F Konsta Helenius (2024, 14th, BUF)

[57special]

5'11 is undersized. I think him being an above-average skater is up for debate. It's not like he's a Matthew Wood clear awful skater, but there's a debate whether he's a high level skater for his size. He may only be an average skater for his size, which isn't ideal. If you are picking someone in the top 10 and they are 5'11, you'd prefer skating being in the strength category.

Average skater for a NHL'er, or average skater for a prospect? If it's the latter, i disagree - he is a good, strong, skater with good edges. Not outstanding, but above average for a prospect.

If it's the former, then ya, but with most prospects you project improvement in their skill sets. I think he will be at least a slightly above average skater in the NHL, if not a bit better than that. Not elite, probably.

So many of our perceptions hinge upon how smart a player. If he is able to perceive and anticipate play better than most, he will react better, making him appear to be a better skater. If the above attributes are poor, he will always appear to be a half step behind play, and sluggish.

I think Helenius is one of those players who has above average IQ, allowing him to play and appear faster than he is(though he is not slow to begin with). His skating will not hold him back in the NHL, at all.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

Well, Mikke Granlund had a decent career with being even worse of a skater at the same age. Yeah, Mikke always had great or even elite hockey-IQ but Helenius is a lot stronger and probably even faster at the same age.
Also, Granlund was and is smaller than Helenius is- or will be...

As a Philly supporter there are only a couple of prospects I'd rather see us draft before Helenius and they are: Celebrini, Demidov, Catton and perhaps Levshunov.
Parekh and Silayev are pretty much even with him for me. So Helenius as a 7th pick would be reasonable for me.
Mentioning 11 or more players before him as LeProNarci is a bit of a stretch for now. At least for me.

i easily take Levshunov and Buium over Helenius

 

[Juxtaposer]

Something something Helenius doesn’t have high-end talent.

 

[Castle8130]

Something something Helenius doesn’t have high-end talent.

He’s not really an elite creator in the offensive zone. He’s just a really good player. Wins battles, gives more space for his teammates, dominates posession metrics. The numbers aren’t going to be eye popping, but the compete is very high

 

[majormajor]

Something something Helenius doesn’t have high-end talent.

So you think that clip shows high-end talent? I could fire the puck four feet wide shooting through my legs too.

 

[Michoulicious]

So you think that clip shows high-end talent? I could fire the puck four feet wide shooting through my legs too.

U18 useless hype against weak competition, as predicted.

Who will be this year's Kotkaniemi?

My guess is Greentree or Helenius.

 

[majormajor]

U18 useless hype against weak competition, as predicted.

Who will be this year's Kotkaniemi?

My guess is Greentree or Helenius.

On the contrary, Helenius shines better at the pro level.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Average skater for a NHL'er, or average skater for a prospect? If it's the latter, i disagree - he is a good, strong, skater with good edges. Not outstanding, but above average for a prospect.

If it's the former, then ya, but with most prospects you project improvement in their skill sets. I think he will be at least a slightly above average skater in the NHL, if not a bit better than that. Not elite, probably.

So many of our perceptions hinge upon how smart a player. If he is able to perceive and anticipate play better than most, he will react better, making him appear to be a better skater. If the above attributes are poor, he will always appear to be a half step behind play, and sluggish.

I think Helenius is one of those players who has above average IQ, allowing him to play and appear faster than he is(though he is not slow to begin with). His skating will not hold him back in the NHL, at all.

I would say the question is whether he’ll be an average skater in the NHL for his size. The size part must not be left out. At 5’11 you have to skate better than 6’4. The 6’4 guy has other advantages. There are plenty of 6’4 NHL players who are bad skaters. There are not many who skate bad and are 5’11. That puts a greater requirement on skating for the 5’11 player.

So yes, I would say it’s average for the NHL. He’s decidedly above average for a draft eligible prospect, but most of those players are not going to make the NHL. With a top 10 pick, you’d be disappointed if that player didn’t, so I think the comparison should be to an NHL player because that’s what you feel you have to get out of a top 10 pick. They will have a higher degree of scrutiny.

 

[Hale The Villain]

U18 useless hype against weak competition, as predicted.

Who will be this year's Kotkaniemi?

My guess is Greentree or Helenius.

U18 performance played a role but I'd argue Kotkaniemi going as high as he did had more to do with Montreal's desperation for a #1 center with size. Hayton is another example in the same draft.

If anyone is going to get overdrafted this year based on positional need I'd bet it's going to be Lindstrom, Levshunov or Yakemchuk, none of whom are at the U18s this year.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

U18 useless hype against weak competition, as predicted.

Who will be this year's Kotkaniemi?

My guess is Greentree or Helenius.

It’s also one game against Latvia. He had 1 point. Nice goal. Take nothing away from him, but would he try that in a pro hockey game? That’s the question to be asking. We know he can dummy these bad U18 players. That’s not really up for debate. It’s a tough spot to be in, but almost all these top prospects at a tournament like this are expected to play well or else. That “or else” is their stock dropping. How much can you really gain in your stock from playing well against weak competition?

 

[WarriorofTime]

U18 performance played a role but I'd argue Kotkaniemi going as high as he did had more to do with Montreal's desperation for a #1 center with size. Hayton is another example in the same draft.

If anyone is going to get overdrafted this year based on positional need I'd bet it's going to be Lindstrom, Levshunov or Yakemchuk, none of whom are at the U18s this year.

Yes, big centers always get overdrafted based on their play to date, someone will talk themselves into a top 20 pick on Cole Beaudoin.

 

[Juxtaposer]

So you think that clip shows high-end talent? I could fire the puck four feet wide shooting through my legs too.

He shot it top shelf from between his legs, the goaltender saved it.

That clip was specifically showing that Helenius could be as creative and flashy as someone like Catton against juniors.

 

[coooldude]

He shot it top shelf from between his legs, the goaltender saved it.

That clip was specifically showing that Helenius could be as creative and flashy as someone like Catton against juniors.

edit. i didn't see your save part.

I am not sure the goalie saved it, hard to see if the glove clipped, but it's fairly clear (on second watch frame by frame) that it went wide either way. Certainly a nice flashy play.

 

[Mjul Qvist]

Helenius was really solid against Latvia. Strong 200ft game for him and could´ve had more points with better luck but credit to Latvia who played hard on dzone and goaltender had a really nice game. Helenius is a complete player who´s attributes might not shine as bright in junior level because game is not that structured. He has already played two seasons against men and might even play in world championship in Prague after U18´s.

He ain´t flashy but his IQ really high. Potential to be as good as Sebastian Aho (CAR) or even better.

 

[Guadana]

He shot it top shelf from between his legs, the goaltender saved it.

That clip was specifically showing that Helenius could be as creative and flashy as someone like Catton against juniors.

His compete and iq will help him a lot. May not the flashiest player from the draft but good nhler. We will see fallers in redraft who will be higher now and we will see his rise or cement of his position.
His skating is fine, especially on the edge, he can be really fast. If hf fans compare about Helenius skating, they should write off Iginla because he isn't really better skater, his separation speed is worser.
And I would watch at flashiesness of Catton on Liiga level.

Helenius is not my number one priority but I hope if Devils will have options between him, Catton and Iginla, I hope they will draft Helenius.

 

[57special]

I really wouldn't know who to pick if my team had a choice between Catton and Helenius. I like them both, a lot. It's hard to compare players playing in completely different leagues, and basing decisions on one tournament doesn't seem to be the wisest thing, either.

 

[FinPanda]

Helenius has been impressive everytime I've seen him play. Of course it is Norway and yesterday it was Latvia, but anyway.

 

[57special]

Helenius has been impressive everytime I've seen him play. Of course it is Norway and yesterday it was Latvia, but anyway.

Latvia has actually been decent recently. Not overly skilled, but tough to play against. Haven't seen this particular team, though.

Agree that you want to see how any player matches up against the best.

 

[majormajor]

He shot it top shelf from between his legs, the goaltender saved it.

That clip was specifically showing that Helenius could be as creative and flashy as someone like Catton against juniors.

I wonder who we are supposed to be learning about here.

Helenius? Who we've seen play all year vs pros, we know what that looks like. Or Catton and the other juniors? - Who get their flashy skill discounted more if we see Helenius able to pull it off when he steps down a level.

Personally it's not very enlightening either way.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Pretty good

 

[WeThreeKings]

Just waiting for him to play some of the good teams in the tournament, it's a weak field so the showings against USA/SWE/CAN will be what matters.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

That clip was specifically showing that Helenius could be as creative and flashy as someone like Catton against juniors.

If you look at NHL playoffs for example where players are (hopefully) playing at their most serious, and you look at all the players who've grown up and matured, the flashiness gets slowly shaved off and their game simplifies. That's not to say there aren't flashy players, McDavid and MacKinnon sure are, but most of that comes from being able to combine incredible skating with great deception & some difficult to pull off consistently but fairly basic plays, like cross-crease passes, getting the puck to the guy at the net etc.

Fancy looking dekes don't cut it and are a bad measuring stick.

 

[Saxon]

If you look at NHL playoffs for example where players are (hopefully) playing at their most serious, and you look at all the players who've grown up and matured, the flashiness gets slowly shaved off and their game simplifies. That's not to say there aren't flashy players, McDavid and MacKinnon sure are, but most of that comes from being able to combine incredible skating with great deception & some difficult to pull off consistently but fairly basic plays, like cross-crease passes, getting the puck to the guy at the net etc.

Fancy looking dekes don't cut it and are a bad measuring stick.

This is HF all that matters is Dangles!!!

 

[Jukurit]

Disappointing U18s for Helenius. I expected a lot more.

 

[majormajor]

It makes sense to me why Helenius would be the type to shine brighter at higher levels. He's all IQ and winning battles, and making the right play. He doesn't have the skill to dangle five guys. So he'll always look very good but not great, even at levels you'd think he would dominate.