natural goal scorer part of "hockey sense".  I played with guys that would score 9 out of 10 times from the same place as I would shoot from and only score once.  They have something innate that makes them a goal scorer.   Not sure that can be taught or learned.  So I agree with most of these posts, your best bet is to be a great skater and work on the rest.  It doesn't always lead to success (e.g. Paul Cyr) but at least he made the show.

[Randall Flagg]

We should make a list of official hockey attributes.

Skating, shooting, passing, hands, vision, hockey sense? Is vision redundant if passing is on the list? What else is there?

[ubkev]

We should make a list of official hockey attributes.

 

Skating, shooting, passing, hands, vision, hockey sense? Is vision redundant if passing is on the list? What else is there?

Vision is not redundant. You can see all the angles and still up the pass. You have to have the hands to sauce that biscuit over an extended stick onto your boys tape for the snipe.

[Randall Flagg]

Skating: Edge-work, backwards skating, agility, acceleration, speed

Shooting: wrister, snapshot, slapshot, backhand, shot-pass (Karlsson >> all), controlling the strength and accuracy of these

Passing: Sauce, forehand passing, backhand passing, again controlling their speed and accuracy

Hands: deking, stickhandling, doing things with the puck in tight and in traffic, Sam's roof job in that 4-0 win against Ottawa this year
Vision: Seeing passing or shooting lanes and being able to create them

Hockey Sense: Knowing where to be and when to be there, knowing what your teammates are doing

Is defensive ability its own attribute or is it an offshoot of hockey sense?

[Tondas]

Skating: Edge-work, backwards skating, agility, acceleration, speed

Shooting: wrister, snapshot, slapshot, backhand, shot-pass (Karlsson >> all), controlling the strength and accuracy of these

Passing: Sauce, forehand passing, backhand passing, again controlling their speed and accuracy

Hands: deking, stickhandling, doing things with the puck in tight and in traffic, Sam's roof job in that 4-0 win against Ottawa this year

Vision: Seeing passing or shooting lanes and being able to create them

Hockey Sense: Knowing where to be and when to be there, knowing what your teammates are doing

Is defensive ability its own attribute or is it an offshoot of hockey sense?

 

Good list.  I would add

 

Intangibles: Grit, determination, courage, toughness, passion, selflessness, teamwork.

[ubkev]

I heard once that Wayne Gretzky's dad once gave him a pen and a pad with the rink on it. He had him draw exactly where the puck traveled at all times. The darkest spots being the places that the puck traveled to the most.

 

He always knew where it was going before it got there and before anyone else even knew anything at all, he already had it in the net.

[pi2000]

All NHL players need to have some minimum level of ability. However, from my own experience, what you need more than anything is luck.

[dudacek]

There is no doubt in my mind the single most important attribute is skating.

An elite skater with nothing else will get an opportunity before a player with everything else who can't skate.

 

This is more a factor than ever in the modern game where coaches focus on pushing the pace to extremes to take away time and space in order to neutralize skill.

 

But if skating gets you in the league, what keeps you there is the ability to execute a given task at a high level: sure that means traditional skills like pass, and score, but more commonly it means less flashy but more regularly used skills like closing the gap, forcing turnovers, protecting the puck, exiting the zone and being in correct position to support your teammates. When you hear a coach talking about details, this is what he is talking about.

 

It is skills like the last five that have kept Justin Bailey from being an NHL regular, and that have made ROR such a coach's favourite.

 

Great topic, by the way.

[CallawaySabres]

Flow, you have to have good flow

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmucWOLnAb4

[Randall Flagg]

All NHL players need to have some minimum level of ability. However, from my own experience, what you need more than anything is luck.

Are you saying that you would have made it with luck that some other guy got?

[ubkev]

All NHL players need to have some minimum level of ability. However, from my own experience, what you need more than anything is luck.

From my own experience, if you are good, you get lucky more often than someone who isn't.

[Doohicksie]

Yes and no. Tyler Ennis can skate. He's an absolute ###### player. He can skate his balls off. Breathe on him and he's gonna drop to his knees and cough up the puck. He used to have avoidance, but he seems to have lost that.

 

Vision, balance, edge work and handle. I'm pretty sure those are the attributes I value most.

 

I just cracked this thread open for the first time (mmmmmm, new thread smell!) and I have to say that I see Ennis differently than a lot of other people here. 

 

Previously he made up for lack of size with speed and maneuverability.  He's a pretty good puck handler.  He has decent finish.  Since coming back from injury though, his skill set has dropped off a bit.  And dropping off a bit, especially when you're smaller than the NHL average, can be lethal to a career. 

 

Having said that, look at a player like Gionta- no giant himself- who played a significant role on the team last season (6th in goals, 6th in assists).  What's the difference?  Gionta was able to evolve his game to accommodate his skill set. 

 

I think Ennis worked to do that this past year, but didn't quite get there.  He seemed to improve in the corners after he came back.  He's small, but he's actually pretty strong.  He needs to learn how to use his leverage to get and maintain possession in the dirty areas.  He needs to learn how to position himself around the net so he can sneak in to finish.  The days of the end-to-end rush are over for him, but if he recognizes that and looks for the give-&-go, he should still be effective offensively.  He'll need to adjust his game to his current skillset.  If he can do that, he'll be productive.  If not..... ugh.

 

(Same goes for Moulson, btw, though with a different bag of skills.)

Vision: Seeing passing or shooting lanes and being able to create them

Hockey Sense: Knowing where to be and when to be there, knowing what your teammates are doing

 

The Venn Diagram for those two has a lot of overlap; one may argue they are the same thing, i.e., knowing where to be and when to be there == creating passing/shooting lanes.

Edited May 30, 2017 by Doohickie

[pi2000]

Are you saying that you would have made it with luck that some other guy got?

 

From my own experience, if you are good, you get lucky more often than someone who isn't.

 

 

As a young player (13-18 years old) you need to be very very talented AND lucky.    You need opportunity, and that opportunity only happens if you happen to know the right people and get necessary breaks to latch onto a program/coach/agent who can get you exposure for the next level.     

 

This could be just missing out on a scholarship, or not making a junior team because a spot wasn't open, or your coach didn't know the right people to get you on the national team etc, etc...   There's a ton that happens off the ice when deciding who gets to move on to the next level of play.... and much of that involves luck....  is there a spot opening up at your position?  injuries?   trades, etc..    So much out of the players control that must fall the just the right way in order to get that opportunity to showcase your abilities.      

 

For each guy in the NHL there are probably hundreds of players who were at equal ability level when they were younger but just didn't get things to fall their way... maybe they suffered injury?  maybe they choose to play for a different team that didn't have success?   maybe the coach just liked the other guy a little better because of some previous relationship?     

 

I feel lucky that I got the opportunity to play in college.   I had a well connected junior coach who knew the right people to get me a look.    There were other kids my age who had ability but didn't have the right connections or didn't make the junior team because of an untimely injury, etc...    I was fortunate.     

[bcsaberks]

All NHL players need to have some minimum level of ability. However, from my own experience, what you need more than anything is luck.

And a good network/name.  Look at Nolan's kid as an example.  I would argue that especially compared to the other major sports, the NHL gives more opportunity to friends of friends of the powerful.