Prospect Info: Welcome to Montréal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1st round pick, 3OA 2018 - signed ELC)

[ECWHSWI]

Cool, im just pointing out there was no merit to your question whatsoever and that you just wanted to ruffle up a few feathers and say that he may not be a center to burst everyones bubble, nice try tho.

wrong, but hey! everyone is once in a while...

you could have read it as
1. did he play C whole last season
2. is he expected to play C whole next season

but you chose not to, that's ok.

 

[AshyHabs]

He'll be on the wing in no time. Welcome to the club.

 

[callmek2]

Damn NYI killed it tonight.

And red wings

 

[Redux91]

wrong, but hey! everyone is once in a while...

you could have read it as
1. did he play C whole last season
2. is he expected to play C whole next season

but you chose not to, that's ok.

Evgeny Malkin did not play C for 100% of his shifts last year.

 

[Redux91]

And red wings

Ehhh or they got 2 soft Q league players lol, you never know

 

[sandviper]

Not happy with the pick. Would of liked the consensus guys in Zdina or Tkachuk. Any idea why Koka (or whatever his name is climbed)? Did he play in the world Juniors? I've also heard he's a bad skater any Truth?


Way to go bergevin (face palm)

He rose in the rankings because he is talented. He had a great U18 and did well as a 17 year old playing in a professional MENs league.

He didn’t come out of nowhere. He climbed steadily through the year.

He’s also younger than Zadina and Tkachuk.

 

[sandviper]

My post was more of a overall point, I've followed draft threads and read too much twitter lately.
So much negativity towards him and what he did in Liiga last season. Will be interesting to watch how the threads develop next season.

I'm a Boston fan( a Finnish) but a Kotka fan so I'm just going to stay in his thread and ignore the rivalry and focus on my thoughts on Kotka. I'll be watching him with Kakko in Liiga next season and giving the reports.

Dang, Kakko is another one to watch. Kid is special.

 

[ECWHSWI]

Evgeny Malkin did not play C for 100% of his shifts last year.

not 100% of his shifts ? seriously ?


you're the one replying in bad faith right now...

 

[TheBuriedHab]

Hopefully Kotka and Poehling become a damn good 1-2 punch. Have high hopes for both. No more hoping that Evans and Vejdemo somehow make the nhl, if they do cool but we have some studs now.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Those are best case scenarios. I've been watching over hyped habs prospects on HF for nearly a decade. Our development system is trash. Our scouting is trash. Barkov and Mikko Koivu? Lol. Let's worry about drafting a comparable to someone like Mikael backlund first before we make comparisons to hart and selke candidates.

Still laugh at how half the board just pencils in guys like tinordi and beaulieu in their future top 4 and makes claims like we have the best defensive core in the league.

Our best center pick in over a decade aka galchenyuk, gets turned into a 3rd line winger with drug problems because he's depressed.

Take a step back before you make these ridiculous comparisons. The proof is in the pudding of habs drafting & development. We suck at it. We suck at It very badly. The Finn and the American have A LONG WAY TO GO.

And I have every right to be a cynic at this stage.

I'm not the one who made those comparisons. I'm relaying what they've been saying about Kotkaniemi and Poehling.

And you can be cynic all you want. It's your prerogative.

 

[Runner77]

 

[Adam Michaels]

It was bound to happen:

 

[Adam Michaels]

I've watched this clip a few times. And I wonder how out of touch these two are to not know that Kotkaniemi was a strong possibility to be Habs' choice? If they selected Veleno there, I'd understand their reaction. But JK was legitimately a strong candidate to be their selection.

 

[The Great Weal]

Changed my avatar once again! Priceless

 

[Runner77]

It was bound to happen:

 

[The Great Weal]

Best part is that Ducharme/Bouchard will be his coach instead of Julien. Feels good man.

 

[drewjenks]

Discuss!

Jesperi Kotkaniemi at eliteprospects.com

I just want to get these out in the open so people can criticize me:

1. He played 64 games in La Liiga this year & he did not play a single game at Center.

2. His dad was the coach of his La Liiga team...is there any chance he was getting more minutes than he deserved? Or playing with better line-mates than he deserved? (inflated stats?)

3. These were his FINAL draft rankings. Final rankings were all released long after everyone stopped playing hockey. He was never considered a Top-5 pick by any scouting company.

16th = ISS HOCKEY
13th = FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
13th = MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
8th = HOCKEYPROSPECTS
6th = NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING - EU PROSPECTS (15th Overall)

4. All of this top-5 pick talk was started by the media within the last month. It didn't start until after there were rumours of Bergevin using the 3rd Overall pick on him. IMO - the media was enabling another Canadian GM to make another stupid decision - but they LOVE the interest it generates.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

Happy with the pick, there's every chance someone lower becomes a better player but hopefully we got the best C in this draft, we weren't the only teams moving up a couple of notches (or 10) to grab a C

 

[Adam Michaels]

Best part is that Ducharme/Bouchard will be his coach instead of Julien. Feels good man.

Or even better, he won't have to go from Lefebvre to Therrien.

 

[The Great Weal]

I just want to get these out in the open so people can criticize me:

1. He played 64 games in La Liiga this year & he did not play a single game at Center.
2. His dad was the coach of his La Liiga team...is there any chance he was getting more minutes than he deserved? Or playing with better line-mates than he deserved to play with? (ie - inflated stats?)

1.Already confirmed he will play center next year. 17 year olds rarely get the chance in a mens league.
2.His team was bad, you can conversely make the argument that he would have more points on a good team

 

[Gravity]

IMO Habs can't make the same mistake they did in 2013 when they drafted 3OV in 2012. Must suck next year and pick up another top flight C. No unnecessary bounce back years.

 

[ECWHSWI]

I'm not the one who made those comparisons. I'm relaying what they've been saying about Kotkaniemi and Poehling.

And you can be cynic all you want. It's your prerogative.

every single Habs prospect is overhyped, always been that way
chances of making the NHL and becoming a top 6F or top 4 D arent that great, even for 1st round picks
we can hope both Popo and Jester becomes Habs great 1-2 punch at C for years, but... what are the odds ?



chill out, you know...

 

[ImNeverWrong]

I'm not the one who made those comparisons. I'm relaying what they've been saying about Kotkaniemi and Poehling.

And you can be cynic all you want. It's your prerogative.

I question the people that make these comparisons. Our staff has shown zero ability to draft develop and keep players of that calibre.

 

[Adam Michaels]

every single Habs prospect is overhyped, always been that way
chances of making the NHL and becoming a top 6F or top 4 D arent that great, even for 1st round picks
we can hope both Popo and Jester becomes Habs great 1-2 punch at C for years, but... what are the odds ?



chill out, you know...

Huh?

 

[drewjenks]

People might be unhappy it wasn't Zadina but no one should be complaining, Kotkaniemi fills a need and he wasn't a reach since he was a projected top 5 pick.

Personally, I'm happy and excited about this pick.

Final Draft Rankings for Kotkaniemi:

16th = ISS HOCKEY
13th = FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
13th = MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
8th = HOCKEYPROSPECT.COM
6th = NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (EU Skaters Only)
5th = TSN/McKENZIE

He was no where near a top 5 pick until the media started pushing Bergy to draft him last week.

And all the prospects stopped playing hockey months ago....