Checking in on Red Wings prospect Nate Danielson

Let's look at some video with talk to a reporter that covers Portland.

I originally planned on writing this story over the weekend, but between family events around Mother’s Day and a busy Friday with other stories, this got pushed back to Monday morning.

That delay, however, did allow me to more closely watch Games 1 and 2 of the WHL Final between the Portland Winterhawks and Moose Jaw Warriors, featuring Detroit Red Wings prospect and No. 9 overall pick in 2023 Nate Danielson.

I’ve admitted this before, but I was one of the people that looked at the Danielson pick too harshly when it happened. I wanted a flashier pick in the top 10 and I was overly critical of Detroit buying into his defensive play for an early selection.

Mea culpa.

Danielson started proving me wrong with his showing in the NHL preseason, showing his overall ability in four NHL exhibitions, including a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins that well encapsulated his overall performance.

Wing Wednesday: How Nate Danielson has impressed during preseason

Danielson returned to the WHL and was a point-per-game player with the struggling Brandon Wheat Kings, before getting traded to Portland for a boatload of assets. After the trade Danielson had 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 28 regular season games and has 22 points (16 goals, 6 assists), in 16 playoff games for the Winterhawks.

In the conference final, Danielson dominated against the Prince George Cougars with 11 points in six games. He also drew all the tough assignment and played big minutes throughout the series. In the series clinching game Danielson played 30:13 and scored in a 2-1 overtime victory.

In two games against Moose Jaw the Winterhawks in general have looked overmatched, but Danielson has been a problem for the Warriors. In the third of the game Danielson is on the ice, things have been much smoother for Portland.

We’ll get into some video, but first I wanted to bring in Winterhawks beat writer Joshua Critzer, who covers the team for PNW Hockey Talk and has watched Danielson closely since the trade.

I fired over a couple questions that Critzer happily answered for me.

Q: Did anything stand out to you about Danielson’s game that wasn’t expected before the trade?

The general consensus was Portland was getting a 200-foot player, but I don’t think anyone expected it to this extent. His backchecking tenacity and effectiveness have turned over countless pucks. At the junior level, he is the best passer I’ve seen since Cody Glass. The area passes he makes, along with the tape-to-tape passes through traffic, have forced other teams to essentially double-team him in the offensive zone. Especially in Games 3 and 4 against Prince George, he would beat two defenders with one move or one pass. The first maybe 10-12 games, his passes would land on the tape of his linemates, but they weren’t ready for them because they weren’t expecting the puck. I think his passing and backchecking are already at an NHL level.

Q: From a Portland perspective, what did he bring that team was missing before?

Portland is a deep team but was lacking a “go-to” guy. They have eight or nine forwards who could go off on any night, but usually, each night, it was a different guy. When the team needed a spark, there wasn’t a guy who would regularly put the team on his back, a true game-breaker per se. As deadly as Portland is off the rush, it is how they score a majority of their goals, Danielson’s ability to protect the puck along the boards expanded the cycle game. On the power play, it gave Portland a dual threat as well. Each player, outside of Luca Cagnoni on the point, is almost slotted into a pass-first or shoot-first player. Danielson’s shot demanded respect from the PK, but also opened up passing lanes for the back-door tap-in play they were able to successfully execute after his arrival. I don’t have the exact numbers, but based on the eye test, Portland’s PP was night and day better after Danielson’s arrival.

Q: Based on your interviews with him, anything about the player stand out off the ice?

He is rather quiet, soft-spoken, and sometimes has a lot of cliches in his interviews, but there is always “passion” in his eyes. From the first time I interviewed him, I could tell he was a leader and a pro. It took him maybe two-three weeks, but from there, he became both a vocal leader, but also a “watch my habits” type of leader as well. Danielson also didn’t just gravitate towards the top-end guys on this team, he worked a lot with the younger guys, including the scratches after practice on habits or individual drills. By the end of the year, he was wearing the “A” on his jersey, something Johnston doesn’t normally give out to players acquired at the deadline.

Perhaps the biggest off-the-ice thing with Danielson is how he accepted the role Mike Johnston was asking him to play. He never once, and I’ve asked players who would tell me honestly off the record, complained about not playing on the “top line”. Sure, he gets PP1 and PK1 minutes, but he saw how being on the “second line” would help the team the most. When I spoke with him after Game 6 in Prince George, he said “This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing hockey.” I didn’t watch nearly as many of his games with Brandon. However, when I got word Danielson was the team’s top target at the deadline, I watched a lot of tape. I think his game fits the up-temp style of Portland’s much better than what he had with the Wheat Kings.

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Awesome stuff there from Joshua. Again, follow him on Twitter, read his site, he’s doing a great job covering the WHL Final.

Ok, let’s get into some video.

While Portland lost Game 1, I went out of my way to watch how Danielson moves the puck from zone-to-zone. In the Red Wings long-term build, one of the things they’re lacking is highly-skilled center that can pivot the ice on his own line through transition offense.

Think about that as you watch some of Danielson’s work through the neutral zone in this clip.

(Danielson wears No. 89 for Portland).

In the WHL Danielson can effectively be a one-man moving company, transporting the puck and play from defense to offense.

The other thing about Danielson, and it’s one of the reasons that Connor Bedard called him one of the toughest opponents he faced in junior hockey, is how well he battles for pucks and comes out cleanly with them.

First, let’s look at some puck battles where Danielson (again wearing No. 89) typically comes out on top.

And now let’s look at how Danielson gets away from those battles. There are some clips here that are also in the prior video, but I want you to focus on how frequently Danielson becomes a calming force after a chaotic hockey moment.

To finish this all off, let’s look at some Danielson’s scoring chances recently. Because when you combine this with his other work, you see the makings of a strong No. 2 NHL center.

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Editor’s note: We’ve covered a lot of Dallas Stars stuff in this space recently a natural impact of that team going on a deep playoff run. For a good amount of our Detroit/Red Wings audience, we should have more in the prospect/AHL space coming up.

I should have some more things this week with the AHL playoffs and the looming series between the Grand Rapids Griffins and Milwaukee Admirals.

If there are any specific Wings prospects you want to see video on, let me know in the comments.