Prospect Info: Lenni Hämeenaho (#58 Pick - 2nd Round - 2023 Draft)

[My3Sons]

Idek what that means - he grew today? Lol hes listed on most sites at 5'11"

But even if he is 6'1" - why are we allergic to size in the draft? If the goal of the pick was to be safe and go for depth, you can easily find a decemt defender with limited offense but who's 6'3-4 and 225 lol

For whatever reason, the scouts liked him.

 

[beekay414]

Well for one Elite is the only site listing him at 6'1", but since nitpicking is on the menu....

Ill trust IIHF over a fan-driven website. Hes 6' 184

Second - I stated from the very beginning were allergic to 'drafting size' in forwards and as far back as Nate Bastian being our last size-pick in the top-4 rounds.

Whether thats 5'11 or 6' doesnt matter, he isnt big - nobody would call Nico Hischier or Alex Holtz big either

I get youre enjoying this back and forth but I dont have time to play a war of words over an inch

lol

Is 6 ft sub 6 ft? yes or no.

 

[Devil made me do it]

Not a reach pick. As mentioned earlier, Pronman and Wheeler projected him to be drafted higher on the board.
It's a need pick in the sense that the Devils needed to swing at a prospect that has net presence as part of his game.

 

[PWiz30]

HE PLAYS AGAINST MEN!

Interesting that he seems to be all over the map on mock drafts. I've seen people who had him as high as 17 and as low as 82.

Knock on him seems to be his foot speed which is interesting given the organization's emphasis on skating.

I saw a scouting video on him that knocked him for being weak in physical battles but that seems like a pretty minor concern for an 18 year old kid playing in a senior league.

Shot looks decent and people seem to like his hockey IQ.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Dano's gonna have a stroke saying his name if he makes the league

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

For whatever reason, the scouts liked him.

Im sure he plays hard and does the little things we want, like Chase Stillman

Sure Id have preferred a bigger player but at least this isnt a Samu Salminen type pick, where in a bottom-6 role he'd be useless

I value going for third liners with 2nd-3rd rounders so I inherently like the pick if they do for the same reasons; but admittedly id prefer a beefier or taller player

Though Id like the size.. I dont care enough about it to go to war over it as was starting before lol. A nitpicking of words over a single inch; I have that level of argument every other day with my eight year old, dont also need it on a hockey-forum

So with that said I like the pick if Fitz does and it hopefully fills a need when the cap is possibly very tight 3-4 years down the line. Cheap third line depth cant be understated for Cup runs

 

[PWiz30]

I love the fact that I can forget this guy exists for the next three or four years.

Can't wait to look at the 2027 training camp roster and be like "who the fuc- oh yeah, that guy".

Was just thinking basically the same thing. Obviously you want the team to hit on their picks but I don't remember the last time a draft felt less urgent than this one and that is a good feeling.

 

[devilsblood]

HE PLAYS AGAINST MEN!

Interesting that he seems to be all over the map on mock drafts. I've seen people who had him as high as 17 and as low as 82.

Knock on him seems to be his foot speed which is interesting given the organization's emphasis on skating.

I saw a scouting video on him that knocked him for being weak in physical battles but that seems like a pretty minor concern for an 18 year old kid playing in a senior league.

Shot looks decent and people seem to like his hockey IQ.

Uh, is there also a highlights package?

 

[beekay414]

lol it's not "about an inch"

We don't "always draft sub 6 ft forwards" and Lenni Hams isn't a sub 6 ft forward. The fact that you can't realize that and think it's over an inch (and then moving the goalposts and making it about 6'3" 235 rather than the initial sub 6ft comment) is just *chef's kiss*

 

[ninetyeight]

I'm pretty worried how his skating will translate into NHL level, or how much he can improve it. But his production is impressive for a 2nd rounder.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Lenni Lemonade. Always good to have a frisky, brisk Finn in the midst.

 

[PWiz30]

Uh, is there also a highlights package?

There are highlights in that video too. Personally with a player that probably won't be on the team for a while like him, I'm more interested in the things that kept him from being picked higher and how likely they are to be correctable in the long run.

 

[devilsblood]

There are highlights in that video too. Personally with a player that probably won't be on the team for a while like him, I'm more interested in the things that kept him from being picked higher and how likely they are to be correctable in the long run.

I was kidding, and I hear what you are saying about seeing his overall game, not just his highlight, but there were a lot of bad passes, and giveaways in that vid.

The skating did look sloppy, but he didn't look especially slow which is good.

 

[Xirik]

I look forward to using all the Simpsons Lenny gifs for the coming years.

 

[Devils731]

HE PLAYS AGAINST MEN!

Interesting that he seems to be all over the map on mock drafts. I've seen people who had him as high as 17 and as low as 82.

Knock on him seems to be his foot speed which is interesting given the organization's emphasis on skating.

I saw a scouting video on him that knocked him for being weak in physical battles but that seems like a pretty minor concern for an 18 year old kid playing in a senior league.

Shot looks decent and people seem to like his hockey IQ.

Looking at the highlight package and from this video I think you’d like to see him keep his hands moving when he has the puck. Some of the battle issues pointed out in the video came from the defender knowing where the puck was going to be allowing the defender to sell out on where to apply pressure.

 

[Triumph]

Idek what that means - he grew today? Lol hes listed on most sites at 5'11"

But even if he is 6'1" - why are we allergic to size in the draft? If the goal of the pick was to be safe and go for depth, you can easily find a decemt defender with limited offense but who's 6'3-4 and 225 lol

Inaccuracy about the Devils' draft history aside, almost no forwards in the draft are 6'3 or 6'4" 225. Among CSB ranked North American skaters, 2 players were listed at above 225 and no European skaters were. 18 year old hockey players do not have that kind of weight.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Inaccuracy about the Devils' draft history aside, almost no forwards in the draft are 6'3 or 6'4" 225. Among CSB ranked North American skaters, 2 players were listed at above 225 and no European skaters were. 18 year old hockey players do not have that kind of weight.

Marcel Marcel, tho

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

this kid is so finnish haha, his english is really good though

Shieet he speaks English well!

 

[Emperoreddy]

It's important to draft a couple kids with names that will completely trip Dano up

 

[My3Sons]

Shieet he speaks English well!

Yer dern tootin' Tex!!

 

[evnted]

This pick is...fine. Right around where I had him (60). Don't think there's a ton of upside there, but I think there's a player. The good: super smart thinker of the game, elite ability to park himself around the crease and position himself for scoring opportunities, very committed multi-zone winger, and a pretty impressive DY Liiga showing in terms of production. I like his shot, it's not a laser or anything, but it's solid, and more importantly than that is he doesn't just depend on juniors-style scoring opportunities to put up goals, he's finding loose pucks and getting some pretty translatable goal scoring in. Now there's definitely some bad, too: it's not a big swing or anything, his skating definitely needs work (to put it nicely lol), and he's pretty strictly a complementary, low-upside support player at best. This, in a vacuum, isn't a huge issue to me, but I respect that others might've been lower on him. To me, the biggest beef with the puck I had is that there were a number of other options I just preferred more than him. Maybe our staff was really impressed by his brain, maybe they're trying to find that swift thinking, defensively minded bottom 6 winger via the draft instead of trading a bunch of capital for one at the deadline down the road, I'm not sure. But it's ok. I think he can play with some skating improvement. To end on a positive note, the HockeyProspect team, who puts out the high quality Black Book every year, did a pre-draft Q&A session and one of the questions was which prospect do you think you have underranked, and one of the head scouts name dropped Hameenaho as the one who he thought could burn them down the road and who should've at least been in the 40s since he looks like a winger version Faska. Yes, I know, that isn't exciting, and he did, too, but he emphasized that those players still have underappreciated value on an NHL roster. Again, to me, not my favorite pick, but I can live with it.

 

[Oneiro]

Seems like they wanted him a lot.

My takeaway from the video earlier in the thread is that his hands could use some work but I like his off puck play.

 

[Devils731]

 

[My3Sons]

This pick is...fine. Right around where I had him (60). Don't think there's a ton of upside there, but I think there's a player. The good: super smart thinker of the game, elite ability to park himself around the crease and position himself for scoring opportunities, very committed multi-zone winger, and a pretty impressive DY Liiga showing in terms of production. I like his shot, it's not a laser or anything, but it's solid, and more importantly than that is he doesn't just depend on juniors-style scoring opportunities to put up goals, he's finding loose pucks and getting some pretty translatable goal scoring in. Now there's definitely some bad, too: it's not a big swing or anything, his skating definitely needs work (to put it nicely lol), and he's pretty strictly a complementary, low-upside support player at best. This, in a vacuum, isn't a huge issue to me, but I respect that others might've been lower on him. To me, the biggest beef with the puck I had is that there were a number of other options I just preferred more than him. Maybe our staff was really impressed by his brain, maybe they're trying to find that swift thinking, defensively minded bottom 6 winger via the draft instead of trading a bunch of capital for one at the deadline down the road, I'm not sure. But it's ok. I think he can play with some skating improvement. To end on a positive note, the HockeyProspect team, who puts out the high quality Black Book every year, did a pre-draft Q&A session and one of the questions was which prospect do you think you have underranked, and one of the head scouts name dropped Hameenaho as the one who he thought could burn them down the road and who should've at least been in the 40s since he looks like a winger version Faska. Yes, I know, that isn't exciting, and he did, too, but he emphasized that those players still have underappreciated value on an NHL roster. Again, to me, not my favorite pick, but I can live with it.

Thanks for sharing that. Greatly appreciated.