Candice Ward/Hitmen Photography

2018 NHL Draft profiles: Tristen Nielsen

Spending the formative years of his youth in Fort St. John, B.C., the only barrier Calgary Hitmen left winger Tristen Nielsen had to break down was a sheet of plywood produced locally at the Peace Valley OSB plant.

Once hockey season ended and summer arrived — where average daily high was a shade over 20 degrees Celsius — Nielsen’s father slapped a piece of plywood to the net in the drive way.

The task was simple: shoot at it until you break on through to the other side.

The plywood didn’t last long, as Nielsen developed a blistering wrist shot that carried him from the upper northeast corner of B.C. to Calgary, where he attended the Edge School in Grade 8. It’s also where he honed his shot and his skills, turning him into a Western Hockey League prospect.

Now in his second full season with the Hitmen, Nielsen’s wrister is heating up and scouts from the National Hockey League have noticed.

On Oct. 3, NHL Central Scouting issued its preliminary ‘Players to Watch’ list for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. The list featured 27 WHL players. One of which, was Nielsen.

“It was a huge honour for me and my family to be put on that list,” said Nielsen. “When you watch the NHL and you see the guys that have made it after being part of that list at some point, it becomes a pretty phenomenal feeling.”

Of the 27 WHL players named in that list, Nielsen was one of 21 players to be tagged with a letter C grade. Seven months away from the draft, the C grade implies that if the draft were to take place next week, the scouts that have seen him play have him landing anywhere from the fourth round to the later stages of the draft.

“He was identified because of his skills, skating and hockey sense,” said NHL Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr.

Those skills that got him noticed started to display in the second half of last season with the Hitmen. After not finding the back of the net in 2016, Nielsen scored his first goal of the season midway through the second period Feb. 3, as the Hitmen fell in overtime 4-3 to the Vancouver Giants at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Perhaps his biggest breakout moment thus far came when he played for Team Canada White during the World U17 Hockey Challenge. In six games, he supplied four goals, as Team White went 2-2 through the round robin, dropping the bronze medal game to Russia, 6-1.

In the remaining 19 games, he scored twice more, finishing with seven points in 49 games.

This was following a prolific and productive bantam career, where he captained the Edge School Bantam Prep Mountaineers, racking up 59 goals and 97 points in 52 games in 2014-15. It was that kind of production that led the Hitmen to select him with the 20th overall pick in the spring Bantam Draft.

Nielsen has always had a knack for putting the puck in the back of the net. Returning to Edge for one final year, this time with the midget prep program, Nielsen netter 13 goals and four assists in 16 games.

That’s the type of player Nielsen has always been — shoot first, ask questions later — and it’s the type of player that is beginning to surface after an offseason spent retooling his game.

It was a back-to-the-drawing board scenario for Nielsen. Coming off his first WHL season, he wanted more. He treated himself to four off days following the Hitmen’s first-round exit to the Regina Pats before getting back to work. Shooting for over and hour per day, often as he could, he spent his summer at the Edge shooting range, ripping pucks. If he couldn’t make it to the range, he would take a bucket of pucks to a nearby outdoor rink and shoot until his wrists wouldn’t let him.

Nielsen always had the athletic ability. He just needed to bulk up.

“I remember his shadow day like it was yesterday,” recalled Bantam Prep Head Coach Ross McCain. “He showed up with the rest of the 2000-born players and won most of our tests. He has always been one of the hardest workers off the ice and he always wants to get better.”

Inside the weight room, he packed on muscle while working out with Sean Hope-Ross, the Hitmen strength and condition coach. There, he was able to gain the mass needed to stay on his feet longer, win battles and help drive to the goal scoring spots on the ice.

“I’ve been small all my life. Where I try and make up for that is with my physicality. I’m a lot thicker this year so I can play a more physical game,” said the 5-foot-10 Nielsen.

Entering his 17-year-old season with the Hitmen, Nielsen looked prepared to carry a bigger role with the Hitmen, a club that finished 17th in goals for.

In his first action of the pre-season, he bagged a pair of goals, including the winner with time winding down in the third on a two-on-one with Beck Malenstyn against the Edmonton Oil Kings Sept. 8 at WinSport Arena.

The shot that he spent hours refining all summer looked like it arrived.

Things took a different turn once the lights of the regular season turned on. Skating in four games before the Central Scouting list was released, he had only recorded one assist. From there, he went through a stretch of seven games before his name found the score sheet again.

“Confidence doesn’t happen overnight. He has a year in the league now and has been in most of the situations on the ice, so he knows what to expect,” said Hitmen Assistant Coach Trent Cassan.

Using his new 181-pound frame, Nielsen muscled his way to the front of the net against the Red Deer Rebels Oct. 20, to bang first of the season on a rebound from Jake Bean’s blue line blast.

At home two nights later to host the Prince George Cougars, Nielsen turned in his best effort of the season.

“I think I’m just shooting the puck a little bit more. Earlier this year, I was looking to pass too much — I think. I need to make more opportunities to shoot more; they aren’t going to go in if I don’t shoot them,” said Nielsen.

In the first period against the Cougars, Nielsen received a pass from Bean at the top of the slot. He unleashed a heavy wrister at 16-year-old standout goaltender Taylor Gauthier — who would go onto have one heck night — hitting him in the glove. Gauthier was unable to squeeze it, as the puck bounced up and over the netminder, dribbling across the line for his second goal in as many games.

“Nielsen is coming along. He’s extremely committed to his game and I like that about him,” said Hitmen Head Coach Dallas Ferguson following the 2-1 shootout win over the Cougars. “He’s always asking us how to get better and that’s the kind of kids we like to coach.”

When his shots weren’t falling this season, he was still productive for the Hitmen. Unlike his favourite player Alexander Ovechkin, Nielsen thrives with the Hitmen’s No. 1 ranked penalty kill.

Nielsen was in attack mode on the penalty kill late in the first against the Cougars. He was deep on the forecheck when he forced the turnover behind the net. Skating to the wall, he flipped a backhanded saucer pass that floated over a pair of Cougar sticks onto Mark Kastelic’s tape, but he fired wide.

“He’s been doing really well on the penalty kill for us. He is a great skater and can create havoc up the ice. He has an active stick, reads angles well, isn’t afraid to block a shot and puts pressure on the opposing puck handler,” said Cassan.

His strong play on the penalty kill has earned him ice time in other facets of the game, such as the second power play unit.

Being juggled in line combinations is something that has happened to the young sniper so far this season. Through 13 games, he has already played with eight different linemates — 75 per cent of the group of forwards — and has been shuffled up and down the lineup.

Early in the year, he started on the third line with Jake Kryski and Hunter Campbell. Ferguson eventually bumped him up to the top line alongside Matteo Gennaro and Jakob Stukel. At that point in time, the Hitmen were at their lowest point of the season, having lost five straight. Since then, Nielsen has been skirted back down to the third line, where he has played with Mark Kastelic, Andrei Grishakov and occasionally, Andrew Fyten.

“He’s pretty good to play on a line with. Personally, I liked playing with him because we both like to get the puck and head north with it as fast as we can,” said Fyten, who is playing his third season with the Hitmen. “Things weren’t going his way earlier on; he wasn’t getting the bounces and pucks weren’t going in. Now, things are changing, he’s getting a couple bounces to help him out and he looks like he’s turning it on.”

Now that he has a taste of success, the trouble is going to be duplicating it. One game-winning goal in the pre-season and a first-star selection in an October game won’t make NHL general managers antsy to draft the B.C. product. But a season of consistency just might.

“I’ve read the reports about him and heard about the flashes of talent. Now, he needs to be consistent at it,” said Marr. “When scouts go to the game, they want to see him pop off the ice, utilizing his skills and assets.”

Getting drafted would be a dream come true. But he isn’t focused on putting on the jersey of an NHL club just yet. There is still a lot of work to be done from now until then. Judging by how Nielsen has reached this point of his career, the biggest tool he posses is the drive to get better.

“I just have to keep focus on trying my best in every situation, whether it’s in practice, a game or just a maintenance skate. I have to try my hardest everyday and take no shifts off,” said Nielsen. “I have to get better everyday if I want to get to the next level.”

For Nielsen to get to the next level, he is going to have to break down the barriers of the pro hockey world, ones that are much tougher than any piece of ¾ inch thick piece of plywood.