Prospect Info: At 29th Overall the Blackhawks Select Henri Jokiharju (signed through 2020-21)

[LordKOTL]

too bad, with his offensive productions so far, i really thought he would be a top pairing D-man.

I remember awhile back there were those pegging Hjammer as the 2nd coming of Lidstrom back when he was a rookie/prospect.

That never happened, but he was the best defensive defenseman the 'hawks have had through 2016 & 2017, as well as stretches of 2015 & 2014.

I think the X-factor of the Joker is how much of his WHL game can translate to A and subsequently NHL-level. I mean hell, Calvin Pickard was an outright beast for Seattle in net (making Chicago failed goalie prospects Carruth (PDX) and Simpson (Everett) look incredibly bad), but right now he's in the A since he couldn't seem to wrest the job from the Varmint in Colorado and never stuck with Vegas and is now playing for the Marlies. And let's not forget how much guys like Morin tore up lower leagues to be more worthless than breast augmentation on a zombie at the NHL level.

While it's plausible he can be a top-2 guy on our squad, I was meaning overall projection on any team. Our D is very weak and by the time he would be viable for the 'hawks, depending on how Forsling, Rutta, Kempny, Snuggie, etc. do, he might have to be press-ganged into the top-2 role (if we keep him), or he might hit a wall between 2-3 if, say, Forsling and Rutta get good enough to take on high-level minutes with Keith & Seabs in the twilight of their careers.

 

[LDF]

I remember awhile back there were those pegging Hjammer as the 2nd coming of Lidstrom back when he was a rookie/prospect.

That never happened, but he was the best defensive defenseman the 'hawks have had through 2016 & 2017, as well as stretches of 2015 & 2014.

I think the X-factor of the Joker is how much of his WHL game can translate to A and subsequently NHL-level. I mean hell, Calvin Pickard was an outright beast for Seattle in net (making Chicago failed goalie prospects Carruth (PDX) and Simpson (Everett) look incredibly bad), but right now he's in the A since he couldn't seem to wrest the job from the Varmint in Colorado and never stuck with Vegas and is now playing for the Marlies. And let's not forget how much guys like Morin tore up lower leagues to be more worthless than breast augmentation on a zombie at the NHL level.

While it's plausible he can be a top-2 guy on our squad, I was meaning overall projection on any team. Our D is very weak and by the time he would be viable for the 'hawks, depending on how Forsling, Rutta, Kempny, Snuggie, etc. do, he might have to be press-ganged into the top-2 role (if we keep him), or he might hit a wall between 2-3 if, say, Forsling and Rutta get good enough to take on high-level minutes with Keith & Seabs in the twilight of their careers.

don't get me wrong, i just was stunned that you had him as a middle pairing. i trust yours and bk opinion on hockey and prospects, over my opinion.

you are right, what a prospects looks now and how he continues to develop are 2 different things. i just hope for the best.

 

[BK]

Middle pairing seems to have a negative connotation. If he turns into a good 3D it is a win for the Hawks. The team in general has quite a few guys in the pipeline who have high ceiling but are high risk but the team could be stacked with young D in 2-4 years at the NHL level. Personally I am the highest on Mitchell but HJ is right behind him.

Hell even Krys is looking good of late.

 

[LDF]

Middle pairing seems to have a negative connotation. If he turns into a good 3D it is a win for the Hawks. The team in general has quite a few guys in the pipeline who have high ceiling but are high risk but the team could be stacked with young D in 2-4 years at the NHL level. Personally I am the highest on Mitchell but HJ is right behind him.

Hell even Krys is looking good of late.

i gots to look at krys game. many thanks.

 

[pvr]

Middle pairing seems to have a negative connotation. If he turns into a good 3D it is a win for the Hawks. The team in general has quite a few guys in the pipeline who have high ceiling but are high risk but the team could be stacked with young D in 2-4 years at the NHL level. Personally I am the highest on Mitchell but HJ is right behind him.

Hell even Krys is looking good of late.

Let’s not fall asleep on Snuggerud. If not for injury, he was looking good enough to make the big club out of camp.

Hope the Hawks draft a few centers next year.

 

[NHL RankKing]

The Blackhawks currently have three defensemen in the top 15 in PNHLe (age and league adjusted prospect point projection):
Jokiharju (3)
Mitchell (7)
Krys (12)
Shea (42)
Tuulola (58)
Carlsson (87)

 

[LDF]

Let’s not fall asleep on Snuggerud. If not for injury, he was looking good enough to make the big club out of camp.

Hope the Hawks draft a few centers next year.

i never thought that Snuggerud would be that kind of prospect who will make the nhl. i will keep an eye on him for the future .

the new group of D-men that the Bhawks have developing. i am happy.... i would like to see and hope for a top pairing of d-man coming in....

 

[LordKOTL]

The Blackhawks currently have three defensemen in the top 15 in PNHLe (age and league adjusted prospect point projection):
Jokiharju (3)
Mitchell (7)
Krys (12)
Shea (42)
Tuulola (58)
Carlsson (87)

Fair enough...but given how bad the D has been the past 3+ seasons...how they fare in the back end is IMHO more important. Joker can score...yes. But he looks at least decently solid on D in the WHL.

And no, middle pairing has no negative connotations in my book. Hjammer would be an example of a 3-4 D-man, and there was not much negative about him at all. Hell in 2016 he was the only guy in the back end who looked like he was actually playing defense.

 

[LDF]

Fair enough...but given how bad the D has been the past 3+ seasons...how they fare in the back end is IMHO more important. Joker can score...yes. But he looks at least decently solid on D in the WHL.

And no, middle pairing has no negative connotations in my book. Hjammer would be an example of a 3-4 D-man, and there was not much negative about him at all. Hell in 2016 he was the only guy in the back end who looked like he was actually playing defense.

but do you see a top pairing D-men in the system now ??

 

[LordKOTL]

Right now? I think it's more of whether or not some guys pan out. Right now I'd have to say Forsling could probably make the jump. Snuggie looks promising. Either could be the next top 2--or maybe they don't pan out.

Keep in mind that it's incredibly rare that team has a de facto "top x" of every position. Hell, we won in 2010 behind a goalie who, over his career, should have been a career backup and without a true #2c. So, yeah, it's possible that Joker could be press-ganged into a top-2 role (assuming my projection is accurate...he could peter off or be a top-2 guy). That's not necessarily bad as long as they can be covered...kinda like the past 3+years where we've had soft-to-bad D but it's been the netminder position keeping them afloat. (contrast to 2010 where we has a weak netminder and the D carried them)

 

[LDF]

Right now? I think it's more of whether or not some guys pan out. Right now I'd have to say Forsling could probably make the jump. Snuggie looks promising. Either could be the next top 2--or maybe they don't pan out.

Keep in mind that it's incredibly rare that team has a de facto "top x" of every position. Hell, we won in 2010 behind a goalie who, over his career, should have been a career backup and without a true #2c. So, yeah, it's possible that Joker could be press-ganged into a top-2 role (assuming my projection is accurate...he could peter off or be a top-2 guy). That's not necessarily bad as long as they can be covered...kinda like the past 3+years where we've had soft-to-bad D but it's been the netminder position keeping them afloat. (contrast to 2010 where we has a weak netminder and the D carried them)

you make this clear cut, which i wasn't sure about. i just kept reading about prospect, on other teams that has top pairing d-men on their team. i just wasn't sure about our prospects.

many thanks.

 

[TheDoorDoctor]

Sorry but what does PNHLe stand for?

 

[LDF]

Sorry but what does PNHLe stand for?

no offense but whom is this directed toward.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Sorry but what does PNHLe stand for?

Pacific North Hockey Leauge expectations???

 

[LordKOTL]

I think it was directed to NHL RankKing. I have no clue what it means either...

 

[LDF]

many thanks i thought i missed something.

 

[DPHawk]

NHLe is NHL equivalency, it's a ratio that roughly estimates what the how many points a player might score in the NHL using the points they scored in a different league. I assume PNHLe stands for Predictive NHLe since it apparently includes an age adjustment (which NHLe doesn't do).

 

[ijuka]

I felt the need to bump this thread. He's been absolutely fantastic for team Finland at u20 worlds in my opinion. He's their 1D who has displayed impressive offensive as well as defensive play. Skilled with the puck. Played 23:54 last game. I believe that he's going to be a very good one.

After 2 games leads team Finland with 2 goals and an assist.

 

[DPHawk]

I felt the need to bump this thread. He's been absolutely fantastic for team Finland at u20 worlds in my opinion. He's their 1D who has displayed impressive offensive as well as defensive play. Skilled with the puck. Played 23:54 last game. I believe that he's going to be a very good one.

After 2 games leads team Finland with 2 goals and an assist.

That is extremely impressive, if true, when you consider the pedigree of the rest of the Finish blueline.

 

[hawksfan50]

Whatever system tries to compare points projection of different players playing at different levels is flawed..You simply cannot project a dman playing in juniors to those playing I'm men's pro leagues..You probably are a nit safer projecting points in juniors to points in thforward for nhl succesds but itbis kaughable to compare jokiharju and carlsson ...different ages but more importantly Carlsson playing in the SHL ....Looking back at how well Carlsson played when he was in the WJHC at 19 u-20 to what Jokiharju is now at 18 is also hard to figure..Looking forward 3 more years as they both should be linchpin for the Blackhawks ,I find it hard to justify the wide gap in favour of Jokiharju in that rankings g posted above. WE SIMPLY DO NOT KNOW who will be the better player once they have a few years in the nhl under their suspenders...


BTW Lucas Carlsson scored a goal and assist today in a Bryans win.He had 2a the prior game in another Bry nas win..You also need to factor in what role Jokiharju and Carlsson play for their teams....and the opportunities for minutes and featured roles they play for their teams. HARD to compare tge monutes abd featured Pp time Jokiharju gets for Portland OR his surprising greater role than I expected for Finland at this WJHC to lesser role Carlsson gets from Bryans ...Both doing very very well nevertheless...Consider Carlsson now has 5G 7A for 12 points in 28 SHL games this season...He had 11 points in 46 SHL games last season for Bryans ..So already he has surpassed last season's production.. But he still is not in the top pairing ..He probably gets a kit more production if he got that opportunity .

My point is it is hard to compare players at different stages of development and different levels of competition difficulty ...
I think..however ..what we CAN say is that the future looks bright in terms of Hawks Dmen prospects ...

I am also looking what I see in Jakub Galvas for the Czechs at tge WJHC ...He looks very solid and competent in defending and moving pucks out ...Remember he too plays against men in the Czech League...Woukd be interesting to see how many points ge could get if he played juniors for a CHL team for a stacked team lije Jokiharju has in Poeand and if given a featured role to drive the offense from the back -end. SO we just do not know if there is more to his offensive ability or if he is just a good shutdown dman who also can move the puck out quite well IT is about the minutes and the role asked ...

 

[hawksfan50]

Jokiharju did not look good on that 1st goal scored by USA today ...He also was on for the last 2 goals Finland gave up prior to this game though 1 of those not his fault ,the bother in my opinion was his fault forvgettingnoutbofbpisition by going around the back of his own net to get to a check of a player on the far side (left side) of the Finland net ..he either needed to hold posting or cut across the front of his net..not take the longer route behind his net to get to the other side ..so definitely some d-isduescwith him
..he is now -1 so far I the tournament ..

AS I typed this Jokiharju just hot crushed and goes off laboring. ..but after a shift off ,he is back on the ice
.so I guess he shook off the effects of the hit on him.

 

[hawksfan50]

I still think Lucas Carlsson is tge best 2-way dman we have in the pipeline. ..Jokiharju,Mitchell,Krys all bring PMD abilities but the issue will be can they survive against the big and good at the NHL pro level ...You also need to have the strength to fend of that pro size coin at the net ..AS FOR DEFENSIVE checkers who can read the play and block guys from getting to the net ..Dennis Gilbert isvthe guy ..but of course he is no offensive threat ..Can any of these guys be in a top pairing.?I woukd not claim certainty ...So whilevthebprospectbpool for bus on D may be filled with several 2 to 4 projections,there may be no #1 D star dominant D'man among them ..We Still coukd use that kind of elite D'man .

 

[ColdSteel2]

This guy is a special player. I caught a couple of the Finland games. He was the most trusted D-man by the coach, taking Keith like shifts, especially as the game went on. He’s great with the puck, shifty, knows how to bring it from his own end into the offensive zone. He’s a strong skater and as a RHS would be an ideal partner for Forsling in the future. The downside is he isn’t going to be moving anyone out of the crease. However, the league is moving even more to the skilled puck moving offensive D-man.

I believe the next cycle will be focused on the big, skilled, good skating forward to combat that. Bowman already got in front of that with the acquisitions of Saad, Anisimov, Hartman and Hayden. We need to keep those guys around because having one on each line is going to start paying big dividends in a year or two when all of these PMDs hit the league in full force. The cake is in the oven, just have to be patient here and we’ll have a great roster makeup. Bowman supplemented the Cup teams with good depth but for me, what he has going on right now is his best work. And he already has his uptempo puck moving coach lined up in Colliton.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

WHL Network

Pretty nuts, he's tied for 3rd place in WHL dmen scoring. The only one on that list who's more impressive to me is Ty Smith. The rest are a year older than Henri. Huge improvement from his last season when he played 71 games and had 48 points.

 

[jalperi]

Made his first mens NT goal against Russia.