It’s the other way around, Slafkovsky is superior prospect to Armia and i watched them both a lot during their pre draft years.
Easy to say that now; hindsight is 20/20. Armia performed significantly better in Liiga at the same age.
Is your only argument is point totals and watching stats? How many games you saw each player at their pre draft? I would like to know your other arguments as well. Armia was viewed as extreme perimeter player who played soft and didn’t do good against tougher competition. Slafkovsky is the opposite and he was buried in the lineup because he played in pretty stacked team compared to Armia who didn’t have much competition. I’m also finnish and i don’t have horse in this race, but Slafkovsky is the superior prospect here.
“Armia is that guy who wants the puck on his stick. And when it’s on his stick, he utilizes good puck protection skills to keep it there until he’s ready to either pass the puck (which is an underrated part of his game) or deploy one of his dazzling array of shots – especially his lethal wrist shot.”
thehockeywriters.com
Joel Armia was really inconsistent player and played mostly on the perimeter. He was really invisible at times, but there was already signs of good backcheck/forecheck ability when he wanted to do so, that was never the question. Biggest problem was his willingness to show more effort and work hard every shift. He just floated clear majority of his shifts and most of the time he was hard to notice. These NA scouting reports on Finnish players are not best source of information, maybe today these scouting agencies do much better work. Power foward label on him at his draft year must be a joke. Armia relied on his soft hands and inredible shot. He was pure sniper with skill and size, today he is effective grinder and totally different player.“Armia is that guy who wants the puck on his stick. And when it’s on his stick, he utilizes good puck protection skills to keep it there until he’s ready to either pass the puck (which is an underrated part of his game) or deploy one of his dazzling array of shots – especially his lethal wrist shot.”
“Joel isn’t afraid dirty to go about retrieving the puck on the forecheck or back-checking. He’s also willing to go to the hard areas to utilize his dangerous goal-scoring ability.”
“‘He’s 6-foot-3 and a pure goal-scorer,’ the scout said. ‘The biggest thing with him is, he gets the puck to net.’ It’s not uncommon for the big power forward to throw six or seven shots on goal in a game and there have been double-digit totals, too.”
Joel Armia - NHL 2011 Draft Prospect Profile - The Hockey Writers Minnesota Wild Latest News, Analysis & More
How does a 6’3” pure sniper who can skate at the disposal of your favourite team’s coach sound? Our NHL Draft profile of Joel Armia.
LOL. Explain - were you just outright lying, or is your memory a little hazy?
There are many more scouting reports too, all saying pretty much the exact opposite of what you claimed.
www.nhl.com
Lmao that guy is literally one of the people I quoted. Your link is the same quote as mine, but lacks the other reports.Joel Armia was really inconsistent player and played mostly on the perimeter. He was really invisible at times, but there was already signs of good backcheck/forecheck ability when he wanted to do so. These NA scouting reports on Finnish players are not best source of information, today these scouting agencies do much better work. Power foward label on him at his draft year must be a joke. Armia relied on his soft hands and inredible shot. He was pure sniper with skill and size, today he is effective grinder and totally different player.
Official Site of the National Hockey League | NHL.com
The official National Hockey League website including news, rosters, stats, schedules, teams, and video.
Director of European Scouting Goran Stubb
"He's big and tall but surprisingly mobile for a player of his size. He has a very good feel for the game and moving the puck well with his linemates. He has a heavy wrist shot that he gets off quickly and is always looking for the empty spots on the ice. He's a sniper with a good selection of shots. You might have to look for him during some shifts, but then, suddenly, he scores the winner."
Goran Stubb is finnish and he shared similar opinion with me on the perimeter/invisible aspect which is in conflict with scouting report you provided.
It’s obvious that you haven’t seen much Armia pre draft if any and you’re opinion is fully based on watching stats and reading NA scouting agency reports on Finnish players.
How perimeter player differs from a player who is hard to notice and according to Göran Stubb you have to look for him? Player who lacks effort most of the time.Lmao that guy is literally one of the people I quoted. Your link is the same quote as mine, but lacks the other reports.
None of them said anything about a perimeter game, or hinted at softness. Some of them mentioned inconsistency, which is another matter entirely, and not what you claimed initially. You are moving the goalposts now because you got caught BSing.
Show me one report that says anything about him being soft or playing a perimeter game. Those are the words you used.
I said scouting reports, not HFBoards forum posts lmao. Just stop man, you’ve lost.RW Joel Armia (2011, 16th overall, Buffalo; traded to WPG) II
Continue the conversation here. Link to Part 1hfboards.mandatory.com
Here you can read real time Armia insights of other posters after his draft.
I wouldn’t talk much about subject without any base.
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www.hockeywilderness.com
First of all, that is just some random blog lmao. Second, nothing in there about softness or a perimeter game.HW 2011 Prospects: Joel Armia
At the end you can see multiple quotes on different scouting reports.
Sleep tight.
You don’t just get to independently decide what words mean; we have definitions for a reason. Yes we can end the debate here because you clearly have some strange inability to admit even a trivial error or mistake in wording. Have a good night sir.
What do you say about nearly every top 10 pick forward coming out of that league in recent years has had better stats than him?
I think this is probably it, but you want to take that chance with the first or second pick? I don’t.
I'm not overly concerned about it. Does it raise an eyebrow? Sure. I was super concerned about it before, especially weighting his Olympics, not so much any more. I think we are really talking more about half a season of really, really struggling more so than a draft year that was completely underwhelming. Truthfully, not all that different from wright in that way
Bsing is a strong word, can you describe what is perimeter player in context or in general use? What it will change about context of critizising Armia to Slafkovsky if i change word ”perimeter player” to a lazy player? Critique is still there and meaning should be understood.
Actually, Liiga lists all shots taken in offensive zone as shots. Even ones that don't hit the net.
