Noah Dower Nilsson

Neutral Zone NHL’s Ian Moran, March 13, 2023: Dower Nilsson is a creative offensive presence. He may have incredible confidence in his 1on1 skills and play making abilities, but the thing that stands out to me is attitude after a defender plays stick on puck and knocks the puck out of his control he is a man on a mission to get it back. In those situations he slams on the breaks, competes to get the thing back and if the puck is already heading the other way in quick transition Dower Nilsson moves his feet to compete into the defensive zone. Offensively he can flat out make plays and can score goals. During age appropriate U18 hockey in the J18 he had 18 points in 7 games, so he got the call to move up to the J20 and he responded with 26 goals in 36 games and 54 points. To put Dower Nilsson’s 54 J20 points in perspective Joel Ratkovic Berndtsson is a 2003 birth year who was a 7th round NHL draft pick in 2022, they are roughly the same same size and he has 28 points in 33 games played. Obviously it is not an exact comparison, but it gives you an idea about his creativity and play making abilities when he’s playing with confidence and in a system he’s comfortable with. I also like how he battles and competes in front of the other team’s net when he has an opportunity to score. So far this year he’s got 26 goals from inside of the house with 15 of those coming from within feet of the crease. Those goals are a combination of his grime, skill and quick game processing. Dower Nilssson also moves his feet through contact and knows how to draw penalties. Over the past two seasons he’s drawn 84 power plays for his team. There are some things to be aware of though and that starts off with his offensive production with Team Sweden. As a U17 he was a real offensive catalyst with 12 points in 9 games played, but this year during international U18 competition he has 7 points in 12 games to go along with 4 points in 5 games at the Hlinka-Gretzky. Obviously he’s still putting up points, but his production is down and he is still getting valuable power play minutes. And a thing that’s big to me is winning 50/50 puck battles. As of today he’s winning 46% of his 50’s puck battles. That’s right around 50% and we know the number isn’t an exact science, but it’s certainly and indicator of strength and last season while playing primarily J18 hockey he won 51% of his 50/50’s so I’d certainly feel better about this if his number was 56% thus year. Right now we have him as a “B+” for 2023. There’s no doubt he’s creative and can make plays, but he’s going to have to gain considerable strength to win battles in the NHL and I’m a tad bit concerned that even though he can skate and is quick he as not really been used as a penalty killer IN International competition.

U18: 5 Nation Tournament, November 8-14, 2022: Noah Dower Nilsson has good offensive instincts, especially in the offensive zone. Elusive with his body escaping from opposition in his corner battles. Difficult to handle 1 on 1 as he can shift direction quickly. Showed persistence in his puck battles in the offensive zone. Helped create offensive chances for his team. (Scout: Greg Puhalski)