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

[JetsFan815]

Has missed 2 games now. Any update on his injury?

 

[VoluntaryDom]

hello! bolts/leafs fan here in peace. I think vesalainen was one of the more underrated prospects in this draft. you guys got a good'n.

 

[mcpw]

Has missed 2 games now. Any update on his injury?

Will play tomorrow as per leijonat + google translate.

 

[JetsFan815]

Will play tomorrow as per leijonat + google translate.

Nice thanks. I was worried by Liiga subscription was going to waste

 

[csk]

hello! bolts/leafs fan here in peace. I think vesalainen was one of the more underrated prospects in this draft. you guys got a good'n.

Thanks! Good luck to both your teams

 

[VoluntaryDom]

Thanks! Good luck to both your teams

good luck to the Jets as well, they have the talent to be a very good team.

 

[Davedrivesbus]

Went the jets fan forum last night. Chevy went into the expansion draft process of how they moved back in draft to keep the team together but he ended by saying it worked out cause they still got a player they had in the top 10. Another thing I found interesting was, Chipman expressed his interest in hosting the draft but it won't be until after the hotel is built in 2021..

 

[Maukkis]

Went the jets fan forum last night. Chevy went into the expansion draft process of how they moved back in draft to keep the team together but he ended by saying it worked out cause they still got a player they had in the top 10. Another thing I found interesting was, Chipman expressed his interest in hosting the draft but it won't be until after the hotel is built in 2021..

And on that note, can we finally bury the notion of Chevy wasting the pick instead of picking a defenseman at 13?

 

[Aavco Cup]

And on that note, can we finally bury the notion of Chevy wasting the pick instead of picking a defenseman at 13?

Well not entirely, one of the defensemen availble at 13 could have also been in their top ten and higher than Kristian.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

Well not entirely, one of the defensemen availble at 13 could have also been in their top ten and higher than Kristian.

Garret said they were very high on Liljegren.

I would enjoy if people stopped trying to make the expansion draft moves look like some kind of brilliant move with these "They would have taken Vesalainen anyways" and "The only reason Enström waived the NMC was because there was a trade in place" narratives

 

[nobody important]

And on that note, can we finally bury the notion of Chevy wasting the pick instead of picking a defenseman at 13?

When KV starts tearing up Liiga, I'll consider it.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

If someone has a video of Kristian's assist tonight I'd appreciate it. Was grabbing some food while it happened

 

[CaptainChef]

Garret said they were very high on Liljegren.

I would enjoy if people stopped trying to make the expansion draft moves look like some kind of brilliant move with these "They would have taken Vesalainen anyways" and "The only reason Enström waived the NMC was because there was a trade in place" narratives

yep, that bugs me too. It wasn't a brilliant move because we needed a top notch defensive prospect much, much, much more than we needed another winger prospect. There were v.good defensive prospects available at 13, but not at 21. AND, we gave up a 3rd in this year's draft on top of that.

Thorbs was worthless, but I'd of rather they had taken Enstrom or Dano personally.

 

[ffh]

yep, that bugs me too. It wasn't a brilliant move because we needed a top notch defensive prospect much, much, much more than we needed another winger prospect. There were v.good defensive prospects available at 13, but not at 21. AND, we gave up a 3rd in this year's draft on top of that.

Thorbs was worthless, but I'd of rather they had taken Enstrom or Dano personally.

I would rather have enstrom in the line up instead of chariot and dano in lineup in case of a injury instead of tanev. we need to win this year more than a prospects impact in 3 or 4 years.

 

[Bob E]

yep, that bugs me too. It wasn't a brilliant move because we needed a top notch defensive prospect much, much, much more than we needed another winger prospect. There were v.good defensive prospects available at 13, but not at 21. AND, we gave up a 3rd in this year's draft on top of that.

Thorbs was worthless, but I'd of rather they had taken Enstrom or Dano personally.

IMO the value difference between 13 and 24 in the draft was minimal. Getting KV was fortunate. Would they have taken someone else at 13? probably. But i'm not as high on the dmen in this draft as others. Their impact on an NHL roster will be limited. KV has the potential to be a big, strong skating middle 6 player. I hope he continues to develop into that.

Enstrom or Dano have greater value than the difference between 13 and 24 in last year's draft, for me. in a regular draft maybe not. But last year yes.

And its a 3rd in 2019.

 

[Bob E]

If someone has a video of Kristian's assist tonight I'd appreciate it. Was grabbing some food while it happened

On Liiga's website.

A pp goal, with KV getting 2nd assist. He passed from circle to a player low, who then fed another player in the slot/crease. Nice pp goal.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

On Liiga's website.

A pp goal, with KV getting 2nd assist. He passed from circle to a player low, who then fed another player in the slot/crease. Nice pp goal.

Liiga website crashes so much it isnt even funny but I was eventually able to watch it.

Nothing special in that secondary assist, but it's nice to see him getting some points. Overall, I think he played a decent game. Getting 16mins ice time with 1st PP duties is also a positive thing to see

 

[Trilliann]

On Liiga's website.

A pp goal, with KV getting 2nd assist. He passed from circle to a player low, who then fed another player in the slot/crease. Nice pp goal.

6 shots on goal
(Or 3 by NHL standards, only 3 of them were stopped by goalie)

 

[Daximus]

And on that note, can we finally bury the notion of Chevy wasting the pick instead of picking a defenseman at 13?

I wish I could.
But with Valimaki looking really good in Flames camp (apparently) I'm having flashbacks.

 

[ffh]

I wish I could.
But with Valimaki looking really good in Flames camp (apparently) I'm having flashbacks.

Jets weren't taking Valimaki.

 

[Whileee]

2 points in 3 games so far.

Number of under-19 players who have scored at a higher rate than 0.67 points/game since 2012/13?

4 - Barkov, Teravainen, Aho, Laine

I think it's a good sign that he's getting opportunities to put up points, and he's clearly in the line-up mix to produce offensively at age 18.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

2 points in 3 games so far.

Number of under-19 players who have scored at a higher rate than 0.67 points/game since 2012/13?

4 - Barkov, Teravainen, Aho, Laine

I think it's a good sign that he's getting opportunities to put up points, and he's clearly in the line-up mix to produce offensively at age 18.

+ Jesperi Kotkaniemi with 3gp 2+3

 

[JetsFan815]

Just finished watching the game. HPK is awful, during the first period and a half or so then kept trying this "gentle dump after the red line and chase" play which pretty much never worked as their forwards could never retrieve the puck leading to very little offensive zone time. Gave me PTSD flashbacks to some of the dark periods during the Noel era and at times during the Maurice days. They seem to be a pretty green team without a lot of talent so I can't blame them for it but frustrating to watch nonetheless.

Vesalainen was okay, used the body and was fairly physical. He was on the top PP unit today and the 2nd line, not that it really matters since they are pretty good about rolling their lines most of the time. He was good on the PP, obviously he got that secondary assist but he also setup #8 with a wide open net on the PP that #8 (Lehtinen?) couldn't bury, that would have been a nice highlight if #8 had buried that pass.

5 on 5 play was okay, his linemates aren't that skilled so I am cutting him slack on that. I would like to see him move towards the middle of the ice more in the offensive zone. Didn't make any egregious mistake and looked like he belonged on the ice with the rest of the team but nothing to make you jump out of your seat

2 points in 3 games so far.

Number of under-19 players who have scored at a higher rate than 0.67 points/game since 2012/13?

4 - Barkov, Teravainen, Aho, Laine

It's been 3 games... lets wait and see what he does over a larger sample before putting him in the same category as Barkov, Aho or Laine

 

[Whileee]

+ Jesperi Kotkaniemi with 3gp 2+3

I was looking at full season productivity over the past several seasons. My point was that even the best under-19 year olds seldom produce points at a high rate at the Liiga level, so it's a bit encouraging that Vesalainen is already in the mix offensively at the beginning of his 18-year old season.

 

[Whileee]

Just finished watching the game. HPK is awful, during the first period and a half or so then kept trying this "gentle dump after the red line and chase" play which pretty much never worked as their forwards could never retrieve the puck leading to very little offensive zone time. Gave me PTSD flashbacks to some of the dark periods during the Noel era and at times during the Maurice days. They seem to be a pretty green team without a lot of talent so I can't blame them for it but frustrating to watch nonetheless.

Vesalainen was okay, used the body and was fairly physical. He was on the top PP unit today and the 2nd line, not that it really matters since they are pretty good about rolling their lines most of the time. He was good on the PP, obviously he got that secondary assist but he also setup #8 with a wide open net on the PP that #8 (Lehtinen?) couldn't bury, that would have been a nice highlight if #8 had buried that pass.

5 on 5 play was okay, his linemates aren't that skilled so I am cutting him slack on that. I would like to see him move towards the middle of the ice more in the offensive zone. Didn't make any egregious mistake and looked like he belonged on the ice with the rest of the team but nothing to make you jump out of your seat



It's been 3 games... lets wait and see what he does over a larger sample before putting him in the same category as Barkov, Aho or Laine

See my post above. My point wasn't to equate him with those players, but to point out that the Liiga is a tough league for young players to produce in, so it's a bit encouraging that Vesalainen is already in the mix offensively as an 18-year old. I'm hoping that he continues to stay in the mix and improve his effectiveness as the season progresses.

HPK seems a bit anemic (only 8 goals in 5 games so far), so we shouldn't expect eye-popping offensive numbers from him this season.