Player Discussion: Vesalainen Thread

[GumbyCan2]

Agree. He's shown that he has the offensive talent, but their have been questions about his ability / willingness to play at the level of intensity to make a difference at the NHL level. His play has really improved in that area.

I thought that line should have had more ice-time last night (especially at the expense of Stastny's line).

How will we know under Maurice's tootilage? He gets a handful of games in the big show, generally as injury filler and when rest of team is treading water backwards. Maurice throws him out there kind of regular shift only 1 period of any of his games.
Not enough chemistry, steady flow, feel like you are in it and an engaged member, the way Mo' treats/ plays some of his prospects. Always been a bit of a head-scratcher turning to a " piss me off, you _ffin' jerk!" feelings for me. I'll get over it. Just need some change of approach, useage, fire in the seat of the bench, new voice? Or, just find the next Connor McDavid and roll the dice? Scheifele will never impact games and team's outcome close to this level. He doesn't need to though with a system and approach more attoned to all 4 lines playing the right way, never cheating on commitment and what it takes to ride in the 'big limo of the NHL'.

 

[GumbyCan2]

I like what he's brought the last few games. He can build off of this moving forward.

Agree, if frickin coach gets a clue and puts him with PLD and MP, to start games, start periods and flow into rhythm of hard checking, in your face offensive play driving. At least while Lowry and Ehlers are out.

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

Completely agree. When Mo threw him and PLD together with Perrault it was like a light switch being flipped on. They were hard to handle. Interesting pair looking forward maybe with Harkins ?

Vesa, Dubois and Harkins. We haven't had that combination of grit and scoring touch on a line since the days of Glass, Slater and Thorburn.

 

[Ducky10]

Vesa, Dubois and Harkins. We haven't had that combination of grit and scoring touch on a line since the days of Glass, Slater and Thorburn.

Except those three aren’t remotely the same as GST.

 

[garret9]

Vesa, Dubois and Harkins. We haven't had that combination of grit and scoring touch on a line since the days of Glass, Slater and Thorburn.

Haha I was just looking up "career while on the Jets numbers" and 1st (Slater), 2nd (Thorburn), and 4th (Glass) in most negative impact for forwards. (FYI Peluso was 3rd worst)

 

[10Ducky10]

I'd like to see a line of...
KV PLD Wheeler.

 

[Atoyot]

Haha I was just looking up "career while on the Jets numbers" and 1st (Slater), 2nd (Thorburn), and 4th (Glass) in most negative impact for forwards. (FYI Peluso was 3rd worst)

I'm actually a little surprised that Glass was the best of the 4. I would have expected him to be the worst.

 

[JetsFan815]

I'm actually a little surprised that Glass was the best of the 4. I would have expected him to be the worst.

I think the last year of Slater's career on the Jets (the circa 14-15) is probably what drags him. I remember him being the best of the bunch in the first couple of seasons of Jets 2.0.

 

[JetsFan815]

Vesa, Dubois and Harkins. We haven't had that combination of grit and scoring touch on a line since the days of Glass, Slater and Thorburn.

Well this is certainly a volcanic take.

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

Well this is certainly a volcanic take.

Just a bit of hyperbole to reflect how disappointed I have been with the lack of scoring from Vesa and Dubois. Harkins is... well, Harkins. Never had much in the way of expectations there.

 

[SoCalJetsFan]

I am guessing the Jets lose Harkins to the expansion draft and don’t resign Matty P then Ves will get a roster spot. However PoMo might do PoMo stuff. I have really liked his game and as other have said he looked good with Dubois.

 

[robertocarlos]

A big player who skates well. Vesa just needs a bit of finish. He's not going back to the Moose though.

 

[robertocarlos]

Just a bit of hyperbole to reflect how disappointed I have been with the lack of scoring from Vesa and Dubois. Harkins is... well, Harkins. Never had much in the way of expectations there.

Even Stastny misses sure goals.

 

[garret9]

I'm actually a little surprised that Glass was the best of the 4. I would have expected him to be the worst.

It's not realtive to ice time, and Glass played one season haha. So for him to be the 4th worst with just one season speaks a LOT of how bad it was.

 

[Atoyot]

It's not realtive to ice time, and Glass played one season haha. So for him to be the 4th worst with just one season speaks a LOT of how bad it was.

Now I'm surprised he was only here for one season. Felt like a lot longer. Also surprising that James Wright doesn't crack the top 4.

 

[garret9]

Now I'm surprised he was only here for one season. Felt like a lot longer. Also surprising that James Wright doesn't crack the top 4.

Wright was at 11
Slater, Thorburn, Peluso, Glass, Bourque, Antropov, Halischuk, Glaiardi, Lewis, Shore, Wright, Miettinen
(However this is using xGAR when I prefer blending GAR mostly since their is a good chunk of offensive output in GAR that xGAR doesn't catch)

Defense goes: Stuart, Niku, Beaulieu, Bogosian, Chiarot, Meech, Bitetto, Melchiori, Harrison, Morrow, Sbisa, Forbort

 

[DRW204]

the bar must be super low for this guy if a few hits on a forecheck gets people's pants wet and thinking he's even close to a viable top-6 fwd option.

 

[sipowicz]

Falling prospects, hey look who made the list:


6. KRISTIAN VESALAINEN, LW, WINNIPEG JETS (-43)
Last year: 58th
This year: not ranked in top 100
The Jets are trying to reshape Vesalainen’s game. There’s no doubting his natural tools as a goal-scorer but, because Winnipeg’s forward group is perpetually loaded in the top six, any forward who wants to crack the NHL lineup needs to develop “bottom-six” abilities as well. The Jets are thus working on developing Vesalainen’s defensive skills more and even having him kill penalties in the AHL. He’s one of many prospects suffering from the taxi-squad problem right now, though, as it’s keeping him from getting into many games. He’s played just 16 between the Manitoba Moose and the Jets. Most recently, he's seen NHL action this week on Winnipeg's third line.

 

[blueandgoldguy]

Wright was at 11
Slater, Thorburn, Peluso, Glass, Bourque, Antropov, Halischuk, Glaiardi, Lewis, Shore, Wright, Miettinen
(However this is using xGAR when I prefer blending GAR mostly since their is a good chunk of offensive output in GAR that xGAR doesn't catch)

Defense goes: Stuart, Niku, Beaulieu, Bogosian, Chiarot, Meech, Bitetto, Melchiori, Harrison, Morrow, Sbisa, Forbort

I'm curious how Bogosian's numbers looked in his first season and his first plus second seasons combined with the Jets. I seem to remember him playing relatively well in 2011-12. We thought we had a strong top-4 player at that point with a very good chance at a top-2 peak. I know he had a drop-off in performance in his second season but I can't remember how steep. I do seem to recall things were going off the rails by his 3rd season here with further regression in his overall play.

 

[blueandgoldguy]

Falling prospects, hey look who made the list:


6. KRISTIAN VESALAINEN, LW, WINNIPEG JETS (-43)
Last year: 58th
This year: not ranked in top 100
The Jets are trying to reshape Vesalainen’s game. There’s no doubting his natural tools as a goal-scorer but, because Winnipeg’s forward group is perpetually loaded in the top six, any forward who wants to crack the NHL lineup needs to develop “bottom-six” abilities as well. The Jets are thus working on developing Vesalainen’s defensive skills more and even having him kill penalties in the AHL. He’s one of many prospects suffering from the taxi-squad problem right now, though, as it’s keeping him from getting into many games. He’s played just 16 between the Manitoba Moose and the Jets. Most recently, he's seen NHL action this week on Winnipeg's third line.

I have a little bit of hope Vesalainen can develop into a 40-50 point physical,2-way, 2nd line winger for the Jets. This is something the team can certainly use at this point. Right now, the likelihood is that Vesa will be a 3rd liner who can play a good 2-way game and average 20-30 points per season.

His fellow Finn, Tolvanen, has certainly surpassed him at this point.

 

[JetsFan815]

Defense goes: Stuart, Niku, Beaulieu, Bogosian, Chiarot, Meech, Bitetto, Melchiori, Harrison, Morrow, Sbisa, Forbort

Love that Pardy's name is not on that list. Love that guy and he was the best of the "washed up vet dman who is big but not good" genre of d-men that the Jets love to sign.

 

[BoneDocUK]

I have a little bit of hope Vesalainen can develop into a 40-50 point physical,2-way, 2nd line winger for the Jets. This is something the team can certainly use at this point. Right now, the likelihood is that Vesa will be a 3rd liner who can play a good 2-way game and average 20-30 points per season.

His fellow Finn, Tolvanen, has certainly surpassed him at this point.

NSH is developing Tolvanen pretty much as a pure sniper. Maurice is developing Ves in his usual way, so he’s working hard on the 3rd and trying not to screw up. I expect they’re liking what they see, and looking now for more of what he does best as a shooter, curling off the half walls and blowing into the slot — and he has a very quick, very heavy release. I think he is gaining confidence and “trust” and I still expect him to round into an impactful player for the Jets.

 

[Esko6]

I noticed that Vesalainen suddenly was playing in the playoffs and had over 15 minutes of ice time. Do you think he will get more games and will he keep playing that much, probably not in tighter games.

 

[Teemus Salami]

Although he was really only on line 2 (and even just playing for that matter) because of key injuries, I was pretty impressed with him last night in a big game. Our Line 2 was pretty stagnant, but he actually made a couple of good chances, wasn't a defensive liability, and played a pretty strong game. He honestly looked better than Copp out there. Not gunna light the world on fire through the playoffs, but looks like a damn steady player.

 

[blues10]

I noticed that Vesalainen suddenly was playing in the playoffs and had over 15 minutes of ice time. Do you think he will get more games and will he keep playing that much, probably not in tighter games.

How much tighter can the game get? It was either tied or a 1 goal game for either team until the Jets got 2 empty betters in the final 2 minutes.

Not sure what game you were watching but this was as close as it gets without OT.