Getting to Know Harry Nansi

Yeah yeah I've seen a lot of people already refer to Koblar as the new Engvall, but for me he doesn't fit the awkward baby giraffe trying to figure out walking joke as much as Nansi. And I'm the author for this so what I say goes, neener neener.

There were a few things that I read about Mark Leach, Toronto's newest Director of Amateur Scouting, had to do with universal traits he looked for in prospects he wanted to draft. They were a bit general at times, and he also apparently said that each organization sticks to their own philosophy and he works within that. But now that we've had one draft with him here in Toronto I have a much better appreciation for what he means. Let's run through a few:

1. A quote that The Athletic attributed to him about his time with Dallas was: “We looked at players who had a heavy compete, heavy work ethic and had skill."
2. Another quote from Leach: “I’m a big believer in skill. But there’s some intangibles that come along the way. And so we have to take time and be patient with their development.”
3. Something said by Joshua Kloke about him: "He’s not afraid to bet big on players he believes might have a long development runway."
4. This is the most important one, to me, and it's a full paragraph I'll quote from Kloke:

Throughout this year, Leach has made his philosophy clear. People who have worked with Leach agree he favours players who he believes will show up when games become more tight-checking in the playoffs. If he sees players being outworked, it’s likely they will fall lower, or off, his draft board.

The above four points come together in a very obvious way when looking at Harry Nansi. For the sake of ease, I'll shorten the four points about what Leach looks for into my own: 1) Leach wants players who worked hard and are highly competitive; 2) Leach likes players who have skill AND something else; and 3) Leach likes to look for players he thinks can become pros even if they are very long term projects.

I've already written my profile about Koblar, and the one thing that got said a lot about him by the Leafs, by Koblar himself, by his Swedish teammates and coaches, was how hyper competitive he is. I tried to show examples of that in action. To a lesser extent and in different ways, the same things are said about Hopkins and Belle both in terms of their competitiveness, but also the other skills and strengths they bring to the table.

All of this converges in Harry Nansi.

THE BASICS: STATS AND CONTEXT

Position: Right-shot centre/winger
League: OHL
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 185 lbs
Birth date: September 10th, 2007

Nansi was drafted to the OHL 74th overall back in 2023. At the time, he was listed as a 6'1" and 165 lb centre. As of now, he's listed as 6'3" and 185 lbs, so he's still been a growing boy the past couple of years. Since he's played in the OHL, he's been moved predominantly to the wing. The other thing I'd note is that when I am comparing Nansi and his past performances to others in his age group, that he is extremely young for said age group – September 10th is less than a week away from not being eligible until next year's draft. And back when he was in his mid-teens, that youth makes a bigger difference.

Leading up to the OHL draft, Nansi had emerged as a prospect of note. He finished 4th in his league with 45 points in 25 games as a 14 year old, but in the playoffs he led the league in goals (8) and points (13) in 9 games. The next year was similar, as a 15 year old in an U18 league he finished 14th in the league and 5th for his age group in points with 47 in 35 games. And again, he would have led the playoffs in points as he had 7 goals and 12 points in 5 games, but appears to have been injured and missed the end of his team's playoff run. That led the playoffs in goals and points per game, regardless of age.

He joined Owen Sound for his rookie OHL season last year, playing a very depth role on a pretty bad/rebuilding team and had 9 points in 41 games. That was good for a tie for 22nd in the OHL for players in his age group in points per game, exactly tied with Tyler Hopkins actually. This year, he was on an even worse Owen Sound team that traded away more of their good players (like Toronto's Sam McCue), and his 23 points in 67 games was only good for 49th for his age group in production.

So, let's talk about the bits of context that I'd suggest people keep in mind when assessing his production as a signal for how good he is as a player. First, his tracking data is quite strong.

Second, Nansi's usage does matter. He bounced between the fourth line and the second line from what I can see, but from what I've read he was mostly a middle six guy. His primary role was as a supporting forward, using his mix of skills to help set up offensive chances and play a reliable transition and defensive game. Regardless of the usage, the fact remains he was playing with not great quality teammates. Owen Sound had only one player who was a point per game, and Sam McCue – who only played in 35 games for them before being traded – still had enough to be 3rd in goals and 6th in points. Nansi's typical linemates were both older than him, had the same or fewer points, and their tracking data was significantly worse. He was clearly the play driver of the line.

Additionally, Nansi did not get much of a role on the power play, which he got a lot more of before he made the OHL. This year, he got minimal usage there, and likely it was due to some of their usual guys missing from injury or joining international tournaments for their respective countries. He was used more on the penalty kill, where he was a good help.

On a promising note for next year, in a post-draft piece by the Athletic with little bits on each player Toronto chose, Nansi's OHL coach already said he will be used a lot more on the power play this coming season. You'll see in the highlights I clipped below that he definitely has some skill, so I can see his production exploding next season if he sticks there all season on a team that should improve with its young talent getting older.

THE GOOD: TOOLS, FORECHECKING, ALL-AROUND POTENTIAL

I view Nansi as similar to, but a much more raw version of Koblar in terms of their strengths and play style. Nansi isn't as physically nasty, but he also has a high motor and will battle in the corners, along the boards, in front of the net, and all those high traffic and highly physical areas of the ice. He does throw his weight around with hits, but more to squeeze players on the boards in the battle to come away with the puck. He also protects the puck pretty well, but that's an area that can and likely will be improved upon as he gets more practice and adds more muscle.

For the above reasons, Nansi is a fantastic forechecker. He can be pretty menacing when retrieving pucks and winning possessions in the corners, and then creating scoring chances in front of the net. With his size and reach, if he doesn't create an immediate turnover by the defense trying to retrieve dump ins, he'll delay them and create chaos, giving the second wave of forecheckers a chance. Again, it's not to the same level, but he's also good at getting on the backcheck to help with recovering pucks in his own end as Koblar. Defensively, he can be aggressive in supporting the defensemen and is a useful penalty killer. He's disruptive with his reach and physical play, and actively hunts down puck carriers, causing turnovers with his intensity.

Offensively, Nansi is already pretty advanced and dynamic when it comes to passing and vision. He's more of a playmaker than a goal scorer, and he sees the ice at a high level. He has high-end passing skills, capable of using his reach and some pretty slick hands to make hook, slip, and saucer passes over, around, and through sticks. He can create space with his size and good use of cutbacks, and then make high danger passes to the middle of the ice. He has a knack for creating scoring opportunities for linemates and generating offense through shot assists. In fact, per Will Scouch's tracking, when Nansi was on the ice for Owen Sound, 45% of the team's shot attempts came from his own individual shots or shot assists he set up – and 35% alone were shot assists he directly set up.

What helps Nansi's playmaking is an above average ability in handling the puck. He isn't elite at it, but he is capable of weaving and dangling through traffic, especially in the neutral zone. He uses some creativity with his feet, in terms of things like feints and cutbacks, to take the puck to the middle of the ice. He can also absorb contact from even bigger opponents, protect the puck and take it to the net. Though again, this is an area he needs to and will improve as he gets stronger.

THE FLAWS: REFINEMENT, LONG TERM PROJECT

There are two-and-a-half not so minor issues with Nansi's game. The first is that he is physically underdeveloped. He's undersized for his height, and could definitely stand to put on something like 20~ pounds of muscle in the next few years. With it, he'll be even more effective at the style of play he is already very good at in junior, when it comes to his forechecking, power game, and physical play. Without it, he can be pushed aside or off balance even by smaller opponents. Though what also affects that is his skating and strength/balance on his feet.

Speaking of skating, that's the other area of his game that is underdeveloped for his physical tools. Adding muscle will also help add more power, speed, acceleration and balance to his skating. However, he also needs to clean up his mechanics. While he can get around at an above average level overall in junior (at least to me), there are issues he needs to fix so he can remain a capable skater at higher levels when he can turn pro. From what I've read from scouts who I trust to assess skating mechanics at that level, there is a relatively easy path to fix his issues.

The final issue is potentially the most significant, and it's that Nansi is very raw. He has a lot of pretty exciting tools that seem like they will be relatively easy for him to improve upon – his skating, physical play, strength, and so on. However, the unrefined elements of his game is where he has yet to really put it all together at once. The way I heard one scout say it, his hands, feet and brain are not consistently clicking together. When they do, he looks amazing. The question is can he figure out how to coordinate all of that so that he can make his amazing become normal. That's a hard thing to project, and why there is a lot of uncertainty around him as a viable prospect.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Nansi is such a fascinating player, and very polarizing. There were some in the scouting community who were quite high on him for his tools and potential, but others who were very low on him because they didn't think he'd ever be able to turn that potential into a consistent level of play. I am closer to the first group, but not so high on him that I was advocating for taking him before the late rounds. The fact that Toronto got him with a fifth round pick is perfect in my books.

The uncertainty with Nansi can't be ignored, but neither can his potential. That's why he's definitely a long-term project pick, and I love that Leach's attitude towards long term development for players like him likely led Toronto into making that pick. When he's on his game, he's smart, a solid puck protector, forechecking and backchecking hard, and capable of driving good possession and creating quality scoring chances for his linemates.

I love the Nansi pick because even if he only figures out consistently coordinating his skills and physical tools a bit, I think he can still become a useful depth player. His physical tools, especially as he gets stronger and irons out the kinks in his skating mechanics, will be at a high level. He'll have the skills with his hands and playmaking. Most importantly, he'll be playing a pro-ready style that will be sought after.

On the other hand, if Nansi manages to realize more of that potential and unlocks greater consistency in linking together his skills and tools, he could wind up being a real hidden gem taken in the late round – not unlike my previous personal favourite prospect, the one known as Greb!

Thanks for reading!

I put a lot of work into my prospect articles here, both for the draft and Toronto's prospects. I do it as a fun hobby for me, and I'd probably do it in some capacity even if PPP completely ceased to exist. But if you like reading my work, some support would go a long way! I pay for a few streaming services (CHL, NCAA, USHL, the occasional TSN options for international tournaments that are broadcast) to be able to reliably watch these prospects in good quality streams. I also pay for some prospect-specific resources, such as tracking data and scouting reports from outlets like Elite Prospects, Future Considerations, McKeen's Hockey, The Athletic, and more.

Being able to get paid for this helps me dedicate more time and resources to it, rather than to second/third jobs. And whatever money I make here, a lot of I reinvest back into my prospect work through in those streaming and scouting services. Like I said, I'd be doing whatever I can afford for this anyway, so any financial help I get through this is greatly appreciated!