Abbotsford Canucks Thread | Prospects Starting to Heat Up

[pitseleh]

Nice to see Lekkerimaki is “only” shooting 15.8% too. That’s probably close to a sustainable rate for someone with his skillset. He was at 19% last year in the SHL.

 

[ChilliBilly]

For sure - if an opportunity arises to give EP2 a few games or whatever, that's great. I just don't like it when you're yo-yoing guys at age 20. To me you want to give those guys stability and consistency.

The way a guy like Gaudette was handled still rankles me.

A minor note. Yo-yoing these guys as you said they actually have advantages. If I am not mistaken, these guys get a pro salary increase of about 90% so they may be doing them a favour and that they get a decent salary for a few games let me clarify, these guys go from about a $70,000 a year salary to a $850,000.salary even if it’s just for a few days that could make a serious difference to some of them.

 

[FuzzyTitus]

A minor note. Yo-yoing these guys as you said they actually have advantages. If I am not mistaken, these guys get a pro salary increase of about 90% so they may be doing them a favour and that they get a decent salary for a few games let me clarify, these guys go from about a $70,000 a year salary to a $850,000.salary even if it’s just for a few days that could make a serious difference to some of them.

Yah its like $1k/game to $10k/game so massive for young guys especially.

And also, while it shouldn't be done lots, at least now the farm is only 1.5 hrs away by car.

 

[VanJack]

Yah its like $1k/game to $10k/game so massive for young guys especially.

And also, while it shouldn't be done lots, at least now the farm is only 1.5 hrs away by car.

A valid point.....trying to survive on an AHL salary of $70,000 or so isn't easy or anyone any more on the Lower Mainland. Even a week-long recall can really help the bottom-line for a lot of these young guys.

 

[Forsbergaura21]

How is Tolopilo playing this season? Struggling?

 

[logan5]

Lekkerimaki is just blatantly not ready for the NHL right now, both in terms of his ability to compete physically and his defensive play. I don't really want to see him up here again this year. Just leave him down there in a consistent environment. Yo-yoing guys is the worst thing you can do to a prospect.

But he is competing fine physically in the AHL?

Somebody who scores 10 goals in 14 games gets the call up. It's not like the AHL is a woman's league, so there isn't some big physical difference. The AHL is a pretty rough league.

We can use a scoring winger, so you have to see if he can start scoring consistently at the NHL level now. A stretch of 4 or 5 games with the big club will not hurt his development.

 

[MS]

But he is competing fine physically in the AHL?

Somebody who scores 10 goals in 14 games gets the call up. It's not like the AHL is a woman's league, so there isn't some big physical difference. The AHL is a pretty rough league.

We can use a scoring winger, so you have to see if he can start scoring consistently at the NHL level now. A stretch of 4 or 5 games with the big club will not hurt his development.

Of course guys can rip up one league but not be ready for the next. We see it all the time with high-scoring CHL players when they hit the AHL.

Lekkerimaki just blatantly wasn’t ready for the NHL in terms of physicality and defensive play when he was up a few weeks ago. And that’s fine. Leave him in the AHL. Let him rip it up there and keep getting stronger.

 

[logan5]

Of course guys can rip up one league but not be ready for the next. We see it all the time with high-scoring CHL players when they hit the AHL.

Lekkerimaki just blatantly wasn’t ready for the NHL in terms of physicality and defensive play when he was up a few weeks ago. And that’s fine. Leave him in the AHL. Let him rip it up there and keep getting stronger.

Gaining confidence and familiarity with a new environment tends to make one look stronger. He will likely get another call up, and I'm willing to bet he will look stronger just because he is more comfortable.

 

[Ernie]

Gaining confidence and familiarity with a new environment tends to make one look stronger. He will likely get another call up, and I'm willing to bet he will look stronger just because he is more comfortable.

He's not ready. He looked good for a game or two but petered out quickly. He had 2 shots in his last 3 games while getting prime icetime, not good enough for a guy who's one standout quality is his shot. This is not the type of player you can shelter in your bottom six, there's no point in him playing there. He's got to be able to perform in high leverage minutes in the top six.

He also needs to build a lot of strength - this coach wants his wingers to go into the corners.

 

[WTG]

How is Tolopilo playing this season? Struggling?

Started good, but he lost his confidence. I forgot which game, he started awful and let in 5 goals, got pulled, then Patera got injured so he had to come back in and let in more bad goals. Since then, he has backed up Young (from the games I've watched). I think we will see Young/Silovs take over for the rest of the season over Patera and Tolopilo.

To be fair to Young, he has come in and played really well for a goaltender straight out of junior.

 

[Lindgren]

He's not ready. He looked good for a game or two but petered out quickly. He had 2 shots in his last 3 games while getting prime icetime, not good enough for a guy who's one standout quality is his shot. This is not the type of player you can shelter in your bottom six, there's no point in him playing there. He's got to be able to perform in high leverage minutes in the top six.

He also needs to build a lot of strength - this coach wants his wingers to go into the corners.

Agreed. And this is perfectly normal.

There are 27 players from Lekkerimaki's draft class who have played at least one game in the NHL this season. Of those, eleven have played 15 games or more. Of those eleven, only one plays for a team currently above the playoff bar: Conor Geekie.

(Geekie went 11th overall in the draft, 4 spots ahead of J.L. He's 6'4", 207 lbs. Currently he's at 25 gp, /4/4/8.)

It's hard for players of Lekkerimaki's age to succeed in the NHL. It's normal for them to need to spend some more time in a lower league, even if they're high draft picks. Like you, I really hope that management doesn't see a stretch of ten or so good games from J.L. in the A and then bring him up again, only to have him need to go back down, and so on.

 

[F A N]

Agreed. And this is perfectly normal.

There are 27 players from Lekkerimaki's draft class who have played at least one game in the NHL this season. Of those, eleven have played 15 games or more. Of those eleven, only one plays for a team currently above the playoff bar: Conor Geekie.

(Geekie went 11th overall in the draft, 4 spots ahead of J.L. He's 6'4", 207 lbs. Currently he's at 25 gp, /4/4/8.)

It's hard for players of Lekkerimaki's age to succeed in the NHL. It's normal for them to need to spend some more time in a lower league, even if they're high draft picks. Like you, I really hope that management doesn't see a stretch of ten or so good games from J.L. in the A and then bring him up again, only to have him need to go back down, and so on.

Ya it's a poor draft class but I do think Lekkerimaki is on track. A good comparison is Coronato who is an NHL player this year. I think Lekkerimaki might be the better prospect.

 

[Szechwan]

What a difference from 2018 when we had the Juolevi/Lind/Gadjovich/Dahlen/Palmu group hit the AHL - and that was a much more hyped group, much higher draft positions - and they all absolutely faceplanted.

This list of names made my eye start twitching

 

[David Bruce Banner]

This list of names made my eye start twitching

Bad luck, bad drafting and bad development.

We should have got at least one player out of that bunch.