F Joakim Kemell - Milwaukee Admirals, AHL (2022, 17th, NSH)

[David OSullivan]

So, after 11 games, Kemell is leading the Finnish Liiga in goals and points. 11 games, 9+4. Three of the goals are winning goals. His greatest asset is his shot, but there is so much more to him than just the obvious stats. I have seen every game of him on the Liiga (12) and here are some observations. And I warn you, this may sound like a fanboy exaggeration, but hear me out.

• Skating - yeah, he skates well. Maybe not the fastest always, but quite okay. Oh well, today he was the fastest skater on the game against KalPa Kuopio.
  
• Passing - hard, fast passes. Also, nice saucer passes, no problem there. And even if he loves the puck, he is not afraid to give it to someone else, if it benefits the game.
  
• Shooting - that shot is a laser. It's ridiculous. Whether it be a slapshot or a wrister. I hope someone will make a youtube video soon of his goals.
  
• Shooting - 60 shots is 11 games. Today he shot the puck 9 times. He can shoot from very different positions, one of his goals was a shot while falling down.
  
• Physical play - this surprises me maybe the most. He delivers many hits in every game, but he also can take one. For a 17-year-old, it's remarkable. He stays in balance and gives nice counterchecks. However, he stays out of boards, letting others do the work there.
  
• Defensive abilities - oftentimes he's been the one falling back when a defender has rushed to the attack. He reads plays very well and seems to make the right decisions most of the time
• Humility, in a good way - he plays for the team, goes to the bench when needed, keeping his shifts short. One game this week, when he had just scored 3-2 leading goal on the last moments of the game, he was put to the rink for the last minute. During that time he went and blocked two shots.
  
• There are numerous moments of brilliance in every game so far, small dekes, easy passes, great positioning, backchecking, or physical play. Even without the ridiculous amount of points, he would be a great asset to the team.
• Winning, personal effort. Hockey is a team game. But Kemell makes the team so much better now. JYP Jyväskylä was generally considered to be the worst team in the league, but right now they are at 6/15. Much thanks to this young man.

Of course, there are areas he can improve in his game. I just can't think of any. Maybe @MiroPRKL could point those out.

Can't wait to see him at the U20 games, when is put up against players almost his age.

PS. Lambert has been better this season than the last (which was abysmal for the whole team), but Kemell is (at the moment) way better.

Less comparisons to other draftees only 11 games in and more quality posts like this please.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Matthew Savoie, the guy often promoted as No. 2 is much smaller.

 

[Kiekura]

Matthew Savoie, the guy often promoted as No. 2 is much smaller.

And there are like top10 players in NHL who are same size.

Does it matter a little bit? Sure. But people are making it seem like bigger thing that it is.

Also 100% agree what @manspaceman said. Thats why it is so easy to get hyped about him, because it isn't just that he can score goals. There is just so much more.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

The average height of an NHL player is 184cm. Probably even less for players geared towards offensive production.

 

[OKR]

Matthew Savoie, the guy often promoted as No. 2 is much smaller.

Savoie is listed as 5”9 and 179lbs, Kemell is listed as 5’11 and 176lbs so ”much smaller” isn’t really accurate.

 

[Puckluck]

9+4 in the first 11 games of the season is certainly impressive. It is easy to get excited about this kid and I can't wait to see how the rest of the season goes. One would expect him to slow down, but sometimes extraordinary talents show the doubters wrong. We will see if he is one.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Savoie is listed as 5”9 and 179lbs, Kemell is listed as 5’11 and 176lbs so ”much smaller” isn’t really accurate.

6cm. It's a lot. Give me 6cm and I get taller than 20% of adult men.

 

[OKR]

6cm. It's a lot. Give me 6cm and I get taller than 20% of adult men.

It’s 5cm, and when you’re taller by 5cm and still lighter, you’re not ”lot bigger”.

 

[DaJackal]

For all people saying that "he is surpassing Barkov and Laine in point pace", think about this: how much has the competition in Liiga gotten worse since days of Barkov and even Laine?

When Barkov broke into Tappara's regular lineup, there were not many players playing their draft year in FEL. It was rare. I couldn't find the numbers quickly and don't have the time nor energy to dig them up, but I believe there are nowadays multiple times more teenagers playing in FEL than then. Also, the overall quality of the league is nowhere on the same level as it was in 2013.

That said, the kid seems like a humble and surprisingly well-rounded player. I'm mildly excited.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

It’s 5cm, and when you’re taller by 5cm and still lighter, you’re not ”lot bigger”.

1. Kemell is 181cm. Savoie is 175cm.
2. I never spoke of thickness.
3. If he maintains his offensive production, it will be the highest yield for a U18 player in Liiga. So anyway, he doesn't seem to be in pain playing against adults.

He is clearly the 2nd man currently. The guy is Liiga's leading points scorer at 17. I have the impression that some do not measure performance.

 

[OKR]

1. Kemell is 181cm. Savoie is 175cm.
2. I never spoke of thickness.
3. If he maintains his offensive production, it will be the highest yield for a U18 player in Liiga. So anyway, he doesn't seem to be in pain playing against adults.

He is clearly the 2nd man currently. The guy is Liiga's leading points scorer at 17. I have the impression that some do not measure performance.

1. Kemell is 180cm
2. You literally said ”lot bigger”, not taller. How is he ”lot bigger” if he is infact smaller in terms of weight?

Rest of your ”points” ain’t relevant at all, and have nothing to do with what i was talking about so i won’t even bother with them.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

1. Kemell is 180cm
2. You literally said ”lot bigger”, not taller. How is he ”lot bigger” if he is infact smaller in terms of weight?

Rest of your ”points” ain’t relevant at all, and have nothing to do with what i was talking about so i won’t even bother with them.

Point 1

Joakim Kemell - Elite Prospects

181cm rounded to 5-11 because the US measurement is less accurate

Point 2

"Matthew Savoie, the guy often promoted as No. 2 is much smaller."
"The average height of an NHL player is 184cm. Probably even less for players geared towards offensive production."
"6cm. It's a lot. Give me 6cm and I get taller than 20% of adult men."

Where does the word taller appear and lot bigger ? You make up my point dishonestly.

Point 3

I think talking about Kemell's performance on this subject is more interesting than whether he's 180cm or 181cm.

I tried to refocus the debate on something more important.

 

[Coach Reggie Dunlop]

Is this guy shaping up to be a better prospect than laine if he keeps up his production? 9 goals in 11 games is absurd.

 

[Sigismund]

I gotta say, as much as I bromanced Sami Vatanen, this Kemell guy... Holy sh ite, this guy's an absolute stud. I've never seen this kind of performance from a 17-year-old kid that basically plays as he chooses. Yes, Barkov was great, but in a different way. Same goes with Aho. And Laine. In a way, Laine was that kind of guy, but if I remember correctly, he never lead the points in Liiga. Kemell does. 11 games played, 9+4. What the...

Yes, the following is much said. I do not know what kind of a player Shane Wright is. But come on, if Kemell keeps up this pace (yes I know, IF), it can't be totally impossible. Well, it can, but still.

Not fair.

Effin' 'ell.

 

[Peeri]

As impressive as he has been, i think in all fairness we must remember that current Liiga is not that high level of league that it was a while ago. Still great to see some young talents rising from my home city.

 

[Sigismund]

As impressive as he has been, i think in all fairness we must remember that current Liiga is not that high level of league that it was a while ago. Still great to see some young talents rising from my home city.

The same thing has been said for the last 20 years. Is it really getting that worse or are the young players getting better? There's a bunch of Finnish players playing in the NHL, that's not even debatable as you can just look it up. They're not that bad although they've played in the Liiga, and some of them not that overwhelming even before they got to the NHL.

Not a rhetorical question: is it really so, or is it just something that is easy to say?

 

[Ippenator]

As impressive as he has been, i think in all fairness we must remember that current Liiga is not that high level of league that it was a while ago. Still great to see some young talents rising from my home city.

Well, it doesn’t seem to be that easy for the other young players to score a lot of points, or for that matter even for the more experienced adult players. I do agree that Liiga might not have as much offensive talent in general, as it used to have some years ago, but on the other hand Liiga is still very tight defensively and the goaltending is also pretty high class. So if a 17 year old can really keep on scoring at this kind of pace, it for sure is very impressive. Some people say that it is easy to score in Liiga, but how come very highly touted prospects like Lambert and Slafkovsky are having great difficulties with scoring there then?

 

[SpinninRodIntoArmpit]

When Barkov broke into Tappara's regular lineup, there were not many players playing their draft year in FEL. It was rare. I couldn't find the numbers quickly and don't have the time nor energy to dig them up, but I believe there are nowadays multiple times more teenagers playing in FEL than then.

There were 65 players 19 or younger in 12-13 and 75 last season. 17 or younger in 12-13: 12, and in 20-21: 8.

Source: quanthockey.com

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Objectively, the level of Finnish hockey has never been as strong as it is today. If the level has risen and intensified at the top of the Finnish pyramid (NHL players), it is quite possible that this is also the case on the lower floors.

The Finnish championship is the 2nd best national championship in the world.

1 NHL
2 KHL
3 AHL
4 SHL
5 Liiga

 

[ijuka]

One thing I also would add are controlled zone entries and his ability to drive the play.

 

[Ippenator]

There were 65 players 19 or younger in 12-13 and 75 last season. 17 or younger in 12-13: 12, and in 20-21: 8.

Source: quanthockey.com

So not that big difference after all. And with very young players there were even more of them when Barkov was in Liiga.

 

[ijuka]

Come on, that comparison is doomed. When Barkov played his last Liiga season the level of play was far stronger as NHL players were in Liiga as well due to the NHL lockdown.

 

[OKR]

You should honestly lose your posting rights if you seriously think Liiga is as good of a league as it was back when Barkov and etc were playing there.


Not saying Kemell couldn’t be that level of a player, but the league itself is much worse than it was back then.

 

[Ippenator]

Come on, that comparison is doomed. When Barkov played his last Liiga season the level of play was far stronger as NHL players were in Liiga as well due to the NHL lockdown.

That is of course true and in general the skill level isn’t offensively what it used to be. But I would still think that it’s not at least much easier to score in Liiga than it was in Barkov’s draft season. Liiga has been becoming more and more defensively oriented since even then. Every team plays so tight team defence that it isn’t really easy to score for even very talented and more experienced players. Also the goaltending is always generally good in Liiga.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

You should honestly lose your posting rights if you seriously think Liiga is as good of a league as it was back when Barkov and etc were playing there.


Not saying Kemell couldn’t be that level of a player, but the league itself is much worse than it was back then.

I don't think I deserve to be stripped of my writing rights.

I am only aware of the situation in Finnish hockey at the start of the last decade and how far it has come.

I have not forgotten the fact that the 2012/13 season was good for Liiga because of the lockout. But that was only half a season.