C Rasmus Kupari - Karpat, Liiga (2018, 20th, LAK)
- Thread starter Erikfromfin
- Start date
- Status
Definitely one of the better skating Finnish prospects in the last few years. Seems like Eliteprospects had his height wrong before though, he certainly isn't 186cm and EP seems to have corrected it to 181cm as well.
Can't find a way to watch the game 
Is he getting pushed around in physical battles like Hokinaittii predicted?
Is he getting pushed around in physical battles like Hokinaittii predicted?
Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
Can't find a way to watch the game
Is he getting pushed around in physical battles like Hokinaittii predicted?
A bit. But he makes up for it with his skating. He seems a bit nervous and maybe tries a liiittle too hard at times.
Can't find a way to watch the game
Is he getting pushed around in physical battles like Hokinaittii predicted?
Haven't seen him really battling near the boards or in front of the net yet, but he is great at stickhandling at high speeds.
Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
Liked his game for the most part. Certainly one of the better forwards on the bottom 6 today. Should play on Saturday too.
D0ctorCool
Registered User
Thanks for the report, guys... I know its very early, but how do you feel Kupari is stacking up against some of your more recent prospects?
It's very hard to say. He's not at the Laine/Barkov level, but I think he is near Aho/Rantanen.
First of all Aho is in the same class with Laine. Barkov might be close to those two, but in my opinion he is still only the third best Finnish young player. What they have done so far at almost every stage clearly shows that Aho is already better than Barkov. At least when you compare their 19 year old seasons it is obvious. Barkov 36 points vs Aho 49 points. And for Aho it was only his rookie season, as Barkov already had experience for one season in the NHL before. Aho has also been clearly better in the national teams than Barkov. Aho is just criminally underrated by even many Finnish fans, which is very weird to me, as I saw how special player he is almost instantly when I saw him play the first time.
I don't know if Kupari is even in Rantanen class, as so far I haven't been too much impressed with his hockey IQ. Sure he can skate really well and he has great hands, but if you don't have also first class hockey IQ, you will never become a real star player. Of course I could be wrong, but at the moment I see Kotkaniemi as a clearly better prospect than Kupari. This is mostly because Kotkaniemi has a clearly higher hockey IQ.
Hokinaittii
Registered User
- Aug 15, 2015
- 2,497
- 1,293
I don't think there is going to be any problems with his hockey IQ. He doesn't have to be a mastermind like Aho to make things work.
I mean yes and no, he can make up for it by skating circles around others.Can't find a way to watch the game
Is he getting pushed around in physical battles like Hokinaittii predicted?
kelsier
Registered User
- Aug 17, 2013
- 4,280
- 1,741
I wasn't able to watch the first period and he got little ice time due to penalties. Really hoped to see him on one of the power play units but of course they are not going to let an unproven kid to get any time on special units. I agree with Ippe about having to prove he has hockey IQ. So far due to limited viewings it is impossible to tell. He does need that in order to be placed anywhere near Kotkaniemi, I truly hope that Pronman etc (who have him high) have actually scouted the s*** out of him and determined as much, because a kid with good height, superb skating and great hands added with high level of IQ could go really far in the future. He looked a bit small out there and I'd appreciate to have his real measurements. Hopefully he does have some frame and is just lanky at the moment.
If these scouting agencies haven't actually paid much if any attention to him before Hlinka and are basing most of their predictions on one tournament, it would be kind of unprofessional to have him that high so soon. Kotkaniemi looks to be the real deal and I'd have hard time having Kupari ahead of him at the moment, and I really like Kupari. What a year would that be if they both panned out though. No center worries for team Finland for the next two decades.
If these scouting agencies haven't actually paid much if any attention to him before Hlinka and are basing most of their predictions on one tournament, it would be kind of unprofessional to have him that high so soon. Kotkaniemi looks to be the real deal and I'd have hard time having Kupari ahead of him at the moment, and I really like Kupari. What a year would that be if they both panned out though. No center worries for team Finland for the next two decades.
I wasn't able to watch the first period and he got little ice time due to penalties. Really hoped to see him on one of the power play units but of course they are not going to let an unproven kid to get any time on special units. I agree with Ippe about having to prove he has hockey IQ. So far due to limited viewings it is impossible to tell. He does need that in order to be placed anywhere near Kotkaniemi, I truly hope that Pronman etc (who have him high) have actually scouted the s*** out of him and determined as much, because a kid with good height, superb skating and great hands added with high level of IQ could go really far in the future. He looked a bit small out there and I'd appreciate to have his real measurements. Hopefully he does have some frame and is just lanky at the moment.
If these scouting agencies haven't actually paid much if any attention to him before Hlinka and are basing most of their predictions on one tournament, it would be kind of unprofessional to have him that high so soon. Kotkaniemi looks to be the real deal and I'd have hard time having Kupari ahead of him at the moment, and I really like Kupari. What a year would that be if they both panned out though. No center worries for team Finland for the next two decades.
McKenzie surveys actual NHL team scouts to make his list, and Kupari was 12th there, so I have to assume they think he has at least a decent hockey iq
Aho is currently too far from the level Barkov's been on the last two seasons to put him over him simply due to Aho scoring more points as a 19-year-old. Putting up a couple more points at WHC as a winger doesn't really change that either.
As for Kupari, it's pretty hard to quantify his hockey IQ from just one game where he didn't even receive PP time. However, he was able to create chances and give the opposition problems with his skating and hands. He is very shifty offensively, and the way he moves around offensively actually reminds me of Aho, so I think that's a good sign. And from watching him play on the national team, I don't think forcing plays or lack of creativity have ever been a problem with him.
I wasn't able to watch the first period and he got little ice time due to penalties. Really hoped to see him on one of the power play units but of course they are not going to let an unproven kid to get any time on special units. I agree with Ippe about having to prove he has hockey IQ. So far due to limited viewings it is impossible to tell. He does need that in order to be placed anywhere near Kotkaniemi, I truly hope that Pronman etc (who have him high) have actually scouted the s*** out of him and determined as much, because a kid with good height, superb skating and great hands added with high level of IQ could go really far in the future. He looked a bit small out there and I'd appreciate to have his real measurements. Hopefully he does have some frame and is just lanky at the moment.
If these scouting agencies haven't actually paid much if any attention to him before Hlinka and are basing most of their predictions on one tournament, it would be kind of unprofessional to have him that high so soon. Kotkaniemi looks to be the real deal and I'd have hard time having Kupari ahead of him at the moment, and I really like Kupari. What a year would that be if they both panned out though. No center worries for team Finland for the next two decades.
Eliteprospects now has him as 181cm/74kg, which I think looks realistic.
kelsier
Registered User
- Aug 17, 2013
- 4,280
- 1,741
I have not looked the statistics but he doesn't get enough ice time. I'd guess 10-12 minutes? Not playing either PK/PP cuts the time into fragments. Kind of pity. Think they are trying to make him deserve a spot at second powerplay unit. Hope he makes something happen soon enough. That skating & ability to handle puck at high speed is pretty though.
MMANumminen
Registered User
He was solid in his debyt against Pelicans. Great skater, did not look out of place, good passes, one nice takeaway.
Hokinaittii
Registered User
- Aug 15, 2015
- 2,497
- 1,293
Good news if that happens.
Was kind of 'frustrating' as a neutral fan to watch him not get any PP time even though his team was already up like 7-0 and there were bunch of opportunities to let the other lines get some PP time after the main PP units had already scored a few times on powe play.
kelsier
Registered User
- Aug 17, 2013
- 4,280
- 1,741
Cannot frigging believe it. I watched most of the two games and to me at least he didn't really seem to be a liability or that much "out of place". On top of it all, he barely even got to play. During the last game f.ex. there were so many penalties, he hardly got the chance to touch the surface. Not even a minute on PP. We are talking about a top prospect on his draft year who gets a two game tryout with little actual time to show what he can do.
To me it seems like Karpat isn't really that much of a team who focuses on the youth like they used to be. The difference quite likely being Suikkanen. Marjamaki seemed to really put at least an effort on development and cared about the youngsters. Suikkanen looks to be more about results, which raises a question of Kupari being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I wonder if Aho (can't remember anymore) was any better on his first two games and what would have happened if they didn't show patience with him. He was nowhere close to being the same level of prospect at the same age. The kid might not be anywhere close to even playing in the NHL today if he wasn't shown good faith at the time he needed it.
First of all Suikkanen is not coaching Kärpät this season. Their coach is Marjamäki's former number two, Mikko Manner. Secondly I have to say that Kupari is well on his way of becoming the most overhyped Finnish prospect I have seen. I saw him play in Finland's every game in the U18 WJC and now in the Liiga games that he played. Unfortunately he seems to me like a kid with excellent skating and pretty good hands, but unfortunately he is lacking with most of other things. Especially his hockey IQ looks pretty mediocre to me.
It's also good to remember that Aho was just barely left out from the first round. I believe that Aho was mostly overlooked because of his smallish size, and he had also one pretty weak showing in the U18 WJC, at least by points (the whole team sucked then though, especially the coaching). But otherwise his point production for example as an underager in B-juniors earlier was pretty excellent.
Hockey IQ might be a bit difficult thing to see and judge, but I honestly think that I have a pretty good sense in seeing it. I saw quite early already that Pulju has pretty mediocre hockey IQ, and I also saw from the first games that I saw Aho play in, that he has exceptional hockey IQ.
Unfortunately I see nothing even close to Aho's hockey IQ in Kupari, so honestly at the moment I'm not too high on Kupari. I wouldn't even be surprised if he slipped to the second round after all. Although skating is in today's hockey even overappreciated, so that might after all save Kupari from falling, as long as he manages to produce well at WJC tournaments.
Last edited:
- Status
Ad
Upcoming events
-
Pelicans Lahti @ Tappara Tampere - Tappara leads series 2-0Wagers: 1Staked: $14,588.00Event closes- Updated:
-
-
-
-
