Prospect Info: 129th Overall, Dman Topias Vilen

[Captain3rdLine]

 

[Devs3cups]

Him eventually becoming a regular would be huge. He reminds me a bit of Marino. Let’s hope he keeps on developing nicely.

 

[Guadana]

 

[Hisch13r]

Vilen and Grisyuk both hitting would be 2 129's hitting 2 years apart.

 

[Devils090]

Our blue line is loaded with prospects, tell Mike Grier to pick whoever he wants minus Luke and Nemec

 

[Clam Jensen]

Our blue line is loaded with prospects, tell Mike Grier to pick whoever he wants minus Luke and Nemec

It’s an absolute embarrassment of riches. I’ll never forgot how hyped we all were on Urbom/Gelinas/Merrill/Burlon…I mean, I thought Kirill Tulupov was the next Volchenkov. What a time to be alive.

 

[Billdo]

It’s an absolute embarrassment of riches. I’ll never forgot how hyped we all were on Urbom/Gelinas/Merrill/Burlon…I mean, I thought Kirill Tulupov was the next Volchenkov. What a time to be alive.

The problem is until Hughes and Nemec turn into what we all THINK they will, and most likely will be, the others could very well turn out to be Urbom, Gelinas, etc 2.0. I'm confident in guys like Casey and Vilen but it's really a crap shoot tbh. Full faith in Hughes and Nemec though although I'm not in a rush for either.

 

[Clam Jensen]

The problem is until Hughes and Nemec turn into what we all THINK they will, and most likely will be, the others could very well turn out to be Urbom, Gelinas, etc 2.0. I'm confident in guys like Casey and Vilen but it's really a crap shoot tbh. Full faith in Hughes and Nemec though although I'm not in a rush for either.

100%, I just feel that Casey & Muk are much better prospects than the old guard, maybe aside from Merrill.

 

[Billdo]

100%, I just feel that Casey & Muk are much better prospects than the old guard, maybe aside from Merrill.

I don't disagree, we just had that same sentiment back then. Even with Santini lol.

 

[DVision44]

I don't disagree, we just had that same sentiment back then. Even with Santini lol.

The next Scott Stevens?

 

[Devils090]

100%, I just feel that Casey & Muk are much better prospects than the old guard, maybe aside from Merrill.

I don’t want to lose Casey tbh, Muk can be traded whenever idc

 

[Blackjack]

100%, I just feel that Casey & Muk are much better prospects than the old guard, maybe aside from Merrill.

I don't disagree, we just had that same sentiment back then. Even with Santini lol.

I went back and looked at the stats from that hyped set of defensive prospects we had and honestly, aside from Larsen, none of them were doing anything nearly as impressive as Luke, Nemec, Muk, Casey, and Vilen in their D+1/D+2 seasons.

Urbom was like a half point per game in the CHL and 1/3 ppg in the AHL in his D+2. Gelinas was a little over a half ppg in his draft year, then the same in his D+1 and d+2, he eventually did score a half ppg in the AHL but not until his D+3. Santini didn’t score much at any level until his D+3 in NCAA. Same for Merrill but D+2.

I remember being impressed with Urbom and Gelinas and thinking they’d be good, but I don’t think they were anywhere near as good our top guys now in their early post draft seasons.

 

[Oneiro]

Urbom was such a grenade handler. We drafted quite a few of those - Jacobs, Scarlett, White, etc. Always deferring and playing scared. I think that was part of Santini's downfall as well.

 

[Billdo]

I went back and looked at the stats from that hyped set of defensive prospects we had and honestly, aside from Larsen, none of them were doing anything nearly as impressive as Luke, Nemec, Muk, Casey, and Vilen in their D+1/D+2 seasons.

Urbom was like a half point per game in the CHL and 1/3 ppg in the AHL in his D+2. Gelinas was a little over a half ppg in his draft year, then the same in his D+1 and d+2, he eventually did score a half ppg in the AHL but not until his D+3. Santini didn’t score much at any level until his D+3 in NCAA. Same for Merrill but D+2.

I remember being impressed with Urbom and Gelinas and thinking they’d be good, but I don’t think they were anywhere near as good our top guys now in their early post draft seasons.

None of those guys were supposed to be the offensive defenseman Hughes, Casey, and Nemec are supposed to be either though so stat watching doesn't quite work with the comparison but I get it.

 

[Lou is God]

Wheeler on Vilen:

12. Topias Vilen, LHD, 19 (Pelicans)​

Vilén’s mature defensive presence and heads-up simplicity pushed him up levels quickly. This season, that has included leading Finland in ice-time at the world juniors and playing 20 minutes a night for the Pelicans in Liiga play (with strong underlying results to boot). His strengths are certainly defensive (defending the rush, breaking up plays, boxing out) but he’ll try to activate when he can. And while his offensive game is a little limited, he’s capable of making the available play, he’s got a good first pass, and he gets his shots through (a lot of his assists come from rebounds off of his shots through traffic) with a low, hard half windup slapper that he uses and a wrister that whips off of his long stick. While he’s got good posture through his skating mechanics, which helps him generate power once he gets going and defend the rush effectively when he’s got time to gap up, he lacks acceleration from a standstill. I’d qualify him as a low-ceiling guy even with his advanced experience to this point, but there are a lot of folks in Finland who believe he’s going to become a solid bottom-pairing depth defenseman.

My comment - I would have easily had him in our Top 10, maybe as high as #7

 

[My3Sons]

Wheeler on Vilen:

12. Topias Vilen, LHD, 19 (Pelicans)​

Vilén’s mature defensive presence and heads-up simplicity pushed him up levels quickly. This season, that has included leading Finland in ice-time at the world juniors and playing 20 minutes a night for the Pelicans in Liiga play (with strong underlying results to boot). His strengths are certainly defensive (defending the rush, breaking up plays, boxing out) but he’ll try to activate when he can. And while his offensive game is a little limited, he’s capable of making the available play, he’s got a good first pass, and he gets his shots through (a lot of his assists come from rebounds off of his shots through traffic) with a low, hard half windup slapper that he uses and a wrister that whips off of his long stick. While he’s got good posture through his skating mechanics, which helps him generate power once he gets going and defend the rush effectively when he’s got time to gap up, he lacks acceleration from a standstill. I’d qualify him as a low-ceiling guy even with his advanced experience to this point, but there are a lot of folks in Finland who believe he’s going to become a solid bottom-pairing depth defenseman.

My comment - I would have easily had him in our Top 10, maybe as high as #7

He looked good at the WJC and his pace wasn't an issue in any situation that I watched.

 

[Blackjack]

He looked good at the WJC and his pace wasn't an issue in any situation that I watched.

This is the write-up that made the least sense to me. No guarantees obviously, but he’s playing well and the low ceiling comments are kind of baseless.

 

[Devils731]

This is the write-up that made the least sense to me. No guarantees obviously, but he’s playing well and the low ceiling comments are kind of baseless.

I think the low ceiling comments coming from his lack of offense for last season and recently this season.

So if Wheeler say him a couple of games last year, WJC, and recently this year then he probably hasn’t seen a guy that can bring offense at the NHL level and that limits his upside. He’s pointless in at least his last 10 games.

Now defenders can develop offense as their experience grows so his story isn’t written but I can see how someone could see him as low ceiling.

 

[My3Sons]

This is the write-up that made the least sense to me. No guarantees obviously, but he’s playing well and the low ceiling comments are kind of baseless.

Look I realize I’m a moron but you don’t have to go so far as to say I make the least sense. That’s unnecessarily harsh. I’d argue that at times I make the USDA minimum amount of sense.

 

[Blackjack]

Look I realize I’m a moron but you don’t have to go so far as to say I make the least sense. That’s unnecessarily harsh. I’d argue that at times I make the USDA minimum amount of sense.

Just think of me as Abe Simpson shaking his fist at a cloud.

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

Vilen just scored his 9th of the season

Literally the commentator said that Topias has a contract with NJD and maybe someone in New Jersey will be going through the video

 

[Guadana]

U20 Defensemen in the last 13 years in Liiga. And Vilen is good defensively with good skating.

Didn`t think about how young Vatanen was. I loved his game, so sad injuries ruined his career.

 

[FinnishDevil]

Literallt the commentator said that Topias has a contract with NJD and maybe someone in New Jersey will be going through the video

 

[glenwo2]

Vilen just scored his 9th of the season

Literally the commentator said that Topias has a contract with NJD and maybe someone in New Jersey will be going through the video

Here's a better video.

BTW, what was that "look" Vilen and the other guy did there at the end?

 

[FinnishDevil]

Vilen and Pelicans play in game 7 of the quarterfinals tomorrow. In case they get eliminated, I wonder if the plan is for him to join Utica.

Wouldnt be surprised if he got a national team camp invite either. 0% chance to make the team though.