C Aleksander Barkov - Tampere Tappara, FEL (2013 Draft) - Part II

[thomast]

I'd like the posters who are following Barkov on a week-to-week basis to discuss how much of an advantage his frame and "ready" body has on him being further ahead than all but a couple of guys in the world in his age group. This has often been a problem with Swedish prospects as the physically mature ones have been exposed to men's league action earlier and excelled due to the fact that they're more ready and better equipped to handle it.

Well Barkov isn't just physically ready he is the smartest player of FEL at age of 17. He can figure out all kind of situations he faces in the game like veteran player. He can play every single situation because of his hockeyIQ, perfect positioning and his skillset. Barkov has incredible poise with the puck. He just make it look easy.

Barkov is clearly an player who is a dream player for coach. He clearly buys 100% the coaches concept and do everything what he have been asked to do.

Of course his strength and frame helps him especially in the defensive zone. His defensive game is about taking space from opposite players and he is excellent at it with his huge reach and big frame but he isn't physically even fully developed yet. His physical potential is much higher. Ville Nieminen his linemate and personal trainer stated that we don't even know his physical limits. He has only scratched the surface of his physical maturity. So he is probably going to be much stronger than he is today despite winning clear majority of men at the board battles already.

Biggest reasons why Barkov can play at this level of game is because of his HockeyIQ, Size and his loyalty to the team concept and to the coach. He just does it all like professional. Putting extra efforts in the training. I've heard that Barkov is always the first guy at the training and last guy to leave from them. Once when his team told Barkov to rest after 4 nation tournament in sundsvall where he was named MVP but the guy tried to sneak out to the team practises but he was caught and coach told him to go rest. This guy just has the passion for this game and passion to be better player and most of all this guy hates to lose more than anything. He's stating already that he wants WJC gold. Everyone knows that it's not realistic but not this guy.

 

[JAVO16]

Well Barkov isn't just physically ready he is the smartest player of FEL at age of 17. He can figure out all kind of situations he faces in the game like veteran player. He can play every single situation because of his hockeyIQ, perfect positioning and his skillset. Barkov has incredible poise with the puck. He just make it look easy.

Barkov is clearly an player who is a dream player for coach. He clearly buys 100% the coaches concept and do everything what he have been asked to do.

Of course his strength and frame helps him especially in the defensive zone. His defensive game is about taking space from opposite players and he is excellent at it with his huge reach and big frame but he isn't physically even fully developed yet. His physical potential is much higher. Ville Nieminen his linemate and personal trainer stated that we don't even know his physical limits. He has only scratched the surface of his physical maturity. So he is probably going to be much stronger than he is today despite winning clear majority of men at the board battles already.

Biggest reasons why Barkov can play at this level of game is because of his HockeyIQ, Size and his loyalty to the team concept and to the coach. He just does it all like professional. Putting extra efforts in the training. I've heard that Barkov is always the first guy at the training and last guy to leave from them. Once when his team told Barkov to rest after 4 nation tournament in sundsvall where he was named MVP but the guy tried to sneak out to the team practises but he was caught and coach told him to go rest. This guy just has the passion for this game and passion to be better player and most of all this guy hates to lose more than anything. He's stating already that he wants WJC gold. Everyone knows that it's not realistic but not this guy.

Yeahh, but does he have as much puck poise as Martin Skoula ?!!

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Yeahh, but does he have as much puck poise as Martin Skoula ?!!

Of course not, that's not possible.

 

[sinettiseura]

What are your expectations on how Barkov will perform at the WJC? point totals?

I'm predicting something like 6-7 games and 3+4, +6. He will be very good defensively but can't dominate yet this year offensively. Your thoughts?

 

[Henkka]

What are your expectations on how Barkov will perform at the WJC? point totals?

I'm predicting something like 6-7 games and 3+4, +6. He will be very good defensively but can't dominate yet this year offensively. Your thoughts?

Depends of the role and linemates. If they spread the talent, he could suffer a bit. But if he plays with Armia, that will a deadly duo.

 

[sinettiseura]

Depends of the role and linemates. If they spread the talent, he could suffer a bit. But if he plays with Armia, that will a deadly duo.

Yeah of course it will depend on who his linemates are so it is kind of hard to predict now. Do you excpect him to totally dominate if he plays with Armia? Over ten points maybe?

 

[YARR123]

Yeah of course it will depend on who his linemates are so it is kind of hard to predict now. Do you excpect him to totally dominate if he plays with Armia? Over ten points maybe?

If he plays with a self confident Armia like the one we saw in against Sweden and USA last year, there's no stopping these two. Still I don't expect the coaching staff to put the two in the same line. He could play with Teräväinen on his wing though, that could bring him a lot of points too.

I'm expecting somewhere in the ballpark of PPG for Barkov, maybe less maybe more. However he's got the potential to dominate if all goes well and his linemates play well.

 

[OilFury]

Big Barkov fan i would take him #1 overall, looking forward to seeing him in the WJC

 

[canucksPK]

What are your expectations on how Barkov will perform at the WJC? point totals?

I'm predicting something like 6-7 games and 3+4, +6. He will be very good defensively but can't dominate yet this year offensively. Your thoughts?

Honestly, I think if he were to play 6 or 7 games he notches 10+ pts. He scores at near a ppg in the sm-liiga, where it's a lot easier to score at the wjc. I believe he could be one of the better offensive players in this tournament, especially given armia/tt as potential wingers.

 

[shotvalley]

Streams for tonights game?

 

[thomast]

Honestly, I think if he were to play 6 or 7 games he notches 10+ pts. He scores at near a ppg in the sm-liiga, where it's a lot easier to score at the wjc. I believe he could be one of the better offensive players in this tournament, especially given armia/tt as potential wingers.

Barkov will most likely play with Haapala and Lehkonen. 2 95's and 1 undrafted 94. I don't think that Barkov racks alot of points. It would be good if he managed to put PPG and excellent two-way game.

Barkov has already moulded his game as pro ready against men. In junior games there it's at time total chaos and there is not much sence. It's funny to hear this but Barkov might be lost in Junior games.

He was the MVP of 4nation tournament at Sundvall so i hope im wrong. I'm guessing PPG rate at WJC with Lehkonen and Haapala with excellent two-way game. There is slight potential that he has offensive burst if there is any help from his linemates. If he has that he might be considered as #1 pick after WJC.

 

[sinettiseura]

Barkov will most likely play with Haapala and Lehkonen. 2 95's and 1 undrafted 94. I don't think that Barkov racks alot of points. It would be good if he managed to put PPG and excellent two-way game.

Barkov has already moulded his game as pro ready against men. In junior games there it's at time total chaos and there is not much sence. It's funny to hear this but Barkov might be lost in Junior games.

He was the MVP of 4nation tournament at Sundvall so i hope im wrong. I'm guessing PPG rate at WJC with Lehkonen and Haapala with excellent two-way game. There is slight potential that he has offensive burst if there is any help from his linemates. If he has that he might be considered as #1 pick after WJC.

This is what I'm thinking too. If Barkov scores more than 10 points at the tournament I will be very suprised (but happy ). Granlund in his draft year was offensively pretty much equal to what Barkov is now and he did not dominate. Okay Granlund was coming out of injury and hadn't chemistry with Hartikainen etc but in other hand Granlund scored most of his points against Austria (1+4?). In Finland's group there is this year only Latvia which is considered a weaker team so there isn't much free points to pick.

The difference between Granlund (at 2010 WJC) and Barkov will be Barkov's great two way game. And maybe Barkov scores a bit more because he get's better support from his linemate than Granlund did.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Also familiar ice surface may help a bit. 2010 WJCs which were held in NA. Smaller ice surface I think?

 

[Loffer]

Barkov's been pretty lazy in last games pointwise at least. I won't expect anything spectacular of him in the WJC. 2 goals + 3 assists is more than enough.

 

[Oan]

So he was just lazy pointwise, he didn't bother to have points, but otherwise his performance was not lazy?

 

[Gaps]

I can't help but think that he plays too much per game considering his age. Sadly I have to say that if it turns out during the WJC that he's as exhausted as Mikael Granlund was last year, I won't be very surprised.

His TOI tonight was 21.22, his average time on ice per game this season so far is 19.35.

In comparison, here are the SM-liiga ATOIs for some of Finland's U20 team's forwards:

Joel Armia 16.06
Markus Granlund 16.12
Teuvo Teräväinen 15.22
Miro Aaltonen 13.57
Juuso Ikonen 13.48
Artturi Lehkonen 16.00

And some of the players mentioned above play in their team's top line.

 

[SaunaMajuri]

More than PPG. Remember that he will play alot powerplay in that tournament.

 

[InjuredChoker]

I can't help but think that he plays too much per game considering his age. Sadly I have to say that if it turns out during the WJC that he's as exhausted as Mikael Granlund was last year, I won't be very surprised.

His TOI tonight was 21.22, his average time on ice per game this season so far is 19.35.

In comparison, here are the SM-liiga ATOIs for some of Finland's U20 team's forwards:

Joel Armia 16.06
Markus Granlund 16.12
Teuvo Teräväinen 15.22
Miro Aaltonen 13.57
Juuso Ikonen 13.48
Artturi Lehkonen 16.00

And some of the players mentioned above play in their team's top line.

He's more complete and polished than any of those.

Last two are as young as Barkov, Aaltonen shouldn't be playing close to 20 mins. TT plays on a balanced team, as does Granlund who neither should be there for 20 mins. Armia has been suffering from injuries this season so I think that drops he's ATOI a little.

Mikael had way too much other BS going on around him after WCs. Barkov is getting nowhere near that amount of hype and the bad stuff that comes along with it.

 

[Gaps]

He's more complete and polished than any of those.

Last two are as young as Barkov, Aaltonen shouldn't be playing close to 20 mins. TT plays on a balanced team, as does Granlund who neither should be there for 20 mins. Armia has been suffering from injuries this season so I think that drops he's ATOI a little.

Mikael had way too much other BS going on around him after WCs. Barkov is getting nowhere near that amount of hype and the bad stuff that comes along with it.

He is more polished than the others, but that doesn't make him older than he is. The reason he plays so much is that he's such a complete package and a real asset to Tappara, but that doesn't mean he should play as much as he does.

Granlund's exhaustion wasn't just due to all the media hype. He also played a lot for HIFK, and even though he was two years older than Barkov is now, I'm sure it took its toll on him.

 

[Hansen]

Yeahh, but does he have as much puck poise as Martin Skoula ?!!

I heard he beat Dustin Rose 1v1.

 

[Jussi]

I heard he beat Dustin Rose 1v1.

Only because Dustin allowed it.

 

[Sundinisagod]

Can Barkov be compared to Sundin at all?

sorry if it's been covered.

 

[keppel146]

Last two are as young as Barkov, Aaltonen shouldn't be playing close to 20 mins. TT plays on a balanced team, as does Granlund who neither should be there for 20 mins.

Mikael had way too much other BS going on around him after WCs. Barkov is getting nowhere near that amount of hype and the bad stuff that comes along with it.

Granlund's exhaustion wasn't just due to all the media hype. He also played a lot for HIFK, and even though he was two years older than Barkov is now, I'm sure it took its toll on him.

Granlund was also sick around the time of the WJC last year too

 

[thomast]

http://leijonat.fi/maajoukkueet/u20...essä-katsaus-joukkueiden-kokoonpanoihin.html

Armia, Barkov and Teräväinen. Barkov looks little bit taller than Armia who is 6'4 and much bigger. We can forget him being under 6'3.

 

[f1nn]

http://leijonat.fi/maajoukkueet/u20...essä-katsaus-joukkueiden-kokoonpanoihin.html

Armia, Barkov and Teräväinen. Barkov looks little bit taller than Armia who is 6'4 and much bigger. We can forget him being under 6'3.

Yeah kid looks to be about 6'5" there