Prospect Info: G Topias Leinonen -- Selected 41st overall in 2022

[Club]

Kid kinda looks like a Finnish Tom Brady

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

Especially since this is the only goalie taken in the 3 drafts since Portillo was drafted and Adams has been the GM.

They had to take a goalie this year, IMO.

Plus this one isn't committed to a college or US/Canadian jr league so he can continue to develop in the Liiga for the next few years without the worry of where you put him.

 

[Paxon]

Forton: "major gap on their list to the next goalie"

If they really feel that way I can't fault their decision-making much. I just hope they're right in their assessment. Not a fan of taking goalies early unless they are clearly high-end prospects.

 

[Dingo44]

Kid kinda looks like a Finnish Tom Brady
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He looks like Brady playing a small part in a Farrelly Brothers movie.

 

[Faceboner]

Yo wtf happened to warren, adams is a jabroni cus of dis

 

[Fjordy]

*Some* people who evaluate the draft said he's the best. Some didn't.

Also - KA's interview/Forton's interview didn't inspire too much confidence either. Basically said they were going to take a goalie no matter what and he was the highest on their list "by far". They were debating taking him in the first. How they come up with a mandate like that and end drafting him that high? Who knows.

I don't know what you want to hear from me, the more good goalies in the system the better.

 

[Zman5778]

How they come up with a mandate like that and end drafting him that high? Who knows.

It's actually very easy to see why they would think that way. We've got 3 young goalies: UPL, Levi and Portillo.

The chances are stupid high that at the end of this hockey season, all 3 will be signed to pro contracts and we will have NOTHING in the pipeline behind them.

It was quite critical that we got a goalie in the pipeline this year......and I wouldn't have been upset at all had we taken two.

This specific goalie? Well, he was highly rated.....and there was apparently a large dropoff in talent in their eyes. So, they "reached" for a position of dire need a little.

 

[Chainshot]

Kid kinda looks like a Finnish Tom Brady
View attachment 566393

He looks like a Dahlin's Fennoswede cousin.

 

[HaNotsri]

For perspective -- Seattle took a goalie in the 2nd round as well.

I'm betting KA and company had some information that this Leinonen kid was going at some point in the 2nd and had him on a similar level as some other prospects that us amateurs are discussing.

Since we need goalies, KA jumped.

Seattle has Big Head. Other than that your argument is fine.

 

[jc17]

A few cases of taking players who didn't get stat boosts from their teams. Not sure if it was intentional or coincidence, but I like the strategy

 

[old kummelweck]

Adams wanted the best goalie in this draft, and he got him. You get to where the sabres are now if you don't have a goalie pipeline.

 

[tsujimoto74]

I absolutely hate this pick, It is not only a reach, but you couldn't wait until the fourth round to take this kid?

Not if you actually wanted to draft him (which Adams and co clearly did), you couldn't.

I've got absolutely no problem with the team nabbing the kid they think is the best goalie in the draft in the 2nd round, especially since we had 3 1sts to use on skaters ahead of him.

 

[Bendium]

They got THEIR choice of goalies. The pick of the litter. If they wait, maybe they are picking over scraps for a player they don’t feel good about. Perfectly reasonable IMO.

This! This is Bills draft philosophy, and I support it. Beane will happily spend a late round pick to move up a few positions and get the guy he wants and believes in rather than risk losing that choice and having to make a lesser choice.

KA has a TON more info than we do. He and his team have been studying goalies for 2 years now, and know where the market is with respect to other teams needs. They know what teams have had scouts watching what prospects, etc. They have a top notch analytics department giving him the low down on player quality. For all we know they had this guy alone in the top tier, and only a couple goalies worth drafting at all. Made their move in the second to make sure they were getting the best chance for long term goalie success.

News articles indicate he would not have made it to our pick in the third. This looks like an educated selection to make sure they got the one they wanted. I have zero problem with that type of decision making.

Now this run of smallish guys? KA....call me...we gots to talk about this!

 

[Woodhouse]

via https://twitter.com/siltaneneetu/status/1545461931384995842

 

[Samsonite23]

Weird that people don’t like drafting the most important position in hockey.

I don’t pretend to know shit about evaluating and developing goalie prospects. But if you have a goalie ranked as far and away the best goalie, and you draft said goalie, that’s actually a good thing.

 

[Paxon]

Weird that people don’t like drafting the most important position in hockey.

I don’t pretend to know shit about evaluating and developing goalie prospects. But if you have a goalie ranked as far and away the best goalie, and you draft said goalie, that’s actually a good thing.

Your last sentence doesn't really hold up logically. If you extend that logic to, say, the first overall pick you can see that it is fallacious. I mean I get your sentiment but the fact they considered him the best goalie by a margin doesn't in of itself make picking him at a particular spot wise. That said, specifically where they took him I have less an issue with it than I did before after what Forton said. Still, it doesn't speak to whether he is the level of goalie prospect a particular person might consider justifies being selected at a particular spot.

 

[Buffaloed]

Has he had hip surgery? Does he need it?

 

[Dingo44]

Your last sentence doesn't really hold up logically. If you extend that logic to, say, the first overall pick you can see that it is fallacious. I mean I get your sentiment but the fact they considered him the best goalie by a margin doesn't in of itself make picking him at a particular spot wise. That said, specifically where they took him I have less an issue with it than I did before after what Forton said. Still, it doesn't speak to whether he is the level of goalie prospect a particular person might consider justifies being selected at a particular spot.

Goalies are like quarterbacks. If you need one you go get one. They can get overdrafted based on the position but the fact that there weren't many goalies in the entire draft and lots of teams need one and we already drafted three players I understand the reasoning to get him at 41.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Has he had hip surgery? Does he need it?

That step in the development path doesn't happen until he crosses the pond, I'm pretty sure

 

[Paxon]

Goalies are like quarterbacks. If you need one you go get one. They can get overdrafted based on the position but the fact that there weren't many goalies in the entire draft and lots of teams need one and we already drafted three players I understand the reasoning to get him at 41.

My comment wasn't about specifically where he was taken, just the logic in saying if you have a goalie ranked as the best in class and you draft him then it is inherently a good thing. It just isn't logically sound. It isn't inherently a good thing if you draft the best QB say first overall even if you don't think he is or could reasonably be a franchise QB. If you merely think he has a shot at being a starter, drafting him 1st overall is a terrible decision. Needing a QB doesn't justify that.

Same with goalie. If we drafted him #9 obviously no one would say "well, they got who they considered the best goalie in the class by a fair margin". Unless he is one of the best goalie prospects of the past decade that'd be a terrible choice. Again, I'm not saying this means where they actually took him is an issue. It's about the argument made.

 

[Dingo44]

My comment wasn't about specifically where he was taken, just the logic in saying if you have a goalie ranked as the best in class and you draft him then it is inherently a good thing. It just isn't logically sound. It isn't inherently a good thing if you draft the best QB say first overall even if you don't think he is or could reasonably be a franchise QB. If you merely think he has a shot at being a starter, drafting him 1st overall is a terrible decision. Needing a QB doesn't justify that.

Same with goalie. If we drafted him #9 obviously no one would say "well, they got who they considered the best goalie in the class by a fair margin". Unless he is one of the best goalie prospects of the past decade that'd be a terrible choice. Again, I'm not saying this means where they actually took him is an issue. It's about the argument made.

It's definitely not the same - especially because projecting a goalie is much harder than a QB, and it takes much longer to develop a goalie than a QB - but basically the supply is much smaller than the demand. And again I'm on record wanting Hutson with the pick but if that's the one goalie the Sabres liked and they didn't think he'd be available with their third then they needed to get him then.

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

Forton said they were debating whether to draft Leinonen in the first round and that there was no thought of waiting past their second round pick.

They wanted this guy bad and weren't going to leave the draft without getting him.

 

[Fjordy]

I'm fine with that

 

[Samsonite23]

Your last sentence doesn't really hold up logically. If you extend that logic to, say, the first overall pick you can see that it is fallacious. I mean I get your sentiment but the fact they considered him the best goalie by a margin doesn't in of itself make picking him at a particular spot wise. That said, specifically where they took him I have less an issue with it than I did before after what Forton said. Still, it doesn't speak to whether he is the level of goalie prospect a particular person might consider justifies being selected at a particular spot.

It’s a weird logic scenario because nobody knows how good any goalie prospect will end up being really. It’s more so the position is being devalued based on what I’ve read in this thread. I agree if it’s a 1OV pick, it’s different. But it’s not. Which is why I said why I said. It was 2nd round pick.

But I didn’t elaborate, so I get what you’re saying.

 

[HaNotsri]

Has he had hip surgery? Does he need it?

He went to Switzerland for pro-mobility hips. Can't have the commie shit surgery that we provide here in the north.
They also added a little cucko clock to his neck that you can connect to the goal horn via wifi.