LD Juuso Valimaki (2017, 16th, CAL)

[mazmin]

Anyone who does what he’s doing at his age and after a year off due to injury deserves a good deal of hype. I loved him in his draft year and it looks like the injury is clearly behind him. This could be a true star in the making. He’s got all the tools and the toolbox to boot

 

[Lepardi]

Wait, so I shouldn't take Ruotsalainen's scoring seriously because of sample size, but I should take Valimaki's seriously and I should also assume he would finish at the same level as the guy who is scoring 50% more than him. The original argument was that Karlsson's numbers are not a good comparable to Valimaki's once you put their numbers into context.

As someone who has watched most Ilves games this season, I can assure you Välimäki is a way more dominant player at this level than Ruotsalainen is. His scoring pace is more sustainable than Ruotsalainen's. Välimäki and Lukas Dostal were clearly the best players on Ilves before Dostal left for Anaheim this week.

That doesn't mean Välimäki is anywhere near Erik Karlsson level.

 

[Mitts]

As someone who has watched most Ilves games this season, I can assure you Välimäki is a way more dominant player at this level than Ruotsalainen is. His scoring pace is more sustainable than Ruotsalainen's. Välimäki and Lukas Dostal were clearly the best players on Ilves before Dostal left for Anaheim this week.

That doesn't mean Välimäki is anywhere near Erik Karlsson level.

Thanks for that info, I've been a huge fan of Valimaki's since we drafted him, the hilights on the Ilves website don't work anymore. If you don't mind i'd love to hear your opinion on his skating, also defensive game, what you see as his strengths and weaknesses. Any information would be appreciated.