I May Be In The Minority . . . But I Believe That Kaapo Kakko Could Be Selected 1st Overall in 2019

[ricky0034]

as a Wings fan it would be nice if he could make it close,would essentially mean doubling the teams chance at an elite level talent

I just don't see it though

 

[LABound]

You guys planning on missing the playoffs this year?

It's a real possibility if they don't get a playmaker for that second line .

 

[Go Wings]

Detroit will be taking Hughes first overall not Kakko.

 

[MMANumminen]

Whats his shot like?

Oilers are gonna **** again so Im doing my pre scouting

Stay away from him!

 

[93LEAFS]

Kakko has the best overall attributes of all Aho, Barkov, Laine and Puljujärvi. People are stupid if they think this hype is all Finnish bias.

He doesn't have Laine's shot. I'm also not sure he has Barkov's hands or defensive awareness. I'm also not sure he's as explosive in his first three strides as Puljujarvi. Now, that doesn't mean he can't be better than either or will end up viewed as a better prospect at this day of his draft, as NHL players are more the sum of their parts than one particularly elite trait.

 

[Snowsii]

He doesn't have Laine's shot. I'm also not sure he has Barkov's hands or defensive awareness. I'm also not sure he's as explosive in his first three strides as Puljujarvi. Now, that doesn't mean he can't be better than either or will end up viewed as a better prospect at this day of his draft, as NHL players are more the sum of their parts than one particularly elite trait.

If he would have Laine's shot or Barkov's hands or defensive awareness, he would be clear number one

 

[ijuka]

If he would have Laine's shot or Barkov's hands or defensive awareness, he would be clear number one

He has Barkov's hands, though.

I think that Barkov, Laine, Puljujärvi and Aho are pretty bad comparables, however. He's not really like any of them.

 

[ookhaab]

Shocking that the article is written by a finn for a finn

In other words Hughes will be #1

OP isnt finnish

 

[Blade Paradigm]

OP isnt finnish

I think he's referring to the comments of Toni Rajamaki, FC's Finland-based scout, although it's important to note that Dennis Schellenberg, FC's Head of European Scouting, is Swiss. Schellenberg has also watched Kakko this season, hence his comments.

Cam Robinson of Dobber Prospects had an exchange with @Scouting today. While Hughes is talented, his decision-making can be placed into question sometimes.







Robinson suggests that the lack of challenge (Quality of Competition) is allowing Hughes' game to slip.

However, the fact that Hughes isn't lighting up the stat sheet at anywhere near the rate that was expected of him leads me to think there's more to it than the league being "too easy." If he was torching the league and cheating defensively, that would be a different story; his numbers, on the contrary, are disappointing so far.

 

[Blade Paradigm]

Nick Kypreos stated today, during his analysis of the Elias Pettersson incident, that there is an "internal debate" happening with regards to whether Jack Hughes should play in the NHL next season.

 

[Blade Paradigm]

Liiga has kept track of 5-vs-5 Corsi since 2014-15.

Kaapo Kakko currently has the fourth-highest Corsi % on his team with 55.0%; he has the third-highest of the TPS Turku forwards. This number is going to change throughout the course of the season, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

Here are some Corsi percentages of other notable prospects in their rookie Liiga seasons:

Sebastian Aho (2014-15): 50.2% (8th on his team)

Patrik Laine (2015-16): 53.3% (4th on his team)

Jesse Puljujarvi (2015-16): 57.4% (2nd on his team)

Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2017-18): 49.7% (10th on his team)

Rasmus Kupari (2017-18): 46.3% (22nd on his team)

 

[1OApick]

Have you heard of KHL?

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

Liiga has kept track of 5-vs-5 Corsi since 2014-15.

Kaapo Kakko currently has the fourth-highest Corsi % on his team with 55.0%; he has the third-highest of the TPS Turku forwards. This number is going to change throughout the course of the season, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

Here are some Corsi percentages of other notable prospects in their rookie Liiga seasons:

Sebastian Aho (2014-15): 50.2% (8th on his team)

Patrik Laine (2015-16): 53.3% (4th on his team)

Jesse Puljujarvi (2015-16): 57.4% (2nd on his team)

Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2017-18): 49.7% (10th on his team)

Rasmus Kupari (2017-18): 46.3% (22nd on his team)

Using Corsi for Aho when he played 27 games and mostly on the bottom 2 lines is useless. Why not use his dominant season of 2015-16? I know he wasn't a rookie anymore but he wasn't the best prospect in his career, he's gotten better with time.

Aho 2015-16 Corsi: 56,2% when he was absolutely overutilized on the 1st line.

Pretty much the same on other Corsi numbers. They are bound to change with time and I wouldn't look too much into them. The most important thing to note IMO is that the Corsi is positive.

Puljujärvi benefitted from good linemates and sheltered play in his rookie season for sure.

 

[stampedingviking]

Detroit will be taking Hughes first overall not Kakko.

Good, leaves Kakko in 2nd for the Canucks

 

[justafan22]

how much of this is similar to the laine/matthews stuff again?

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Jokerit can draft him. Not sure why you're laughing.

 

[newfy]

how much of this is similar to the laine/matthews stuff again?

Hard to say but noone was talking about Laine this early in matthews draft year and I feel like Hughes is a prospect that has some red flags that make him more challengable than a guy like Matthews. Swiss pro vs USHL, USHL isnt that great of a league to project a guy to the NHL from. Size is a factor. Small guys can play but if there are other concerns people will also bring his size into the equation compared to the bigger centers like Kakko or Cozens. Look at his production as well, if it doesnt go up a few notches here quickly people will have questions about that for sure. I also think the risky plays with the puck got overlooked a bit when he was scoring 2 points a game, now that he isnt productive some scouts have already called out his decision making.

I think its still Hughes' draft but theres starting to look like theres a few chinks in the armour

 

[Ciccarelli]

Why would you pass Patrick Kane 2.0?

Becose you can get Peter Forsberg 2.0.

 

[Narow]

Becose you can get Peter Forsberg 2.0.

....

Forsbergs probably my favorite player dont do this to me

 

[BB88]

how much of this is similar to the laine/matthews stuff again?

I'd day this is a lot different,
Hughes isn't a 6'3 C dominating a mens league right now, and Kakko doesn't have a major flaw to his game.

 

[MarVell]

This happens every year where the second guy makes a ‘push’ for first overall. I feel like it’s just a way to make the draft more interesting. Even in mcdavids draft they were saying Eichel had a chance of going first. Maybe it’s actually true this year but I can say I’m surprised by that report at all.

Didn’t happen this summer though.

 

[Big Cactus]

Didn’t happen this summer though.

Good point but it certainly happens more often than not.

 

[newfy]

Good point but it certainly happens more often than not.

And most of the time it ends up being pretty legit. Years where someone else was seriously considered for first include Hedman over Tavares (which many would take Tavares now) and Seguin over Hall which is pretty dman close. Hischier ended up ahead of Patrick. There were some years where people kinda talked about it but it was never eriously considered like Eichel over McDavid or Laine over Matthews but those were both more just cases of people saying oh shit these could be franchise guys. Now Eichel is no McDavid but hes a franchise type center that could have went first in a lot of drafts and Laine has a season where he was on pace for 40 goals and another where he scored 44 in his first 2 years.

All those years occurred with the future 1st overall having pretty good seasons. Hughes isnt right now though so if Kakko is looking like a franchise type center, or Cozens or Dach are, Hughes is going to get questioned because the times these have been brought up in years past have proven the questions are usually pretty legit

 

[Gabrielor]

I do think Kakko has a lot of traits I like over Hughes. I’m waiting for more of the season to play out, but if the draft was today, I’d take Kakko first.

 

[93LEAFS]

If he would have Laine's shot or Barkov's hands or defensive awareness, he would be clear number one

Pretty much. That's why I took exception to a statement that hyperbolic.