C Aleksi Saarela - Lukko, Liiga (2015, 89th, NYR; traded to CAR, traded to CHI, traded to FLA)

[Jack DiBiase]

He is for the 2015 draft and is quite young. No need to rush him, but i agree that he's too good for Jr. C and even Jr. B but Jr. A is too much for him at this point. He could play Jr. A hockey at 2012-2013. Last year he was good enough for Jr. C but they didn't want to rush him.

The problem is that Lukko doesn't have teams in BSM. And I didn't say he should play fulltime ASM, only that he'd get small sniff of a better competition, so he wouldn't get too cocky about his skills.

 

[Needles]

Saarela family should have moved to Pori . Ässät have teams in the BSM & ASM, plus a brand new arena just for juniors. If I understood correctly, Lukko's CSM team has troubles finding ice time.

 

[TheRocket87]

He is for the 2015 draft and is quite young. No need to rush him, but i agree that he's too good for Jr. C and even Jr. B but Jr. A is too much for him at this point. He could play Jr. A hockey at 2012-2013. Last year he was good enough for Jr. C but they didn't want to rush him.

Considering his points, he's not totally killing the league, so saying he's too good to play there is pushing it a bit, even though a bit more challenging league would probably be good for his development. Saying he'd be too good for the jr. B is absolutely ridiculous. He probably wouldn't be a ppg player even there. jr. B would probably be the right league fore him, but in Lukko that isn't currently possible.

 

[thomast]

Considering his points, he's not totally killing the league, so saying he's too good to play there is pushing it a bit, even though a bit more challenging league would probably be good for his development. Saying he'd be too good for the jr. B is absolutely ridiculous. He probably wouldn't be a ppg player even there. jr. B would probably be the right league fore him, but in Lukko that isn't currently possible.

Almost 3 PPG isn't too good? Don't make me laugh. He's getting those points without much PP time. 1 PP point out of 15. I think that he would dominate BSM, hes so smart and good all-around player and very dangerous.

 

[YARR123]

I'm pretty sure he get's all the pp time he can, that's what you do with a team's best player.

Rajala, Pulkkinen, Granlund, Barkov all played jr. C at the age Saarela is right now, and they all dominated the league. It's not often that 14 year-olds play in jr. B. Next year he can dominate jr. B and try jr. A. Thats a very good line of development already.

 

[TheRocket87]

Almost 3 PPG isn't too good? Don't make me laugh. He's getting those points without much PP time. 1 PP point out of 15. I think that he would dominate BSM, hes so smart and good all-around player and very dangerous.

The pace he's scoring is very good, but there are a lot of players that have scored at a higher pace in the jr C and all it does is enhances their puck posession skills and confidence. The guy that leads jr. B in points has scored almost at the same pace as Saarela and most of the people here haven't even heard of the guy. In B and A the gaps between players' physicality start to get smaller and dominating isn't that easy. In C physically ready players always score tons of points and cool off later. Saying he'd dominate in the B's as a 14 year old is just plain stupid.

 

[thomast]

The pace he's scoring is very good, but there are a lot of players that have scored at a higher pace in the jr C and all it does is enhances their puck posession skills and confidence. The guy that leads jr. B in points has scored almost at the same pace as Saarela and most of the people here haven't even heard of the guy. In B and A the gaps between players' physicality start to get smaller and dominating isn't that easy. In C physically ready players always score tons of points and cool off later. Saying he'd dominate in the B's as a 14 year old is just plain stupid.

Do you think that Aleksi Saarela dominate C's with his physicality? cmon you make statements when you haven't seen any games from him. With PP time i would think that he's atleast PPG+ player pretty easily. Age doesen't matter if your good enough. That guy is 17 year old whos leading Jr. B scoring. Many players of his age are playing Jr. A with great stats and some even FEL. Aleksi Saarela is 14 year old and dominating C-SM. Very bad comparison and i disagree pretty much your arguments, some
of them are very stupid. It's more special when your doing things at young age what we have rarely seen. You can't deny it. You can't compare him to overages when he is underager himself

 

[TheRocket87]

Do you think that Aleksi Saarela dominate C's with his physicality? cmon you make statements when you haven't seen any games from him. With PP time i would think that he's atleast PPG+ player pretty easily. Age doesen't matter if your good enough. That guy is 17 year old whos leading Jr. B scoring. Many players of his age are playing Jr. A with great stats and some even FEL. Aleksi Saarela is 14 year old and dominating C-SM. Very bad comparison and i disagree pretty much your arguments, some
of them are very stupid.

Both are playing second year in their respective leagues and their birthdays are pretty much two years apart. Why are you bringing age into this if it doesn't matter? I'm not taking anything away from Saarela as he's a very exciting prospect, but saying he'd dominate in the B is stupid. Check out some numbers that the guys mentioned above or Teräväinen or Ville Koskela put up in C. They certainly wouldn't have dominated in the B then.

 

[thomast]

Both are playing second year in their respective leagues and their birthdays are pretty much two years apart. Why are you bringing age into this if it doesn't matter? I'm not taking anything away from Saarela as he's a very exciting prospect, but saying he'd dominate in the B is stupid. Check out some numbers that the guys mentioned above or Teräväinen or Ville Koskela put up in C. They certainly wouldn't have dominated in the B then.

Ville Koskela had 10pts in 15 games at 2008-2009 and he is for the 2012 draft.
Teuvo Teräväinen had 21pts in 22 games at 2008-2009 and he is for the 2012 draft.
Aleksi Saarela has 15pts in 6 games at 2011-2012 when he is for 2015 draft.

Age doesen't matter at anything if your good enough. This is Saarelas first season at C he had 2 points in 1 game last year against this year Jr. B players. it's stupid to say that he has no chance to dominate Jr. B. I think he could have good chances to pot up +PPG at Jr. B pretty easily with PP time.

 

[TheRocket87]

Ville Koskela had 10pts in 15 games at 2008-2009 and he is for the 2012 draft. Teuvo Teräväinen had 21pts in 22 games at 2008-2009 and he is for the 2012 draft.
Aleksi Saarela has 15pts in 6 games at 2011-2012 when he is for 2015 draft.

Look at the next year what they did in the C and B. Just saying the jump isn't that easy.

 

[JFA87-66-99]

Any updates on Aleksi Saarela? I've heard that he might be the most promising prospect to come from Finland in a long time? I know there have been some other hyped-Finnish prospects from recent time like Toni Rajala, Teemu Pulkkinen, Mikael Granlund, Aleksander Barkov, or Teuvo Teravainen. How does he compare to those guys at the same age. Also I'd like to hear a breif scouting report on Saarela or really anything if possible.

 

[thomast]

Aleksi Saarela has great wrister, excellent vision, smooth hands, pretty good skater and good size for his age. He's not only offensive player because he has great two-way game aswell. Great at PK. Very smart player in both ends and with and without the puck. I think that next year will show alot of his potential.

clip from his offensive game:


Not sure how he ranks among his draft class but he is among the most talented fins at his age for sure.

 

[Granlund2Pulkkinen*]

Scoutman1 had him ranked top 5 I think.

IMHO I think he'll fall like Pulkkinen a bit and Julius Nättinen will rise like Granlund.

 

[scoutman1]

Scoutman1 had him ranked top 5 I think.

IMHO I think he'll fall like Pulkkinen a bit and Julius Nättinen will rise like Granlund.

never know, always seems like the top rated Finish player seems to fall off like Pulkkinen and Lauri Tukonen (can not remember how to spell his name lol)

 

[Jussi]

never know, always seems like the top rated Finish player seems to fall off like Pulkkinen and Lauri Tukonen (can not remember how to spell his name lol)

Pulkkinen fell only due to his injury history.

 

[HanSolo]

Eliteprospects profile

He's a 97-born centre forward and in club competition he played against 96-born players. In 28 games he scored 103 points, 51 goals and 52 assists. He was the MVP and top scorer in his age group at the annual Pohjola camp, which gathers the top Finnish players.

He played at the World Selects Invitational's in Prague this week with a Finnish team and was the top scorer of the tournament. In 9 games he scored 26 points, 13 goals and 13 assists.

Some of the plays from that tournament:


He's not the most dynamic or exciting player, but he's smart, has pretty nice puck skills and has an exceptional wrister for his age. He's also a good two-way player. If things work out, he might become a similar youth star as Toni Rajala, Teemu Pulkkinen and Mikael Granlund were few years ago. At least he’s worth keeping an eye on.

103 points in 28 games

I can't even...

 

[Latex*]

Scoutman1 had him ranked top 5 I think.

IMHO I think he'll fall like Pulkkinen a bit and Julius Nättinen will rise like Granlund.

Really? I'd imagine Nättinen is the one who would fall. His size is a huge advantage over his peers.

 

[Granlund2Pulkkinen*]

Really? I'd imagine Nättinen is the one who would fall. His size is a huge advantage over his peers.

Which is why I think he'll rise

We'll have to see how he fairs in the JrA this next season. He actually may start out in JrB which is a little unnerving and his 8 game stint this season was not up to his 50 points in 22 games he had in JrC.

You may be right... I hope Saarela turns out to be a stud though

At least we have Barkov and Granlund and Armia to be excited about!

 

[Granlund2Pulkkinen*]

103 points in 28 games

I can't even...

Those stats arent' right... I think... Those are from last year and that would be with LaJy I think... so nothing too incredible.

This is what you write home about:

14/15 year old Saarela this year had 28 points in an 8 game tournament with 15/16 year olds. In the regular season he went 33+29=72 in 28 games and in the playoffs he has 14+15=19 in 9 games.

Deadly player.

 

[Daneurism]

Barkov vs Kapanen vs Saarela

thoughts?

 

[thomast]

Barkov vs Kapanen vs Saarela

thoughts?

Barkov
Saarela

Kapanen

 

[YARR123]

Which is why I think he'll rise

We'll have to see how he fairs in the JrA this next season. He actually may start out in JrB which is a little unnerving and his 8 game stint this season was not up to his 50 points in 22 games he had in JrC.

You may be right... I hope Saarela turns out to be a stud though

At least we have Barkov and Granlund and Armia to be excited about!

Would like to point out that I can't remember when the last time was that a triple underager played even as many as 8 games in jr. B, so I would say it's definately a plus that he managed 5 points in 8 games. Also playing in jr. A as a player 5 years younger than the maximum is also very rare, so that also should not be against him if he plays most of his season in Jr. B

 

[YARR123]

Barkov vs Kapanen vs Saarela

thoughts?

The kids are at such different phases of development that it's not really fair to compare. Barkov has already shown that he can play the pro game, while Saarela and Kapanen have only shown that they are talented kids, so for now its

1. Barkov



2a. Kapanen
2b. Saarela

 

[Needles]

33+39=72 this year at the JrC-level, in 28 games. 14+15=29 in the postseason, in nine games. What do you guys think:

1) Is he going straight to JrA next year as a 15-year-old?

2) Will Aleksi Saarela play at the U18 Worlds next year? He's going to be approximately 16 years and 4 months when the tournament starts.

 

[Granlund2Pulkkinen*]

33+39=72 this year at the JrC-level, in 28 games. 14+15=29 in the postseason, in nine games. What do you guys think:

1) Is he going straight to JrA next year as a 15-year-old?

2) Will Aleksi Saarela play at the U18 Worlds next year? He's going to be approximately 16 years and 4 months when the tournament starts.

1) Yes
2) Yes