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

[BB88]

Laine spoiled us, the expectations for these prospects by many of us have gone through the roof. Need to be calm and give them the time they need.
To be OK if it takes few years to reach the NHL level. The 1st few games after draft won't tell a helluva lot on how htey'll look in their prime.

 

[Arthur Fonzarelli]

Finnish names are very phonetic in pronunciation, so it's not that difficult.

There's lots of mispronouncing made in the NHL both past & present. Swede Fredrik Olausson was always pronounced O-luff-son when it was actually Ola-ooo-son. Dustin Byfuglien is utterly butchered. Commonly referred to as Buff-a-lynn, it's actually Buy-fooog-lee-in.

 

[nobody important]

There's lots of mispronouncing made in the NHL both past & present. Swede Fredrik Olausson was always pronounced O-luff-son when it was actually Ola-ooo-son. Dustin Byfuglien is utterly butchered. Commonly referred to as Buff-a-lynn, it's actually Buy-fooog-lee-in.

 

[Whileee]

Just a reminder...

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

How do you know they didn't go with the best talent? He destroyed the U18's. He was ranked higher on a lot of boards than Kostin or Tolvanen.

U18's can be misleading, especially when you're 6'3 and +200lbs. He was also driven by a poor season. I personally never put too much stock on that one tournament. Maybe im just speaking from a POV of seeing so many Finns over the past decade that you kind of get a sense when something's missing in terms of future in the top 6.

But i mean even if im right and he becomes a good 3rd liner, it wasn't a bad pick per se. Tolvanen's shot was never a secret though and Kostin has the size with better skill to go along with it IMO. But yeah hindsight and all (just wasn't a fan of the pick at the time).

But hopefully im just speaking out of my ass, that would be the best case scenario.

 

[Hammer Slammer]

I'd just like to remind everyone that he's 1 of 12 players under-19 that have played a Liiga game this season. Only 5 have registered a point or more. His 3 points put him 2nd behind 2018 prospect Kotkaniemi who is having a crazy start. He's started his first full season in men's league, maybe we can give him a break for more than 7 games lol. It's one extreme or the other for some on this board.

 

[mcpw]

should of draft couturier

 

[Whileee]

U18's can be misleading, especially when you're 6'3 and +200lbs. He was also driven by a poor season. I personally never put too much stock on that one tournament. Maybe im just speaking from a POV of seeing so many Finns over the past decade that you kind of get a sense when something's missing in terms of future in the top 6.

But i mean even if im right and he becomes a good 3rd liner, it wasn't a bad pick per se. Tolvanen's shot was never a secret though and Kostin has the size with better skill to go along with it IMO. But yeah hindsight and all (just wasn't a fan of the pick at the time).

But hopefully im just speaking out of my ass, that would be the best case scenario.

I didn't think that he dominated the U-18s just because of his size. He showed a lot more than an ability to physically dominate smaller players, though his size is clearly and asset. I would have liked Kostin, too. Perhaps the injuries and some concern about the "Russian factor" was a negative, for the Jets and most other teams. I can see why the Jets might have been enamoured with Vesalainen. He has skill to go along with size, skating and a "heavy" game. I can understand them perhaps liking him better than Tolvanen. The Jets are very deep in smaller, talented wingers.

 

[Huffer]

should of draft couturier

Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Not sure why we picked him.. With guys like Tolvanen and Kostin on the table still. Would've rather just gone with the best talent possible. Never quite seen top 6 potential in him.

Hopefully he proves me wrong.

They clearly thought they were just going with the best talent possible. Left shot wingers are the lowest priority need. Tolvanen and Kostin didn't go for another 6 & 7 picks respectively. Why didn't those 6 teams in between take either of those guys either?

 

[MardyBum]

As Whileee said, it wasn't just dominating with size, he was a highlight reel. I put stock into U18 MVP's, so far .

He also only has 2 less points in 2 less games than the top scorers on HPK.

 

[surixon]

I'm not really sure why people are grumbling about his play so far. He's off to very respectable start for his age in the Liga.

I think we need to realize top prospects score much less in these leagues then the league's like the NHL and NCAA that most of our prospects to date have developed in.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

Wait till you see him at the World Juniors. Most will have a big smile on their face

 

[Kaako Kappo]

I'm not really sure why people are grumbling about his play so far. He's off to very respectable start for his age in the Liga.

I think we need to realize top prospects score much less in these leagues then the league's like the NHL and NCAA that most of our prospects to date have developed in.

Yeah and well...he's a 24th pick power forward. I wouldn't expect much yet. Doesn't seem to be an absolute steal yet like Yamamoto or Tolvanen, but those are different kind of players.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I'm not really sure why people are grumbling about his play so far. He's off to very respectable start for his age in the Liga.

I think we need to realize top prospects score much less in these leagues then the league's like the NHL and NCAA that most of our prospects to date have developed in.

Not quite true when it comes to Liiga though.. Most guys who make it to the NHL manage to score a ton of points as 18 yr olds, and really take a leader role on the team. Some guys do it as 17 yr olds already. Most of the time coaches aren't hesitant to play the kids a lot because almost no one have a stacked top 6 and teams tend to be filled more with grinder types, so if you have the talent level to stand out, there's absolutely no reason not to play you a lot.

I haven't seen Vesalainen play though, and don't put any stock into stat-watching his start so far. However what im getting at is if at the end of the year we look at him and say he didn't have a good season, that will be a big red flag at least for me. Especially at that size in a league that's much less physically demanding than the NHL, you have to be able to make a big difference.

I'd really like to see him go to NA as fast as possible. Playing in Finland doesn't do much at all for power forwards and we've seen this in the past, and we end up with guys who have the frame but end up not using it nearly enough. In his case i feel like playing in the AHL would be much more beneficial,

 

[Ippenator]

Not quite true when it comes to Liiga though.. Most guys who make it to the NHL manage to score a ton of points as 18 yr olds, and really take a leader role on the team. Some guys do it as 17 yr olds already. Most of the time coaches aren't hesitant to play the kids a lot because almost no one have a stacked top 6 and teams tend to be filled more with grinder types, so if you have the talent level to stand out, there's absolutely no reason not to play you a lot.

I haven't seen Vesalainen play though, and don't put any stock into stat-watching his start so far. However what im getting at is if at the end of the year we look at him and say he didn't have a good season, that will be a big red flag at least for me. Especially at that size in a league that's much less physically demanding than the NHL, you have to be able to make a big difference.

I'd really like to see him go to NA as fast as possible. Playing in Finland doesn't do much at all for power forwards and we've seen this in the past, and we end up with guys who have the frame but end up not using it nearly enough. In his case i feel like playing in the AHL would be much more beneficial,

I would say that you are a bit exaggerating here. It is not really so that all guys who get to play in the NHL scored really huge amounts of points already as 18 or even 17 years olds. It was practically only those who became real NHL stars or have quite good potential to still become stars. And those who really scored loads of points already as 17 year olds have really been practically for sure future star NHL'rs. Of course it is a bit relative definition what is a ton of points for an 18 or 17 year old in FEL. I would say that it is roughly points with 0,5 PPG pace. And this is of course for forwards.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I would say that you are a bit exaggerating here. It is not really so that all guys who get to play in the NHL scored really huge amounts of points already as 18 or even 17 years olds. It was practically only those who became real NHL stars or have quite good potential to still become stars. And those who really scored loads of points already as 17 year olds have really been practically for sure future star NHL'rs. Of course it is a bit relative definition what is a loads of points for an 18 or 17 year old in FEL. I would say that it is roughly points with 0,5 PPG pace. And this is of course for forwards.

Yeah by "ton of points" i mean't upwards of 0.5PPG, which is good production there considering the lack of skill overall.

I can't think of any Finnish NHL regular who didn't manage to produce good numbers early in the last ~decade. Even a guy like Salomaki i remember was a bull and scored at IIRC 0.5PPG, but he's nothing more than a 4th liner. Then there's Kapanen who produced same numbers on league worst team, he's still waiting for his chance.

But basically any Finnish forward producing numbers in the NHL were already very productive in their D+1 years in Liiga.

 

[Bob E]

Vesalainen's skating and size will give him a very good chance to play in the NHL.

I think the Jets see him as a really good bottom 6 option that could be a top 6 option if his offence develops. At #24, that's a decent return.

 

[kylbaz]

Just a reminder...

Open highlights with an open net goal and finish the reel with an open net goal
Honestly not that much impressive there, not a knock against him, just the highlights don't really give that much.
Nothing really stands out and looks like most of it is him against much lower talent. Nothing that really shows his skills in those highlights. Few nice passes, couple nice goals.

 

[DaJackal]

I was personally a bit higher on Tolvanen than Vesalainen (pre-draft), but I thought that since Jets already have Laine they would just take some promising D prospect (and I thought Tolvanen would be gone before 24th). Never could have imagined Tolvanen having this kind of start in KHL, though. Before KHL started I said it is the wrong place for him. Feels good to be wrong!

I refuse to be concerned about Vesalainen just yet. He won't touch NHL ice before 2019 anyway - to be honest, 2020 is my guess.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

Wait till you see him at the World Juniors. Most will have a big smile on their face

The problem is that on the other wing will play a current top 5 KHL goalscorer who the Jets could've had.

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

Goal and assist in game today, anyone have highlights?

 

[Hammer Slammer]

Goal and assist in game today, anyone have highlights?

I'll have video later when I get home, but after the game Liiga put up highlights on the box score page.

http://liiga.fi/ottelut/2017-2018/runkosarja/83/seuranta/

 

[Hammer Slammer]

Here you go

 

[MrBoJangelz71]

Wonder if his goal gets called off, with a 2 min penalty for slashing, in the NHL