LW Kristian Vesalainen (2017, 24th, WPG)
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FinPanda
Barkov Stanley cup champ!
He scored the GWG today in game 7 in the Liiga semis. Kärpät goes to the finals against Tappara.
The Winter Soldier
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DoubleGold
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Killerjas
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Hammer Slammer
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kelsier
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Just amazed that both Vesalainen and Tolvanen were absolutely crushed in the draft. A team like Panthers for instance who were particularly looking for wingers decided not to go with either one of them was just plain strange. Generally speaking I doubt the scouts fully understand how difficult it is to play FEL when you're still draft eligible (of course Tolvanen was in the NA at the time). For youngsters not scoring on a particularly high pace makes it difficult to project the upside and the teams don't tend to like betting with the future as the risk factor raises the higher the climb in the drafting order. No doubt the abysmal decade(s) in the Finnish hockey play a part in all this and I'm certain the European scouts are adjusting accordingly, but it's a process.
Anyway, Vesalainen will have an extremely difficult task ahead if he plans to make it to the Jets roster next year. There's probably not another team out there that is loaded with the amount of top end wingers. Heck, when you have guys like Armia and Perreault in the bottom six, let alone NHL's second best goal scorer in the second line, how will you fit another 19 year old on the roster without hurting his development?
Anyway, Vesalainen will have an extremely difficult task ahead if he plans to make it to the Jets roster next year. There's probably not another team out there that is loaded with the amount of top end wingers. Heck, when you have guys like Armia and Perreault in the bottom six, let alone NHL's second best goal scorer in the second line, how will you fit another 19 year old on the roster without hurting his development?
StatisticsAddict99
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Probably not the roster of which you speak of Top line on the Moose with one of the AHL’s best young playmakers in Appleton...
BB88
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Florida went with a right handed sniper which they felt they needed, Tippett wasn't a reach at all, I thought the Canes could be looking at Vesalainen seriously, he would have added something new to their F group, which they can do with Svec this year.
kelsier
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Yeah, that's pretty much what I was already insinuating. Too bad though, he's not too far from being NHL ready.
I'm fully aware of that and their needs. It wasn't a reach at the time, sure. But I would not take Tippett over either one of the two today or even back then. So in the end their scouting department seriously misevaluated their targets going into the draft. In my opinion anyway. Also which side one shoots shouldn't even carry that much weight if you have two prospects playing the same position and the other one is much better. That's who you go with. Of course nothing has been written in the stone, prospects can take giant leaps in their projected trajectories and it's always possible for Tippett to become the best winger drafted in 2017, but I seriously see the odds being very slim.
Yeah I'm so happy about Canes getting a chance to pick Svech if not Zadina. Could be huge boost for the team and a new line mate for Aho.
BB88
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There were lot of guys who wouldn'y have picked Tolvanen/Vesalainen pre draft, Tippett had the speed& the shot, exciting potential.
Vesalainen was a mystery at the draft, could have gone anywhere, I liked him finishing his season to a dominant performance, good to keep building from that next season and damm he did that.
Which side the prospect shoots shouldn't be a thing, more of the skill set/potential but Tallon is Tallon.
PensandCaps
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Trading down for more picks is the smart move. Still dumbfounded on why any GM still trades up outside of a top 5 pick. After that it is a crapshoot and just luck.
Dropping down is intelligent. What is stupid is trading up, especially for someone like Stanley.
Of course, if a total steal is available that's a different case, like with Chychrun.
Maybe I missed it, but he hasn't signed a contract with the Jets yet has he? Is he expected to come play AHL/NHL next season?
BB88
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I had heard that some time back. Guess I am surprised he hasn't signed yet. But I suppose teams are starting those moves now. Ex. Pettersson signing today.
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f*** this looks like a really really good pick at 24. 43 points in 49 liiga games at 18 is no joke.
Aho had a similar season after being drafted in the 2nd round.
This guy has the size, speed, skating and the shot. Reminds me of this years 2nd OA Svechkinov a bit.
Jealous.
Aho had a similar season after being drafted in the 2nd round.
This guy has the size, speed, skating and the shot. Reminds me of this years 2nd OA Svechkinov a bit.
Jealous.
Quite the revisionist history going on here. Tippett was almost undisputedly better than both of those aforementioned prospects on draft day, it wasn't a reach at all and he was pretty clearly the obvious choice over both. Tippett had 44 goals in 61 games as a draft eligible...He was easily the best pure winger in the top 10.
It's easy to question the Panthers today, but Tolvanen had serious questions about his skating, academic performance, and hockey IQ, while Vesalainen was seen more and more as a grind-it-out north-south winger with the same HIQ issues. Obviously that looks different today but let's not act like it was apparent since day one. I mean it wasn't even close.
He didn't trade down for more picks, he traded down as part of the expansion draft so that Vegas would take UFA Chris Thorburn, which meant the jets did not lose a player off their roster in the expansion draft. It worked out better than trading for more picks.
teravaineSAROS
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What? they went with Tippett a sniping winger which was perfectly reasonable at the time
kelsier
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Yeah I'm aware that he had pretty good season behind him and I cannot make claim of paying extremely close eye on him pre-draft. What I usually do with prospects who are highly touted is to look up to whatever footage I can find from the internet, yet highlight reels and what not normally do not really serve the purpose what comes down to evaluating prospects. I did look up on Tippett because I'm interested about the Panthers due to Barkov and I knew they were aiming to draft a winger in this draft. When you have the size, speed and the shot of Tippett, you don't necessarily need to even have a top notch HIQ to wrap up those kind of numbers in the OHL. Meanwhile you could argue that Vesalainen dominated in the U18s WJHC against his peers and was one of the top players in the tournament. Sure he too had the size advantage. However the higher the level of competition, the less relevant the physical edge becomes. You could see even back then that KV had the tools to become a top line player in the NHL apart from not having shown the type of a laser shot which Tippett had. Of course if we compare their shooting ability today I don't think the difference is that vast. Also I guess there were question marks in both of their hockey IQs. Anyway, yeah I get that you might go with a kid who has more impressive season and equally good shooting arsenal as Tolvanen. Yet when comparing Tippett and Vesalainen at the time, with the latter having an absolutely dominant performance in the U18 WJHC against other top players in the world, their decision to me seemed pretty odd.
I've said it dozens of times by now that it's extremely difficult to score in a professional level (especially in FEL/SEL) at age of 17 and that the scouts have still not completely adapted to this when evaluating European prospects. That's why you have the likes of Kotkaniemi with mediocre pro level performance rocketing in the draft rankings after successful WJHC. Why this didn't happen with Vesalainen I don't really know (and of course we don't know if Kotkaniemi will even be drafted in the top 10 just yet). I thought the Panthers made a mistake at the time and I've certainly not changed my mind looking back today. Doesn't mean that Tippett could not become the best winger drafted in the 2017, nor can it be taken for granted that one or even both of the Finns are able to make an impact in the best league in the world. Although I seriously doubt that.
I never said it wasn't reasonable, but there's much more to hockey than just having the right toolbox for being an ideal sniper. I get why they made the decision, but it could turn out another Lawson Crouse kind of a pick at the end. I hope that's not the case and I guess we'll see in the near future how they all pan out.
