I was initially planning on skipping over Nystrom for this series, only because I dont find anything particularly interesting about him. Of all the Flames prospects still growing into their big boy
Nystrom was a jeans model draft pick. He has a nice skating stride, plays the game in earnest and isn't afraid of the physical play. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, he has decent pedigree. Name recognition can go a long way in horse breeding, politics and, sometimes, hockey drafts.
Nystrom's results certainly don't match his draft position - never have. He was picked 10th overall by the Flames back in 2002, after an okay rookie campaign for the University of Michigan (18-12-30). Unfortunately, he would never go on to replicate those results through the next three years in NCAA, scoring 15, 10 and 13 goals consecutively. After college, Nystrom turned pro where he continued to be little more than mediocre. Although hampered by a nagging shoulder injury, Nystrom managed to play in 108 games over parts of 3 seasons, scoring just 21 goals and 42 points. That's less than 20 year-old, former third-round selection Dustin Boyd managed in 60 some games during his rookie year.
The persistent claim about Nystrom is that he excels in the defensive aspects of the game, therefore counting stats in the lower leagues aren't indicative of his play. Except Nystrom was never a plus player during his AHL time either (cumulative -5). David Van Der Gulik, for comparisons sake, who is described as the farm teams top penalty killer and shut-down guy, was a +27 in his rookie year (06/07). That was best on the team by a country mile and 4th best in the entire league. His peers in that regard were Zenon Konopka (+25), Andrei Kostitsyn (+24) and Dave Steckel (+28). Of the 4, only Van Der Gulik was a rookie. He also scored 16 goals and 43 points that same year.
Get my drift? Nystrom has never been at the head of the class in any regard. What's more, there has never been any real progression in his game. He was ordinary in NCAA. He was ordinary in the AHL. His rookie year for the parent club was pretty much a disaster, despite the fact he was already 25 years-old. There's no upward trend to give one hope of a break-out.
Anyways, here's his advanced stats:
ESP/60: 1.43 (number grossly inflated by the last game of the season in which he managed 4 points against a Vancouver team that showed up only because they were paid to. He had 6 points in the 43 previous games).
QUAL Comp: -0.04
QUAL team: -0.35
GFON: 1.57/60
GAON: 2.15/60
Corsi: -7.7
Meh. As mentioned, Nystrom is a good skater and he's game for anything. Unfortunately, his numerous weaknesses tend to overwhelm his few strengths. He has hands of granite, poor offensive instincts, a bad shot and tends to get lost whenever he drifts into the middle of the ice. He invariably shoots pucks wide or into pads in the offensive zone. He kills rushes in the neutral zone because he's never really sure what to do (outside of dumping it in). He's the kind of player you hope doesn't get the pass on the two-on-one, and you audibly groan when he does. He's also willing to drop the gloves, but invariably gets pummeled whenever he does. He's that guy.
Nystrom does have a couple of things going for him:
1.) The organization seems keen on developing him, despite his ongoing ordinariness.
2.) He had nice PK numbers last season (3.41 GA/60 - a number sullied by a very small sample size) albeit in limited action.
3.) He only has a small body of work on which Im basing my impressions, meaning I could be mistaken.
Problem is, I see more obstacles than opportunities for Eric going forward. Sutter was forced to acquire two comparable (but demonstrably better) players this summer in Bourque and Glencross since it was clear Nystrom would be unable to step into the divide once Huselius and Tanguay left. In addition, Kyle Greentree, a player of similar age and superior AHL results, was added to the farm club this off-season. The depth chart is filling up all around Nystrom and the window for assuring his place on the big team is rapidly closing. He turns 26 in February, has already been lapped by Dustin Boyd and David Moss and will be fighting off the likes of Glencross, Prust, Van Der Gulik and potentially the aforementioned Greentree this coming season...
Prognosis: negative.
