Prospect Info: At 24th Overall the Jets Select Kristian Vesalainen

[puck stoppa]

If they sign him he would be, but I think he won’t have the stamina to jump on another bandwagon after going finals deep into the Liiga playoffs. He should get signed in the summer.

Though Vesalainen won’t play with the Moose this season it would be a cake topper as a Jets fan to see that, having all of Niku, Appleton, Petan, Lemiuex and Vesalainen would be a killer roster going into the AHL playoffs.

This kid plays a pro game already. He will have a great start with Moose next year and get a recall imo.

 

[None]

He's unlikely to admit it, but I'm sure that's incredibly gratifying. Egg on the faces of the HIFK staff who told him that.

 

[Garbox]

He's unlikely to admit it, but I'm sure that's incredibly gratifying. Egg on the faces of the HIFK staff who told him that.

True. But of course one could think that it was HIFK that gave KV the last push to really give all he has for his development. But I think someone said it here too, that HIFK has shown this kinda misjudgements before, so the shame is on them.

 

[nobody important]

His goal ended up being the GWG. Karpat will face Tappara in the finals.

Now that's a playoff rental.

 

[CorgisPer60]

I hope he is also following the Jets as they play in the playoffs, and seeks to emulate how they play. Become our Finnish Blake Wheeler, Vesalainen.

 

[Do or Die]

He's unlikely to admit it, but I'm sure that's incredibly gratifying. Egg on the faces of the HIFK staff who told him that.

Kyle Connor Syndrome....

 

[Evil Little]

Game 7 of semifinals going on. Vesalainen has a goal so far.

Nice ****in' pass, but Vesalainen did very well to keep that on his tape.

 

[ps241]

K-Ves keeps it rolling!!

 

[bumblebeeman]

It's amazing the Jets are looking like they will have 4 Finns on the team in the next couple years. Especially considering they were all drafted in the past few years (besiders Armia who they traded for), and that the Jets didn't even draft any Euros at all for like the first 2 or 3 drafts they did.

 

[CaptainChef]

That goal was a real beauty, NHL hands right there. This kid will make us forget Suzuki, Valimaki, etc. And I'm high on those guys. He's a well rounded hockey player.

Holy crap - when we have Laine, Vesa, Niku & Armia all playing for us, can you imagine the following we'll have in Finland

 

[Adam da bomb]

Holy crap - when we have Laine, Vesa, Niku & Armia all playing for us, can you imagine the following we'll have in Finland

Hopefully that will mean we will be able to get other fins at a home-town discount.

 

[kelsier]

Holy crap - when we have Laine, Vesa, Niku & Armia all playing for us, can you imagine the following we'll have in Finland

Don't worry. Half the country already more or less follows the Jets since there is noway to evade Laine related headlines and topics around here.

But yeah, having all these guys (if the team can keep'em) should make the Jets the new Wilds and turn around even more eye pairs. The best thing about it all is that all of these guys are looking or are projected to be looking pretty damn good.

 

[BigZ65]

Would be nice to have that left shot on PP1.

 

[kelsier]

No points so far and game is at the dying minutes. Hasn't been good today unfortunately. Too many giveaways. Nevertheless, great experience getting to play in the playoff finals and still plenty of games left. Maybe he scores at the last minute.

 

[Saintb]

I appreciate these updates.

 

[Hammer Slammer]

Held to just a secondary assist in the finals, the points kinda dried up but Vesalainen is a Liiga champion today!

 

[Aavco Cup]

Why hasn’t he signed yet?

 

[Whileee]

Congrats to KVes. Looking forward to the next steps in his development.

 

[CorgisPer60]

>Still 6 years away 1 year ago, according to one team
>Part of a championship team this year, that knocked out that one team

GG

 

[kittiecarlyle]

Would be nice to have that left shot on PP1.

Stastny

 

[surixon]

Congrats to him. I really like how most of our kids have a history of winning prior to joining the org. It definitely helps develop/maintain a culture of success.

 

[John Agar]

More Finnish...

Yes...

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

Tbh I hope we trade him... Don’t get me wrong he looks real talented but he isn’t gonna see the light of day on this team(he’s projected to be a LW’er and Connor/Ehlers are locks for the Top 6 there, even if you boost him over to RW Wheeler/Laine are there(dear god I hope this doesn’t happen but maybe Wheeler retires soon and even than Roslovic is probably higher in the lineup be our future Top 6 RW). If he was to crack the Top 6 it would take atleast 4 years and there’s a huge unlikely chance of that.

This kid is a bonafied Top 10 Prospect League wide and it sucks I’m saying this about such a talented kid but the value we can get out of trading him is likely much higher than if we keep him and turn him into a Armia 2.0 when he can be a Connor/Ehlers level player. Best case scenario would be someone on the Left Wing moving to 2C(meaning him, Ehlers or Connor, which is extremely unlikely).

 

[Ippenator]

Tbh I hope we trade him... Don’t get me wrong he looks real talented but he isn’t gonna see the light of day on this team(he’s projected to be a LW’er and Connor/Ehlers are locks for the Top 6 there, even if you boost him over to RW Wheeler/Laine are there(dear god I hope this doesn’t happen but maybe Wheeler retires soon and even than Roslovic is probably higher in the lineup be our future Top 6 RW). If he was to crack the Top 6 it would take atleast 4 years and there’s a huge unlikely chance of that.

This kid is a bonafied Top 10 Prospect League wide and it sucks I’m saying this about such a talented kid but the value we can get out of trading him is likely much higher than if we keep him and turn him into a Armia 2.0 when he can be a Connor/Ehlers level player. Best case scenario would be someone on the Left Wing moving to 2C(meaning him, Ehlers or Connor, which is extremely unlikely).

That would be a very hasty move in my opinion. He is big, has a great shot and is a pretty darn good skater for his size. He seems a bit similar to a young Wheeler after all. Those kind of players aren’t really that easy to find, so I think it would be still better to give him some real chances in the lineup and see how well he will do in the next two or three years. There will be anyway for sure some injuries for even some of the top players, so he would get these chances probably quite naturally. And how can you say at this moment that he couldn’t become even a better player than Connor, Roslo or Ehlers? They all are very good, but they lack the size and strength and the NHL hockey is still a game for big boys, even how much more skating has been emphasized during the few last years.

I don’t for sure claim that Vesalainen will become better than all of them, but I can still see a chance for even that happening. And of course Roslo might even still become a center, which could make it easier for Vesalainen to fit in. As I don’t see it impossible for him or some other wingers playing their off wing.

I just don’t really see the point in trading him at least soon. If he would be traded, maybe it could happen in three years. But right now it could be a very hasty move that the Jets could very much regret in the future.

 

[Calendal]

That would be a very hasty move in my opinion. He is big, has a great shot and is a pretty darn good skater for his size. He seems a bit similar to a young Wheeler after all. Those kind of players aren’t really that easy to find, so I think it would be still better to give him some real chances in the lineup and see how well he will do in the next two or three years. There will be anyway for sure some injuries for even some of the top players, so he would get these chances probably quite naturally. And how can you say at this moment that he couldn’t become even a better player than Connor, Roslo or Ehlers? They all are very good, but they lack the size and strength and the NHL hockey is still a game for big boys, even how much more skating has been emphasized during the few last years.

I don’t for sure claim that Vesalainen will become better than all of them, but I can still see a chance for even that happening. And of course Roslo might even still become a center, which could make it easier for Vesalainen to fit in. As I don’t see it impossible for him or some other wingers playing their off wing.

I just don’t really see the point in trading him at least soon. If he would be traded, maybe it could happen in three years. But right now it could be a very hasty move that the Jets could very much regret in the future.

Also for many reasons it’s sometimes required to trade the better player. So even if Vesalainen does not become better he might not fetch a piece the Jets would want, or his contract may ne more favourable forcing some other player to be traded.

Obviously if a great option presents itself it might make sense to trade.