Svedu
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- Apr 23, 2019
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Probably late- or mid round pick.Is Jesper Kotajarvi still a decent prospect
Probably late- or mid round pick.Is Jesper Kotajarvi still a decent prospect
Finnish 2007 born players reminds of 88-90 born players for Finland. Lousy. 2006 is deep and 2008 born have some at least mentionable prospects.
Westergård could be decent but I mean he's not even near Ivar Stenbergs potential and others.
So Wheelers take isn't anything new, been long known.
The Finnish class sucks so I don't even know who is really worth picking at all in any roundBumping this thread. I’ve been trying to get a good look at some European prospects because they are easy for me to overlook when making my list.
Are there any prospect from Finland worth a pick in the first two rounds? I haven’t seen much discussion about any Finnish prospects being worth watching at this point but I could just be missing a guy.
Finnish 2007 NHL draft class sucks asses.Bumping this thread. I’ve been trying to get a good look at some European prospects because they are easy for me to overlook when making my list.
Are there any prospect from Finland worth a pick in the first two rounds? I haven’t seen much discussion about any Finnish prospects being worth watching at this point but I could just be missing a guy.
top finns. only boelius maybe 2nd round. rest midroundsBumping this thread. I’ve been trying to get a good look at some European prospects because they are easy for me to overlook when making my list.
Are there any prospect from Finland worth a pick in the first two rounds? I haven’t seen much discussion about any Finnish prospects being worth watching at this point but I could just be missing a guy.
How many potential first rounders for 2025 and 2026?Update
2025 Draft
1. Lasse Boelius D
2. Jesper Kotajärvi D
3. Max Westergård W
4. Jasu Mensonen C/W
5. Atte Joki C/W
6. Eetu Orpana C
7. Patrik Kerkola G
8. Julius Saari D
9. Jere Somervuori C/W
10. Niklas Nykyri D (OA)
11. Veeti Ruotsalainen D
12. Petteri Rimpinen G (OA)
13. Matias Vanhanen W
14. Rasmus Kämäräinen W
15. Aapo Katavisto C/W
2026 Draft
1. Juho Piiparinen D
2. Samu Alalauri D
3. Oscar Hemming W
4. Wilmer Kallio W
5. Vilho Vanhatalo W
6. Viljo Kähkönen C/W
7. Jiko Laitinen C
8. Oliver Suvanto C
9. Julius Suominen D
10. Pyry Lammi G
11. Luka Arkko W
12. Janne Karassaari W
13. Jonne Parkkali D
14. Max Laatikainen D
15. Milo Nuutinen W
2027 Draft - 15 Notables
Samuel Heikkinen G
Aaro Fräntilä D
Otto Joutsen D
Roni Kuukasjärvi D
Samuel Suoniemi D
Max Syrjäläinen D
Jere Inkinen C
Olli Kylmälä C
Benjamin Lehtinen C
Miska Liljeberg C
Luca Santala C
Joel Ikonen C/W
Paavo Laine C/W
Leevi Kantola W
Miko Valtatie W
2028 Draft - 5 Notables
Otto Boman D
Veeti Virolainen C
Paavo Fugleberg C/W
Frans Karjalahti W
Valtti Mäenpää W
2029 Draft - 1 Notable
Juho Nyberg W
Pretty much none. Not a top two rounder even in this upcoming draft.How many potential first rounders for 2025 and 2026?
I.find that shocking. What is happening?Pretty much none. Not a top two rounder even in this upcoming draft.
Kotajärvi third to fifth round is my guess. Rimpinen as well. Boelius 5th round I believe. Westergård 4-5th round as well.
Nykyri late round if drafted. Somervuori perhaps last round if drafted. Same with Orpana and Atte Joki.
2026: Hemming can become a late bloomer, say 2-4 rounder. Kähkönen could end up there as well. Kallio a late rounder perhaps. Add Vanhatalo there as well. Laatikainen last round maybe together with Jiko Laitinen.
Further down the road I have a feeling Luca Santala, Frans Karjalahti and a couple could be 2-4th rounders in the end at least.
Alalauri has a good shot for 2026, as does Hemming. I think Finland will have at least one or two in 2026.Pretty much none. Not a top two rounder even in this upcoming draft.
Kotajärvi third to fifth round is my guess. Rimpinen as well. Boelius 5th round I believe. Westergård 4-5th round as well.
Nykyri late round if drafted. Somervuori perhaps last round if drafted. Same with Orpana and Atte Joki.
2026: Hemming can become a late bloomer, say 2-4 rounder. Kähkönen could end up there as well. Kallio a late rounder perhaps. Add Vanhatalo there as well. Laatikainen last round maybe together with Jiko Laitinen.
Further down the road I have a feeling Luca Santala, Frans Karjalahti and a couple could be 2-4th rounders in the end at least.
Missed to mention Alalauri but no, I disagree and believe you are wrong. Unlikely first rounders at this point at least.Alalauri has a good shot for 2026, as does Hemming. I think Finland will have at least one or two in 2026.
Regarding the topic and Finland? Yep. I believe Finland are good in a best-on-best now, 3-4 years ago and for a couple of years still. So a bit unlucky that the opportunities to show that the nation probably are amongst top three in those tournaments have been very few if any (none).I.find that shocking. What is happening?
I don't see us catching Finland anytime soon to be honest. I also don't want to catch Finland.. I'd like the Czechs to join the current 4 nation party (5 if you include Russia). No declining nations, just us improving to a point where we are competitive consistently. Our Euro contingent is strong right now.. strongest I can recall. Our AHL contingent is pretty darn good too. But our NHL contingent is in trouble... the guys we have to build around are very promising for 2026Regarding the topic and Finland? Yep. I believe Finland are good in a best-on-best now, 3-4 years ago and for a couple of years still. So a bit unlucky that the opportunities to show that the nation probably are amongst top three in those tournaments have been very few if any (none).
Regarding the future? In a couple of years or say 5 I believe Finland and Slovakia will be even for the fifth or sixth position with Finland possible being worse.
Czechs will probably be top3 in 4-5 years and take our spot. Sweden and Russia will be even with the Czechs and also before us.
Why do I believe this then? Well, Finland never produces mentionable D's besides Heiskanen.
The Czechs will have a core just as good as Sweden with perhaps lacking of a future ASP if he pans out.
And the thing with Czechs is that even if their depth hasn't been on Finlands level they seem to get a few very highly touted prospects nowadays.
Besides Necas and Dostal and note that I believe Dostal could be the best goalie out there after Vasilevskiy. They have Pastrnak, Chytil and others.
They will have Jiricek brothers, Badinka, Mrtka, Sapovaliv, Kulich, Sale, Svozil, Jecho, Alscher, Kos, Hamara, Spacek, Galvas, Cihar, Curran, Hradec, Adam Novotny, Benak, Melovsky etc and so on.
And yeah, there is so much more D's there with higher potential than Finnish ones. David Jiricek, Badinka and Mrtka all have top2 potential still. Svozil top4. Spacek could become a sound NHLer as well but the Wild have some tough competition going on right now.
And i understand many will see that Russia and perhaps Sweden are better on paper than Czechia but I still believe they will be the most competitive European team when it matters. Just like I believe Finland could've been these last years and perhaps still a couple of years down the road. But of course Sweden will always be cemented as a top4 nation for me. They seem to be a bit more even than Russia, Finland and Czechia during longer periods.
But right now I think Finland have better top4 centers than both Sweden and Russia. The most important position for me followed by the goalie and D's. Especially if your team plays tight and compact which Finland have been known for under Jalonen at least. Let's see under Pennanen...
Russia have spectacular wingers and stars but I don't believe those on their own without remarkable D's at least will win gold medals. If Michkov doesn't become a center I don't see anyone being on neither Malkins nor Kuznetsovs level as a center. People tend to forget how amazing of a talent and prospect Kuznetsov also was back in the days.
With their wingers they can beat anyone in one game but during a tournament I just don't believe the lack of centers, both in quality but also depth will give them big chances to win three games in a row in playoffs. Especially not against the US and Canada.
Honestly, all I see on that list of Czech players is a bunch of prospects and the biggest name just got traded because he couldn’t make it in Columbus.Regarding the topic and Finland? Yep. I believe Finland are good in a best-on-best now, 3-4 years ago and for a couple of years still. So a bit unlucky that the opportunities to show that the nation probably are amongst top three in those tournaments have been very few if any (none).
Regarding the future? In a couple of years or say 5 I believe Finland and Slovakia will be even for the fifth or sixth position with Finland possible being worse.
Czechs will probably be top3 in 4-5 years and take our spot. Sweden and Russia will be even with the Czechs and also before us.
Why do I believe this then? Well, Finland never produces mentionable D's besides Heiskanen.
The Czechs will have a core just as good as Sweden with perhaps lacking of a future ASP if he pans out.
And the thing with Czechs is that even if their depth hasn't been on Finlands level they seem to get a few very highly touted prospects nowadays.
Besides Necas and Dostal and note that I believe Dostal could be the best goalie out there after Vasilevskiy. They have Pastrnak, Chytil and others.
They will have Jiricek brothers, Badinka, Mrtka, Sapovaliv, Kulich, Sale, Svozil, Jecho, Alscher, Kos, Hamara, Spacek, Galvas, Cihar, Curran, Hradec, Adam Novotny, Benak, Melovsky etc and so on.
And yeah, there is so much more D's there with higher potential than Finnish ones. David Jiricek, Badinka and Mrtka all have top2 potential still. Svozil top4. Spacek could become a sound NHLer as well but the Wild have some tough competition going on right now.
And i understand many will see that Russia and perhaps Sweden are better on paper than Czechia but I still believe they will be the most competitive European team when it matters. Just like I believe Finland could've been these last years and perhaps still a couple of years down the road. But of course Sweden will always be cemented as a top4 nation for me. They seem to be a bit more even than Russia, Finland and Czechia during longer periods.
But right now I think Finland have better top4 centers than both Sweden and Russia. The most important position for me followed by the goalie and D's. Especially if your team plays tight and compact which Finland have been known for under Jalonen at least. Let's see under Pennanen...
Russia have spectacular wingers and stars but I don't believe those on their own without remarkable D's at least will win gold medals. If Michkov doesn't become a center I don't see anyone being on neither Malkins nor Kuznetsovs level as a center. People tend to forget how amazing of a talent and prospect Kuznetsov also was back in the days.
With their wingers they can beat anyone in one game but during a tournament I just don't believe the lack of centers, both in quality but also depth will give them big chances to win three games in a row in playoffs. Especially not against the US and Canada.
Yeah, I believe prospects are... The upcoming future? Is that strange?Honestly, all I see on that list of Czech players is a bunch of prospects and the biggest name just got traded because he couldn’t make it in Columbus.
I don’t disagree that Czechia has been doing great developmental work recently and all those names are promising. But there’s no real reason to believe Czechia will catch up to Sweden and get way ahead of Finland anytime soon.
I promise you I never saw anything great in Zadina nor Kaut. Zadina got served in one WJC and scored goals like say, Puistola. Afterwards he got very overhyped and in the end it showed.I don't see us catching Finland anytime soon to be honest. I also don't want to catch Finland.. I'd like the Czechs to join the current 4 nation party (5 if you include Russia). No declining nations, just us improving to a point where we are competitive consistently. Our Euro contingent is strong right now.. strongest I can recall. Our AHL contingent is pretty darn good too. But our NHL contingent is in trouble... the guys we have to build around are very promising for 2026
Hronek and Gudas on D is a nice start for 2026.
Dostal in net is fantastic - I do think he's a top 10 goalie in the world and if he wasn't on a rebuilder more would know about him.
Now we have Necas hitting the Pastrnak 'tier' and that is great. My dream being they are both top 10 scorers by 2026.. similar to the Russian Kaprizov/Kucherov dynamic.
Hertl and Zacha are serviceable 1/2C types. But nothing like a Barkov or McDavid.
Our big thing is our best players keep busting out. Last full timer we have created is Necas 7 years ago! Maybe now Ivan if he can stick in NHL. That's it.
So I hope you're right and you listed all the right prospects and they all should become NHL players as they are top 100 and even first round players.
BUT our Europe contingent is good because of busted first rounders like Zadina, Kaut, Zboril and Hajek (2nd round I believe). Something happens to Czech players between 17 and 20 and I can't explain it. Need Kulich to stick. Need Jiricek to play a game.lol Mrtka looks to be a round 1 lock at this point and that is great!
Your last two posts make me feel as good as I ever have about future Czech D in NHL lol. Finn D prospects seem like Czech ones and can't get to the finish line.I promise you I never saw anything great in Zadina nor Kaut. Zadina got served in one WJC and scored goals like say, Puistola. Afterwards he got very overhyped and in the end it showed.
I never saw Zboril enough.
Hajek a second round prospect didn't pan out. Rangers isn't the easiest organization either, look at Kakko a second pick and I still think he has some potential. Also, look at Vaakanainen, Jokiharju, Kupari, Vesalainen I why not even mention Honka brothers. I also don't believe Heimosalmi will becoming anything special. Skating was his strength and he's right handed. They took a shot at him and Anttoni Honka but I didn't see that top3-4 potential.
Sure Jokiharju plays in the NHL but didn't even get selected now and the Sabres fans seem to hate the guy.
Then we have Laaksonen, Saarijärvi, Salo etc and so on. The list of Finnish D's not making it is on another level. I honestly thought pretty high about Laaksonen and believe he could bounce back in the Stars organization but no. Salos treatment in Islanders was I bit strange perhaps and he didn't get handled that good after performing more than decent in some camps for them.
But yeah you get the point. No matter what, if there really are early round prospects that are "Busting" or even ever had it? It's Finnish prospects as well.
And even if it's very early and I really hope I'm wrong I don't see Kotajärvi nor Boelius end up in the NHL one day. And those together with Westergård will be our first guys in the upcoming draft... It sure isn't that pretty.
Let's see how these 2006 born D's will play in the WJC's this year and the next. Because if they don't stand out next year the future amongst D's for Finland looks just as dark as before.
Finnish hockey association became cocky and arrogant.I.find that shocking. What is happening?