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LD Juuso Valimaki (2017, 16th, CAL)

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FinPanda said:
What happened to him? I think he is injured because he is having a great season. It's hard to find any information.
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He is injured because he is having great season? What? Injured=great season. :amazed:

I think he has played every his team games.
 
IFK said:
He is injured because he is having great season? What? Injured=great season. :amazed:

I think he has played every his team games.
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No.. He hasn't played lately so I'm thinking what happened to him. My sentence was bad I must admit. :laugh:
Fixed it.

And yeah I've only seen those twitter messages so..
 
FinPanda said:
No.. He hasn't played lately so I'm thinking what happened to him. My sentence was bad I must admit. :laugh:
Fixed it.

And yeah I've only seen those twitter messages so..
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Ok, hope everything allright for him, we need him U18.
 
Great start to the season for him with 2 assists. His 1st one was a great read cross ice to Rasmussen who tipped it in. Was great in his own end as well and moved the puck with ease. I think he'll definitely be a 1st rounder the only question is if he can work his way into the top 10 or if he'll be a mid to late pick.
 
Wouldn't be surprised to see him in the top 15 by season's end. Seems like all the draft rankings that have come out are only showing Lilljegren (sp?) and Foote in the top 10 or so, but it's a near certainty that some team will want a D prospect. Plus D are harder to rank in the early goings of the year. I like him more than Minulin
 
Bump for those who get to watch a lot of Tri-City - how is he looking right now? I have seen him play a handful of games and he strikes me as a guy who could climb like Juolevi did last year. Very smart and consistent player. Big and a good skater. Don't see any chance of him falling outside of the 1st and definitely ahead of Foote as the top WHL d-man at this point.
 
foxygen said:
Bump for those who get to watch a lot of Tri-City - how is he looking right now? I have seen him play a handful of games and he strikes me as a guy who could climb like Juolevi did last year. Very smart and consistent player. Big and a good skater. Don't see any chance of him falling outside of the 1st and definitely ahead of Foote as the top WHL d-man at this point.
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I wouldn't have him ahead of Foote yet or even Minulin or even Fluery yet. He's good but if we are going strictly on points Minulin has more. I do like Valimaki's game though. One thing I'm noticing about Foote is he looks bored a lot of the time, almost like Chychrun last year.
Tri-City has a lot more offensive firepower than Kelowna this year. I suspect when Nolan has a full season under his belt they will be a better team. The season is still young though so I think it is far to early to say Valimaki has passed Foote in any way.
 
Interesting, thanks for posting.

I'm not necessarily going off points and would say I've been one of the more vocal Foote fans on these boards (Rockets STH), but I am starting to question if he has top 4 upside. He is a very smart player but yes, he looks bored and disengaged this season. The Rockets are also not as good as past years, obviously.

Valimaki just seems like a safer play to hit his upside. With the number of solid Finnish D coming into the league, he's intriguing.

I think it's really interesting that all of the top WHL guys this year are late 98s. I guess you could lump Jokiharju into that group, in which case he'd be the lone 99 birthyear, but I am not as high on him as others and need to catch more Hawks games as it is.

Minulin I have seen have some bad games and again, need to watch more of him. I know some scouts (not claiming to be one myself) who are very high on him so the jury is certainly still out for him. I could honestly see all 5 of those guys in the 1st.

I should probably temper ranking these guys relative to one another, just given the fact that we so often see D moving around rapidly from early-late season in the rankings. Trying not to mention Fleury so the Habs can snag him with their 2nd :)
 
I really like Valimaki but he isn't on Foote's level. Foote is the clear #1 d-man from the WHL for this draft. Now #2 you have a case between Valimaki and Minulin with Fleury not that far behind either playing on a bad team. As where they should go in the draft Foote is a definite top 10 guy while Valimaki+Minulin are looking like teens picks and Fleury late 1st/early 2nd as of now.
 
foxygen said:
Interesting, thanks for posting.

I'm not necessarily going off points and would say I've been one of the more vocal Foote fans on these boards (Rockets STH), but I am starting to question if he has top 4 upside. He is a very smart player but yes, he looks bored and disengaged this season. The Rockets are also not as good as past years, obviously.

Valimaki just seems like a safer play to hit his upside. With the number of solid Finnish D coming into the league, he's intriguing.

I think it's really interesting that all of the top WHL guys this year are late 98s. I guess you could lump Jokiharju into that group, in which case he'd be the lone 99 birthyear, but I am not as high on him as others and need to catch more Hawks games as it is.

Minulin I have seen have some bad games and again, need to watch more of him. I know some scouts (not claiming to be one myself) who are very high on him so the jury is certainly still out for him. I could honestly see all 5 of those guys in the 1st.

I should probably temper ranking these guys relative to one another, just given the fact that we so often see D moving around rapidly from early-late season in the rankings. Trying not to mention Fleury so the Habs can snag him with their 2nd :)
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I think if you break down each player you'll find they are closer than they seem.

Minulin and Fluery are probably the more offensive of the bunch. It's actually pretty amazing what Fluery has been able to do with that Kootenay team. They are probably one of the worst offensive teams in the CHL and he is their go to guy to lead the defence and offence. Once they get Peyton Krebs and possibly even Kostin to join the team they should actually be pretty solid. I see Fluery really elevating his play when he gets some guys that can actually help him out a little next year, Krebs alone will be a huge boost kid already looks like he could step in. We've seen what Minulin can do with some decent enough players. But you are right his defensive play isn't the best. He'll likely be more of a pure offensive dman at the NHL level if he makes it but he'll need an anchor of a partner.

Foote and Valimaki are more shutdown and transition guys with pass first abilities. Both of them have solid shots. A couple more of Valimaki's have managed to find the back of the net though. All in all I think Foote is clear and away the better DZ player. I've always used Doughty as a comparison for him. With the way he can break up plays and transition the puck.

Jokiharju looks alright. I've seen him twice and wasn't overly wowed by his play. A kid whose really flying under the radar is Josh Brook on the Warriors.

I think I'd order them like this Foote, Minulin, Valimaki, Fluery, Jokiharju, Brook.
 
He was great last night for the most part. His stretch pass to Lukin was beautiful. He's definitely got the offensive zone figured out but he still makes dumb decisions time to time in the other 2 zones which he needs to work on. He's getting better though and is trending in the right direction imo. Should be a 10-20 pick guy if he keeps it up
 
landy92mack29 said:
He was great last night for the most part. His stretch pass to Lukin was beautiful. He's definitely got the offensive zone figured out but he still makes dumb decisions time to time in the other 2 zones which he needs to work on. He's getting better though and is trending in the right direction imo. Should be a 10-20 pick guy if he keeps it up
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When I saw him earlier in the year he seemed to be quite slow on puck retrievals in his own end. He didn't do himself any favours by winning lots of those races, and as a result he didn't make many plays off other teams dumps, and more often than not it simply ended in a board battle where he could've made a pass had he been back quicker. That's something I really value in a defenceman. Has anyone else noticed this?
 
Välimäki scored (first career?) hat trick last night against Vancouver Giants. He is currently leading all defencemen in points with 9+20=29. His point production has been really positive surprise and hope he can keep it up whole season.
 
How does this guy compare to someone like Jake Bean? I haven't watched him, so just looking at stats and what people are saying here, he seems to be good offensively but prone to defensive lapses? Can he run a PP well? I expect my team (Oil) to be picking ~15 this year and our biggest need is a true ppqb with a good shot, maybe he is available in that spot.
 


The last 2 the play by play guy thinks are scored by Olson but that's definitely Valimaki.

And sorry the video is kinda choppy, Tri-City streams are the worst in the league.
 
10G 21A for 31 puts in 29GP.

Very impressive numbers for a draft eligible, and has nice size.

I haven't watched any Tri-City games, what's his game like?
Big slapshot on the PP?
Vision? Skating? Passing?

Thanks
 
Valimaki sometimes gets criticized for his defensive play but he's fine in that regard. The improvement in his defense from last year to this one has gotten peoples attention. His ability to read developing plays has really come around and in turn has improved his positioning. His passing is better than it's given credit for and he has an excellent shot which is accurate and he can get it away quickly and without needing a half acre of ice to do so.

I don't get the popular opinion that Foote is a better defenseman than Valimaki. It's like the projection from last season has remained despite how the players are playing this season. I don't think there's a snowballs chance Valimaki takes a backseat to Foote on draft day. If it does happen I have a feeling the decision will eventually meet with regret.
Valimaki clearly has a level of potential that Foote is yet to demonstrate.
 
Redline said:
Valimaki sometimes gets criticized for his defensive play but he's fine in that regard. The improvement in his defense from last year to this one has gotten peoples attention. His ability to read developing plays has really come around and in turn has improved his positioning. His passing is better than it's given credit for and he has an excellent shot which is accurate and he can get it away quickly and without needing a half acre of ice to do so.

I don't get the popular opinion that Foote is a better defenseman than Valimaki. It's like the projection from last season has remained despite how the players are playing this season. I don't think there's a snowballs chance Valimaki takes a backseat to Foote on draft day. If it does happen I have a feeling the decision will eventually meet with regret.
Valimaki clearly has a level of potential that Foote is yet to demonstrate.
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Although I personally have Valimaki ahead of Foote in my rankings, there are three reasons that Foote could very well go ahead of Valimaki in the draft. Foote is better in his own zone, he plays with more physicality, and he is a right shot. And you could include a fourth in genetics.
 
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