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LW Kristian Vesalainen (2017, 24th, WPG)

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teravaineSAROS said:
Yup. PuLaAho / PAhoLaine's insane success has made us judge the 2017 prospect extra harshly.
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Speaking of Aho, his u18 season wasn't that great either. He got vastly underestimated. And he clearly ended up being a steal at #35. He should have been a high first.

His international performance during that season was also far below Vesalainen's.
 
ijuka said:
Speaking of Aho, his u18 season wasn't that great either. He got vastly underestimated. And he clearly ended up being a steal at #35. He should have been a high first.

His international performance during that season was also far below Vesalainen's.
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Aho is a completely different player though, you can't even compare the two. Cerebral smallish player vs a guy who relies on his high-end tools (size, speed) rather than smarts. Easier for a guy like Vesalainen to have a strong performance in a tournament like this with his physical advantage, but that doesn't mean he'll be the better (or even as good) pro.
 
HockeyHistorian said:
He will continue to struggle against pro players unless he learns to make quicker and better decisions with the puck. He often goes for the flashy moves and low percentage plays. Those may work against his peers now, but as he plays against bigger players and better teams he won't have the time and space needed to pull them off anymore. I wouldn't get too excited based on his play in this tournament.
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I can see the comparisons to Puljujarvi but I can also make a comparison to Paajarvi. He is going to have some trouble playing in traffic and he absolutely needs to work on his shot. I never get the sense that he can pick a corner. It just seems like he fires the puck in the general direction of the net.

He is certainly going to climb back into the 1st round though, at a minimum into the early 20's.
 
Hockeyisl1fe said:
Would Joel Armia be a good comparable?
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At draft time Armia was a big soft handed sniper, who lacked great skating. I see Vesalainen as the more well rounded player at this time even tho he's not as skilled as Armia. Vesalainen relies more on his size than skills, unlike draft Armia.

The current Armia is great all around (especially defensively game after game), but haven't really met his offensive skillset at the highest level. Armia has a weird development curve in a way that he's not been able to become an offensive force yet but has become a great defensive player.
 
Two goals so far against Canada if I'm not mixing him up with someone else. Looks really good.
 
wings5 said:
if you're playing mostly in the shl and have played in world juniors, you better freaking perform against some latvian leaguer who is your age or younger, i still don't move him until i see him against some legit competition with nhl potential.
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So as a Canadian yourself, do you happen to know if Team Canada has any players with NHL potential?

6+5=11 in 4 games after the hat trick vs Canada. I'd like to hear some more excuses, though. So feel free.
 
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ijuka said:
So as a Canadian yourself, do you happen to know if Team Canada has any players with NHL potential?
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Glass, Woo, McIsaac and Smith are all pretty good. The later 3 being 2018 picks.

Mattheos, Brook, Comtois, Strome, Chainey, Ratcliff and Anderson-Dolan have outside shots.

If your talking about U18s that is.
 
Daximus said:
Glass, Woo, McIsaac and Smith are all pretty good. The later 3 being 2018 picks.

Mattheos, Brook, Comtois, Strome, Chainey, Ratcliff and Anderson-Dolan have outside shots.

If your talking about U18s that is.
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Thanks! Though it was more of a rhetorical question, this was useful. Haven't been paying so much attention to the 2018 draft at this point in time.



Btw, it wasn't just the hat trick for Vesalainen. He had numerous defensive plays where he stripped the puck from Canadians and he set up several high quality scoring chances for his teammates.
 
Vesalainen is huge player, he can drive the line, create chances and score. He was way too much for Canada U-18 team.
 
ijuka said:
Btw, it wasn't just the hat trick for Vesalainen. He had numerous defensive plays where he stripped the puck from Canadians and he set up several high quality scoring chances for his teammates.
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Yeah, he actually quite dominated on the ice today - a huge positive surprise for me, everyone has been so negative on him lately.
 
I don't know if it's just me but it seems like he's got a giant wingspan, even for a 6'4 guy. We'll find out just how big at the combine.
 
llwyd said:
Yeah, he actually quite dominated on the ice today - a huge positive surprise for me, everyone has been so negative on him lately.
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It's what happens when the vast majority doesn't understand what his age is and that he's playing vs adults unlike the vast majority of NA players, which sometimes just doesn't allow for a dominant performance even if you are better than the peers in your age group.

For some perspective, Vesalainen being 3 and half months older:

Matthews:

At the age of u17:

4+4=8 in 6 gp at u-17s
5+2=7 in 7 gp at u-18s

At the age of u18:

1+2=3 in 5 gp at u-20s
8+7=15 in 7 gp at u-18s

Vesalainen:

At the age of u17:

4+4=8 in 5 gp at u-17s
2+4=6 in 7 gp at u-18s

At the age of u18:

1+1=2 in 6 gp at u-20s
6+5=11 in 4 gp at u-18s



So while he's 3 and half months older than Matthews for this comparison, their international production actually is very comparable. And as such, talking of Vesalainen as an early second rounder is ridiculous.
 
Kristian Vesalainen should be a top 10 pick (6-9),
is he going to be? i dunno,maybe not,but he should.

Big,fast skating power forward,with good set of hands
with 200 feet player mentality.

I do understand some of the negative comments
(he has one or two things to work on),
but give a kid a credit when its due,this 17 year old
is a heckuva player and like other Finns before him
will do great things in the NHL too...one day.
 
Rambokala said:
Vesalainen better than Matthews confirmed
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Not better. Not even close. But he's had comparable international performance. That's just a fact. Stop twisting my message.

For instance, labeling him as a bust when he went 1+1=2 in u-20s when Matthews, one of the best #1 overall picks in recent years in a really strong draft year went 1+2=3 at the same age is just very uninformed.
 
GeorgeLeafer12 said:
Kristian Vesalainen should be a top 10 pick (6-9),
is he going to be? i dunno,maybe not,but he should.

Big,fast skating power forward,with good set of hands
with 200 feet player mentality.

I do understand some of the negative comments
(he has one or two things to work on),
but give a kid a credit when its due,this 17 year old
is a heckuva player and like other Finns before him
will do great things in the NHL too...one day.
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He's definitely shown this tournament why some had him ranked in the top 10 earlier this season. But I'm still doubting whether he can translate his offensive game to the big league or not. He has a very high floor as a 3rd liner, but his ceiling is imo quite limited. You get a middle 6 player with upside of a 1st liner maybe... don't know if teams are will look for more of their top 10 pick. He is a safebet for sure to make, I think he will be drafte inbetween 10-15.
 
Is there any truth to the rumors that he will play for HPK next season? His contract with Frölunda runs out after the season.
 
Has been the best forward in every game, easily. Guess no more of that "score only against easy teams" label. Looks extremely promising. Think I'll rather just leave the career predicting for others and just enjoy the show.
 
kelsier said:
Has been the best forward in every game, easily. Guess no more of that "score only against easy teams" label. Looks extremely promising. Think I'll rather just leave the career predicting for others and just enjoy the show.
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I would say Ikonen was a better player in his hat-trick game.
 
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