Brock Nelson: 2010 NHL Draft Profile and Scouting Report

Brock Nelson, Warroad (Minn.) High School

Position: Center | Height: 6-foot-3 | Weight: 205 lbs
FanHouse Ranking: No. 21 | Age: 18 | Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota

More: Top 35 Prospects | Full 2010 NHL Draft Coverage

Brock Nelson 2009-10 Stats
	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Regular Season	31	53	42	95

It's certainly not unprecedented for a small-school kid from northern Minnesota to go in the first round of the NHL Draft. St. Louis Blues forward T.J. Oshie also played high school hockey in Warroad, a small town near the Canadian border, not terribly far from North Dakota, where Nelson will go to play college hockey.

It's at North Dakota that Nelson hopes to refine his overall game, while putting some more muscle on his body. He is already big, at 6-foot-3 and over 200 pounds. That body will help him compete immediately against the often-older players in the NCAA ranks, where he will have to deal with at least a handful of seniors who are 24 or 25 years old.

Nelson was an elite goal scorer in high school, but some will dismiss his impressive statistics because he played for a small high school that didn't always play elite competition. Don't make that mistake. Nelson has the size, speed, competitive level, and even bloodlines to be a very good pro. Nelson's uncle, Dave Christian, had a long NHL career after playing on the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team. Grandfather Bill Christian was on the 1960 gold-medal winner in Squaw Valley, and the family name is famous for manufacturing hockey sticks (Christian Brothers Hockey was founded in 1964).

Nelson is likely at least a two-year college player, but that will serve him well. Oshie played three years at North Dakota before joining the Blues.