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

[Kriss E]

True, completely miss managed.

This doesn’t mean though that all centreman we draft moving forward will have the same fate as galchenyuk.

You hear Timmins raving on Kotka and his true abilities as a centre, there’s no doubt this is where he will play. If I remember correctly, Kotka played centre at the end of the year for his pro team.

He and Poehling give us hope down the middle.

Also loving this Hillis kid...maybe our Brayden Point??

Yes, we will see how Kotka develops. As for other picks, meh, way too far away to say much of anything about them. Remember 2012? Man, Habs walked away as the clear winner of the draft.
Outside of Galch, wow, Collberg, Bozon, Vail, Hudon, Thrower...every prospect except for Nystrom was propped up here.

Not sure if it's like this for all the other fanbases...probably..but man do the Habs fans love to prop the hell out of almost every pick.
Maybe Hillis will indeed be our Point...or maybe another Gallagher...or maybe he never touches a NHL surface. We will find out in a few years.

As for Kotka-Poe...I still think those guys are too far away to give me hope. I mean, better to have some potential top 2 centers than not, but I'm gonna wait to see Kotka actually play a full year at center and observe Poe next season. Even then, we should try to add more young center prospects.

 

[MaxDummy]

we should try our new #3 mostly at LW for the next 6 or 7 seasons and see how he develop as a C...

Best way To devlop Kotkaniemi would be To resign Desharnais and Plekanec, lock them at #1-2C and put Kotkaniemi on their Wings. Like that he Will be able To learn and witness greatness.

 

[The Great Weal]

Why is it annoying? He was a winger last year. If he switches to center this season then he'll be one.
He was definitely drafted to be a center, but so was Galchenyuk.

Because he has done nothing to show that he isn't one

 

[Kriss E]

Because he has done nothing to show that he isn't one

He's played wing last season. Let's wait and see how he does next year before talking in definitives?..That goes for both sides.

 

[The Great Weal]

He's played wing last season. Let's wait and see how he does next year before talking in definitives?..That goes for both sides.

He's played center his entire career except playing against men at 17. It's confirmed he's going to be at center next year.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

Contextualizing Kotkaniemi: How does his draft year stack up against other top Finnish prospects?

Nice find Kawa, this is exactly why I switched my stance prior to the draft and went with JK as my favourite for our pick.

The data was just too strong to ignore that he’s got the potential to be one of the premier young centres, and its a lot more valuable than a goal scoring winger. I think we can all agree we’d rather a Saku Koivu than a Max Pacioretty.

 

[WeThreeKings]

We would take it with a big grain of salt.

Zadina is good maybe amazing but generational?

Zadina is even more generational than Svechnikov even though I have Svechnikov higher on my list. Both behind Jack McBain tjo

 

[Price4Prez]

The term generational gets thrown around way too loosely these days.

The only generational talents playing at the moment are Crosby,McDavid, and Ovechkin.

The Laines, Matthews, Giroux, Stamkos ,Karlsson and co are amazing players. But they arent unmatched in terms of talent, skill and production,etc..

Jagr, Messier, Gretzky, Lemieux,Lidstrom were generational.

Hasek,Roy, Brodeur were generational.

Beliveau,Richard,Lafleur, Bossy, Howe, Orr were generational.

So before we throw around the generational tag on some kid that hasnt even played an NHL game,let alone drafted in the Top 5,lets wait and see.

At first glance, you cant just throw names into the groups of players mentioned above.

 

[MTL-rules]

The term generational gets thrown around way too loosely these days.

The only generational talents playing at the moment are Crosby,McDavid, and Ovechkin.

The Laines, Matthews, Giroux, Stamkos ,Karlsson and co are amazing players. But they arent unmatched in terms of talent, skill and production,etc..

Jagr, Messier, Gretzky, Lemieux,Lidstrom were generational.

Hasek,Roy, Brodeur were generational.

Beliveau,Richard,Lafleur, Bossy, Howe, Orr were generational.

So before we throw around the generational tag on some kid that hasnt even played an NHL game,let alone drafted in the Top 5,lets wait and see.

At first glance, you cant just throw names into the groups of players mentioned above.

If you put Ovechkin in there, might as well add Malkin.

 

[nhlfan9191]

the kid is not in a league or on a team affiliated to the Habs in any way, if it fits them better that he plays wing, he'll go back to LW/RW, wether Habs like it or not...

I’m sure he’ll stay center there. There should be some sort of a discussion between us and his Ligga team to get an idea of how he’ll be utilized. If there’s a sense that he could be moved on the wings, we should be trying to get him to play in the CHL.

 

[Ozmodiar]

As for Kotka-Poe...I still think those guys are too far away to give me hope. I mean, better to have some potential top 2 centers than not, but I'm gonna wait to see Kotka actually play a full year at center and observe Poe next season. Even then, we should try to add more young center prospects.

Bergevin better account for the possibility that Kotka and Poehling might not end up being the one-two punch he's hoping for in the top 6. They could end up in the 2 and 3 slots, or one of them could become a winger ( it's happened before ).

They need to grab another center prospect either via trade or the 2019 draft.

 

[Saxon]

Does Kotkaniemi remind anybody of Toews. Going just by the highlights he seems like the same type of player. Wide skating style, low to the ground, goes down on one knee a lot, cuts to the net the same way.

This is exactly who I compare him to as well.

 

[waffledave]

Bergevin better account for the possibility that Kotka and Poehling might not end up being the one-two punch he's hoping for in the top 6. They could end up in the 2 and 3 slots, or one of them could become a winger ( it's happened before ).

They need to grab another center prospect either via trade or the 2019 draft.

Agreed. They need a more blue chip prospect to fill the #1 center hole. None of these guys are close to a sure thing, let alone a safe bet to develop into #1 guys. But, I am confident between the two that we'll end up with a better #2 center than f***ing Danault at least.

 

[Redux91]

He's played wing last season. Let's wait and see how he does next year before talking in definitives?..That goes for both sides.

Holy i get what youre doing, everyone gets what you are doing..

but the kid is a Center, and its definitive

He didnt play wing last year in Liiga because he is not a center, he played wing because he's a 17 yr old rookie and they have established centers already, and his FATHER wasnt about to just hand him the number 1 Center role on a PROfessional hockey team, he would lose the room for christ sakes
So the year went along and he paid his dues, and NOW the kid is a first round NHL draft pick, a 3rd overall at that, much easier to slide into a top 6 center role next year for that coach

 

[De Montreal]

To the press he just told he hope to meet Saku. Wonder if the management will organize a meeting of some sort for the two.

 

[habsfan909]

Best way To devlop Kotkaniemi would be To resign Desharnais and Plekanec, lock them at #1-2C and put Kotkaniemi on their Wings. Like that he Will be able To learn and witness greatness.

You mean resign Desharnais and Pleks for 1C and 2C and then put Kotkaniemi on the 4th line wing

 

[le_sean]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Kotkaniemi scores 90 points next season...in the WJC.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Yes, we will see how Kotka develops. As for other picks, meh, way too far away to say much of anything about them. Remember 2012? Man, Habs walked away as the clear winner of the draft.
Outside of Galch, wow, Collberg, Bozon, Vail, Hudon, Thrower...every prospect except for Nystrom was propped up here.

Not sure if it's like this for all the other fanbases...probably..but man do the Habs fans love to prop the hell out of almost every pick.
Maybe Hillis will indeed be our Point...or maybe another Gallagher...or maybe he never touches a NHL surface. We will find out in a few years.

As for Kotka-Poe...I still think those guys are too far away to give me hope. I mean, better to have some potential top 2 centers than not, but I'm gonna wait to see Kotka actually play a full year at center and observe Poe next season. Even then, we should try to add more young center prospects.

I don't know people keep using this example but aren't we still at least ONE of the winners of that draft? Galchenyuk still one of the best players there and Hudon had a promising rookie year. For a weak draft that's still a good haul imo.

Obviously not all of these kids we picked are gonna make it but it's nice to see guys with REAL upside picked. We picked so many of them that the chances a few will stick are a lot better than in previous years.

 

[MaxDummy]

Will he become a Kopitar or a Eller ? Stay tuned!

Love the kid

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

This is exactly who I compare him to as well.

Toews was MILES more explosive

 

[Andrei79]

To the press he just told he hope to meet Saku. Wonder if the management will organize a meeting of some sort for the two.

I wonder when they'll bring Saku back into the organization.

Bring some class and pride back

 

[ECWHSWI]

Holy i get what youre doing, everyone gets what you are doing..

but the kid is a Center, and its definitive

He didnt play wing last year in Liiga because he is not a center, he played wing because he's a 17 yr old rookie and they have established centers already, and his FATHER wasnt about to just hand him the number 1 Center role on a PROfessional hockey team, he would lose the room for christ sakes
So the year went along and he paid his dues, and NOW the kid is a first round NHL draft pick, a 3rd overall at that, much easier to slide into a top 6 center role next year for that coach

sure it is definitive, the guy whill have a career at C, even if he's better at LW/RW, it's set in stone.

so what ? changes absolutely nothing to this european-non nhl affiliated- professionnal team...

 

[didimentionlarseller]

without Kreider Price was on his way to being generational le sigh

 

[Cobra Commander]

Bergevin better account for the possibility that Kotka and Poehling might not end up being the one-two punch he's hoping for in the top 6. They could end up in the 2 and 3 slots, or one of them could become a winger ( it's happened before ).

They need to grab another center prospect either via trade or the 2019 draft.

Next season we need to draft a center in the 1st round again. I would draft another center in the 2nd round as well.

 

[Cobra Commander]

without Kreider Price was on his way to being generational le sigh

No question Kreider did major damage to Price's career.