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

[Devs3cups]

I was kind of thinking of a different right handed shot on our team....how would he compare to someone like Toffoli?

Kind of seems like they have the same vibes. Toffoli is slow, wasn't a great skater. His shot was elite, wasn't super quick which seems kind of similar to Lenni as well. Kind of similar in the size department. Just a good worker with good iq that manages to find a way to get shit done and make it happen

Lenni seems like he has a way higher IQ than Toffoli. He’s a very intelligent player. Probably his of biggest strength.

Toffoli is more of a shooter.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

He seems Mercer-ish

Who also is an average skater

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

He's Palat 2.0 which is kinda ironic that we might need to use him to dump the actual Palat, lmao, hopefully not tho. Really good showcase from him though.

 

[Hisch13r]

Lenni seems like he has a way higher IQ than Toffoli. He’s a very intelligent player. Probably his of biggest strength.

Toffoli is more of a shooter.

Toffoli is also super smart. He's got a great shot but his smarts are a big part of what has enabled him to be as effective as he is with his level of skating.

 

[Guadana]

Who also is an average skater

Mercer was a much better skater. And faster skater.
Anyway Great to see Lenny`s game. Cross my fingers for him. I`m not waiting Mercer impact, but it`s not like he can`t be top-6 forward, I trully think he can.

He's Palat 2.0 which is kinda ironic that we might need to use him to dump the actual Palat, lmao, hopefully not tho. Really good showcase from him though.

Hopefully yes. If he is a player to dump old Pal`at after two three years(not as a trade part for dump, just a reason to dump), than I don`t see any problem. If he is young version of Palat, then we are freaking lucky.

 

[Hisch13r]

He seems Mercer-ish

Sounds more Palat to me. I think Mercer's a lot more dynamic and a much better skater than people seem to give him credit for. For whatever reason that element of his game is underrated.

He's Palat 2.0 which is kinda ironic that we might need to use him to dump the actual Palat, lmao, hopefully not tho. Really good showcase from him though.

No way we'd need to use Lenni as a sweetener with Palat. The Isles just dumped 2 years of Bailey at 5 mil with a future 2nd. That's the type of price it should cost to dump Palat.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Hopefully yes. If he is a player to dump old Pal`at after two three years, than I don`t see any problem. If he is young version of Palat, then we are freaking lucky.

Agreed, I have been sour on Palat as a player mainly due to his contract but a younger version of him would be absolutely fantastic. People forget that he was apart of that triplets youth line that TB had in 2015 that helped them get to the Cup in him, Tyler Johnson and Kucherov.

No way we'd need to use Lenni as a sweetener with Palat. The Isles just dumped 2 years of Bailey at 5 mil for a future 2nd. That's the type of price it should cost to dump Palat.

Yeah, that's fair. Just me being pessimistic at the worst, the cap booming for us will help us a ton in that regard as well. Maybe a 3rd rounder for a team who wants their kids to learn, forget if Palat has a NTC/NMC in his deal which would restrict that tho.

 

[Hisch13r]

Mercer was a much better skater. And faster skater.
Anyway Great to see Lenny`s game. Cross my fingers for him. I`m not waiting Mercer impact, but it`s not like he can`t be top-6 forward, I trully think he can.


Hopefully yes. If he is a player to dump old Pal`at after two three years, than I don`t see any problem. If he is young version of Palat, then we are freaking lucky.

10 team trade list the final 2 years

 

[Hisch13r]

Mercer was a much better skater. And faster skater.
Anyway Great to see Lenny`s game. Cross my fingers for him. I`m not waiting Mercer impact, but it`s not like he can`t be top-6 forward, I trully think he can.


Hopefully yes. If he is a player to dump old Pal`at after two three years(not as a trade part for dump, just a reason to dump), than I don`t see any problem. If he is young version of Palat, then we are freaking lucky.

Agree on Mercer's skating. He's better than an average skater.

It's possible but I don't know if he gets to younger Palat level. Younger Palat was like a 60 pt definite top 6er. That's probably like a best case for Lenni. Even if he doesn't and he's more like a middle 6 40ish pt version you take that from a late 2nd.

 

[Guadana]

Yeah, that's fair. Just me being pessimistic at the worst, the cap booming for us will help us a ton in that regard as well. Maybe a 3rd rounder for a team who wants their kids to learn, forget if Palat has a NTC/NMC in his deal which would restrict that tho.

I like him as a player even now. For this season he shouldn`t be a cap problem, and as I think, he shouldn`t be a problem next year. After that it would be great if Lenny is ready to replace him. And we saw only few examples where teams could do anything with contracts. He has worser injuries than equipment allergy to hide him in ltir. Trading him with second round pick isn`t something impossible too.

 

[Guadana]

Agree on Mercer's skating. He's better than an average skater.

It's possible but I don't know if he gets to younger Palat level. Younger Palat was like a 60 pt definite top 6er. That's probably like a best case for Lenni. Even if he doesn't and he's more like a middle 6 40ish pt version you take that from a late 2nd.

Especially on the short distance.

On my taste if he will develop his skating he can easily be top-6 player, and if he will deserve to play top-6 spot, than it`s nothing really hard for him to produce 50-60 points with Nico or Jack. It is hard task, especially when we have Meier, Bratt and Mercer. So if he will be legit NHLer as our third liner, it`s hard to ask for 50+ points.

 

[Hisch13r]

Especially on the short distance.

On my taste if he will develop his skating he can easily be top-6 player, and if he will deserve to play top-6 spot, than it`s nothing really hard for him to produce 50-60 points with Nico or Jack. It is hard task, especially when we have Meier, Bratt and Mercer. So if he will be legit NHLer as our third liner, it`s hard to ask for 50+ points.

I agree if he's able to improve the skating the rest of his game is good enough. I just don't know how likely that'll end up being he reaches young Palat because that guy was really damn good. As long as he's a 3rd liner I'll be happy.

Meier, Bratt, Mercer as the obvious long term top 6 wings and then hopefully fill in that last spot with Holtz. If not it shouldn't be overly difficult to find some guy who is capable of being a good top 6er for relatively cheap to play here. Also the possibility one of our in house guys is able to take it

The 3rd line also has clear future options. We're obviously years out so who knows what happens but Gritsyuk and Hameenaho look like the frontrunners for the 3rd line wing spots in a couple years. In 2 years hopefully you can dump Palat. Gritsyuk expires in 2 years and takes Palat's 3LW. Hameenaho in 2/3 years as the 3RW (or 2RW if he's good enough and say Holtz doesn't do it). Filmon and Clarke also potential options. Maybe Foote although I think he's most likely 4th liner.

 

[Guadana]

I agree if he's able to improve the skating the rest of his game is good enough. I just don't know how likely that'll end up being he reaches young Palat because that guy was really damn good. As long as he's a 3rd liner I'll be happy.

Meier, Bratt, Mercer as the obvious long term top 6 wings and then hopefully fill in that last spot with Holtz. If not it shouldn't be overly difficult to find some guy who is capable of being a good top 6er for relatively cheap to play here. Also the possibility one of our in house guys is able to take it

The 3rd line also has clear future options. We're obviously years out so who knows what happens but Gritsyuk and Hameenaho look like the frontrunners for the 3rd line wing spots in a couple years. In 2 years hopefully you can dump Palat. Gritsyuk expires in 2 years and takes Palat's 3LW. Hameenaho in 2/3 years as the 3RW (or 2RW if he's good enough and say Holtz doesn't do it). Filmon and Clarke also potential options. Maybe Foote although I think he's most likely 4th liner.

The question is what Fitz thinking about third line center position on the long term. May be he wants to find good vet in the future, for example like toronto did with Specca. I like Bardakov a lot, but his shot limit his potential and he isn`t playmaker, he is just average passer, may be good. And may be he will(if he will) find himself on the wing. Or as future 4th line center. But tools are there, everything he needs is staying healthy.

With Lenny - everything is spinning around his skating. Until we can`t see how he will play on NHL level, we don`t know. It`s not like there are no successfull NHL players with bad skating. But we saw a lot of intriguing players who was (and is) productive in Euro leagues or in AHL but can`t translate it on NHL level. May be only minority of them on the same level of IQ with Lenny. But again - we have our own example of Nikita Gusev. Who is smart, with great hands, I should say with even way better offensive potential. And he is better skater with the puck. Just so slow. (and he is less physical). Every case is specific and different.

So we don`t know for now.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

 

[Blackjack]

I'm telling you, a kid named Lenni can't fail.

More fire in his belly and spit in his eye than a boy named Sue

 

[Hisch13r]

The question is what Fitz thinking about third line center position on the long term. May be he wants to find good vet in the future, for example like toronto did with Specca. I like Bardakov a lot, but his shot limit his potential and he isn`t playmaker, he is just average passer, may be good. And may be he will(if he will) find himself on the wing. Or as future 4th line center. But tools are there, everything he needs is staying healthy.

With Lenny - everything is spinning around his skating. Until we can`t see how he will play on NHL level, we don`t know. It`s not like there are no successfull NHL players with bad skating. But we saw a lot of intriguing players who was (and is) productive in Euro leagues or in AHL but can`t translate it on NHL level. May be only minority of them on the same level of IQ with Lenny. But again - we have our own example of Nikita Gusev. Who is smart, with great hands, I should say with even way better offensive potential. And he is better skater with the puck. Just so slow. (and he is less physical). Every case is specific and different.

So we don`t know for now.

As long as Haula can hold up for 3 years and doesn't just fall off a cliff to where we have to figure it out on the fly I'm not too concerned. Finding a 3C shouldn't be that difficult. It's likely going to have to be external since Fitz is allergic to picking centers.

One area he should at least have a leg up on Goose is that he's really smart at both ends so he even with weaker skating he might be able to navigate the NHL game since he won't be a massive liability like Goose was.

 

[BurntToast]

The question is what Fitz thinking about third line center position on the long term. May be he wants to find good vet in the future, for example like toronto did with Specca. I like Bardakov a lot, but his shot limit his potential and he isn`t playmaker, he is just average passer, may be good. And may be he will(if he will) find himself on the wing. Or as future 4th line center. But tools are there, everything he needs is staying healthy.

With Lenny - everything is spinning around his skating. Until we can`t see how he will play on NHL level, we don`t know. It`s not like there are no successfull NHL players with bad skating. But we saw a lot of intriguing players who was (and is) productive in Euro leagues or in AHL but can`t translate it on NHL level. May be only minority of them on the same level of IQ with Lenny. But again - we have our own example of Nikita Gusev. Who is smart, with great hands, I should say with even way better offensive potential. And he is better skater with the puck. Just so slow. (and he is less physical). Every case is specific and different.

So we don`t know for now.

Yeah but the Goose was “eh” with his hustle and 200ft game.

I like the fact that a lot of Lenni’s scoring started with good defensive plays.

 

[VoidCreature]

Fitz has already proven he’s an excellent negotiator, both in trades and with free agency. If he turns out to be great at the draft table we could be talking about a real successor to Lou here (knock on wood).

Love what I see from Lenni.

 

[AfroThunder396]

I was not thrilled with this pick, but he's been great the past few weeks. I'm glad to be wrong. Hopefully he can round out his weaknesses and be a great player for us in a few years.

 

[glenwo2]

What's up with that color of that suit? Not exactly my cup of tea. lol

But yeah...Fitz has been doing an outstanding job thus far.

 

[Xirik]

What's up with that color of that suit? Not exactly my cup of tea. lol

But yeah...Fitz has been doing an outstanding job thus far.

He's probably a fan of Don Cherry's weird suits.

 

[My3Sons]

What's up with that color of that suit? Not exactly my cup of tea. lol

But yeah...Fitz has been doing an outstanding job thus far.

It looks like a suit you’d wear to a Christmas party. It borders on being a costume.

 

[devilsblood]

Nice feed. Added commentary from Ellis here:

So a couple months post draft speed is no longer an issue? At this rate he’ll be a plus skater by the start of the season.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Mercer was a much better skater. And faster skater.

Mercer is a better skater but he isn't above average. Average top end speed and quick tight area speed. At the same age I wouldn't say their skating is that much different from a result standpoint. Mercer doesn't look as awkward doing so.

Let's wait two seasons to see where his skating is after he puts on some leg strength.

 

[devilsblood]

Ready to say Lenni is our #1 prospect

Seriously though, he should get consideration at 6.