MSU Forward Ranked as a Steal in NHL Draft

MSU’s Shane Vansaghi was named one of the draft’s biggest steals. He was taken 48th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers, while Elite Prospects had him ranked 35th on their board.

Rankings aside, it’s easy to see why Vansaghi is such a tantalizing prospect.

While he’s likely one or two years away from turning pro, Vansaghi already has the physical and mental makeup for the NHL. As an 18-year-old (turning 19 in October), he stands at 6-foot-3, 212 pounds, and he’s more than willing to throw the body.

That physicality is something NHL coaches yearn for. Some players have the size, but either don’t know how to use it or end up being gentle giants who are easy to overpower.

A few examples? Pierre Engvall, Tyler Biggs and Griffin Reinhart.

Reinhart was drafted fourth overall in 2012, with the perfect size and projection, but, for lack of a better term, he was soft. If he wasn’t going to be physical, he at least needed to be a wall in the defensive zone. He wasn’t that either. 37 games later, he was out of the league.

Biggs, another first-rounder (2011), never even reached the NHL. The Maple Leafs kept waiting for him to turn into a power forward, and he never delivered.

Engvall, on the other hand, has carved out a lengthy NHL career despite his lack of bite. At 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, he doesn’t play physically, but he’s an elite skater and uses that speed to create separation. If he didn’t have wheels, he’d likely be where Reinhart and Biggs ended up.

The point is, Vansaghi is already ahead of the curve.

At the NHL Combine, he told reporters he has no plans to change his game:

"I play one way and one way only, and it's big and physical, and it's a hard-nosed game, and it's in your face, and I'm not going to change the way I play."

The second Flyers coach Rick Tocchet heard that, he had to have Vansaghi on Broad Street.

Now, as he enters his sophomore season in East Lansing, you have to believe that opportunity is coming in a major way.

With longtime Spartan and reigning Hobey Baker Award winner Isaac Howard now in the NHL, Vansaghi could slot in next to superstar center Cayden Lindstrom.

Vansaghi already fared well as a freshman, notching six goals and 10 assists in limited minutes (12 per game). Just imagine what he can do with more ice time and elite talent alongside him.

The possibilities are endless in East Lansing, and Vansaghi is right at the center of them.

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