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LW Sebastian Aho (2015, 35th, CAR) II

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Not trying to dump cold water on this discussion, you can definitely see that he needs to gain more strength and still adapt to the speed of the NHL game. Don't take this the wrong way, I EXPECT that to be the case and I'm VERY happy with how he's done as a 19 year old playing on an NHL size rink for really the first time, so this is not a complaint, just an observation.

He gets knocked off the puck a little too easily right now, but given how he plays (he's not a perimeter player), I fully expect that will get much better as he matures. Heck, it's already getting better through 25 games.

Re: the speed of the game, Aho reads plays, offensively and defensively extremely well. I don't know how many times I've seen him predict where a pass is going and gets his stick out, but just a split second late. He still disrupts many of them though. Same goes for his passes. He sees guys and makes passes that a lot of NHLrs don't make/don't see, but some times, he's a hair late.

When he gets more accustomed to the NHL game, I can see him picking off a lot more of those passes defensively and hitting on the majority of his passes. His IQ is incredible and I'm looking forward to see how he develops.
 
A great kid with´some hockey IQ in him. The kid is humble but determined and hard working packed with a nice personality. Hopefully he keeps entertaining with his hockey mind in Raleigh for years to come.
 
Second all of the above about his smarts, but his skating is better than advertised as well. I thought him to be an average skater or maybe a little above average from the scouting reports but compared with a couple of pretty elite skaters in Skinner and Hanifin he more than holds his own.

I definitely see where all the comparisons to Igor Larionov come from. At some point, maybe in a couple years, I see him transitioning to center to take full advantage of his instincts. I would also like to see him play on the same line as Skinner, that would be very interesting.
 
Really finding his groove offensively lately with 10 points in his last 13 games and one of the Canes best forwards recently. His 17 even strength points trails only Matthews (23), Laine (23) and Marner (22) for NHL rookies. He's 7th among Canes forwards for PP TOI but that should be picking up. In terms of how he ranks among Canes forwards:

Overall Scoring: Aho is now 3rd overall
ES Goals: He's 2nd in Even Strength Goals (8 vs. Skinner's 9)
ES Assist: He's 2nd on the team in Even Strength Assists (9 vs. Rask's 12)
ES Points: He's 2nd on the team in Even Strength Points (17 vs. Rask's 19)
ES G/60: 3rd on the team behind Stalberg and Skinner
ES Points/60: 1st on the team.
SOG: 3rd on the team behind Skinner/Faulk
CF%: 3rd on the team among forwards behind Staal and Teravainen
+/-: 2nd among forwards with a +1 (Stempniak is +4)

He's on pace for about 47 points in 82 games, but almost all of that is even strength. If he starts getting more PP time (currently 7th among forwards) and the team figures out the PP with him on it, watch out. I think eventually, he'll be used on the PK as well.
 
I was just thinking about bumping an Aho thread. Guy isn't much behind Nylander for example, yet he doesn't get talked about pretty much at all. Such a smart player, being able to produce like he does even when physically raw is quite amazing, and he doesn't play small despite his size.
 
Boom Boom Aho said:
Really finding his groove offensively lately with 10 points in his last 13 games and one of the Canes best forwards recently. His 17 even strength points trails only Matthews (23), Laine (23) and Marner (22) for NHL rookies. He's 7th among Canes forwards for PP TOI but that should be picking up. In terms of how he ranks among Canes forwards:

Overall Scoring: Aho is now 3rd overall
ES Goals: He's 2nd in Even Strength Goals (8 vs. Skinner's 9)
ES Assist: He's 2nd on the team in Even Strength Assists (9 vs. Rask's 12)
ES Points: He's 2nd on the team in Even Strength Points (17 vs. Rask's 19)
ES G/60: 3rd on the team behind Stalberg and Skinner
ES Points/60: 1st on the team.
SOG: 3rd on the team behind Skinner/Faulk
CF%: 3rd on the team among forwards behind Staal and Teravainen
+/-: 2nd among forwards with a +1 (Stempniak is +4)

He's on pace for about 47 points in 82 games, but almost all of that is even strength. If he starts getting more PP time (currently 7th among forwards) and the team figures out the PP with him on it, watch out. I think eventually, he'll be used on the PK as well.
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He is a very special young talent. And also extremely underrated by so many. I haven't for sure been praising him for nothing. In my opinion he is the same caliber talent with Laine, although of course very different type of player.

Physically he is even more raw than Laine is, so I see really huge potential for Aho, if he can develop himself well and in the right way physically. His hockey sense, reactions and skating skills are off the charts, so I really see that he could have a very high ceiling as a player. To me he reminds very much Zetterberg, and I could see him having pretty similar development pace as Z had in the beginning of his NHL career.

Of course I see the same certain problems in his game still, as you have mentioned before, but they can definitely be fixed with developing his strength and physicality in the correct ways, and by gaining more experience from NHL speed and the smaller rinks.

I think he is very nicely slowly raising the play of Teräväinen also. Aho really tends to make his linemates better. Teräväinen has definitely been looking good also. Better than I remember him for a long time.

So far Aho has pretty much had the scoring pace that I was expecting for his rookie season, but honestly I wouldn't have believed that he would already do as well as he has done in the board battles, although he is still so raw physically. He does have pretty good leg strength, and of course he is very quick with his mind, stick and feet, so he compensates his lack of general strength with these abilities.

I am very excited to see what kind of a player he will be in a couple of years. You should have pretty nice times with the Canes I'd presume. :nod:
 
10 points in his last 12 games. He has an outstanding offensive mind. Constantly wins puck battles he has no business winning and makes plays every shift. Would not shock me if he ends up with 50-55+ points this year.
 
This guy is straight nasty. I need to work on one of those pun aho names you Canes fans are rocking for my fantasy team.
 
I'll be the first to admit that to this point, he has easily surpassed my expectations. I thought for sure with his slight build and inexperience with NHL sized ice, that he wouldn't make much of an impact for a couple of years. Before the season started, I said I'd be satisfied with 25-35 points out of him.

His mind though is incredible. Not just how quickly he processes information on the ice, but the subtle little plays he makes all the time. Like in OT last night where rather than try to 1 time it or get the shot off too quickly, he held onto it until the defensive player provided a screen before shooting. Someone who rarely watches Aho would say "well, that's just luck", but when you watch him game in and game out, you realize that he makes subtle little plays like that all the time, so it's not just luck. Fun player to watch.
 
Aho should be used more on PP. I just wish Winnipeg had even one player as capable for driving the PP than Aho to feed Laine.
 
That's the most surprising thing for me. I thought in his first year, most of his points would come on the PP, where the Canes need help and where he'll have more time/space. Yet, 19 of his 23 points have come at ES. He'll eventually get more PP time though as he's now starting to.
 
It's a bad year to be a rookie if attention is what you're after, but I have a feeling that doesn't matter so much to Aho. On normal years, guys like this and Tkachuk, Murray, Mantha, Werenski etc. would be getting a lot of publicity. But between the kids in Toronto and Laine, there's not enough ink to give everyone their due. It might be the best rookie class since 05-06.
 
19th to tie it up and 20th for the W

I know he isn't prospect anymore but many of us have been following him for a while now and he doesn't seem to receive much attention on the main board. Aho scored his 19th and 20th goals of the year last night to tie and then win the game.

What kind of offensive ceiling does he have (now that we've seen him in the league)?
 
leshabitants93 said:
I know he isn't prospect anymore but many of us have been following him for a while now and he doesn't seem to receive much attention on the main board. Aho scored his 19th and 20th goals of the year last night to tie and then win the game.

What kind of offensive ceiling does he have (now that we've seen him in the league)?
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Blame goes largely due to the ridiculous rookie class.
 
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