F Konsta Helenius - Jukurit, FIN Liiga (2024 Draft)

[Erikfromfin]

Right shot right winger. A skating machine flies past opponents down the wing also has good hands and goalscorers shot and finishing abilities also works hard defensivily. Top Finns for 2024 Draft.
Konsta Helenius at eliteprospects.com

Late but couple clips from Pohjola and Germany games

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[FrankMTL]

Disappointing U18s for Helenius. I expected a lot more.

I think a lot of us did.

A total of 1 assist against the USA and Sweden is not a great showing for a player of his skill level.

 

[BerthMania]

I thought Helenius was good today against Sweeden, but not ''special good'' if that makes sense.

 

[JabbaJabba]

Sweden and USA paid special attention to Helenius. Kinda hard for him to do much when the opponents knew that if they stop this guy they basically stop the whole team. Still he created chances for others and for himself, just got no support. I hope he gets a chance to play at World Championships still, there he won't be alone.

 

[FinPanda]

It was pretty much a one guy team and good teams know how to stop it. Finland didn't have much going outside of him.

 

[Michoulicious]

I think a lot of us did.

A total of 1 assist against the USA and Sweden is not a great showing for a player of his skill level.

Not a Helenius fan, but U18 performance is one of the worst predictors ever.

 

[FrankMTL]

Not a Helenius fan, but U18 performance is one of the worst predictors ever.

Agreed, but that’s doesn’t mean I wasn’t expecting more out of him.

 

[LeProspector]

There’s better players with more development runway in this draft. Like I said before, I wouldn’t touch him before pick 11.

Don’t get sucked in by Stats.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Not a Helenius fan, but U18 performance is one of the worst predictors ever.

Agreed

US and Team Canada are always so stacked they just run over other teams in these and the players end up with gazillion points. Try having one or two first round picks if you're lucky, a few later round picks and mostly a bunch of kids who'll never get drafted. It's a whole lot easier to look good when your team is stacked.

I think Helenius played about as well as expected. The team needed him to drag them to quarterfinals - he couldn't do it alone, no shame in that. He showed his craftiness, speed, zone-entries, forechecking, backchecking and plays mature game; all the stuff you know he excells at. He also showed that his shot or his willingess to use it aren't all there yet.

Remember that his ceiling has been projected be a second line center in the NHL, not a first pick #1 center.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Agreed

US and Team Canada are always so stacked they just run over other teams in these and the players end up with gazillion points. Try having one or two first round picks if you're lucky, a few later round picks and mostly a bunch of kids who'll never get drafted. It's a whole lot easier to look good when your team is stacked.

I think Helenius played about as well as expected. The team needed him to drag them to quarterfinals - he couldn't do it alone, no shame in that. He showed his craftiness, speed, zone-entries, forechecking, backchecking and plays mature game; all the stuff you know he excells at. He also showed that his shot or his willingess to use it aren't all there yet.

Remember that his ceiling has been projected be a second line center in the NHL, not a first pick #1 center.

Look how more points someone like Hagens has than his teammates. Same with McKenna and Martone for Canada. Not like there’s 10 guys on each team with 5 or more points.

There’s better players with more development runway in this draft. Like I said before, I wouldn’t touch him before pick 11.

Don’t get sucked in by Stats.

It’s not a good look for any players that hope to be top 10 picks this year when Hagens, McKenna, and Martone are running up the score on them. Those guys are terrific players for future drafts, but they shouldn’t be outscored by younger players by such a margin.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Look how more points someone like Hagens has than his teammates. Same with McKenna and Martone for Canada. Not like there’s 10 guys on each team with 5 or more points.

Okay. Now swap McKenna or Hagens to team Finland and Konsta Helenius US/Can and see what happens. Hey man, maybe they'll perform the same, but I would not bet my money on it.

Team USA has seven players with 7 points or more. Team Finland had two, who were the top scorers for that team. Kind of a dishonest way to frame things.

Also are Hagens and McKenna not expected to be the absolute cream of the crop in their drafts? Helenius is projected around picks 10-15. I do agree that they are having incredible tournaments, but they're also supposed to have elite ceilings.

If you really want to stare at the statsheet, then you can go check out how much Finnish NHL players have scored in their respective U18 tournaments. You'll find that the numbers are not very high. We don't tend to have 11-0 games against teams.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Not a Helenius fan, but U18 performance is one of the worst predictors ever.

Yeah but it's always.. OK he produces in the Finnish League but none of it really looks special or something that predicts he will be a high point producer in the NHL.

So you say, OK, let's see how he does against the U20 group and his skill doesn't flash any higher there, it's still the same struggle to find what makes him top 10 good.

So then you go to the u18s and it's like, ok, here is playing against only draft eligible and younger, let's see that skill shine.. and he only produces on the PP against weak teams, gets handed his lunch by Teddy Stiga against the USA and lays an egg against Sweden in an elimination game.

At this point you can say yes he's smart and he's responsible, maybe he can play the middle in the NHL and there's versatility to go on the wing.

High end shot? No, it's good but not great.
High end playmaking? It's better than his scoring ability but it's not eye popping.

You can pick him and be comfortable that he's a NHLer and likely is a 2nd liner. It's just when in the draft is that certainty better than the upside play.

Banking on Helenius to be so smart he's Sebastien Aho in the NHL is a rare proposition. If you're right it pays off, if not, then you're probably holding the bag wishing you went elsewhere.

 

[illone84]

Helenius back to the Men's team Yllättävä käänne Leijonissa: Junnukisojen tähti tekee paluun

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Yeah but it's always.. OK he produces in the Finnish League but none of it really looks special or something that predicts he will be a high point producer in the NHL.

What? It does look special. He's 17 and reads the game better and faster than the people around him. He skates better than most. He was the best player on his Liiga team in the playoffs.

Again, no one's projecting him to be a 1C in the NHL. That's the context.

Reading this stuff is hilarious, It feels like a bunch of people who've probably barely watched him (Based on the fact that you are not Finnish and watching the games from outside Finland is not easy or fun) trying to convince themselves that there's no elite player here, which no one even claims there is, he's just some dude who'll get picked somewhere in the first round.

 

[57special]

What? It does look special. He's 17 and reads the game better and faster than the people around him. He skates better than most. He was the best player on his Liiga team in the playoffs.

Again, no one's projecting him to be a 1C in the NHL. That's the context.

Reading this stuff is hilarious, It feels like a bunch of people who've probably barely watched him (Based on the fact that you are not Finnish and watching the games from outside Finland is not easy or fun) trying to convince themselves that there's no elite player here, which no one even claims there is, he's just some dude who'll get picked somewhere in the first round.

I'm on board with most of what you are saying, but what people are debating is whether Helenius fits into the forward tier just after Celebrini, or at least, the tier after Celebrini and Demidov. Does he belong in the group with Catton, Eiserman(who is even more controversial)and Lindstrom, which would make him a top 10-12 pick? I would say that the answer is yes. No one is calling him a mere "first rounder", and in the same tier as Parascak.

It's no shame to be one of the top 5-7 forwards in this draft. That's usually enough to guarantee a top 10 pick, but this is a very unusual draft with at least 6, and maybe 7 Dmen who are top 12-13 worthy, which pushes down where he might be picked.

Helenius, like any prospect, might bust, but he is far from the most risky pick early in this draft. Lindstrom's and Jiricek's injuries, the one way nature of Parekh's and Eiserman's game, Yakemchuk's mental game are all more concerning.

Helenius appears to be less of a boom/bust candidate than the above, but might have a lower ceiling.

 

[Nabrules]

seems like he’d be a very good fit being Michkov’s centre in PHI.

I do think he has the potential to be a 1st line centre but more realistically think he ends up being a good top 6 centre in the NHL. At pick 12/13 you take that all day.

Hope he lasts that long!