LD Juuso Valimaki (2017, 16th, CAL)

[Noma]

Hope the Jets get this guy

He is already friends with Laine being from the same city and the same age.

 

[The Norris Division]

This draft, while not as strong in the top 3 as past drafts, has exceptional 1-20 depth.

Patrick
Hischier
Heiskanen
Vilardi
Glass
Mittelstadt
Pettersson
Liljegren
Makar
Tolvanen
Necas
Suzuki
Tippett
Kostin
Andersson
Rasmussen
Valimaki

That's 17 guys I could see an argument for going top 10. Plus Hague, Foote, Brannstrom, Poehling, etc.

Sabres draft Makar or Valimaki at #8 before Lilegren.
I expect Makar is off the board and the Sabres go Valimaki.

I see 2 top tiers...

1-2

3-15




16 - 25

26 +

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

If Valimaki is still available before Carolina picks and after LA picks, I really hope the Flames trade up, because it's very likely the Jets pick him with their pick.

 

[ps241]

If Valimaki is still available before Carolina picks and after LA picks, I really hope the Flames trade up, because it's very likely the Jets pick him with their pick.

I could see the Jets drafting Valimaki for sure since he fills a need and is really good but there could be a faller that is just too high on their list to pass up on at #13 so we'll see. This is a quirky draft to say the least.

 

[Debrincat93]

They also don't do a lot of drafting from the WHL. Which is really sort of weird, since Ken Holland was a WHL scout coming up.

its not overly weird, they dont invest in much in the WHL scouting wise.

 

[Flair Hay]

If Valimaki is still available before Carolina picks and after LA picks, I really hope the Flames trade up, because it's very likely the Jets pick him with their pick.

For every 10 mocks on the mock board, 8 or 9 have Valimaki to the Jets

It really does make perfect sense for us and he will probably be there.

 

[Phenomenon]

He is already friends with Laine being from the same city and the same age.

To be correct Välimäki is from Nokia and Laine from Tampere, so they are not from the same city. Nokia is, however, more or less a suburb for Tampere despite being an own city.

Juuso´s best friend used to be Otto Koivula (from Nokia as well) and their girlfriends are close friends.

 

[LordNeverLose]

To be correct Välimäki is from Nokia and Laine from Tampere, so they are not from the same city. Nokia is, however, more or less a suburb for Tampere despite being an own city.

Juuso´s best friend used to be Otto Koivula (from Nokia as well) and their girlfriends are close friends.

Valimaki @ 15 to Isles e5

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Juuso´s best friend used to be Otto Koivula (from Nokia as well) and their girlfriends are close friends.

Nokia, connecting people.

 

[Stompa]

Nokia, connecting people.

^ This was well done.

 

[leaflover]

Caught a couple of his games this season and liked him a lot. Don't know if he's around at #17 but if he is, he better not still be available at #18.

 

[leaflover]

He seems to be inching up the rankings to the point he's out of Toronto's range unfortunately. Oh well, somebody will get a good one.

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

Honestly I'm going to be very depressed if the Jets don't pick a Finn at #13, it worked for us last season just roll with it, also I'm pretty high on Valimaki, Tolvanen and Vesalainen(least favourite of the 3 I mentioned). With all that said if somehow one of the top 2 peggers land on our door step then we prioritize them.

 

[kelsier]

Honestly I'm going to be very depressed if the Jets don't pick a Finn at #13, it worked for us last season just roll with it, also I'm pretty high on Valimaki, Tolvanen and Vesalainen(least favourite of the 3 I mentioned). With all that said if somehow one of the top 2 peggers land on our door step then we prioritize them.

It would be thrilling if the Jets picked another Finn but if Välimäki is off the table, they really have little need for new wingers considering what the team already has in and out of the system. Imagine Laine - Vesalainen combo though, that'd be some size on the ice! v2.0 Selänne - Numminen tandem would be delight as well, ha.

 

[MMC]

Welcome to Calgary!

 

[TychoFan]

Sounds like we got a great player! Welcome!

 

[JurassicTunga]

Welcome to the Flames! Looks solid

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

I have liked Välimäki a lot for a long time now. Calgary got a solid piece here.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Liking this pick for the Flames

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Yeah baby can never have enough good D prospects.

 

[MonarchFlames]

The flames are basically doing what Nashville was doing. And That's drafting a ton of dmen. This guy along with Andersson, Kylington and Fox looks good. We could even use some of those picks to fill in depth else where in the line up in the future. The positive of having such high ceiling dmen is exactly that.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Caught a couple of his games this season and liked him a lot. Don't know if he's around at #17 but if he is, he better not still be available at #18.

It'll be really interesting to see which player between him and Liljegren ends up being better, because they're both guys I would've been very happy with the Flames taking at 16 (and I think the same goes for the Leafs at 17).

 

[TMLeafs18]

This is the guy I wanted the Leafs to pick I think the Flames got a good one here. Congrats on the pick flames fans !

 

[leaflover]

It'll be really interesting to see which player between him and Liljegren ends up being better, because they're both guys I would've been very happy with the Flames taking at 16 (and I think the same goes for the Leafs at 17).

That's funny, i was kinda choked when the Flames took him 16th and then i remembered it meant Liljegren was still on the board. I think we both might be real happy in the years to come.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

The flames are basically doing what Nashville was doing. And That's drafting a ton of dmen. This guy along with Andersson, Kylington and Fox looks good. We could even use some of those picks to fill in depth else where in the line up in the future. The positive of having such high ceiling dmen is exactly that.

Imagine this lineup in a few years:

Brodie-Hamilton
Valimaki-Fox
Giordano-Andersson

Giosson would be our shutdown pairing, whereas Bromilton will be our 2-way pairing. Fox and Valimaki will be our offensive pairing. The best thing with Giordano's contract is it allows us to develop Valimaki, and I won't have complaints about using him in a bottom pairing role as opposed to Bennett being in a bottom 6 role, because defenseman usually take a lot longer than forwards to develop and Valimaki can learn extremely valuable things defensively as well. Giordano's contract is also perfect for Valimaki to step into a 2nd pairing role without much difficulty. Let's say Giordano begins his big decline in 2020-2021, Valimaki at the age of 22 can step into a 2nd pairing role, and Giordano will still be an elite defender on the third pairing that's slightly overpaid but still very serviceable.