- Dec 20, 2018
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Shit talking Connecticut, nice.
You don’t see that every day, so I clicked on your profile and learned you’re from Connecticut. Not a UConn booster tho, I guess lol.
2022-23 NCAA CHL, OHL and European prospects thread
- Thread starter NJDevs26
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Shit talking Connecticut, nice.
You don’t see that every day, so I clicked on your profile and learned you’re from Connecticut. Not a UConn booster tho, I guess lol.
Jersey Fan 12
Positive Vibes
- Nov 20, 2006
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Janne Kuokkanen with seven points in nine games for Fribourg in the much-improved Swiss league.
Can't help thinking the Devils could have handled him better and that he may flourish with the right NHL club.
Can't help thinking the Devils could have handled him better and that he may flourish with the right NHL club.
Guadana
Registered User
Or may be not as much improved.
Hope Janne will build career. Guy isn't without a talent. Definitely deserved pto somewhere. But with Wood and Tatar on the roster he could find spot for himself. He got his chances here. Wish him luck. I liked his game when he found the groove. When he was not, that was not even ok. Anyway talent is there, if he will continue to work hard, he will gain money even in Europe.
Hope Janne will build career. Guy isn't without a talent. Definitely deserved pto somewhere. But with Wood and Tatar on the roster he could find spot for himself. He got his chances here. Wish him luck. I liked his game when he found the groove. When he was not, that was not even ok. Anyway talent is there, if he will continue to work hard, he will gain money even in Europe.
He'll likely never play in the NHL again. The only thing the Devils could've done to handle him better is if they let him play through an injury for a large stretch of last season.
He signed in Switzerland pretty early in the summer, which suggests to me that he isn't going to try the PTO route that a guy in his position usually has to take. The NHL's great but being at the NHL fringe kinda sucks and I get why some players stay in Europe rather than go through that.
I like UConn basketball, because to do otherwise would be heresy here. UConn hockey is kind of whatever, and in any case, my college hockey rooting interest is for Cornell.
I'm not shit talking the whole state, I rather like where I live. But basically everybody in CT agrees that Storrs is kind of a dump. I have no idea what possessed the General Assembly to put the university campus there in 1880-whatever it was. I'm glad the business school is in Hartford, so I didn't have to go out to the sticks for classes.
Guadana
Registered User
Of course when you have no guarantee, life is short, money will ends. And they will ends fast. When European teams closed their rosters and budgets, it's really hard to find a place there, and the real money aren't in AHL. And another season in AHL would not help player on Kuokkanens stage of career. Now he is showing himself and the time is on his side, if he want to discuss with nhl teams.
I still think that Janne is more "NHL player" than Boqvist(im not tellin that Boqvist isn’t), but time isn't working for him and I understand this step from him. Being borderline NHL is worser thing than playing for good money in Europe. And there are many reasons why. And I know NHL fans think about hockey career like NHL is the only thing that deserve something, and I thought the same way, but I don't think like that now. Its great when you have stability, play solid minutes, but if career is full of up and down, I don't think its a healthy thing for person and for budget and for health.
BurntToast
Registered User
Ideally Kuokkanen would be a 13th forward, he can play both wings, he can even slide in at center in an emergency, he can do a lot of things but he doesn't do anything well, nor does he really do anything poorly. He's a healthy scratch on opening night but gets into 60 games.
Boqvist can play center and that's the difference. I think Boqvist would be an okay penalty killer if they put him there.
i imagine it’s less than two months before we get the “Boqvist asked to be put on the penalty kill, what a team player who definitely isn’t just trying to keep his job” stories
Guadana
Registered User
Yeah. I like NFL crowd, but European crowds are more emotional than NHLians. Guys, shout more, use the chants, be louder. Make it more emotional for yourself. I belive even players will feel the energy.
- Dec 20, 2018
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PK isn’t a job you just get to voluntarily jump onto. Kuokkanen spent a year trying to get on it. Ruff mentioned he sat in on PK meetings in 2020-21 before he was on the PK. I see Zetterlund getting added to the PK before Boqvist.
Kuok was smart two-way forward but he was the dreaded playmaking winger. He simply didn’t shoot the puck much and his production in 2020-21 were pumped up by the horseshoes the line with him Zajac/Shara had up their collective asses and then he played with Hughes.
He was moved around a lot in 2021-22, and our team defense was in disarray at times (to put it mildly), and we lacked centers beyond Nico who could be relied on defensively above 4C. With all that, his 5v5 defense started not being much of a selling point for him.
Not shooting enough is a real killer for wingers though, if he had stayed at center that might have been less of a problem.
Boqvist has being a center and his finishing ability going for him. He’s got to get out of the tweener stage though and it’s tough to do.
Nothing too surprising.
Luke 6th, Holtz 13th & Nemec 14th.
Lou is God
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- Dec 20, 2018
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Ho hum, Pasic’s team (which fought off relegation just last season) played the top team in HockeyAllsvenskan today and won 4-1. My man chipped in a bit with 2 G and 2 A. Another day at the office.
Star!
Plays a whorehouse!
Star!
Plays a whorehouse!
Guadana
Registered User
oooh. I should try to catch his game. Very intriguing. He is only 21 yo. I know he is undersize, but we never know. 7th rounder who can produce 10 points in seven games in SHL. That’s freaking good. Pick is automatically good. Even if he will never play in NA.
Sheros expletives
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- Jan 9, 2014
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Pasic plays in hockeyallsvenskan which is the second tier league in Sweden. They also didn't play a top team, Mora is middle of the pack 8th out of 14 teams. Pasic did have a good game but temper your expectations.
- Dec 20, 2018
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Well get less excited because he’s on a HockeyAllsvenskan team now.
Pasic had made the jump to SHL earlier. 3 GP in his age 17 season and 15 GP (2 points) in his age 18 season.
Then he had 35 points in 45 GP in HockeyAllsvenskan in his age 19 season before playing 52 SHL games (15 points) in his age 20 season.
That 20-21 and his SHL team was terrible so while his runway as NHL prospect was running out he still had reasons for not figuring it all out.
Last season went worse, he has zero points in 13 GP on a worse version of his SHL team and then 15 points in 29 GP on a team that won the relegation playoffs.
His teams sounded comically bad but the regression put his pro career anywhere in danger. I felt bad for the guy.
So this bounce back is a nice story and fun. I guess if he plays well enough he might play in the SHL this season but I don’t know since he doesn’t look like a loan. He definitely should get a shot in a higher league next season if he doesn’t come over.
Guadana
Registered User
Damn. That was not SHL. How I missed that. So it`s good for him to be productive in sweden ahl, but we can`t make any conclusions for now. alsvenskan isn`t bad league, everything I did saw was good enough to at least wait some succes from productive alsvenskan players be productive or be relevant in ahl, but nothing more. May be he can be productive in ahl too and earn some money, but it is definetely to early to imagine him as potential addition to the nhl roster. Anyway, let`s go, Pasic!
Probably couldn't justify the trip, but noticed that the Devils play the Blue Jackets on Feb 14 and then Michigan is in town against Ohio State a couple days later. Then the February 18th game will be in the Cleveland Browns' football stadium.
- Apr 20, 2005
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You got me thinking about a trip briefly (I have work reasons to be in Columbus), but then I thought, "Is there something else happening that week? Hmm...Feb 14 seems familiar."
Pronman did a 2021 redraft:
theathletic.com
Has Luke Hughes #1 overall in his own tier:
The player who I think is the best from this draft won’t even be in the league until the spring, while most of the names below will be. I have Luke Hughes rated this highly due to his unique skill set and his great freshman season at Michigan. There are few players who have his high-end skating ability, with also being a 6-2 defenseman with legit offensive skill. He has the potential to be a true star in the NHL.
Also listed for NJ:
60. Bardakov
64. Stillman
97. Salminen
Re-drafting the NHL class of 2021: Luke Hughes jumps to No. 1
Corey Pronman re-ranks the top prospects from the NHL Draft class of 2021.
theathletic.com
Has Luke Hughes #1 overall in his own tier:
TIER 1: Projected NHL All-Star
1. Luke Hughes, LHD (No. 4 pick)The player who I think is the best from this draft won’t even be in the league until the spring, while most of the names below will be. I have Luke Hughes rated this highly due to his unique skill set and his great freshman season at Michigan. There are few players who have his high-end skating ability, with also being a 6-2 defenseman with legit offensive skill. He has the potential to be a true star in the NHL.
Also listed for NJ:
60. Bardakov
64. Stillman
97. Salminen
This story is a bit odd. He can't go to Denver because of an "admissions" issue. He can go to UConn but isn't even in the country? I can't tell if this is an immigration issue or a GPA issue but I expect it's one of the two.
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