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RW Lenni Killinen - Ässät Pori, Liiga (104th, CAR, 2018 )

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Killinen has played lately in Mestis with Espoo United. Yesterday he played his eighth game in the league and scored his first goal against grown-up men.
 
His hockey iq is seriously lacking. The tools are there but he always seems to make the wrong play with the puck. Not a draft prospect imo.
 
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According to Finnish newspaper Iltalehti, Killinen will move to Liiga next season due to bank bankruptcy of his old team. His new team would be Ässät.
 
JJTT said:
His hockey iq is seriously lacking. The tools are there but he always seems to make the wrong play with the puck. Not a draft prospect imo.
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Yep. At Hlinka, when I saw him he constantly made terrible decisions with the puck, had bad giveaways. Dumb as a brick. I have never seen a more counterproductive player, I don't think. At Hlinka my opinion was that I wouldn't draft him even in the 7th round, and my opinion hasnt exactly changed.
 
Hockyluv21 said:
Francis's scouts seem to have scored again in their attempt at making a Finnish kingdom in Raleigh :clap:
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????
Actually, most of CAR scouts go back to GMJR days. Our main European scout Robert Kron has been there for 11 years. Dundon and Waddell also added some new scouts, and did so again this year, so Killinen being a new draft pick, probably has nothing to due with RF.
I like RF and mean no disrespect to him, but Don Waddell has done a real good job for CAR so far, and deserves his own claps. It seems the trend of finding good Finnish youth has continued into the GMDW era.
 
Cane mutiny said:
????
Actually, most of CAR scouts go back to GMJR days. Our main European scout Robert Kron has been there for 11 years. Dundon and Waddell also added some new scouts, and did so again this year, so Killinen being a new draft pick, probably has nothing to due with RF.
I like RF and mean no disrespect to him, but Don Waddell has done a real good job for CAR so far, and deserves his own claps. It seems the trend of finding good Finnish youth has continued into the GMDW era.
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Most of our scouting department came from the RF era. Our draft record, especially in the Day 2 rounds, started to get really good starting when Francis first became the GM. Before that, under JR, the Canes had one of the worst drafting records in the NHL, which was a huge part of the decade-long playoff drought. Waddell's done a great job in keeping a good thing going with Francis's scouts (and adding some new folks, as well), while dramatically improving in the trade and signing departments.
 
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Not to incur your wrath, but my point being, who knows which scout(s), old or new, spotted Killinen and brought him to the attention of Kron and company. Every good prospect doesn't automatically boil down to RF because some scouts he worked with are still here. GMDW would have the last say on a potential pick brought to him anyway. Not meaning to offend you or anyone else because I like Ron too, but it's not always about him. He's moved on to Seattle. I'll wish him luck there and hope he continues to do well, but I'm ready to let go and enjoy the future.
I mean no disrespect to you or your opinions, I'm just tired of the RF fiasco dragging on and on. JMO and no one has to agree with a tired fan like me.
 
Hockyluv21 said:
Most of our scouting department came from the RF era. Our draft record, especially in the Day 2 rounds, started to get really good starting when Francis first became the GM. Before that, under JR, the Canes had one of the worst drafting records in the NHL, which was a huge part of the decade-long playoff drought. Waddell's done a great job in keeping a good thing

going with Francis's scouts (and adding some new folks, as well), while dramatically improving in the trade and signing departments.
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None of what you say is true about Francis's impact.

Francis was hired as GM in 2014:
- Current head NA scout Mike Dawson was hired in 2012
- Current Euro head scout Robert Kron was hired in 2008
- Just retired heads of scouting Tony MacDonald, Sheldon Ferguson, and amateur scout Bert Marshall have all worked for the Canes for a long time
- Canes have great 2nd/later round picks dating far back from 2014 when Francis started: Dumoulin (2009), Faulk (2010), Rask (2011), McGinn (2012), Slavin (2012), Pesce (2013), Foegele (2014), and Nedeljkovic (2014).

Who are these scouts that you reference? I can't find one in a meaningful role that Francis hired.

I believe you are confusing the quality of picks under Francis with Francis's direction of adding picks/prospects rather than handing them out like candy for minor team upgrades (the JR method). Not much changed about the actual scouting quality when Francis was GM. He gave the existing staff a chance to shine and they did.
 
In any case, Killinen remains an intriguing prospect for the Canes. He's probably near the bottom of their second tier (first tier being likely NHL'ers like Necas and Bean) along with guys like Julien Gauthier, Janne Kuokkanen, Morgan Geekie. It seems very unlikely that he gets signed to an ELC before next season, so there is still some time for him to develop before the pressure turns up.
 
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Gsus said:
Ässät had the worst year to a memory so it's not likely going to be happening again. The'll be better this year.
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True, but their best players (Salminen/Kärki) also decided to leave the team. Better hope their youngsters can make big impact.
 
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