G Topias Leinonen - JYP Jyväskylä, FIN JRS (2022, 41st, BUF)

[ChicagoBullsFan]

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Looks like he is back in U20 after playing some in Liiga as one-time Columbus prospect Veini Vehvilainen is back in Jyvaskyla.


Though I imagine he may still have a shot at playing for Finland's U20 team.


Will be interesting to see.

 

[Jukurit]

Seems like Leinonen is dominating in junior league, but at Liiga level, not so much.

 

[HaNotsri]

View attachment 616259

Seems like Leinonen is dominating in junior league, but at Liiga level, not so much.

That's a typical Sabres goalie

 

[Jukurit]

Terrible D+1 year for Leinonen.

He started the season with 93.3% save percentage in his first 9 games in U20 Sm-sarja and ended with 88.5% so he must have really stank in those 14 other games. Shouldn't a huge goaltender like him be dominating juniors?

He played his first Mestis (Finnish second tier league) game of the season recently allowing 4 goals on 24 shots, so not doing very good there either. Video from said game:



Leinonen's goaltending doesn't look very good.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Just six games between Liiga and Mestis and was not with Finland's U20 team. Are there injury issues or has his development stalled?

 

[Reddawg]

Seems like JYP has a clear starting goalie and that it is not Leinonen, but there’s also a six year age gap between the two goalies. He definitely hasn’t taken the reigns in any positive fashion this season at any level. Being left off the WJC team is very eye opening.

 

[Jukurit]

Leinonen has been unimpressive so far, but JYP's defense looks like a total disaster. He needs to show a lot of improvement next season or he's a bust for sure.

 

[MarginNotes]

Leinonen has been unimpressive so far, but JYP's defense looks like a total disaster. He needs to show a lot of improvement next season or he's a bust for sure.

He's 20 years old...

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

He's 20 years old...

Explains him playing just six games in Liiga. But not the lack of games either in Mestis or at A Juniors.

Or was he completing his military service?

 

[bebl]

Explains him playing just six games in Liiga. But not the lack of games either in Mestis or at A Juniors.

Or was he completing his military service?

Had some big injury in autumn and lot of bench in Liiga

 

[Chainshot]

Explains him playing just six games in Liiga. But not the lack of games either in Mestis or at A Juniors.

Or was he completing his military service?

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Thanks

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Why in the hell did the Sabres draft Leinonen in the mid 2nd? Weak goalie draft and they left far better players on the board like Casey, Hutson, Goyette, Luneau.

 

[Svedu]

Why in the hell did the Sabres draft Leinonen in the mid 2nd? Weak goalie draft and they left far better players on the board like Casey, Hutson, Goyette, Luneau.

Yep. He's not even one of the 30 most promising goalies from Finland under... Say 24.

I would pick Jatkola, Kerkola, Vinni, Vali, Rimpinen, Kokko, Saarinen, Blomqvist... And yeah there are probably plenty of others out there.

Very amateurish scouting to be honest. They literally picked him because of size and his father being known. No other reason and not meritocratic whatsoever.
And that shows that franchises and scouts doesn't necessarily always know best. People tend to naively believe that they would be god like with their opinions.

 

[cg98]

Why in the hell did the Sabres draft Leinonen in the mid 2nd? Weak goalie draft and they left far better players on the board like Casey, Hutson, Goyette, Luneau.

Wasnt even the best Finnish goalie on the board either. Kokko was still there for them to take.