2nd Overall Pick Nolan Patrick Drops The Mitts And Gets In A Fight Before His 1st NHL Game
2nd overall pick in the 2017 draft. 19 years old. Hasn’t even played in his first regular season game yet. And here’s Nolan Patrick chucking some knucks in a goddamn preseason game last night. You can’t tell me this kid wasn’t born to be a Philadelphia Flyer.
You look at all the #2 overall picks over the last few years. Last year was Laine. Then Eichel. Then Sam Reinhart. Then Sasha Barkov. Then Ryan Murray. And then in 2011, we get to Gabriel Landeskog. I’m pretty sure aside from Landeskog, none of those other guys have even dropped the gloves once yet during their careers. Meanwhile, Nolan Patrick is letting those fists fly before his first real game. It’s not like David Krejci is a heavyweight or anything. He’s only been in like 5 or 6 fights probably his 10-year career. And yes, I know that he fed Nolan a few punches during this fight.
But that’s all besides the point. Because here’s a kid who is coming into Philly with a lot of expectations on him to be a superstar. But he knows what he has to do to win the fans in this city over. And that’s making sure that somebody gets their faced punched in if Jordan Weal (or any teammate) gets hit along the boards when his helmet has already popped off. A skill player who will still defend his teammates if necessary. You’re not gonna get that type of heart out of a kid from Switzerland, I can tell you that much right now.
The captain sure as shit loved it.
