Confirmed with Link: Canes Agree to Terms with Sebastian Aho

[MinJaBen]

Yeah I think that 35-40 point range is realistic, and I'd be really happy if he does that while showing improvement as the year goes on. It's the 60+, Calder type stuff that I just don't see. Maybe in a different situation a la Panarin playing with Kane, but not this year on this team.

No doubting his smarts, and his ceiling could well be the highest of our forwards. But I can't imagine him coming near that ceiling this year. Honestly at the World Cup I thought he was "OK." That's not meant as an insult, the fact he was even selected at that age is phenomenal, and Finland as a whole left a lot to be desired. But on the small ice I saw a guy with some adjusting to do and some strength to gain. I didn't see strong on his skates, I saw him getting knocked down by Gadreau and Ghost, and having a tough time winning battles along the boards. You could see the skill is there, but he did get pushed around a little. Which again is fine for his age, but it tempered my expectations away from the high points totals. Not yet, and not on this anaemic team with the minutes he'll probably get. We had one guy reach 50 last year, I can't see a rookie beating out all of our other forwards by that big a margin. But I'd love to be wrong!

I'm not going to say expect the moon or anything, but I'd be real careful judging his season on what we saw in the WCH play. The whole Finish team was a mess...as an example, look how well Barkov did during that tournament. It is a short period of time, with new teammates, against the best teams in the world. I think he will do fine over the course of the year and get stronger as he gets more comfortable with his linemates.

 

[A Star is Burns]

I don't have any idea what to expect from a number of our players at this point. Obviously the 40-50 point range has been good for this team recently. But we have we have some young guys up front that are just very unpredictable. We have a few guys that have 50-60 point upside, but who knows which, if any, will hit anywhere near there. You'd probably bet against it, but who knows? Maybe with their improvement, plus a D that should get better in moving the puck as well, we get a few hitting higher than expected. Aho looked solid in the tournament, and he'll likely get some favorable minutes and match ups here. I think he can get anywhere from 25-60ish. I'd expect the lower end, and even with all the hype, I wouldn't be upset with that. But nobody saw Skinner having quite the rookie year he had.

 

[NotOpie]

Hype aside, I guess it depends on what peoples expectations are. I'm not exactly sure what to expect not having seeing him that much, but if I had to guess, I'd probably say he's going to get more sheltered 3rd line minutes against favorable match-ups and somewhere in the 30-40 point range.

So much this. 35 is a very realistic expectation for him, 50 possible if everything goes right, and he's smart enough for that to happen, but anything beyond that is probably stretching things.

Bing-****ing-oh!!!

I've said I would be very happy with 35 points with an upside of 45 - 50 points. He'll have some growing pains and I think he'll hit a wall toward the end of the season. Still, he's so very smart and ALWAYS puts himself in the right position. So upside potential is always there.

If he, Lindy, and Teuvo play together the majority of the season (which I think is unlikely), that group could put up 130-140 points. Thinking that more is going to come from that trio is probably a pipe dream....said the resident optimist.

 

[Roboturner913]

I'm also thinking 40 point range, but with really good two-way. Mainly I just want to see that he can anchor a line relatively soon. There's Skinner and Rask on the first line, Jordan and his pluggers on the second, if we can get a productive unit on the third line from some combination of Aho, Lindholm, TT, PDG or a dark horse like Saarela, it's going to mean the difference between going into the season really thinking you can contend for a playoff spot vs. going into the season just being a hopeful.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Man, I would love to see Aho hit some of the upside numbers some of the posters are saying even if it's the upper range/if everything goes right category, but I just don't see it. The Canes leading scorers the past 2 seasons under Peters have had 54 and 51 points. And that was veteran guys who got top 6 ES minutes and top 4 PP minutes among forwards.

I'll be ecstatic if Aho approached those numbers, but I think that's some lofty expectations for a guy adapting to a new country, a new team, a different sized rink and playing against a level of competition he's never face before (World Cup not withstanding).

I hope I'm wrong here, but I'll be happy with 30-40 points and playing a solid all around game.

 

[bleedgreen]

I agree with sens1 about him needing more strength and getting knocked around on the boards. He's got some learning to do in terms of adaptation. I think he'll have a better season than TT if he clicks and will be curious to compare him a bit to Lindy. I think Aho is more lethal around the net and better skating laterally but Lindy has a high skill level also and a few years experience.

Aho has to show Peters early he can win pucks on the boards and consistently not turn it over in those battles. What he does in open ice doesn't really matter in comparison. We're trying to play possession in the O zone, and while Aho has obviously skill in making offensive plays in those situations his ability to maintain possession on the boards in both zones may likely be the indicator of how ready he is for every day work.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

hes 19 years old

im ok with him showing all the physical signs of him being 19 years old, bc hes 19 years old

for this year, i dont care if he loses board battles bc hes small, he seems smart enough to stay in a mens league regardless

hes had a ridiculously short offseason and played more hockey than most, cant fit in time to bulk up during that schedule

ill wait until next offseason to be disappointed if he cant hold his own physically, in the past hes shown that he can be effective in other ways

 

[geehaad]

Good lord, he'll start skating with the team today...can y'all just hold off for a few hours before rehashing the same comments that have been thrown around all summer? Or better yet, wait until seeing him play in a game.

We have actual play to discuss now...summer is no longer an excuse.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

i predict 69 points

 

[The Faulker 27]

Man, I would love to see Aho hit some of the upside numbers some of the posters are saying even if it's the upper range/if everything goes right category, but I just don't see it. The Canes leading scorers the past 2 seasons under Peters have had 54 and 51 points. And that was veteran guys who got top 6 ES minutes and top 4 PP minutes among forwards.

I'll be ecstatic if Aho approached those numbers, but I think that's some lofty expectations for a guy adapting to a new country, a new team, a different sized rink and playing against a level of competition he's never face before (World Cup not withstanding).

I hope I'm wrong here, but I'll be happy with 30-40 points and playing a solid all around game.

I think 35-40 would be great. After seeing him in the WCH (small sample size I know), and his work in the FEL I think it's very possible he can hit those numbers and it's a realistic outlook.

Over all, I think the hype has died down some, and I'm just excited to see all these young guns fight for a roster position. Aho included.

 

[The Faulker 27]

i predict 69 points

Finally, someone with an accurate prediction.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

I agree with sens1 about him needing more strength and getting knocked around on the boards. He's got some learning to do in terms of adaptation. I think he'll have a better season than TT if he clicks and will be curious to compare him a bit to Lindy. I think Aho is more lethal around the net and better skating laterally but Lindy has a high skill level also and a few years experience.

Aho has to show Peters early he can win pucks on the boards and consistently not turn it over in those battles. What he does in open ice doesn't really matter in comparison. We're trying to play possession in the O zone, and while Aho has obviously skill in making offensive plays in those situations his ability to maintain possession on the boards in both zones may likely be the indicator of how ready he is for every day work.

I do not believe I have critiqued his play at all. I've never watched a game of his.

 

[bleedgreen]

Sorry I meant SaskCanesfan!

My bad.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

Sorry I meant SaskCanesfan!

My bad.

No problem!

 

[Mara]

It's pretty simple stuff as far as I see it. You can't expect a smallish(average) kid from the big rink to come over and start playing like a seasoned top sixer. It's extremely unlikely, and Aho is no exception. He'll be great in situations where he has room and time, but the physicality and speed of the game is just on another level playing against the mountain-sized modern NHLers. 40 points would be an amazing achievement, but it's not unreasonable to say he could struggle - a lot.

 

[kelsier]

Sometimes he reminds me of young Saku Koivu. I truly hope he can continue with this steep development curve and become one of the better centers in the NHL. Aho can still improve skating and he's always been able to compensate the lack of size by outwitting the opponent. There's no reason to not to have some real expectations for this one.

 

[cptjeff]

Eichel had 56 points last year. Panarin had 77 with a jaw dropping, run-away-with-the-Calder rookie year.

If Aho hits 50 it'll be a really good, Calder contending season. I don't think it's impossible that he could have a Panarin type season, but that's not at all likely and not at all necessary. I think 40-50 is an optimistic but entirely realistic range for him. I don't really see him hitting below 35. I mean, I could be completely wrong, but I think we're in for a decent show.

 

[DaveG]

With our team a Panarin-type season is still just 55-60 point range

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I know you said it wasn't likely, but I don't even think there's a remote chance of Aho having a Panarin type season. Panarin was 24 as a rookie and playing pretty much exclusively with Patrick Kane and Anisimov, getting 1st unit PP time with them and was on a team that scored the 6th most goals in the NHL. While nothing is impossible I guess, I'd be downright shocked if Aho's first season came anywhere near Panarin's as none of those things apply to Aho. Canes haven't even had a single player >55 points in the past 2 seasons.

 

[tarheelhockey]

With our team a Panarin-type season is still just 55-60 point range

Honestly it's just disgusting how low scoring is in the league. I have to constantly remind myself that 30-point players aren't abjectly horrible.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Honestly it's just disgusting how low scoring is in the league. I have to constantly remind myself that 30-point players aren't abjectly horrible.

05/06: NHL average was 3.08 Goals / G; Goalie SV% was 0.901
15/16: NHL average was 2.71 Goals / G; Goalie SV% was 0.915

So a 12% reduction in scoring and that's WITH adding 3v3 in OT so with 1230 total NHL games that's over 450 less goals / season. I'd have to do more digging, but PP has a lot to do with it. PP opportunities are down almost 50% from 05/06 (5.85 / game vs. 3.11 / game).

 

[AD Skinner]

I know a lot of people disliked it, but I kind of miss having all those power plays in a game.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Make the goal bigger.

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

Make the goal bigger.

curved goalposts plz

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Make the goal bigger.

bleh, smaller pads before bigger goal