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

[WeThreeKings]

Bizarre reaction to say the least...are they related to Zadina??

The Habs got their centre, it's a good pick by most...I think they should have still taken Zadina and traded to get another pick to then, draft Kotkeneimi....but that has moving parts to it, and MB just can't handle multi-tasking.

How were they going to trade for Arizona's 5? because they took Hayton at 5, they most definitely were taking Kotkaniemi at 5 if he ws there. Your scenario makes less sense than if you would have said take Kotkaniemi and traded to get another pick to then draft Zadina

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Sportsnet should be ridiculed for doing so. That was planned.

True but then again they look for fans of every team to get reactions I believe.

Bizarre reaction to say the least...are they related to Zadina??

The Habs got their centre, it's a good pick by most...I think they should have still taken Zadina and traded to get another pick to then, draft Kotkeneimi....but that has moving parts to it, and MB just can't handle multi-tasking.

No one was trading and given where Hayton went Kotkaniemi would have been gone there.

 

[BLONG7]

How were they going to trade for Arizona's 5? because they took Hayton at 5, they most definitely were taking Kotkaniemi at 5 if he ws there. Your scenario makes less sense than if you would have said take Kotkaniemi and traded to get another pick to then draft Zadina

Is that you Marc? lol

Outside the box thinking folks, ya gotta have it...our clown GM doesn't.

 

[1909]

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.

You mean Trevor Timmins.... He is the one who pushed the most to draft Kotkaniemi.

As for Zadina, when was the last and ONLY time did TT drafted someone from the Q since with the Habs ? Nathan Beaulieu in 2011.

 

[Lshap]

I've been practicing saying "Kotkaniemi" all night. Think I've got it down, although whispering someone's name has raised questions with my wife.

 

[Korkki]

The two worst things of the legendary Canadiens drafting Jepu are

1. They probably want him to 19-20 season which was hoped here to be the next success season. Most contracts end after that season and some hometown boys may be back in Ässät uniform, because their contracts with other teams end after this season. I hope the high school diploma is enough to keep him here for two seasons, because as a smart kid he might want to graduate.

2. The comparisons to Saku because they are both Finnish centers. Saku and Jepu are totally different type of persons. Jepu is not a natural leader like Saku (or Mikko) are.

But overall, great choice and opportunity. He speaks fluent english and I am sure he will learn also french quite easily.

 

[417]

With all the fuss around hiring Joel Bouchard a few weeks ago...

Doesn't it make sense to entrust him with the development of our #1 prospect in Laval next year?

 

[NotProkofievian]

I've been practicing saying "Kotkaniemi" all night. Think I've got it down, although whispering someone's name has raised questions with my wife.

Good. Now you're ready for Ylönen. Lol.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Is that you Marc? lol

Outside the box thinking folks, ya gotta have it...our clown GM doesn't.

I absolutely hate Marc. I lead the haters brigade. What you are saying was not possible.

 

[JuicyHam]

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

You just know they're going to use that every time the habs play a nationally televised game.

"None of the habs fans believed in him! They thought he was the wrong pick. Just look at this footage. Well he's proving them all wrong now!" Someone like Garry Galley or Elliot Friedman would say this.

 

[vokiel]

The two worst things of the legendary Canadiens drafting Jepu are

1. They probably want him to 19-20 season which was hoped here to be the next success season. Most contracts end after that season and some hometown boys may be back in Ässät uniform, because their contracts with other teams end after this season. I hope the high school diploma is enough to keep him here for two seasons, because as a smart kid he might want to graduate.

2. The comparisons to Saku because they are both Finnish centers. Saku and Jepu are totally different type of persons. Jepu is not a natural leader like Saku (or Mikko) are.

But overall, great choice and opportunity. He speaks fluent english and I am sure he will learn also french quite easily.

Leadership is not a quality anybody is born with, it develops over time and when you step in a line up as a top 6 center in the NHL it is expected to get developed quite faster than normal.

 

[Shabutie]

Is that you Marc? lol

Outside the box thinking folks, ya gotta have it...our clown GM doesn't.

Yup because top 5 picks are given up super easily. Reminder: Kessel, Karlsson and Panarin are on the market. None of them fetched a top 5 or 10 pick yesterday. What do the habs have that would've returned that pick apart from the 3rd OA?

Mock Bergevin all you want for the deals he's made, but don't mock him because he doesn't live in your EA SPORTS NHL 2018 world.

 

[jordy]

So what's kokkas ceiling? Hopefully this doesn't come back to bite us in the butt. I have a strong opinion that both tkachuk and zdina are superior. I've watched zdina in the q and world juniors and the kids an absolute stud and will step into Detroit's lineup and make an impact.

It seems like everyone is picking up for Marc's blunder by saying that other teams reached for centres. In my opinion just because the pathetic Arizona coyotes reached and took a center doesn't justify this blunder. Let's revisit this in three years. I'll bookmark it and will be quick to point out I was right.

 

[Lshap]

Good. Now you're ready for Ylönen. Lol.

Yeah... that'll go over well. Next word I'll be practicing will be "Motel".

 

[1909]

The two worst things of the legendary Canadiens drafting Jepu are

1. They probably want him to 19-20 season which was hoped here to be the next success season. Most contracts end after that season and some hometown boys may be back in Ässät uniform, because their contracts with other teams end after this season. I hope the high school diploma is enough to keep him here for two seasons, because as a smart kid he might want to graduate.

2. The comparisons to Saku because they are both Finnish centers. Saku and Jepu are totally different type of persons. Jepu is not a natural leader like Saku (or Mikko) are.

But overall, great choice and opportunity. He speaks fluent english and I am sure he will learn also french quite easily.

Don't make me laugh.... We have to go back to the 1980's to find a player who really learned the language and used it. Subban was about to become our new Gary Carter with his dozen words of French to reach the fans. You know darn well that French is not necessary to live in Montreal.

 

[DAChampion]

I'm hoping that they take their time with him.

Give him one year in Finland, and one year in the AHL.

Bergevin will be tempted to rush him like they did Galchenyuk, De La Rose, and Mete.

Keeping him off the roster will also facilitate better drafting in the next two years.

 

[BB88]

Just because Gal failed to develop into fulltime C doesn't mean all other C's will fail at that.
He& Jesperi are in a very differerent situations.

The two worst things of the legendary Canadiens drafting Jepu are

1. They probably want him to 19-20 season which was hoped here to be the next success season. Most contracts end after that season and some hometown boys may be back in Ässät uniform, because their contracts with other teams end after this season. I hope the high school diploma is enough to keep him here for two seasons, because as a smart kid he might want to graduate.

2. The comparisons to Saku because they are both Finnish centers. Saku and Jepu are totally different type of persons. Jepu is not a natural leader like Saku (or Mikko) are.

But overall, great choice and opportunity. He speaks fluent english and I am sure he will learn also french quite easily.

Kotka should be "too good" for Liiga after next season and go to NA to face tougher competition, that should be the hope for Montreal.
If Kotka wants to develop into #1C he has to think what's best for his development, everything else comes after that.

 

[1909]

MB needed to trade Galchenyuk for Arizona 1st round pick. Not Domi.

Habs would have Zadina and Kotkaniemi now.....

 

[BB88]

So what's kokkas ceiling? Hopefully this doesn't come back to bite us in the butt. I have a strong opinion that both tkachuk and zdina are superior. I've watched zdina in the q and world juniors and the kids an absolute stud and will step into Detroit's lineup and make an impact.

It seems like everyone is picking up for Marc's blunder by saying that other teams reached for centres. In my opinion just because the pathetic Arizona coyotes reached and took a center doesn't justify this blunder. Let's revisit this in three years. I'll bookmark it and will be quick to point out I was right.

2way 6'2 200lbs #1C.

Those 2 "fans" freaking out are terrible and should be ridiculed to no end.

Kotka was the clear betting favourite to go 3rd overall.

Good amount of NA fans seem to love to ignore European leagues.

 

[Shabutie]

MB needed to trade Galchenyuk for Arizona 1st round pick. Not Domi.

Habs would have Zadina and Kotkaniemi now.....

How do we know that wasn't proposed and promptly rejected?

 

[WG]

Is that you Marc? lol

Outside the box thinking folks, ya gotta have it...our clown GM doesn't.

It's been, well, a really long time since I gave Bergevin credit for anything but the Habs got it right last night. I was also somewhat concerned that Montreal was reaching for JK because of positional need and that it made sense to trade back to pick him closer to where he should have gone to collect an extra pick. Arizona taking Hayton clearly meant they were going to take JK, so the only possible choices were

1) convince Ottawa that either Montreal or Zona was dead set on Tkachuk and you trade 3 for 4 plus (and the plus wouldn't have been that much) so Ottawa could ensure getting BT;
2) trade back to 5 with Arizona and we'd be here today with Zadina and let's say an extra 2nd pick.

I'd like option 2 since I wanted Zadina to begin with, but the Habs wanted JK so they did the smart thing.

 

[ClasslessGuy]

Already scared of MB, one reporter aksed him if it was in the plan to start him on the wing in camp or when he’s ready in a year or 2, he said it’s not out of the question and a lot of centers have to play wing when they reach the nhl

 

[NotProkofievian]

I'm hoping that they take their time with him.

Give him one tear in Finland, and one year in the AHL.

Bergevin will be tempted to rush him like they did Galchenyuk, De La Rose, and Mete.

I'm so pumped to see what happens this year in Liiga. We may have finally caught lightning in a bottle with our pick. His production stacks up well historically against some very good NHL players. But there's both reason to believe that he's better even than what he indicated this year, and that he's about to make a huge stride in development.

 

[WG]

Don't make me laugh.... We have to go back to the 1980's to find a player who really learned the language and used it. Subban was about to become our new Gary Carter with his dozen words of French to reach the fans. You know darn well that French is not necessary to live in Montreal.

I thought PK gave about half of his speech in French the day of the Sick Kids Hospital announcement. And Koivu spoke French and used it in private (say on visits to hospitals) just not in public.

 

[417]

Should be fun hearing Pierre McGuire rip the Habs for passing on Tkachuk and letting the Ottawa Senators take him instead.