Lauri Korpikoski

[GFS]

Can you guys give me the scouting report on Korpikoski? I have never seen him play and there is very little info on him. Thanks!

Assets: Speed is his best attribute, which he uses with aplomb in defensive situations. Plays with lots of energy and spunk. Versatile, he can play all three forward positions and kill penalties. Is also adept in the face-off dot.

Flaws: Lacks a little confidence in the scoring department at the highest level. Has good hands but isn't a feared shooter, since he doesn't use that aspect of his game enough to his advantage.

Career Potential: Extremely versatile two-way forward.

HFBoards Scouting Report

...a decent 3rd line contributor [06-28-2014]

Even during his 40 and 37 point campaigns a lot of that offense came in bunches and spurts - Korpi certainly isn't a guy you can rely on in the clutch... he's a solid role player. I don't like that Maloney/Tippett tried to force him into a top 6 role last season.

a good complimentary piece but not a core player who may have trade value worth exploring... Korpi is pretty much WYSIWYG at this point

Very good 3rd line defensive winger with streaky offense.

...he's a huge part of our PK and despite having a down year on offense is usually good for 15 goals and 40-ish points.

Granted he had a bit of an off year, but his contract is extremely reasonable, and he's quite good in his own end.

Korpikoski's a solid player who can step in on the left side and fill in for a top-6 injury. His speed also allows him to be the eventual Chimera replacement.

Korpikoski would be a nice addition to our bottom 6 and PK

woud love to have Korpikoski type player in my team. He's just all heart. Great player.

 

[SniperHF]

I laugh at the initial HF scouting report about how he can play all 3 forward positions and is good on the Dot.

Otherwise it's accurate. Also add in inconsistent on offense but really most 35-40 point guys are.

 

[GFS]

That first scouting report is from the Hockey News website. I think it's outdated because Korpi doesn't even take faceoffs.

 

[KG]

We tried him at center quite a bit and a lot of us wished he could be a 3C, but he just never did well enough.

 

[Desert Ice 11]

Good defensive type forward that has some speed. Can contribute on offense but not enough to be a consistent top 6.

I like him and would not like to see him go.

 

[XX]

I feel like the Coyotes haven't had a line that fits him for awhile. He's too good to play with (offensive) scrubs like Moss and Gordon when he was here, or whoever the hell are the bottom 6 guys of the week. I'd really like to see him with two other two-way guys that have his skill level. Erat is a good partner. Toss a guy like Legwand between them and you could have a pretty good line.

Korpikoski's crime is that he is inconsistent and plays soft/like he doesn't care when the team needs him most. Yes, he plays both wings and all situations but he can be replaced piecemeal and that might suit the roster more for his money.

He needs other 20-20 types around him to really chip in offensively. I'm not opposed to keeping him if Maloney can set him up for success.

 

[GFS]

I feel like the Coyotes haven't had a line that fits him for awhile. He's too good to play with (offensive) scrubs like Moss and Gordon when he was here, or whoever the hell are the bottom 6 guys of the week. I'd really like to see him with two other two-way guys that have his skill level. Erat is a good partner. Toss a guy like Legwand between them and you could have a pretty good line.

Korpikoski's crime is that he is inconsistent and plays soft/like he doesn't care when the team needs him most. Yes, he plays both wings and all situations but he can be replaced piecemeal and that might suit the roster more for his money.

He needs other 20-20 types around him to really chip in offensively. I'm not opposed to keeping him if Maloney can set him up for success.

But didn't he play with Boedker, Vermette, and Hanzal most of this season? Those are all two-way players who also have some offence to their game.

I also had no idea that he was soft since the scouting report says he plays with lots of energy and spunk and one poster even said "He's just all heart." He also had 136 hits last season (I know this stat can be misleading) which is on par with Shane Doan.

I'm not saying you're wrong since the info I found are not reliable sources. I prefer to hear it from Coyotes fans like yourself who watched him all season.

 

[Sciamachy]

But didn't he play with Boedker, Vermette, and Hanzal most of this season? Those are all two-way players who also have some offence to their game.

I also had no idea that he was soft since the scouting report says he plays with lots of energy and spunk and one poster even said "He's just all heart." He also had 136 hits last season (I know this stat can be misleading) which is on par with Shane Doan.

I'm not saying you're wrong since the info I found are not reliable sources. I prefer to hear it from Coyotes fans like yourself who watched him all season.

Doan's physical game fell off a cliff half way through the season after his illness, he usually has twice the hits Korpi has (not to mention a hit from Doan is generally packs more punch than one from Korpi). Korpi plays with energy, but it's not a physical game. He relies solely on his speed. He bulked up a little last summer to try and be more physical but it didn't really change anything.

As far as his offense, he has the hands to be a good offensive player but he just doesn't have the instincts or finish. He's a third liner through and through. Very aware defensively and a good PKer, can occasionally toss in a multi point game and make you wonder why he doesn't do it more, but most nights you'll get nothing. I like him and I won't question his effort (except the entire team seemed to have none to finish last season), but I expect and want Lessio to replace him full time by the time the 2015-16 season starts, if not earlier.

 

[DesertDawg]

Doan's physical game fell off a cliff half way through the season after his illness, he usually has twice the hits Korpi has (not to mention a hit from Doan is generally packs more punch than one from Korpi). Korpi plays with energy, but it's not a physical game. He relies solely on his speed. He bulked up a little last summer to try and be more physical but it didn't really change anything.

actually it did, it made him a bit slower.

As far as his offense, he has the hands to be a good offensive player but he just doesn't have the instincts or finish. He's a third liner through and through. Very aware defensively and a good PKer, can occasionally toss in a multi point game and make you wonder why he doesn't do it more, but most nights you'll get nothing. I like him and I won't question his effort (except the entire team seemed to have none to finish last season), but I expect and want Lessio to replace him full time by the time the 2015-16 season starts, if not earlier.

I expect Lessio to be paired up with Samuelsson in the future, so it would be beneficial for him to start off in the 'A' and get 1st line minutes. I like Korpi, but wonder if the Coyotes could get more value in a trade or if he would benefit in playing with the right linesmates.

 

[XX]

But didn't he play with Boedker, Vermette, and Hanzal most of this season? Those are all two-way players who also have some offence to their game.

He gets shifted around so much that it's hard to say. That's his strong suit but it holds him back offensively.

I also had no idea that he was soft since the scouting report says he plays with lots of energy and spunk and one poster even said "He's just all heart." He also had 136 hits last season (I know this stat can be misleading) which is on par with Shane Doan.

Klinkhammer had 168 hits, 2nd on the team, and no one here would say he's physical. The quality of the hit matters. Hanzal and Stone will lay people out.

 

[_Del_]

I don't think you'll find many better utility players than Korpikoski. I don't think his salary is out of line either.

 

[RemoAZ]

We should bring back Winnik and pair him with Korpi That would be a nice combo.

 

[rt]

We should bring back Winnik and pair him with Korpi That would be a nice combo.

Sounds like an exceptionally expensive 4th line. We've got McMillan and Szwarz who can be had for like 750kay each, and there are some decent UFA 4th liners who would cost a million or less.

 

[RemoAZ]

This is a Dave Tippett coached team. That would be at least a 3rd line unit with heavy minutes.

 

[rt]

This is a Dave Tippett coached team. That would be at least a 3rd line unit with heavy minutes.

Without any first line players of any kind, it's tough to have both Korpikoski (27yrs old with a career. .35ppg) and Winnik (29yrs old with a career .30ppg) in your top nine. Especially with a zero game rookie in Max Domi penciled in. Right now our top offensive forwards are guys like Vermette, Boedker, Doan and Erat. It's spooky. Haha.

 

[RemoAZ]

Hey, I'd love to have a real first line. We haven't had one since JR and Tkachuk. This team lacks scoring and excitement for both sustained winning and to make the product appeal more to the casual fan. That will not hold Tippet back from running a line or two with little scoring. I believe Korpi and Winnik would make a very solid duo in Tippett's system not to mention it would bring in another quality PKer. I agree for our payroll they would take up a lot of space for what little offense they produce but their salaries wouldn't be way out of line in general. If you're going to stick with Tippett, guys like these that fit his system work.

After listening to Tippett on the radio the other day, I'm not convinced Domi will be here at all. If he is, I'd expect typical rookie 5 minutes a night treatment unfortunately.

 

[letowskie]

Hey, I'd love to have a real first line. We haven't had one since JR and Tkachuk. This team lacks scoring and excitement for both sustained winning and to make the product appeal more to the casual fan. That will not hold Tippet back from running a line or two with little scoring. I believe Korpi and Winnik would make a very solid duo in Tippett's system not to mention it would bring in another quality PKer. I agree for our payroll they would take up a lot of space for what little offense they produce but their salaries wouldn't be way out of line in general. If you're going to stick with Tippett, guys like these that fit his system work.

We need to spread out our scoring to 3 lines, that's just what it takes to compete for a playoff spot. We don't have the high end skilled players like Kane or the Sedins or Thorton and the like. In that situation, we can't have many passengers in terms of offensive production, otherwise we would be woefully behind.

It would be fine to have a few 4th liners. But our top-9 all need to have a hand in producing. Having guys like Winnik, and to a lesser extent Korpi as mainstays on the 3rd line, is a recipe for missing the playoffs again. I don't think we can hope for someone like Whitney to ride in on a white horse again to make a legit 1st line again. If we have Winnik and Korpi + someone like Moss on our 3rd line again, and with the way the rest of the west has improved, we won't have much of a chance.

We need to put vast majority of the resources into replacing the production from Rib + Vrby, and likely need to add some production somewhere (either by Domi/Samuelsson, or some other acquisition somehow), just to keep up with the rest of the teams here.

 

[mattihp]

Korpikoski is fantastic at getting clear cut chances and breakaways on the national team. Unfortunately also incredible at not scoring on them. Love the guy though.

 

[BUX7PHX]

I think he competes as hard as anybody and recognizes what is needed from him. Solid on the PK b/c he has very quick feet and good stop/starts and movement. The times when he has success comes with consistency with linemates and having players who are willing to be a little sneaky defensively and play 200 ft., like him.

His greatest success on-ice has come from being paired with Vermette or players like Fiddler, who are just very smart, cerebral centers who play solid 2-way games. Uses his speed to get pucks down low. Maybe he came into camp last year a little heavier b/c staff asked him to bulk up to play on top 6. Could be a 2nd line LW with the right players, but probably better suited to 3rd line.

 

[DesertDawg]

I can actually see Korpi having chemistry with Gagner.