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Prospect Info: 2020 3rd Rd Selection - #64 OA (via OTT) - RD Topi Niemela (Karpat) - 6'0 163

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My review on Niemela
Man what a revelation he is. He was good already but he is already so polished for a teenager. Very good 4 way skater in transition. Rarely did he make a mistake. He always made good decisions in all 3 zones, and broke the puck efficiently and effectively. He just knew when to skate and when to pass. He showed some offensive tools too. He got his shot through from the point too.
Overall the best defender in the tourny. I think he needs a couple years to develop and get stronger, but there is 2 way top 4 upside here.
 
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stickty111 said:
My review on Niemela
Man what a revelation he is. He was good already but he is already so polished for a teenager. Very good 4 way skater in transition. Rarely did he make a mistake. He always made good decisions in all 3 zones, and broke the puck efficiently and effectively. He just knew when to skate and when to pass. He showed some offensive tools too. He got his shot through from the point too.
Overall the best defender in the tourny. I think he needs a couple years to develop and get stronger, but there is 2 way top 4 upside here.
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He surprised me aswell.. I think he stood out the most to me.. even more so than Amirov (although I can see his skill set he just wasn't much of a difference maker for Russia) and the other 2 Fins. I wouldn't go as far as to call him the best defender in the tourney but being the top producer as a defender definitely puts him in that conversation now.
 
Defenseman of the tournament, but not on the all star team and 2 other defenseman on his own team were named to the teams 3 best players when he wasn't. :laugh:

I had Niemela in a group of 3(Byram and York) best D in the tournament, and I know these things are voted on by different people, but it really annoys me how drastically different they are sometimes.
 
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Canada4Gold said:
Defenseman of the tournament, but not on the all star team and 2 other defenseman on his own team were named to the teams 3 best players when he wasn't. :laugh:

I had Niemela in a group of 3(Byram and York) best D in the tournament, and I know these things are voted on by different people, but it really annoys me how drastically different they are sometimes.
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Zegras being the MVP but not the top forward is the most egregious...because I am pretty sure that is voted on by the same people lol
 
I finally realized who Niemela reminds me of... Tomas Kaberle. Not huge or super physical but with excellent positioning, an active stick on D, a knack for breaking up passes and an excellent passer himself. Niemela is more willing to shoot and probably already has a better shot than Kaberle however, but like Kaberle passing is his forte with the puck.

if Niemela turns out anywhere near as well as Kaberle, we have a gem on our hands!
 
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TheBeastCoast said:
Zegras being the MVP but not the top forward is the most egregious...because I am pretty sure that is voted on by the same people lol
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I believe they're different. I think the media votes on all star team and MVP. Directorate on the best F, D, and G.

Here for example is Scott Wheeler saying who he voted for which was MVP and the all star team. Nothing about the Best F.

 
This has been said about Robertson for us recently, but it's pretty apparent this is a player who should have went in the first round. This performance was a true coming out party.
 
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The thing is Niemela is still very young and is eligible to play for Finland next year. How many players won in the first year in the tournament?

I can see Dahlin on the list so maybe it is common??

edit: Doughty, Karlsson, Gormley, Dahlin, Romanov and Niemela won Dman of the tournament their first year in the tournament. I didn't look at the ages when they won, mainly because I am too lazy for that (for example I'm pretty sure Dahlin was 16 when he won)
 
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RoadWarrior said:
If they had taken Schneider over Amirov the leafs D would be set for years.
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F8ck i saw it last night too ... OMG what a defender ... he changed game for us in 2nd period ... a man amongst men ... he has GAME in best on best big time game environments ... not many guys elevate like that in games that matter ... to bad our coach saw it too late
 
Can we agree that there's been an uptick in the projected quality of our picks outside of the the top 10 the past two drafts?
 
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