2017 draft talk (Finnish prospects)

edd1e

Registered User
Sep 11, 2004
2,206
68
Helsinki, Finland
Seems to be a good year for Finnish d-men.

My top 5 is something like this:

1. Eeli Tolvanen
2. Miro Heiskanen
3. Kristian Vesalainen
4. Juuso Välimäki
5. Urho Vaakanainen

How many Finnish players you see drafted?

What is your top5, top10?

How many first rounders?
 

kelsier

Registered User
Aug 17, 2013
4,280
1,741
Next draft seems exciting for Finland. Some of these kids will explode normally after the first half of hockey has passed so the list will vary throughout the season. Right now it would look like:

Tolvanen
Vesalainen
Heiskanen
Välimäki
Vaakanainen

It's not easy to predict the exact order they will be drafted but each one of them seem like having a blue chip over the shoulder. Having at least five Finns drafted in the first round would be fantastic. Adding the core from 2017 draft to what we already have going from this generation (Barkov, Laine, Puljujärvi, Ristolainen, Aho, Juolevi and Rantanen etc) is absolutely awesome.
 

Opak

Registered User
Nov 28, 2014
6,543
1,684
I'm very excited about next year's draft, as there could end up being as many as five or six Finnish-born first rounders. Some draft-eligibles in no particular order:

Eeli Tolvanen
Kristian Vesalainen
Juuso Välimäki
Miro Heiskanen
Robin Salo
Henri Jokiharju
Urho Vaakanainen
Eemeli Räsänen
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Aleksi Heponiemi
Linus Nyman
Kasper Kotkansalo
Sami Moilanen
Julius Mattila
 

JJTT

Registered User
Jan 18, 2013
7,711
1,251
Oulu
Didn't really think much of him last season either but Emil Oksanen has completely fallen off. 1+1 in 9 games in Mestis. USHL/College route would've been perfect for him, pretty dumb decision to stay in Finland.
 

ChicagoBullsFan

Registered User
Jun 6, 2015
6,078
1,909
Finland
Here's my TOP5 right now

1 Eeli Tolvanen
2 Kristian Vesalainen
3 Miro Heiskanen
4 Juuso Välimäki
5 Urho Vaakanainen
Those are sure first rounders

Also these guys might go 1st round
Robin Salo
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Henri Jokiharju ( depends his regular season in WHL and U18 WJC's in Slovakia)
 
Last edited:

Stoat

Registered User
Jan 5, 2014
145
136
Oulu
Here's my TOP5 right now

1 Eeli Tolvanen
2 Kristian Vesalainen
3 Miro Heiskanen
4 Juuso Välimäki
5 Urho Vaakanainen
Those are sure first rounders

Also these guys might go 1st round
Robin Salo
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Henri Jokiharju ( depends his regular season in WHL and U18 WJC's in Slovakia)

There's no such thing as a "sure first rounder". I believe that Tolvanen and Vesalainen are top10 at the moment, but rest of the guys can spread in a way no-one can predict. Best case scenario is 5 1st rounders for Finland. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with 3.

- Stoat
 

Phenomenon

Registered User
Jun 10, 2006
1,362
140
The examples of Barkov, Laine, Puljujärvi, Aho and Donskoi have shown the NHL teams that Finnish League is a good environment for young players to develop when they have a chance to play there before draft age. Therefore I believe that not only Vesalainen and Heiskanen, but also Salo and Vaakanainen can climb up in the rankings towards next summer, if they continue in a big role and are selected to U20 team.
 

JJTT

Registered User
Jan 18, 2013
7,711
1,251
Oulu
99 borns Jesse Koskenkorva and Juho Korhonen making their debuts for Kärpät today.
 

JJTT

Registered User
Jan 18, 2013
7,711
1,251
Oulu
How did that pan out?

Koskenkorva has played 4 games and looked solid in those. Has already scored twice and is a +4. Really smart player who constantly makes right decisions on the ice, owns a sharp wrist shot and is good defensively for his age. Not the most creative player but he can pass the puck pretty well. Could be a mid round draft pick if he sticks with the team for the rest of the season. Missed the last two games with illness.

Korhonen didn't get any icetime in the game he dressed. I like his skillset but he is too small for an NHL prospect(Under 175cm).
 

Tormentor

Registered User
Dec 27, 2007
2,056
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Too Far
Korhonen didn't get any icetime in the game he dressed. I like his skillset but he is too small for an NHL prospect(Under 175cm).

He isn't any smaller than what Sami Vatanen or Vili Saarijärvi were during their draft year, so I'd say that the bigger shortcoming in Korhonen's game is his mediocre skating.
 

Asiantuntija

C.Ronaldo > L.Messi
Nov 4, 2016
2,211
376
I think Vesalainen will drop out of 1st round. As i watch him play, i don't see nothing more than maybe 4th liner to some trash NHL team.
 

Quethas

Registered User
Jan 19, 2010
279
52
Tampere
I think Vesalainen will drop out of 1st round. As i watch him play, i don't see nothing more than maybe 4th liner to some trash NHL team.
I see him becoming solid third liner. Actually I think he could be one of the safest bets on late first or early second round on that aspect. He might not become elite player in offensive zone but he seems to have more than enough quality to become good all-round winger with decent (yet not excellent) skills, good size, good wheels, great work ethic and above average defensive awareness.

While he has not been able to produce points as much as we all have hoped and his stock has dropped, it seems that people are starting to understate the kid. He is not that awful and he is still really promising prospect.
 

Tormentor

Registered User
Dec 27, 2007
2,056
45
Too Far
In some cases scouts might only tell him 90% of the truth, but Bob McKenzie's list is still the only ranking that gives us a some sort of idea how real NHL scouts view these players midway through the season:

9. Eeli Tolvanen
13. Miro Heiskanen
16. Juuso Välimäki
19. Kristian Vesalainen
24. Urho Vaakanainen
32. Henri Jokiharju
34. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
64. Eemeli Räsänen
70. Aleksi Heponiemi
74. Joni Ikonen

It's a bit surprising how high Räsänen is on that list, especially when guys like Robin Salo and Kasper Kotkansalo didn't even make the cut. It seems that having a 6'6'' tall frame and some physicality is still a highly valued combination in modern NHL, even if the prospect in question clearly needs to improve his skating and puck moving game quite a bit.

BTW, how do you guys see the behemoth duo of Räsänen and Otto Latvala developing in the future. As it stands Räsänen is probably stonger and more advanced in some aspects of the game, but what about the long run?? Which one is going to have the better career and why?
 

rocketdan9

Registered User
Feb 5, 2009
20,411
13,210
I can't comment on the other prospects, but highly impressed by the play of Vaakanainen so far. Lots of good prospects especially D prospects coming out of Findland
 
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