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

[Kaako Kappo]

What do you guys think this timeline is looking like? Another year in Suomi then the Moose?

Moose next year i think.

 

[EnglishJet]

Can’t have much left to prove in Finland after this season, might as well come over to the Moose and start learning the North American game.

This prospect excites me, won’t lie!

 

[Hammer Slammer]

 

[Whileee]

Thanks for sharing these.

Really liked the zone entry and saucer pass on the first assist in the 3rd video.

He has a nice, pro release, and you can tell that he's anticipating play rather than just reacting. That's an important step forward at this stage of development.

 

[DaJackal]

What do you guys think this timeline is looking like? Another year in Suomi then the Moose?

Both are good options. I'd say it comes down to how he can adapt to the smaller rink and NA in general. If you want to minimize the chance of this kind of problems, bring him to Moose next year and let him play one full AHL season. Then the year after that use him as a call-up.

But if he looks like he is quick to adapt, another year in FEL would be good for his confidence as a top 6 player. He'd probably tear the league a new one.

 

[Atoyot]

Both are good options. I'd say it comes down to how he can adapt to the smaller rink and NA in general. If you want to minimize the chance of this kind of problems, bring him to Moose next year and let him play one full AHL season. Then the year after that use him as a call-up.

But if he looks like he is quick to adapt, another year in FEL would be good for his confidence as a top 6 player. He'd probably tear the league a new one.

Given the talent we have on the Moose now it might be better for him to be on a winning team though. his Liiga team isn't very good.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

We need a pic or video of him wearing the gold helmet.

What exactly does that helmet signify?

 

[Atoyot]

What exactly does that helmet signify?

Leading scorer on his team.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Leading scorer on his team.

'K, thanks.

I would have preferred some reference to Norse gods but leading team in scoring is good.

Do Finns even share the Norse mythology? Or do they have their own with Sami wizards and magic reindeer?

 

[Ippenator]

'K, thanks.

I would have preferred some reference to Norse gods but leading team in scoring is good.

Do Finns even share the Norse mythology? Or do they have their own with Sami wizards and magic reindeer?

We have our own mythology, which is called Kalevala. It might have at least some slight similarities with some Norse mythology, but nothing very clear or on a big scale.

 

[gearmex]

'K, thanks.

I would have preferred some reference to Norse gods but leading team in scoring is good.

Do Finns even share the Norse mythology? Or do they have their own with Sami wizards and magic reindeer?

Exactly like you said, wish thought be the Vikings haha but shit happens

 

[Ippenator]

'K, thanks.

I would have preferred some reference to Norse gods but leading team in scoring is good.

Do Finns even share the Norse mythology? Or do they have their own with Sami wizards and magic reindeer?

To get this even somehow hockey related, I have to mention that in the Kalevala mythology there is the the God of thunder whom is called Ukko. Maybe that is a role waiting for Laine in the hockey mythology too? Hopefully so. But which role will be available for Vesalainen? Hopefully a big one anyway!

 

[Halberdier]

I'm pleased to see that Vesalainen is on fire. Though still puzzled why we did not draft Tolvanen instead. Or that why no one did take Tolvanen earlier. I guess Jets and Preds got lucked in that Finns did not have success at U20, which did make value for Vesalainen and esp. Tolvanen lower than they should have been.

 

[Lowered Expectations]

'K, thanks.

I would have preferred some reference to Norse gods but leading team in scoring is good.

Do Finns even share the Norse mythology? Or do they have their own with Sami wizards and magic reindeer?

There are plenty of Finnish mythology Finnish mythology - Wikipedia
And of course Marvel have dipped that pool too: Jumala (Finnish Gods)

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I'm pleased to see that Vesalainen is on fire. Though still puzzled why we did not draft Tolvanen instead. Or that why no one did take Tolvanen earlier. I guess Jets and Preds got lucked in that Finns did not have success at U20, which did make value for Vesalainen and esp. Tolvanen lower than they should have been.

Tolvanen was not as highly regarded until this year. There may have been good reason to rate him higher but it simply was not recognized. The rating for Vesalainen seems to have been a little fuzzy too.

 

[Ippenator]

I'm pleased to see that Vesalainen is on fire. Though still puzzled why we did not draft Tolvanen instead. Or that why no one did take Tolvanen earlier. I guess Jets and Preds got lucked in that Finns did not have success at U20, which did make value for Vesalainen and esp. Tolvanen lower than they should have been.

Well, seeing Vesalainen play very well this season too, I have to say that maybe after all he will even be a better pick for the Jets in the long run. I mean Tolvanen sure is absolutely magnificent, but he is quite similar to Laine with his play style and goal scoring talent. I’m not sure if it would be good to even have two of that type and class of snipers in the same team. I mean unless they would play on the same line, they would probably eat away each others playing time a bit. And I doubt that they would be ideal to play on the same line, except maybe on the power play. So I just see maybe the type of big, strong and offensively also talented player like Vesalainen maybe fitting at least as well, or maybe even better to the Jets.

And this does not mean that I see Vesalainen as a better prospect or player than Tolvanen, as I don’t. But it is still not so big difference that the role and the best fit wouldn’t after all be important too.

 

[Adam da bomb]

Well, seeing Vesalainen play very well this season too, I have to say that maybe after all he will even be a better pick for the Jets in the long run. I mean Tolvanen sure is absolutely magnificent, but he is quite similar to Laine with his play style and goal scoring talent. I’m not sure if it would be good to even have two of that type and class of snipers in the same team. I mean unless they would play on the same line, they would probably eat away each others playing time a bit. And I doubt that they would be ideal to play on the same line, except maybe on the power play. So I just see maybe the type of big, strong and offensively also talented player like Vesalainen maybe fitting at least as well, or maybe even better to the Jets.

And this does not mean that I see Vesalainen as a better prospect or player than Tolvanen, as I don’t. But it is still not so big difference that the role and the best fit wouldn’t after all be important too.

Was our 13th pick going to be Tolvanen I would much rather that we picked a D. With the way the moose are playing we have more than enough firepower and very little in the way of prospects for D.

 

[Halberdier]

Tolvanen was not as highly regarded until this year. There may have been good reason to rate him higher but it simply was not recognized. The rating for Vesalainen seems to have been a little fuzzy too.

I guess it's the NA coverage of those tiny European forwards (Tolvanen) that's selling him short. I did hype him a lot when they won U18 championship. Also Pulju was part of the team, but I admired the way Tolvanen played and did shoot the puck and how driven he was. Exactly like a left handed pocket version of Laine. About Vesalainen I was never that high, though he e definitely might end up as a poor mans Wheeler, which is great.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I guess it's the NA coverage of those tiny European forwards (Tolvanen) that's selling him short. I did hype him a lot when they won U18 championship. Also Pulju was part of the team, but I admired the way Tolvanen played and did shoot the puck and how driven he was. Exactly like a left handed pocket version of Laine. About Vesalainen I was never that high, though he e definitely might end up as a poor mans Wheeler, which is great.

Size tends to get over-emphasized - but it does matter. Vesalainen's U18 was very impressive. Short tournaments get over-weighted by fans. I don't know if scouts are that influenced by them or not. I don't think they should, but they seem to be.

Already having Ehlers and Connor, I think the Jets could use a power forward like Vesalainen. But Tolvanen is having an eye-opening (maybe jaw-dropping would be a better term) season for an 18 YO in the KHL.

 

[Hokinaittii]

I think the biggest reason why Jets drafted Vesalainen was due to Jets already having a real solid top-6 but somewhat lackluster bottom-6 when it comes to scoring.

I bet the management was debating hard whether to pick someone like Tolvanen who is basically a Laine lite/sniper or Vesalainen who probably doesn't have the potential crack Jets top-6 in the near future but instead they saw a lot of great 3rd line scoring potential in Vesalainen who can at the same bring more to the table than sniper like Tolvanen, although Tolvanen is far from being one dimensional sniper. Still, Vesalainen will probably always be a better two way player than Tolvanen.

I can understand why the Jets saw Vesalainen as a better fit for their team and why they would still probably go with him in a redraft.

 

[nobody important]

'K, thanks.

I would have preferred some reference to Norse gods but leading team in scoring is good.

Do Finns even share the Norse mythology? Or do they have their own with Sami wizards and magic reindeer?

Ain't no Norse God gonna mess with Finn the Human.

 

[Maukkis]

I think the biggest reason why Jets drafted Vesalainen was due to Jets already having a real solid top-6 but somewhat lackluster bottom-6 when it comes to scoring.

I bet the management was debating hard whether to pick someone like Tolvanen who is basically a Laine lite/sniper or Vesalainen who probably doesn't have the potential crack Jets top-6 in the near future but instead they saw a lot of great 3rd line scoring potential in Vesalainen who can at the same bring more to the table than sniper like Tolvanen, although Tolvanen is far from being one dimensional sniper. Still, Vesalainen will probably always be a better two way player than Tolvanen.

I can understand why the Jets saw Vesalainen as a better fit for their team and why they would still probably go with him in a redraft.

Either that, or they missed out on all the worthwhile centers and defensemen.

 

[Hokinaittii]

Either that, or they missed out on all the worthwhile centers and defensemen.

Or they just saw "laine" in his surname and reacted without a doubt. Who knows?

 

[SM]

I think the biggest reason why Jets drafted Vesalainen was due to Jets already having a real solid top-6 but somewhat lackluster bottom-6 when it comes to scoring.

I bet the management was debating hard whether to pick someone like Tolvanen who is basically a Laine lite/sniper or Vesalainen who probably doesn't have the potential crack Jets top-6 in the near future but instead they saw a lot of great 3rd line scoring potential in Vesalainen who can at the same bring more to the table than sniper like Tolvanen, although Tolvanen is far from being one dimensional sniper. Still, Vesalainen will probably always be a better two way player than Tolvanen.

I can understand why the Jets saw Vesalainen as a better fit for their team and why they would still probably go with him in a redraft.

I follow the logic, but I don’t agree. That’s like passing up on a 1-2 dman for a 6-7 dman because your blue line is already stacked. If they valued him higher, and believed he would be better than Vesalainen, regardless of current or future team needs they should have drafted the best player available. If it turns out you’re fully loaded up front, then trade him for whatever you do need.

Thanks to the poster above for the highlights of Vesalainen. I agree that he looks to have a pro-level shot. Maybe Laine could show him some tips and we could run PP1 with Laine rockets from one face off dot, and PP2 with Vesalainen sniping corns from the other dot someday...

 

[Maukkis]

I follow the logic, but I don’t agree. That’s like passing up on a 1-2 dman for a 6-7 dman because your blue line is already stacked. If they valued him higher, and believed he would be better than Vesalainen, regardless of current or future team needs they should have drafted the best player available. If it turns out you’re fully loaded up front, then trade him for whatever you do need.

Thanks to the poster above for the highlights of Vesalainen. I agree that he looks to have a pro-level shot. Maybe Laine could show him some tips and we could run PP1 with Laine rockets from one face off dot, and PP2 with Vesalainen sniping corns from the other dot someday...

At the time, it was quite widely agreed that Vesalainen was the BPA at 24. It was not like there were any surefire studs available after Heiskanen, let alone at the latter part of the first round.