LW Patrik Laine - Tappara, FEL (2016 Draft)
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I watched JYP-Akatemia - LeKi yesterday and this post seems to sum up a lot of things I noticed too. Offensive talent with the puck is obvious and he gave couple of really good passes yesterday, his stickhandling is pretty good and I know he has a heavy shot.
Play without the puck is still work in progress but I think it has improved. He seems to want check more than before and generally seems to be more active than let's say one year ago.
Skating is obviously the biggest issue and the reason why he isn't more effective at the moment. But then again that department reminds me couple of players who's skating was horrible at the age of 16. Nowadays I think Mikko Rantanen and Joel Armia are skating well enough. Good training during the summer can do miracles for skating with the big guys.
Off-topic, but I presume you paid some attention to Niku while watching that game. How would you rank him now in comparison to other Finns eligible for 2015 NHL draft? I remember you had him quite low few months ago, has anything changed since then?
That would probably help out on the mental side of things - not being the 'victim' of his reputation and skills might work wonders on him. Skill-wise, well, if he works hard enough to dominate Liiga next year there's no reason he wouldn't be able to be a top-3 prospect anyway (see: Barkov).
I had three reasons to watch that game yesterday. Niku was one of them.
I still don't consider him that highly. I just don't like his defensive game that much. Seems to be fairly often bit out of place and to my eyes he seems still too light. He needs to get more physical. I also think that he is bit hasty with the puck at the own end when there is little time.
He seems to be good at offensively though and is pretty good skater. At the offensive zone he seems to be pretty smart player and that is a good thing. Hockey sense is one of the things you really can't train. So overall in my opinion he is around the same level with the likes of Aho, Saarela and Tammela.
Laine with U-17 team in February's tournament. Seems quite unlike that he would play in U-18 WC in spring IMO.
Its so sad that this young man who last year blowed every ones minds with all hattricks and overall extreme scoring is not even going to play in u18 this year.. what the f happened. He should be in shape by now...
So 3 games and 0+1 in a same tournament (basically) that he dominated last year, scoring 7+1 or something. Saying that his performance is disappointing would be quite an understatement.
kelsier
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- Aug 17, 2013
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Don't like those numbers, but not having watched the games it's pretty hard to draw many conclussions.
The few shifts I watched from the Russia-game, he looked slow but you could still see the skill. He was playing physical, deked his way to a scoring spot and made some nice passes. Don't know if he has been particularly bad outside those few shifts, but to me it looks like the team as a whole is struggling.
Pretty disappointing considering how well he played internationally last year. I don't know why he doesn't get some junior games.
He has been playing in juniors for few weeks now. 5 games 2+1.
His junior team isn't going to make the playoffs so back to Leki after this week.
Is he still struggling? Stats don't tell the whole story but you'd expect more. His knee/leg injury has long passed so he should be fine, I don't know what's going on. Kind of reminding me of Blake Clarke but I hope it's not the case and he finds his game.
He looks dominant at times in Mestis. It's actually quite impressive how good he can look despite his bad skating. I think he is just as skilled as Puljujärvi, if not more, he just needs to mature and understand what it takes to be a professional athlete. We have seen the improvement with Barkov's skating, I hope Laine can do the same.
EDIT: He just almost OUTSKATED a defender, and played the last 10-15 seconds on PK.
EDIT: He just almost OUTSKATED a defender, and played the last 10-15 seconds on PK.
1+3, the return of the prodigal son?
Did anyone catch the Czech game, how did he look? On text-tv he looks like a beast
Did anyone catch the Czech game, how did he look? On text-tv he looks like a beast
kelsier
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Nice to see Laine feeding salt to the fanbase who suddenly thought his skills had disappeared into a thin air. Out of pure offensive raw skill I think he's still the most gifted out of the recent elite offensive prospects from Finland. And that's a lot said, thinking the country has guys like Barkov, Rantanen, Puljujärvi etc on and off the pipeline. Wether that translates and wether he matures up are still question marks. I'm really hoping to catch atleast a few games to watch him in these championships. Laine & Puljujärvi in the same line, just too much to pass!
1+3, the return of the prodigal son?
Did anyone catch the Czech game, how did he look? On text-tv he looks like a beast
According to Jatkoaika, Laine "did whatever he wanted". That sounds like the player we saw last season.
yeah - the one photo they had in Jatkoaika.. Laine was a head taller than everyone else. That + skill.. *drooling*
In the article they said some good things too:
− Pelit olisi tietysti voineet mennä paremminkin. Kausi on ollut ehkä vähän rikkonainen viimekeväisen polvileikkauksen takia. Ei oikein kunnolla pystynyt treenaamaan ja valmistautumaan.
− Miesten peleissä joutuu kuitenkin tekemään paljon enemmän hommia kuin junioripeleissä. Kyllä Mestiksessä pelaaminen tällä kaudella on ollut hyvä kasvun paikka, Laine analysoi kauttaan.
My season could have gone better, it was maybe a bit hampered by the knee operation last spring. I was unable to properly train and get prepared
In men's games you must work a lot harder than in juniors. Having played in Mestis this season has been a good place to grow
If all that took this season under the bench was the knee operation, and if he continues like this.. man the 2016 draft is going to be the best ever for Finland
Yeah if Puljujarvi remembers how to score in the junior level again....
kelsier
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Yes, people are jumping the gun on horrible skating while when looking into the past season he was much more agile on the ice for what I've talked to people who actually watched his games. When you miss the whole summer of training and carry a frame that's nearly comparable to a gorilla that's what happens. Lets hope he doesn't get a broken ankle on the last game of the season again.
Yeah if Puljujarvi remembers how to score in the junior level again....
Puljujärvi has played nearly 90 games this season, drop off in his level of play was kinda expected.
