F Konsta Helenius (2024, 14th, BUF)

[llwyd]

Obviously his skills, absolutely top notch, but his bold attitude too, no apologies, he is on the ice to dominate, young or not. I really like that!

 

[start winnin]

Obviously his skills, absolutely top notch, but his bold attitude too, no apologies, he is on the ice to dominate, young or not. I really like that!

This is a trait I wish more young players would embrace, it might ruffle some feathers but you need that kind of confidence almost borderline arrogance to excel at the highest level. He is supremely confident in himself and his abilities and you can see it in his play on this ice, he plays without fear and when you have the skills and ability to go with a fearless mindset, there's nothing you can't accomplish, the sky is the limit.

 

[jaa]

That was what every scout seemed to be saying. I don't know if I once heard doubt that he could be a middle six center. But no one seemed to think he could be more than a 2C, and that is what seems off in retrospect. Helenius looks like "Violent Nick Suzuki" out there, forget this 2C ceiling stuff. I'm not saying I know he'll be a 1C, but the possibilities are more wide open than the narrow discussion we had about him two years ago.

Yeah, my point was that his floor was for me the same as his consensus ceiling for most. He had that dog in him earlier (it was shown in small bits), but not this much as in the NHL playoffs and worlds' playoffs.

 

[Chainshot]

Many of us thought Helenius was a total beast in his draft year.

But he had that familiar knock on him that he was supposedly already filled out and close to maximum strength, that he would have to tone down the physicality in the NHL when guys would often be bigger than him. So what did he do? He got even stronger and more explosive.

I wonder what team scouts said about his physical development. In retrospect the public scouting discussion was obviously off.

I would say that, perhaps the public scouting is still off. The Athletic doesn’t seem to think he’s much beyond a smart, smallish headliner based on multiple reviews over the last season. Despite his progress, and despite the fact that his skating really pops now, they’re still some doubt in public spaces. I suppose the upside there is various coaches can give him those little newsclippings and he’s going to devour them, making him more motivated, which seems like a win-win as a fan of his game.