Most of the draft reports I have seen so far have him slotted somewhere in the latter part of the top 10.
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Most of the draft reports I have seen so far have him slotted somewhere in the latter part of the top 10.
Vinegar Strokes
Dirty Ducks
I think you are giving him to much credit if he was that good he would be challenging Hall for first overall, no check that he would be a lock for first overall.
Actually he is no longer that small. He is 5'11 183. At one time however he was with a group of young, talented, tiny and promisising young Finns which inluded Karjalainen, Rajala, Granlund, Haula, and Pulkinnen himself. I would kind of smirk when I saw the size of these forwards after hearing so much about him. Haula and Pulkinnen had their growth spurts and Rajala and Granlund are getting to respectible size themselves. Karjalainen is another story but you never know Finns develop later physically than most.
Anyways I was dissapointed in his u-18 performance even though he was an underager it didnèt look like he held his own playing with Granlund and Rajala and his stats might have been inflated somewhat playing with those two. Yes he is not a speed burner and his agility will not blow anybody away especially for a player his size expected to be a shifty skater but he has produced at every level he has played at so far. Donèt forget he came off injury during the u-18s and he has a point per game so far in the top league in Finland as a 17 year old even though its just pre-season. I expect him to slide maybe even out of the first round not due to his talent level but rather the scouts doubting the talent level of Finland. Eg. Vatanen, Rajala and even Nattinen were probably first rounders by talent and Haula was a lot better than a 7th round pick but they all slipped. Just my thoughts.
Jussi
Registered User
Anyways I was dissapointed in his u-18 performance even though he was an underager it didnèt look like he held his own playing with Granlund and Rajala and his stats might have been inflated somewhat playing with those two. Yes he is not a speed burner and his agility will not blow anybody away especially for a player his size expected to be a shifty skater but he has produced at every level he has played at so far. Donèt forget he came off injury during the u-18s and he has a point per game so far in the top league in Finland as a 17 year old even though its just pre-season. I expect him to slide maybe even out of the first round not due to his talent level but rather the scouts doubting the talent level of Finland. Eg. Vatanen, Rajala and even Nattinen were probably first rounders by talent and Haula was a lot better than a 7th round pick but they all slipped. Just my thoughts.
Your thoughts betray you... for lack of knowledge about Pulkkinen's real talent.
Your thoughts betray you... for lack of knowledge about Pulkkinen's real talent.
He was not carrying his weight on that line from the games I saw and Granlund and Pulkinnen seemed noticably better. He didnt look 100%.
I think you are giving him to much credit if he was that good he would be challenging Hall for first overall, no check that he would be a lock for first overall.
Actually he is no longer that small. He is 5'11 183. At one time however he was with a group of young, talented, tiny and promisising young Finns which inluded Karjalainen, Rajala, Granlund, Haula, and Pulkinnen himself. I would kind of smirk when I saw the size of these forwards after hearing so much about him. Haula and Pulkinnen had their growth spurts and Rajala and Granlund are getting to respectible size themselves. Karjalainen is another story but you never know Finns develop later physically than most.
Anyways I was dissapointed in his u-18 performance even though he was an underager it didnèt look like he held his own playing with Granlund and Rajala and his stats might have been inflated somewhat playing with those two. Yes he is not a speed burner and his agility will not blow anybody away especially for a player his size expected to be a shifty skater but he has produced at every level he has played at so far. Donèt forget he came off injury during the u-18s and he has a point per game so far in the top league in Finland as a 17 year old even though its just pre-season. I expect him to slide maybe even out of the first round not due to his talent level but rather the scouts doubting the talent level of Finland. Eg. Vatanen, Rajala and even Nattinen were probably first rounders by talent and Haula was a lot better than a 7th round pick but they all slipped. Just my thoughts.
Maybe he is listed 5-11 but he is 5-10 at best, maybe 5-9 1/2, I saw him play two weeks ago.
Yes, I saw him, for the last time two weeks ago. NHL upside is one thing and putting points in sm-lliga pre-season another one.
I remember guys like Tomas Kana(recent St.Louis bust) who looked pretty well as 17 year old in Czech Extraleague(in regular season).
As I said I still like his skill set and hockey sense but it´s ridiculous to say that he is top 10 prospect.
Did you mean Rajala here?
Which of the Finnish U18 games did you see? The only one I saw was the bronze medal game on the TSN site. Neither Granlund nor Pulkkinen were huge factors in the game, but each had their moments where they got/created chances (Other than Pulkkinen's shootout goal, which I ignore, because to be honest, I hate shootouts). I've read various things about Pulkkinen, but I don't have a really good sense of who he plays like. Could you name a non-Finnish NHL player with a similar style? (note that I said style, not skill-level).
He is very close so I wouldn't say ridicilous. Did you saw like 2 games?
Teemu might be invisible in some games but can strike suddenly...he has great shot.
17 year old and very close to get a spot amongst the men is a good thing for his development if he gets enough ice time. He is still very young so let's see how many games will he play.
Yes, the last time I saw him, I saw two games(two weeks ago). He actually played quite well creating some offence for Finnish team. Again, I never said he is bad player, he has excellent offensive instinct, is very creative with puck, has excellent hands. But also he is slow skater(and won´t be much faster in the future), very small and not very competitive without the puck.
Jussi
Registered User
He is officially listed at 180/83. Last years Jokerit team picture he was standing next to Tomek Valtonen who's 185 cm and Pulkkinen definately looked to be that height (as in the height difference was about 5 cm). And after the U-18 tournament when the team arrived home, the RGP line were interviewed at the airport and Pulkkinen was clearly the tallest of them and since Rajala was measured at the NHL combine at 5'10" (178cm), that's more proof that the height is correct.
I only saw about two and a half games from the U-18 WJC via streams but Pulkkinen was a lot better against USA than in the last two games against Russia and Canada. The former game was a total choke job by the team so I won't put too much weight on that and in the bronze medal game he seemed tired, which is understandable considering he was out for almost two months with a knee inury and lacked match fitness.
Also about him being slow, he's coming off a knee injury, back in May he thought he might not be fit at the season start but as one can tell, he is. And what makes you so sure he can't get faster? Ever heard of power skating clinics? Heck, there's a lot of much older players that have managed to improve their skating with the proper guidance.
It´s hard to argue about size if we can measure him in person, your opinion is that he is 180cm(I agree that he could be 83 kg), I think he is like 177 at best.
Okay, power skating can help him without doubt however skating never will be his forte without doubt.
Again he is bad player but there are simply many better prospects than him(who I have already seen in person). I never speak about player I have never seen.
You made five points. Jussi already commented but I share my current thoughts as well. Last I saw him in action was U18 bronze match. And that was pretty close of all time worst I have seen of him.
- Points 1 and 2 I agree totally
- Points 3 and 4 I disagree totally. For reasons Jussi mensioned.
- Point 5, I agree. He does have habbit of not playing with other four. That should change dramatically, now that he is a junior in mens league. Previous playing style kinda understandable when one in miles ahead of others in juniors. Now he is miles behind others!
That is tough to handle for any junior superstar.
Extra point. After thursdays match his line (w. Mäki and Saarinen) was defensively most sound of all, according to coach. That is one describtion of Teemus play that one rarely hears. And as all of those three are own juniors and not that old either, very pleased to hear such comment. In 5 mens training matches he has scored 3+1. Not bad. With limited PP icetime in at least that thursdays match.
From blueline to top corner, without mask
You made five points. Jussi already commented but I share my current thoughts as well. Last I saw him in action was U18 bronze match. And that was pretty close of all time worst I have seen of him.
- Points 1 and 2 I agree totally
- Points 3 and 4 I disagree totally. For reasons Jussi mensioned.
- Point 5, I agree. He does have habbit of not playing with other four. That should change dramatically, now that he is a junior in mens league. Previous playing style kinda understandable when one in miles ahead of others in juniors. Now he is miles behind others!
That is tough to handle for any junior superstar.
Extra point. After thursdays match his line (w. Mäki and Saarinen) was defensively most sound of all, according to coach. That is one describtion of Teemus play that one rarely hears. And as all of those three are own juniors and not that old either, very pleased to hear such comment. In 5 mens training matches he has scored 3+1. Not bad. With limited PP icetime in at least that thursdays match.
From blueline to top corner, without mask
I respect your opinion, I disagree but respect. It´s actually nothing unusual that two people have entirely different opinion on same player.
My main point is that there are many better 2010 prospects with higher upside. For example Granlund
.
Jussi
Registered User
From blueline to top corner, without mask
That's the reason for Jari Kurri comparison: his shot, mainly the slapshot. Many people who follow Finnish junior hockey have said that Pulkkinen has the best shot they've seen in a long, long while (power and accuracy). They say that e.g. Selänne's shot at that age wasn't as good.
While he isn't as fast or good a skater as Rajala, scouting reports (official ones) have said that he is by no means slow. I think "deceptively fast" was the term they used. He sure as hell doesn't have Selänne's take off speed but then again who does?
Maybe the fact that Team Finland is nowadays more like Team Smurfs (compared to the other teams), may have given Czechexpert the impression that he's small?
Edit: though this thread isn't about Granlund, I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with more points and ice time in the upcoming season than Pulkkinen. He's been playing right wing on HIFK's second line and gotten some time on the first pp unit. Pulkkinen on the other hand has played mostly 3rd line. The reason for this is mostly because HIFK is stacked with centers (though they just got rid of one) while lacking in wingers. Jokerit on the other hand are the exact opposite. They have mostly just two quality centers in Pirnes and Hauhtonen, one junior has been injured in the preseason and they've had to play wingers as centers with mixed results.
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That post was made last year in which he was expected to go that high, things change in a year though. There were people hyping these guys ridiculously more than I did. Nice of you to dig that up though.
All like comparisons. I personally have compared Teemu2 to Ovechkin. He was just like him back then. Now that he has had bum knee - twice - he seems bit shy in hitting department. Teemu1 is natural comparison as well. No reports of Ovechkin type hits in Jokerit training matches either.
Maybe comparison to Dany Heatley would be better? Bit outside of the game all the time. But when you need a goal. He delivers.
Maybe comparison to Dany Heatley would be better? Bit outside of the game all the time. But when you need a goal. He delivers.
Jussi
Registered User
Oh, I was pretty sure it was knee last time.
Nevermind. As mensioned. He is not hitting like he used to. Seems like concentrating on scoring
Yeah but you seem to be making too much noise of your opinion by seeing only 2 games from himI respect your opinion, I disagree but respect. It´s actually nothing unusual that two people have entirely different opinion on same player.
My main point is that there are many better 2010 prospects with higher upside. For example Granlund
Jussi
Registered User
Oh, I was pretty sure it was knee last time.
Nevermind. As mensioned. He is not hitting like he used to. Seems like concentrating on scoring
No, it was the ankle early last season. He hurt his knee and had minor operation on it in February. Recovered enough to be able to play at the U-18 WJC but the knee may have aggravated a little from it, hence the reports of him walking with a crutch/crutches at the "Massive". He didn't mention any further operations or problems with it in the summer issue of Jääkiekkolehti.
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