Position: Right Wing
Age: 17
Date of Birth: September 8, 1992
Place of Birth: Chur, Switzerland
Ht: 6-2 Wt: 201
Shoots: Left
Nino Niederreiter is a hard-nosed right winger who plays with the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks. He was very impressive at the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championship and turned heads with Portland this season. He plays a North American style and would fit in well with an NHL club.
2009/2010 Regular Season Stats:
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM |
| 65 | 36 | 24 | 60 |
+11 | 68 |
Scouting Report (The Scouting Report):
Niederreiter is a player who has been pretty highly regarded by a lot of scouts and early indications show that he would likely slide into the Top 30 for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft at this point. Niederreiter had a solid season with the Davos U20 team, and was a pretty strong contributor at the recent U18’s averaging a point per game as an underager. Either way, Niederreiter will be a very nice addition to an up and coming Portland squad.
Why he’d be a good fit in Columbus:
The Jackets are well stocked with talented young wingers, but none of the wingers currently in the system play with the same kind of physical edge as El Nino. He has the potential to be a very good power forward in the NHL, and would look good on a line with Jakub Voracek. If Nikita Filatov is traded, drafting a winger could make sense.
El Nino in Action: