Confirmed with Link: Vatanen to CAR for Janne Kuokkanen, Frederik Claesson and conditional 4th rounder

[longislanddevil]

It could very well be because I had my heart set on Rees or Bean but I feel “meh” about this deal. It’s sounding like this prospect may be better than I originally thought, however. I sure hope it IS a second round pick as originally reported.

 

[OmNomNom]

if friedman is right, i expect claesson to replace white on 3LD

but he's UFA this season so this seems so pointless. maybe it's a salary cap move

 

[Darkauron]

*barfs*

 

[Fear the Wushu]

For what its worth, there are quite a few Hurricane fans bummed about losing Kuokkanen.

I also love the Finn for Finn trade. Lets draft a Finn with that pick.

Finn's have never been a good fit in this organization. Most of them fail here. Not saying they can't succeed or anything though as every player is different, just pointing out past failures.

 

[Nubmer6]

Janne Kuokkanen, LW, New Jersey (traded from Carolina on Feb. 24)
Kuokkanen really impressed as a 19-year-old in the AHL, but the past two seasons he’s been holding steady. Given his lack of progress, Kuokkanen has been a heavily scouted player this season for trade purposes. He’s a player who gets high marks for his offensive IQ and ability to make plays. Inside the offensive zone he can create and is great on the power play. His skating is just OK, though, and off the puck he’s average. I think given his hockey sense he can become a third-line forward. He’s a bit of a divisive prospect with some scouts thinking he’s definitely going to play, and others questioning if he will get out of the AHL because of his lack of speed.

 

[R8Devs]

I like Kuokkanen, wish the picks would have been better but Sami got injured at inopportune time

 

[NJDevils17]

What was Fitz supposed to do with a defenseman that’s been injured for 3 weeks and hasn’t really played that well here anyway? We couldn’t keep him and this was the best offer.

 

[NJDevs26]

How could Bob get this so wrong? Pffft...I liked Kuokkanen better when he was the 2nd piece of this deal, now this was basically the 2 and 3/4 I was expecting before the day with Kuokkanen being the 2.

 

[longislanddevil]

Whoa...we did NOT get a 2nd round pick out of this deal as originally reported? Gross. Just gross. I wasn’t thrilled about the return to begin with but it was OK...wow.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Given that we had to take a conditional pick centered around Sami's health, it makes sense to me that it hurt the return draft pick wise.

I like the sound of Kuokkanen though.

 

[Billdo]

Queue the overreactions...

 

[MachoDiablo]

NHL Network has updated to going with Friedman's tweet instead of McKenzie's.

I do like getting a 21 year old who's been in the AHL for a bit, implies he could come right up pretty shortly and have a spot. I said elsewhere that a part of me is actually more interested in watching this team over the next couple of years now that I know I'll be watching young players develop gel together, and if Kuokkanen is ready for next season and Foote can at least make some appearances next year (plus whomever they pick with their top 1st rounder, at least), there's a lot to potentially look forward to.

That said, it's weird how it really looked like a sellers market just a few days ago, and now on deadline day things seem a bit nicer for the buyers.

 

[OmNomNom]

How could Bob get this so wrong? Pffft...I liked Kuokkanen better when he was the 2nd piece of this deal, now this was basically the 2 and 3/4 I was expecting before the day with Kuokkanen being the 2.

bob hasn't deleted the tweet though

 

[ninetyeight]

I don't know much about Kuokkanen as he's played most of his time in the juniors (or recently AHL), but he has potential. Apperantly he's has great hockey IQ, makes good decisions and good passes. Has a pass first mentality, though he supposedly has a good shot too. He's not really a small guy, but his physicality has been criticized in the past, I don't know if he has taken steps forward in the recent years. Numbers look good though, especially that 2.0goals/game pace on Liiga

I think the most concerning thing about him is that there was a lot of hype and excitement about him in the past, but his development sort of halted, or slowed down at least. Hopefully the change in scenery sparks things up again.

 

[jkrdevil]

Brian Lawton on NHL networking on the Friedman reporter deal. Says Vatanen is a better player than Greene and Scandella who returned 2nd’s

 

[NjDevsRR]

I like the sound of Kuokkanen though.

Dano doesn’t

 

[OmNomNom]

Brian Lawton on NHL networking on the Friedman reporter deal. Says Vatanen is a better player than Greene and Scandella who returned 2nd’s

we got a 2nd bc it was lou

 

[Better Call Sal]

Dano doesn’t

Ha, he's just going to call him Janne like Cangy was calling Merzlikins Elvis. Whatever is easiest.

 

[FinnishDevil]

For what its worth, there are quite a few Hurricane fans bummed about losing Kuokkanen.

I also love the Finn for Finn trade. Lets draft a Finn with that pick.

I approve this.

He can join the likes of Tuomo Ruutu and Anssi Salmela among the all time Devils greats.

I gotta update my avatar to Talvitie now.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Brian Lawton on NHL networking on the Friedman reporter deal. Says Vatanen is a better player than Greene and Scandella who returned 2nd’s

Because Lou is an idiot and gave us a 2nd. Greene was not worth that. And Vatanen is injured.

It is what it is. I like Kuokkanen so I’m happy there. Lets all hope Vats plays the games to make it a 3rd

 

[D3vilsH0ck3y]

Vatanen is an injured UFA. We have 20 games left. What if he misses another 5-10? People need to really relax on here

 

[NJDevs26]

bob hasn't deleted the tweet though

So clearly one of them's wrong. As much as I normally think Bob is right, I'd tend to believe the lesser return (and more recent) report on this one unfortunately.

 

[MadDevil]

Brian Lawton on NHL networking on the Friedman reporter deal. Says Vatanen is a better player than Greene and Scandella who returned 2nd’s

Were Greene and Scandella on IR when they were traded?

 

[NJDevs26]

Still neither team has posted the trade on its official Twitter, weird.

 

[R8Devs]

Were Greene and Scandella on IR when they were traded?

also neither returned a prospect on Kuokkanen's level.