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

[TT1]

Btw was there no interview of Kotka/MB? SN/NHL didn't interview either of them and i don't see anything on RDS and TVA.

edit: found it

https://www.rds.ca/videos/hockey/re...abricant-de-jeux-jesperi-kotkaniemi-3.1280972

 

[Riddum]

Meh. Increases our dream scenario of drafting Hughes next year.

And Alexis 2 years from now

 

[Weber Fan]

Pumped to see him at the World Juniors

Finland will be fun to watch with Ikonen and Kotkaniemi!

 

[Deluded Puck]

I’ve already mentally prepared myself for 2024, when after years of dicking him around and favouring Danault and Drouin, Kotkaniemi is traded for a middle six character guy/Pure Laine.

 

[HabsQC]

In the other thread I said :

Can't wait to see what happens today.

My prediction :
We trade Pacioretty for something BUF needs and flip it for ROR.
We draft Zadina and somehow Veleno.
In the 2nd round we draft Benoit-Olivier Groulx.

I called it for Detroit

 

[Kaako Kappo]

These moron fans are gonna give the media great shots for weeks, thanks a lot idiots

Special thanks to the cameramen who kept going back to them, ruining this kids draft footage for him.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Sigh and Eller

ah yeah Eller the third liner that got 8 more points this season and the same amount 2 years ago than l he did with the habs with a better off team , god i miss him so much..........................

what a player he was , a third liner.

 

[Et le But]

The more I research him the more I like him. Probably would have preferred Zadina, but he's not a slam dunk himself.

Kotkaniemi isn't exactly franchise changing talent,but if management is sincere about a rebuild he's a good block. Like his skillset a lot, not a slam dunk first liner, but Mikko Koivu type upside isn't a bad thing.

 

[Esko6]

Would you be disappointed if he turned into a Mikko Koivu?

 

[Licentia]

Any chance he makes the team next year?

Let's hope they don't rush him. Let's develop him properly so he stays around for a long, long time.

 

[snakeye]

Lol thx but typical ads with content that doesn't play for nhl.com. Should delete

 

[Death]

What is happening with Saku Koivu nowadays? Maybe we should hire him as a personal coach for Jesperi?!

Here's his "staff profile", he's actually owner and director of player development for TPS.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Here's his "staff profile", he's actually owner and director of player development for TPS.

So....Kakko to Habs next year?

 

[Bearr]

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.

Yeah they played him with Ronaldo and Messi to win the La Liiga title.

 

[Redux91]

Would you be disappointed if he turned into a Mikko Koivu?

Even the "great" mikko koivu couldnt reach Jesperi's 17 yr old point output in the Liiga until he was 20 himself
and i remember the bigtime hype around teuvo terraveinen and how great a feat it was for someone so young playing against the men and producing..at the same clip as Kotka

The kid might have a hell of a year next year..

I think he'll be better than Mikko Koivu ever was just because of the shot

 

[Bearr]

Would you be disappointed if he turned into a Mikko Koivu?

Million times better dangles and offensive instincts.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

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.

1. True, but it's not unusual to introduce a C prospect to a new league by playing him on the wing. Plus the team he was on had plenty of C depth.

2. His dad wasn't the coach all season long, and when he did take over, Jesperi's playtime did not change. He had 15:35 avg TOI.

3. None of those rankings are based on what actual NHL teams think.

4. If you think that a hockey team makes their draft picks based on what the media says, then...well...i feel like i've wasted my time responding to you. Media talked about him going top 5 because Habs (and like 9 other teams) had him in their top 5. If Montreal did not pick him, Arizona would've.

From his interviews Kotkaniemi seems like a really happy, smart and motivated kid. Love his personality. Very confident, but not cocky.

If at least 10 NHL teams had this kid in their top 5, then he's probably not a very big reach.

 

[HuGort]

He is long term help. Sounds like first step in either a rebuilding program or some type of major re-tooling. Can't see the Habs having a good season next year. So many bad years of drafting and bad trades. With 8 frist round picks from '06 to '13, only got 2 players out of it. Ouch! I know McCarron may make it yet, Beaulieu did return a 3rd, and Gal feetched Domi. Still not good. Hard to stay competitive that way

Plus free agents generally don't want to sign here. Given the media, high taxes and now, a bad team. Most often they want to win now

 

[ursus maritimus]

I think "eaglecape" was good purchase

 

[ECWHSWI]

1. True, but it's not unusual to introduce a C prospect to a new league by playing him on the wing. Plus the team he was on had plenty of C depth.

while it may be true, it also means this past season he didnt learn much about the C position.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

while it may be true, it also means this past season he didnt learn much about the C position.

True. It's still his natural position, which he has been playing for most of his life. Next season will be very interesting, wherever he spends it.

 

[Trilliann]

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?)

His dad was the coach for the last 17 reg. season games.
It's not a junior league or a development league, it's a professional men's league, the team is a business, the coach is expected to get results or he's gonna end up like the guy he replaced, fired. If anything, it means that Jesperi needs to figth a bit harder for ice time, just so no one can say it's favouritism.

 

[dcyhabs]

I doubt most teams draft based on the media but I think MB watches sports shows like Trump watches Fox News. He watches some talking head get all worked up so people will watch and then goes with it while the smart teams totally ignore it. Kotkaniemi was up the list for the talking heads and further down for the less visible analysts. Same with Fucale.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Sportsnet really pissed me off with that too. You can't tell me they weren't prepared for that.

 

[Natey]

We're going to blame eakins/Edmonton forever because yak is a lousy player?

Maybe it was Yak. But Edmonton has ruined so many players...