Team Finland WC 2023

[mattihp]

Who on the current roster is a lock?

 

[David OSullivan]

Probably only Oklinura, Antilla, Bjorninen and Ohtamaa are 100 percent locks no matter how much nhl talent joins to make squad. Lots of nhl talent and euro talent still out there that could potentially join. I expect more to make it but still a lot up in the air

 

[Eye of Ra]

Oklinura was horrible with Brynäs

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Has officially turned it down now. But all good. We'll get at least one of saros-lankinen. Either way, Säteri would be fine, too. Has had a good season this year.


Lehtinen and Jalonen invited him and he said ei kiitos. What can you do?

Imagine that came from the Flyers.

 

[David OSullivan]

Oklinura was horrible with Brynäs

I can't say I ve seen him play this season. I did think he was good value for a backup spot to a nhler but maybe I'm wrong.still think he has a good chance.

 

[mattihp]

Olkinuora'

Oklinura was horrible with Brynäs

Hard to play on a team where not even the fans show up, even less one's teammates.

 

[Mestaruus]

Probably only Oklinura, Antilla, Bjorninen and Ohtamaa are 100 percent locks no matter how much nhl talent joins to make squad. Lots of nhl talent and euro talent still out there that could potentially join. I expect more to make it but still a lot up in the air

I'd add Suomela to the list. The dude has been really good in the practise games so far and we know what he got done in Sweden. MVP of the Eliteserien if I'm not mistaken and he was a very dominating goal scoring and points king in that league, which is not an easy feat. NHL teams must have a lot of interest on the guy right now for him to make his come back there. One way contract or he won't go is my guess.

If we already count Kapanen and Määttä to be with the roster, then of course them as well. Lehtonen is joining right? Sounds like a lock as well.

 

[Boonk]

Actually he is coming off his best season and has started to play to the level his talent suggests being coached by Brad Shaw and John Tortorella.

That doesn’t really mean much when we’re talking about Ristolainen lmao, dudes been ass for a long time now.

 

[David OSullivan]

I'd add Suomela to the list. The dude has been really good in the practise games so far and we know what he got done in Sweden. MVP of the Eliteserien if I'm not mistaken and he was a very dominating goal scoring and points king in that league, which is not an easy feat. NHL teams must have a lot of interest on the guy right now for him to make his come back there. One way contract or he won't go is my guess.

If we already count Kapanen and Määttä to be with the roster, then of course them as well. Lehtonen is joining right? Sounds like a lock as well.

I was close to adding Suomela as a 100 percent lock. Was just thinking if Dallas and Florida went out we might be a wash with centers and maybe he could lose out. That's a big if though and that they all come.

Yeah Maata, Kapanen and Lehtonen are definitely locks. I wasn't counting them as in squad yet but maybe they are.

 

[SantosHalper]

What a pleasant surprise

 

[SantosHalper]

The team is shaping up nicely

X1 - X2 - X3
Ma.Granlund - Manninen - X4
Pesonen - Suomela - Kapanen
X5 - Björninen - Anttila
Oksanen, X6

X1 = Mi.Granlund, Lundell, Luostarinen, Pärssinen, Ruotsalainen, Kossila
X2 = Barkov, Mi.Granlund, Lundell, Pärssinen, Ruotsalainen, Kossila
X3 = Laine, Armia, Hartikainen, Ruotsalainen
X4 = Armia, Hartikainen, Ruotsalainen, Jm.Aaltonen
X5 = Sallinen, Pakarinen, Kuokkanen
X6= Ruohomaa, Kuokkanen

Lehtonen - X7
Määttä - X8
Lindbohm - X9
Ohtamaa - Pokka

X7 = Jokiharju, Välimäki
X8 & X9 = Vatanen, Kemiläinen, Saarijärvi

X10
Olkinuora
Lehtinen

X10= Saros, Lankinen, Säteri, Larmi

 

[mattihp]

Which available NHLers have yet not let them know?

Arizona:
Macelli
Välimäki

Buffalo:
Jokiharju
Luukkonen

Columbus:
Laine - Injured
Luoto - AHL? (not good enough)
Pyyhtiä - AHL? (not good enough)

Detroit:
Määttä - On team
Husso - Kinda no

Montréal:
Armia
Ylönen

Nashville:
Pärssinen
Saros
Lankinen

Ottawa:
Thomson - AHL?
Meriläinen - AHL? Not good enough

Pittsburgh:
Granlund

St.Louis:
Kapanen - On team

San José:
Kähkönen
Mäkiniemi - AHL? (not good enough)

Vancouver:
Räty - AHL?

Washington:
Borgström - AHL?

Winnipeg:
Mäenalanen

 

[David OSullivan]

Some of those have no chance like you say. Borgstrom, Raty, Luoto, Pyythia etc.

I'm a fan of Thomson. He s made good strides. I kinda doubt he gets called though with the euro guys available. Possible.

Ylonen will be AHL and doubt he would get called anyway. He had a strong season though.

Mikael Granlund would hopefully come and be a great add. Unless he needs more time planning an escape from Pittsburgh. I do have high hopes for him coming.

Think we will get one of the nhl goalies. Think the priority is Saros, Lankinen then Husso. Think Husso saying maybe not means one of the other 2 are likely. Lankinen would be great after a really strong season. Saros would be... I don't really have a word for it. Great times infinity.

Laine was given a 2-4 week timeline so theoritically he should be back. Many think he definitely comes for home city games but I have my doubts. Lots of injuries this season. Be awesome if he did.

Armia does well in playoffs and his upper level is very high when he is on it. Lots of injuries this season but I have high hopes for him coming.

Jokiharju got injured so could be doubtful. Would definitely take him if available.

Maccelli has rfa contract. Could be a tough one to negotiate too as only one full nhl season but what a season. Tough to price. I think he declined to sort it out. Would love if he joined though.

I'd take Valimaki if he would join. Strong season.

Parssinen will go ahl I think. He had really good first nhl season but with Manninen joining and potentially more from round one, maybe he is better in ahl this summer. But if he joined I would be happy out. Good player.

 

[David OSullivan]

Just on the back of last post and I'm going to pretend Laine declines to get healthy, Florida goes out but Barkov declines to work on personal issues.

Lundell, Luostarinen, Granlund, Armia, Valimaki, sarosjoin.

Luostarinen Lundell Kapanen
Mi. Granlund Manninen Hartikainen
Pesonen Suomela Armia
Lammikko Bjorninen Antilla

Maatta Vatanen
Lehtonen Valimaki
Linbohm Kemelainen
Ohtamaa Pokka

Saros

Thats like medium optimistic I think. Could be a lot better return from nhl after round one.

 

[SantosHalper]

Lammikko

Realistic roster, but Lammikko's season has been over for some time now and no word on him. His teammate Lehtonen arrives to camp next week, i think it's safe to assume that Lammikko will not play this year.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

...

Parssinen will go ahl I think. He had really good first nhl season but with Manninen joining and potentially more from round one, maybe he is better in ahl this summer. But if he joined I would be happy out. Good player.

FWIW, Nashville fan here, Parssinen can't go to the AHL. He wasn't on the Clear Day roster for Milwaukee and not sent down after the season ended. It's WC or summer vacation for him.

He might not be 100% up to speed, though. He came back for the last 3 Preds games and played pretty well, but they kept his minutes very low all the same. I don't know what version of him folks in Finland last saw, but he has emerged as a very convincing NHL player this season.

 

[David OSullivan]

Realistic roster, but Lammikko's season has been over for some time now and no word on him. His teammate Lehtonen arrives to camp next week, i think it's safe to assume that Lammikko will not play this year.

Thanks for the info. I'm fine with that to be honest. I'm not great fan of Lammikko but I like adding some speed to that line.

I know jets won first game but still think they lose him so maybe Maenelaenen. Maybe Haula if he would join if devils go out. I actually think Pesonen would do a good job there if more nhl players come to push him down. Kuokannen doesn't bring the speed but I like him a lot. Pesonen/Kuokkanen are my picks of the euro players.

FWIW, Nashville fan here, Parssinen can't go to the AHL. He wasn't on the Clear Day roster for Milwaukee and not sent down after the season ended. It's WC or summer vacation for him.

He might not be 100% up to speed, though. He came back for the last 3 Preds games and played pretty well, but they kept his minutes very low all the same. I don't know what version of him folks in Finland last saw, but he has emerged as a very convincing NHL player this season.

Again Porter, thanks for the info. In that case, I want him to come in fact, if we got loads of nhlers, he d be a good fourth line option too for Bjorninen and Antilla. And if we get only a few, hed be great higher up the lineup.

 

[Mestaruus]

FWIW, Nashville fan here, Parssinen can't go to the AHL. He wasn't on the Clear Day roster for Milwaukee and not sent down after the season ended. It's WC or summer vacation for him.

He might not be 100% up to speed, though. He came back for the last 3 Preds games and played pretty well, but they kept his minutes very low all the same. I don't know what version of him folks in Finland last saw, but he has emerged as a very convincing NHL player this season.

I had this feeling that Nashville wouldn't even consider sending Pärssinen back to AHL anymore. They see that he's a talented diamond who has proven himself in the NHL, so sending him to the AHL would be a lose lose situation. He's already spent enough time in the AHL and the play style there isn't exactly the same as in the NHL and then there's the risk to injure him. Calder cup, who cares about it anyways. In my opinion he's not far from Lundell's talent level, but I got Lundell ahead of him by a little bit.

 

[Mestaruus]

Maybe Haula if he would join if devils go out.

Haula doesn't have a contract for the next season, so we definitely want Rangers to be eliminated instead and get Kakko who has a contract. Mikkola doesn't have a contract.

Unexpected news about Manninen. I expected Vegas wanting to keep him as a back up incase they'd get a lot of forwards injured in the playoffs. I wouldn't be surprised if they can call Manninen back to NHL even if he'd be in Europe. There was a thing like that with one Finnish player few years ago. I can't remember who it was though.

It's a question mark what Manninen's form is when he is coming from the AHL. I don't think that league's style suits his play style at all. Vegas was stupid for not letting Manninen have a chance in the NHL and not realizing how good he is. He could've done more in the NHL than his AHL stats suggest. Maybe Manninen's agent was to blame for putting him in the wrong NHL team because I believe that there were more NHL teams who wanted to take him with a one way contract. On the other hand Manninen did earn himself 750k money for just playing in the AHL, so I doubt that Manninen complains about that too much. It's probably more than he would've earned in Switzerland, but probably less than what he got in the KHL.

 

[David OSullivan]

Haula doesn't have a contract for the next season, so we definitely want Rangers to be eliminated instead and get Kakko who has a contract. Mikkola doesn't have a contract.

Unexpected news about Manninen. I expected Vegas wanting to keep him as a back up incase they'd get a lot of forwards injured in the playoffs. I wouldn't be surprised if they can call Manninen back to NHL even if he'd be in Europe. There was a thing like that with one Finnish player few years ago. I can't remember who it was though.

It's a question mark what Manninen's form is when he is coming from the AHL. I don't think that league's style suits his play style at all. Vegas was stupid for not letting Manninen have a chance in the NHL and not realizing how good he is. He could've done more in the NHL than his AHL stats suggest. Maybe Manninen's agent was to blame for putting him in the wrong NHL team because I believe that there were more teams who wanted to take him with a one way contract. On the other hand Manninen did earn himself 750k money for just playing in the AHL, so I doubt that Manninen complains about that too much.

I don't watch ahl but from points perspective looks like he was putting it together towards the end of season after slow start. Don't think we need to worry much about Manninen in a Finland jersey. He s been there, bought the t shirt, wore the t-shirt while going back there again to pair of shorts. He knows the whole system inside out. Mad to think what could be. Manninen could be 3rd C. Suomela is not so secure anymore. But Manninen can play wing too so theres that option. Its really really interesting right now. Hopefully more good news to come in coming days.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Manninen is why Finland has won 3 gold medals very recently.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Manninen is why Finland has won 3 gold medals very recently.

And yet not good enough for NHL. Weird.

 

[Mestaruus]

Optimistic prediction. I don't even know where to add Luostarinen, but I do want him in as well and he has to be a center. In fact Luostarinen right now might be really better than Manninen. Luostarinen is really good, but got to give the hero Manninen his spot. Just like Björninen and Anttila just have to be there for me for the same reason. Filppula is still a possibility as well if he didn't quit his NT career, so we do have a lot of center options in this optimistic scenario. Also I just don't want to let go off Suomela for Luostarinen either. It's hard decisions.

Hintz-Barkov-Laine
Mi.Granlund-Manninen-Hartikainen
Lundell-Suomela-Kapanen
Anttila-Björninen-Armia

Pessimistic prediction. No Laine, Barkov and Armia but let's balance the bad luck a little bit and Granny will join (because we can't be that unlucky that all 3 of our star players won't come).

Mi.Granlund-Suomela-Lundell
Ma.Granlund-Manninen-Hartikainen (the good old UFA line)
Pesonen-Luostarinen/Filppula-Kapanen
Anttila-Björninen-Filppula/Sallinen/Pakarinen/Tyrväinen

I believe that Filppula played some games as a winger last season with the NT. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Tolvanen joins later and I'd prob put him with MiG & Suomela and then move Lundell for 3rd line instead of Pesonen, so Pesonen is the first one out of the line up. I still think that Colorado takes the series, despite of the lead for Seattle.

Door will still be open for some superstars like Aho or Rantanen to join after play off round 2.

Defender & goalie prediction is more boring, so won't go into that.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I had this feeling that Nashville wouldn't even consider sending Pärssinen back to AHL anymore. They see that he's a talented diamond who has proven himself in the NHL, so sending him to the AHL would be a lose lose situation. He's already spent enough time in the AHL and the play style there isn't exactly the same as in the NHL and then there's the risk to injure him. Calder cup, who cares about it anyways. In my opinion he's not far from Lundell's talent level, but I got Lundell ahead of him by a little bit.

They might not have anyway, as you say. Just he got injured right before the chance to send guys down for Clear Day, so we didn't get to find out.

He's basically #1/2C in Nashville now. It's interesting how different league play and perceptions are, because Parssinen was significantly better than Granlund this year for us. If some of these players listed here are better than Parssinen, well, it's Gold for Finland for sure!

 

[David OSullivan]

Optimistic prediction. I don't even know where to add Luostarinen, but I do want him in as well and he has to be a center. In fact Luostarinen right now might be really better than Manninen. Luostarinen is really good, but got to give the hero Manninen his spot. Just like Björninen and Anttila just have to be there for me for the same reason. Filppula is still a possibility as well if he didn't quit his NT career, so we do have a lot of center options in this optimistic scenario. Also I just don't want to let go off Suomela for Luostarinen either. It's hard decisions.

Hintz-Barkov-Laine
Mi.Granlund-Manninen-Hartikainen
Lundell-Suomela-Kapanen
Anttila-Björninen-Armia

Pessimistic prediction. No Laine, Barkov and Armia but let's balance the bad luck a little bit and Granny will join (because we can't be that unlucky that all 3 of our star players won't come).

Mi.Granlund-Suomela-Lundell
Ma.Granlund-Manninen-Hartikainen (the good old UFA line)
Pesonen-Luostarinen/Filppula-Kapanen
Anttila-Björninen-Filppula/Sallinen/Pakarinen/Tyrväinen

I believe that Filppula played some games as a winger last season with the NT. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Tolvanen joins later and I'd prob put him with MiG & Suomela and then move Lundell for 3rd line instead of Pesonen, so Pesonen is the first one out of the line up. I still think that Colorado takes the series, despite of the lead for Seattle.

Door will still be open for some superstars like Aho or Rantanen to join after play off round 2.

Defender & goalie prediction is more boring, so won't go into that.

Love the optimistic prediction. That top line would be unstoppable.

I imagine since I'm seeing hintz, you got heiskenen, lindell and Hakanpaa on the backend. Saros in goals.

It is possible though. Unlikely but possible.