One of the biggest enigmas in the draft, highly skilled Nick Schmaltz has the talent to be one of the highest picks in the draft, but his consistency, attitude and inability to perform in the playoffs for Green Bay will force him to fall. Schmaltz is an explosive skater, who at times will appear to be going at 0 MPH, and then all of a sudden, he’ll dart up the ice and get into loose space. He has quick feet and strong acceleration both with and without the puck. Schmaltz is a highly creative, highly skilled winger with very good stick skills and several handfuls of nifty tricks to use with the puck on his stick to make opposing players look silly. He has great awareness with the puck, and sees the ice and play very well. He is able to locate even the slightest of passing lanes and he can create scoring chances out of seemingly nothing. He is a great playmaker and passer, who also has the ability to finish. He is elusive without the puck and has the ability to sneak into open space around the net like an unseen ghost. He is an effective backdoor finisher, and he also has a hard, quick wrist shot that he’ll get into good position to take. Schmaltz lacks consistency in every part of the game, but most notably his willingness to crash and bang for the puck, or get back and help out defensively. He tends to ignore the physical aspect of the game and at times will just seem unwilling to get engaged in the play on the ice. He lacks care and awareness in his own end and needs to improve his attitude and overall effort if he is going to be an NHLer. (May 2014)