Prospect Info: At 24th Overall the Jets Select Kristian Vesalainen

[garret9]

1st rounder better than a 7th rounder and someone who isn't even a prospect. Sure went out on a limb on that one.

Enstrom and Stuart were one round further apart than that, and in the same draft!

To be fair, I ranked Niku as a 2nd rounder in his draft and Stanley as a 3rd rounder prior to them even being drafted by the Jets, so it's not like this is a sudden change for me...

 

[ffh]

Enstrom and Stuart were one round further apart than that, and in the same draft!

To be fair, I ranked Niku as a 2nd rounder in his draft and Stanley as a 3rd rounder prior to them even being drafted by the Jets, so it's not like this is a sudden change for me...

So every team in the league had niku at least as a 7th rounder. And all 10 scouts on mackenzies list and jets scouting staff and probably detroits scouting staff and who knows how many more scouting staffs had stanley as a 1st rounder. My money is on Stanley over niku.

 

[portamoral]

How has Evingson looked and Arvid Holm

evingson has been noticeably getting bounced around and looks sort of hesitant out there. kind of understandable though coming from tier 2 junior. probably just needs to get used to the higher skill and speed/strength of these guys. gonna have to get bigger and stronger, he looks a bit slight to me.

aside from that, you can see he has all the tools. his skating is pretty good overall and he has above average puck skills from what i've seen so far. not bad shot from the point and can pass well enough.

i liked gawanke more actually, think we might have something there. real nice hands and shot, skates well, just needs to get some more power in his lower body. reminds me of luke green, (who's looked awesome and even better than last year) not as good of a skater but his offensive instincts seem top notch. heard he's a smart player.

as for holm, i wasn't paying as much attention to the goalies but from my first quick impression he looks like more of a positional goalie like helle. big and covers a lot of ground. not sure about his physical ability but it didn't look bad.

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

Honestly I am very hesitant on Stanley but I'm not sure why everyone acts like he's the worst pick in NHL history and hasn't a chance to play in the League, especially when the coaches talk very positive about him. Do I believe he will be great or a guaranteed NHL? No but should we not give him a chance as he was injured for a whole season and came back to win the Memorial Cup? I'll leave that to you.

 

[Daximus]

i wasn't a big fan of the pick but he's looked pretty impressive so far. his skating is really strong. explosive and good on his edges, can change directions and cut in and out at full speed effortlessly. his hands are also pretty nice, kind of remind me of laine's but obviously not as good. idk if it's just me but i noticed quite a few finns handle the puck similarly... something about the way they touch the puck with their blade is unique. looks like they're gently caressing it with all edges/sides using a lot of wrist movement, looks so smooth. barkov is the same way

his passing seems hard and precise like laine's also. not sure what his mind is like only watching him doing drills but i'll be there for the scrimmage tomorrow so hopefully he impresses. overall he could use some more strength but he's already pretty far ahead of a lot of the guys his age. can imagine him being a total horse once he fills out.

I've noticed this too. To me it's almost like they stick handle in slow motion just touching the puck slightly so it changes direction. Contrast that with the frantic stick handling style of North Americans and the more fluid in and out style of Russians. It's kind of cool that certain areas have their own style and then each player puts more style into it.

 

[Daximus]

So every team in the league had niku at least as a 7th rounder. And all 10 scouts on mackenzies list and jets scouting staff and probably detroits scouting staff and who knows how many more scouting staffs had stanley as a 1st rounder. My money is on Stanley over niku.

Guys get passed by dudes in later rounds all the time. Datsyuk, Benn, Zetterberg, Gaudreau, Parayko. Just because you are drafted in a later round doesn't mean you can't surpass players drafted ahead of you.

 

[kelsier]

So what slogan do we have stored for the future VesaLainen combo/line?

"The Finnish Nightmare"?

In addition just to wrap things up properly, can't wait for the...

"The Winnipeg Jets are proud to select... from Ässät, The Finnish elite league... Jesperi Kotkaniemi!"

 

[Kaako Kappo]

So what slogan do we have stored for the future VesaLainen combo/line?

"The Finnish Nightmare"?

In addition just to wrap things up properly, can't wait for the...

"The Winnipeg Jets are proud to select... from Ässät, The Finnish elite league... Jesperi Kotkaniemi!"

I hope two things: That Kotkaniemi goes high and that the Jets won't be picking that high.

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

So what slogan do we have stored for the future VesaLainen combo/line?

"The Finnish Nightmare"?

In addition just to wrap things up properly, can't wait for the...

"The Winnipeg Jets are proud to select... from Ässät, The Finnish elite league... Jesperi Kotkaniemi!"

2 Laine's 1 Cup...

Also the lineup for next couple draft picks.

2018 Draft Pick: Rasmus Kupari(Little future replacement)

2019 Draft Pick: Leevi Aaltonen(Perrault future replacement)

2020 Draft Pick: Ruben Rafkin(Enstrom future replacement)

Lol I was joking but this doesn't actually seem that bad of an idea

 

[CorgisPer60]

So every team in the league had niku at least as a 7th rounder. And all 10 scouts on mackenzies list and jets scouting staff and probably detroits scouting staff and who knows how many more scouting staffs had stanley as a 1st rounder. My money is on Stanley over niku.

For the record, appealing to Authority is hardly a compelling argument, especially when you consider how each team viewed Stanley ilas either a late first or a second to third round player. He's an extremely divisive player, and the only thing he really has going for him is his size. He's not an especially strong skater, a strong Defender, or a strong shooter. He has a decent first pass and can skate the puck out of the zone if he's uncontested, but that's really it. He'll need to improve his decision making and skating if he wants to land a steady job in the NHL. I still maintain that the reason they took a flyer on Logan Stanley last year is because they already had Patrik Laine in their pocket, so they could take a chance on a serious project player. If he works out, then Chevy/Hillier look like a genius and we have a Zdeno Chara clone. If he doesn't, well, at least the first round wasn't a complete waste.

 

[Narow]

2 Laine's 1 Cup...

Also the lineup for next couple draft picks.

2018 Draft Pick: Rasmus Kupari(Little future replacement)

2019 Draft Pick: Leevi Aaltonen(Perrault future replacement)

2020 Draft Pick: Ruben Rafkin(Enstrom future replacement)

Lol I was joking but this doesn't actually seem that bad of an idea

2018 kotkaniemi

2019 aaltonen

2020 simontaival ^^

 

[Peggy]

Stanley isn't, Poolman or Niku are our best defense prospects atm, whichever you prefer.

Still my point
Stanley is a 1st round draft pick
He should be ranked above guys like poolman and niku

That's why I'm saying I like this pick if it was last year

 

[BB88]

i wasn't a big fan of the pick but he's looked pretty impressive so far. his skating is really strong. explosive and good on his edges, can change directions and cut in and out at full speed effortlessly. his hands are also pretty nice, kind of remind me of laine's but obviously not as good. idk if it's just me but i noticed quite a few finns handle the puck similarly... something about the way they touch the puck with their blade is unique. looks like they're gently caressing it with all edges/sides using a lot of wrist movement, looks so smooth. barkov is the same way

his passing seems hard and precise like laine's also. not sure what his mind is like only watching him doing drills but i'll be there for the scrimmage tomorrow so hopefully he impresses. overall he could use some more strength but he's already pretty far ahead of a lot of the guys his age. can imagine him being a total horse once he fills out.

Thank you, I've said it before but I think his skating/size/skill comboe makes him a safe 3rd liner, if you can call anything safe with prospects.

He has much much higher ceiling than that but with him reaching that is the opposite of safe. He's a prospect I don't want to see rushed, and there should be no reason to do that.

Would be fantastic is he develops into 50-60 point 2way powerforward.

 

[ps241]

Thank you, I've said it before but I think his skating/size/skill comboe makes him a safe 3rd liner, if you can call anything safe with prospects.

He has much much higher ceiling than that but with him reaching that is the opposite of safe. He's a prospect I don't want to see rushed, and there should be no reason to do that.

Would be fantastic is he develops into 50-60 point 2way powerforward.

Well the good news is he has landed on a team where it is almost preferential for the org if it takes some time for him to be ready. A year in Europe and a full year in the AHL might the recipe but time will tell. TNSE have done a pretty good job of using the right amount of development time for their top prospects.

 

[Grind]

So every team in the league had niku at least as a 7th rounder. And all 10 scouts on mackenzies list and jets scouting staff and probably detroits scouting staff and who knows how many more scouting staffs had stanley as a 1st rounder. My money is on Stanley over niku.

There's a plethora of evidence out there in the wilds of the internet that confirms basic statistics are a better indicators of success then NHL draft order in aggregate across all teams (many teams are better then the stats but enough aren't that as whole the stats outperform)

Your starting point that the NHL scouting community as whole is efficient at drafting dmen is false and can be proven easily.

 

[BB88]

Well the good news is he has landed on a team where it is almost preferential for the org if it takes some time for him to be ready. A year in Europe and a full year in the AHL might the recipe but time will tell. TNSE have done a pretty good job of using the right amount of development time for their top prospects.

It's far far away but 2018-19 playoffs could be target for Vesalainen.
Good thing with him is that playing in the AHL next year wouldn't burn a year off his ELC.

 

[QnebO]

OT: Winnipeg announcer can actually spell Laine almost correctly, so he will probably be able to say "Lainen" except the last n.

I bet Kristian will end up having extra name Vesa Laine in Finland due to announcers, cos its going to sound like "Vesa_laine" with space when english person announces the name

 

[Aavco Cup]

 

[BB88]

Luukkonen+ Vesalainen will bring fans to Hameenlinna.

 

[Hammer Slammer]

Confirmed I'll need the Ruutu package next year again.

Luukkonen was my favourite goalie in the draft so it'll be cool to watch both of them.

 

[garret9]

So every team in the league had niku at least as a 7th rounder. And all 10 scouts on mackenzies list and jets scouting staff and probably detroits scouting staff and who knows how many more scouting staffs had stanley as a 1st rounder. My money is on Stanley over niku.

That's not how it works. There's also a lot of game theory in drafting.

I know for a fact that Jets' scouts in 2015 did not rank their players in the order they drafted them.

In Nikus draft year Chevy even pointed out that Niku was not a typical 7th round pick and should have gone earlier, which was why Niku was at the draft. Typically players drafted in the 7th round are not at the draft, especially Europeans.

It's not like there was any consensus on Stanley. I know Jets had him top 15, another team had him 3rd round, and another had him removed from their draft board.

 

[QnebO]

Confirmed I'll need the Ruutu package next year again.

Luukkonen was my favourite goalie in the draft so it'll be cool to watch both of them.

Can you get it in Canada without virtual geographical position actually?

 

[Lempo]

Confirmed I'll need the Ruutu package next year again.

Just a heads-up on that front: It's the last season Ruutu will have the rights for SM-Liiga. Telia outbid them fro 2018-19 onwards. But they also have their own online viewing service.

 

[Lempo]

Can you get it in Canada without virtual geographical position actually?

Liiga and Finnish baseball and Am. football are viewable abroad. For any other stuff they don't got the right to show out- borders.

 

[BB88]

To continue from that.
I'd like that, liiga starts in early September(8th for HPK). No extra travels or anything, just focus on getting better and being 100% ready.

+ We would have a reason to watch quality hockey in September already, cuts a month of from waiting NHL to start.