London Knights 2023-2024 Season Thread (Part 8)

[GoKnightsGo44]

Regarding Easton Cowan for the Leafs:

"I think he's going to make a push [to earn a spot in the NHL]. I think t's always hard to take that jump from junior to the NHL. That's a pretty big step, but he's proven everybody wrong at every level, so I don't put it past him.

He's going to have to come into camp, and really, the defensive aspect of the game will be key for him to be able to check and stay up to the pace of the play, not just the offensive side of the game, but, I mean, he's very close and it will be exciting to watch." - Haley Wickeneiser

That is a fair assessment, i expect him back after juniors. The physically of the last half of the NHL season into playoffs separates men from boys. No slight on Cowan but I don’t know if he can add that much strength in such a short period of time.

 

[crowncarrier]

Regarding Jesse Nurmi:

He is good, but will get better development coming to the OHL learning playing a NA style and come out as a better polished player playing in his own age group and gaining some confidence. That is key because Jesse Nurmi only put up 2 pts in 18 games in the Finnish Men’s league. Sometimes NHL teams want their players to fill the net more so their prospects can get
more confidence for the next level. Or maybe Nurmi recieved bottom 6 minutes while playing overseas and wasn’t allowed to consistently showcase his offensive skills with his limited icetime.

He played in Finland but didn’t seem to put up a lot of points playing with men, so sometimes that stunts players development

Playing in the AHL or overseas amongst men before you are ready can hinder development. Think Kasper Halttunen. Believe it or not, Halttunen only put up 1 assist in 23 games (although he got injured) in the Finnish Elite League with men. Scouts wanna see you thrive or put up points. So San Jose already seen that Halttunen struggled a bit against men in the Finnish Elite League, so no point in bringing him over to NA to play with men in the AHL, so it only made sense to send Halttunen to London. Same goes with Nurmi……

It’s just logical sense.

I will bet anyone $20 that Jesse Nurmi never even sees an AHL game. I am 100% positive though. Not even Kasper Halttunen played an AHL game last year, and he might be better than Nurmi so….

Kasper was not eligible for AHL last year.

 

[GoKnightsGo44]

Kasper was not eligible for AHL last year.

Yes he was, drafted out of Finland

 

[tjziel]

Kasper was not eligible for AHL last year.

Yes he was. He was drafted in Finland and then signed an ELC, so then San Jose had the option to keep him the NHL, send him to the AHL, or OHL.

If you an import that came over to NA and THEN drafted while on an CHL team, players are subject to the CHL-NHL agreement, meaning it’s NHL or CHL until the player turns 20.

 

[dirty12]

Just curious, who was tougher than him in the O last year?

I could list several as tougher that could not really be argued.
There probably was none more violent than Sawyer. I think the scariest fighter was Roobroek.

 

[WorkHardEveryShift]

Boulton signing in the AHL is proof it's who you know not what you know.

 

[TheOrangePylon]

I could list several as tougher that could not really be argued.
There probably was none more violent than Sawyer. I think the scariest fighter was Roobroek.

Roobroek definitely has the size to be scary and he has fighting skill. Can't argue that one.
Who else would you list?

Just for the record, I am not saying Boulton is or isn't the toughest. I was genuinely curious who people thought was tougher, I think Boulton is definitely in the discussion, he didn't lose a fight all year and took on some tough guys.

I also think McCue could be in the discussion, but he is more of a middleweight. In his weight class, I think McCue is top of the list, but against bigger guys he struggled.

 

[Fastpace]

Boulton signing in the AHL is proof it's who you know not what you know.

And who does WorkHardEverydShift knows that informed of this comment above

 

[dmead]

Boulton signing in the AHL is proof it's who you know not what you know.

I for one will miss Sawyer. You just knew the opposition puckered up every time he stepped on the ice. Good times.

 

[OHL4Life]

I for one will miss Sawyer. You just knew the opposition puckered up every time he stepped on the ice. Good times.

i think most of the time the opposition coach would ask pp1 to get ready.

 

[dmead]

i think most of the time the opposition coach would ask pp1 to get ready.

That too. But we did score 22 (?) goals on the PK. So I think that gave them pause as well.

 

[dirty12]

Roobroek definitely has the size to be scary and he has fighting skill. Can't argue that one.
Who else would you list?

Just for the record, I am not saying Boulton is or isn't the toughest. I was genuinely curious who people thought was tougher, I think Boulton is definitely in the discussion, he didn't lose a fight all year and took on some tough guys.

I also think McCue could be in the discussion, but he is more of a middleweight. In his weight class, I think McCue is top of the list, but against bigger guys he struggled.

McCue gave out too many cheap shots, and went down hurt or embellished or dive to be considered one of the tougher imo.
Anania, Arnsby, Christopolous, Federkow, … Pitre, VanSteensel, … are all tougher middle weights in my view

 

[TheOrangePylon]

i think most of the time the opposition coach would ask pp1 to get ready.

He didn't actually take that many penalties that would put the team down a man, in 40 games he had 63 PIMS with 6 fights, so 30 of the PIMS are offsetting right away. So 33 PIMS in 40 games and without doing a big deep dive of research, I am sure some of those were off setting scrums etc.

Yes, he took some bad penalties, but he didn't take a stupid penalty every time he was on the ice.

Just playing devils advocate.

 

[OHL4Life]

He didn't actually take that many penalties that would put the team down a man, in 40 games he had 63 PIMS with 6 fights, so 30 of the PIMS are offsetting right away. So 33 PIMS in 40 games and without doing a big deep dive of research, I am sure some of those were off setting scrums etc.

Yes, he took some bad penalties, but he didn't take a stupid penalty every time he was on the ice.

Just playing devils advocate.

I know, im just making a joke.

 

[crowncarrier]

Yes he was, drafted out of Finland

I thought they were only eligible one year early from their overage year to play when being drafted prior to their ohl team.

 

[OHL4Life]

I thought they were only eligible one year early from their overage year to play when being drafted prior to their ohl team.

nope, if they are drafted at 18 anywhere outside of the chl, they can go to the ahl at anytime.

 

[crowncarrier]

nope, if they are drafted at 18 anywhere outside of the chl, they can go to the ahl at anytime.

Thank you for the clarification

 

[zman77]

London Knights land Finnish winger, Russian centre in import draft​

Kasper Halttunen’s big scoring season with the London Knights is still paying off
The Knights selected 19-year-old Finnish left winger Jesse Nurmi with the 58th selection in the Canadian Hockey League import draft Wednesday.
The New York Islanders fourth-round pick (113th overall) in 2023 is a good pal of Halttunen and has heard only great things about the reigning OHL champs.
“Whenever you have a player who comes in, enjoys the environment and has a friendship with another player, that (friend) will immediately trust what they are saying more,” London associate GM Rob Simpson said. “It gives you a leg up with the player you’re trying to recruit.”
The Knights feel Nurmi, a six-foot, 172-pounder from Valkeala, Finland, has world junior potential this season. He played in the Finnish men’s league with the wonderfully named KooKoo Kouvola squad and also racked up four goals and eight points in six games with the U20 club team.

London Knights land Finnish winger, Russian centre in import draft

The London Knights selected a Finnish winger and a Russian centre in the Canadian Hockey League import draft on Wednesday

lfpress.com

 

[LDN]

Jackson Edward is a bit of a TikTok star.
Check out the bruin most recent TikTok

 

[GoKnightsGo44]

From Simpsons remarks in the freeps, looks like the door is not closed for either Gaz or Halttunen.

Should be in good shape if both Import spots are filled.

Hopefully we start to see some signings stream in.

 

[ktownfan]

Just curious, who was tougher then him in the O last year?

I would say that Xhekaj was right there, and Stewart also. Boulton got run over by Stewart in a game later in the s3eason and did nothing about it. This was his opportunity to have another fight with him. But nothing. Their fight was I think the best one in the league this year. I would put Roobroek up there too. Anyway, good luck to the kid

 

[tjziel]

By the way, I know someone already said Logan Hawery is signed they just haven’t announced it yet, so this might already be confirmed… but

One thing I noticed was that Logan Hawery is liking all the Knights posts on Instagram as of a couple weeks ago…

Doesn’t mean anything, but that’s how I initially got curious to believe that Kasper Halttunen was coming to London months before he did end up signing his ELC. Halttunen did the exact same thing, and then I got a person telling me inside the organization that he was interested in coming to London, so that was a good sign.

 

[frontsfan67]

They have room for him on the forward depth. If there is an injury, Cowan would be immediately plugged in. I think of Easton Cowan as the “Nick Robertson replacement.

Domi - Matthews - Nylander
Knies - Tavares - Marner
McMann - Holmberg - Jarnkrok
???? - Kampf - Reaves

As soon as there is an injury in the top 6 Cowan is plugged in. Thus why I think we won’t see Cowan until Christmas because he will be on the bench on in the press box.

I think Cowan can give McCann a run for his money, maybe knows but I think knies is further along in his development because he’s older.

3rd and 4th line are pretty ugly looking but the top 6 is great no doubt about that

 

[frontsfan67]

McCue gave out too many cheap shots, and went down hurt or embellished or dive to be considered one of the tougher imo.
Anania, Arnsby, Christopolous, Federkow, … Pitre, VanSteensel, … are all tougher middle weights in my view

Definitely arnsby

By the way, I know someone already said Logan Hawery is signed they just haven’t announced it yet, so this might already be confirmed… but

One thing I noticed was that Logan Hawery is liking all the Knights posts on Instagram as of a couple weeks ago…

Doesn’t mean anything, but that’s how I initially got curious to believe that Kasper Halttunen was coming to London months before he did end up signing his ELC. Halttunen did the exact same thing, and then I got a person telling me inside the organization that he was interested in coming to London, so that was a good sign.

100% kids are all over social media nowadays and that would be a pretty good sign. If a player isn’t even following a team on instagram after they know they got selected and all that- that is also telling that maybe they don’t want to go that route. Take the fronts for example. Malholtra doesnt follow them or anyone on the team to my knowledge lol and there’s pretty much 0 chance he comes to Kingston with dad getting a job in Abbotsford.

 

[tjziel]

Just curious, depends on who comes back I guess. But if we get Dickinson, Bonk, maybe Halttunen or Cowan back etc. we could go for another Championship run.

Do we feel confident in our goaltending with OA Owen Willmore? I love his resume. One of your most experienced Championship goalies maybe other than Bowen and Oster. Just think he hasn’t shown to be a reliable starter yet, but would have a bit to go to make me feel confident in his starting abilities.

Is there even a reasonable upgrade that could be available though? The only upgrade I see that is 100% worth it is if Dominic DiVincentiis is somehow sent back for an OA year (very unlikely, since there is room for him in the ECHL). Other than that, who do we trust more?

Sabastien Gatto
Alexei Medvedev
Owen Willmore

If there is no upgrade, which two are you choosing?