Forgotten prospect Hakanpaa

[Frenzy31]

Vannelli is still very slender. He needs to take advantage of some of those miracle body building "secrets" that keep appearing in advertisements on the Yahoo home page.

That would be good for him, but God designed his body a certain way, and it may not hold weight over the course of a season- he may not get above 190. CHL was great to build his stamina - number of games, but not to bulk up. I think he would benefit from going to the AHL next year - developmentally. Like other poster, I have felt form the beginning that college would have been the best option for him.

As for Hakanpaa, he isn't Polak. Polak is and always has been a strong skater. He is fast and can get down and back quickly. Hakanpaa's strength is not in his skating.

I went back and look at my Traverse City Posts. It is a tourney that is dominated by the older players - guys used to playing at the AHL level - speed of the game is just faster. Hakanpaa should have had a strong showing, and yet Vannelli and Sergeev - both CHL players looked better. Yes, one tourney doesn't mean a lot and I only saw 2 games, but based on that I would take either player over Hakanpaa at this point.

 

[Renard]

That would be good for him, but God designed his body a certain way, and it may not hold weight over the course of a season- he may not get above 190. CHL was great to build his stamina - number of games, but not to bulk up. I think he would benefit from going to the AHL next year - developmentally. Like other poster, I have felt form the beginning that college would have been the best option for him.

As for Hakanpaa, he isn't Polak. Polak is and always has been a strong skater. He is fast and can get down and back quickly. Hakanpaa's strength is not in his skating.

I went back and look at my Traverse City Posts. It is a tourney that is dominated by the older players - guys used to playing at the AHL level - speed of the game is just faster. Hakanpaa should have had a strong showing, and yet Vannelli and Sergeev - both CHL players looked better. Yes, one tourney doesn't mean a lot and I only saw 2 games, but based on that I would take either player over Hakanpaa at this point.

I compared only his fighting ability to Polak's, and that based on very little informantion. I did not compare Hakanpaa's skating to Polak's - Polak was an excellent skater for a big man.

As for Vannelli, I hope he can get to 190 pounds. Right now, the Blues' web site has him listed at 6'2", 165 pounds.

Polak was an awesome physical specimen and could have been a real terror out there, but he wasn't mean and really couldn't defend himself in a fight.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

The only news I have seen about Hakanpaa was a clip of him in a fight after he administered a hard hit on another player. Hakanpaa reminded me of Roman Polak in the fight, which is not a good thing.

If you are going to be a hard hitting defenseman, you've have to expect to be challenged now and then. You don't have to win, but you have to be able to defend yourself.

But I only saw the one fight. Everone has a bad day now and then.

And of course you are referring to the 5'10" Jason Zucker beating the crap out of the 6'5" Hakanpaa. It was, indeed, a HUGE hit and Zucker came to the rescue of his teammate.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

ruptured disc was the early word.

oyvey!

 

[Oberyn]

I'm not worried about our defensive depth. Parayko and Schmaltz will hopefully both go pro next season and Vannelli will likely be there too. Sucks to hear that Hakanpaa has regressed but that's the way the game goes sometimes.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I'm not worried about our defensive depth. Parayko and Schmaltz will hopefully both go pro next season and Vannelli will likely be there too. Sucks to hear that Hakanpaa has regressed but that's the way the game goes sometimes.

I am most definitely worried about the Blues' defensive depth. Next to Lindbohm (he is suspect, imo, but at least noticeable at times), the Blues have exactly zero NHL-ready defensive prospects. And there are exactly zero prospects who we strongly feel are one or two seasons away from being NHL-ready. I pay no attention whatsoever to Schmaltz and Parayko, so they're going to have to prove their worth to me/us once they go to Chicago for the 2015-16 season, which will be the final year of the original three-year affiliation agreement with the Blues.

Hopefully both of them turn pro after their collegiate season is over. As mentioned UAF is banned from postseason play (link), so Parayko should join the Wolves right away. Schmaltz should have time to report to the Wolves even if his team goes deep in the playoffs.

Maybe we can get a glimpse of each player at the pro level this season.

The Blues have a huge hole on the depth chart for several reasons:

In 2006, '07 & '08 the Blues produced a capable NHL defenseman in EJ, Cole and Pietrangelo, respectively, and each are still playing with Shattenkirk replacing EJ. This is a good thing.

Rundblad ('09) turned into Tarasenko.
Ponich and Shields ('09) didn't pan out.
Hakanpaa ('10) is not progressing (not regressing either, btw).
Edmundson ('11) is injured and cannot develop.
Lindbohm ('12) is on the radar, for better or worse.
Schmaltz and Parayko ('12) are coming out of college soon.
Vanelli ('13) should be able to go back to juniors as an "over-ager" if he is not ready for the AHL.

Three draft classes in a row went nowhere, hence the developmental hole. We cannot expect Schmaltz and Parayko to save the day, but maybe Lindbohm sticks around and drastically improves his play. That would be a saving grace for the Blues!! Maybe Parayko surprises us all and does well in Chicago right away. Roster space, btw, is not a problem for the Wolves as the AHL allows each team to carry as many players as they can afford. At one point last season the Wolves actually had 35 players on the roster.

Lots of moving parts on defense for the Blues. I do not envy Army and his staff in dealing with this situation.

 

[Frenzy31]

I am most definitely worried about the Blues' defensive depth. Next to Lindbohm (he is suspect, imo, but at least noticeable at times), the Blues have exactly zero NHL-ready defensive prospects. And there are exactly zero prospects who we strongly feel are one or two seasons away from being NHL-ready. I pay no attention whatsoever to Schmaltz and Parayko, so they're going to have to prove their worth to me/us once they go to Chicago for the 2015-16 season, which will be the final year of the original three-year affiliation agreement with the Blues.

Hopefully both of them turn pro after their collegiate season is over. As mentioned UAF is banned from postseason play (link), so Parayko should join the Wolves right away. Schmaltz should have time to report to the Wolves even if his team goes deep in the playoffs.

Maybe we can get a glimpse of each player at the pro level this season.

The Blues have a huge hole on the depth chart for several reasons:

In 2006, '07 & '08 the Blues produced a capable NHL defenseman in EJ, Cole and Pietrangelo, respectively, and each are still playing with Shattenkirk replacing EJ. This is a good thing.

Rundblad ('09) turned into Tarasenko.
Ponich and Shields ('09) didn't pan out.
Hakanpaa ('10) is not progressing (not regressing either, btw).
Edmundson ('11) is injured and cannot develop.
Lindbohm ('12) is on the radar, for better or worse.
Schmaltz and Parayko ('12) are coming out of college soon.
Vanelli ('13) should be able to go back to juniors as an "over-ager" if he is not ready for the AHL.

Three draft classes in a row went nowhere, hence the developmental hole. We cannot expect Schmaltz and Parayko to save the day, but maybe Lindbohm sticks around and drastically improves his play. That would be a saving grace for the Blues!! Maybe Parayko surprises us all and does well in Chicago right away. Roster space, btw, is not a problem for the Wolves as the AHL allows each team to carry as many players as they can afford. At one point last season the Wolves actually had 35 players on the roster.

Lots of moving parts on defense for the Blues. I do not envy Army and his staff in dealing with this situation.

You have to mention both Schmaltz and Parayko in this - after all they are our top two prospects on defense. It would be like saying we have no forward depth because Fabbri and Barbashev are not in the AHL. Lindbohm will likely see a role with the Blues next year and I think Schmaltz will likely be ready for duty after a full season in the AHL.

Yes, I agree that Ponich and Edmundson have not turned out. Ponich is a bust and Edmundson maybe also soley due to injury. (Hard to look at kids taken after the 2nd round as someone that can make a difference in the NHL). Shield and Hakanpaa were/are long shots to begin with. I think having moderate expectations of both is a good way to look at things. Heck, I wasn't even sure Shields would ever make it in the AHL.

At this point, we have 8 NHL ready/playing players under contract and that is pretty solid, IMO.

 

[Dbrownss]

Our top 4 is locked up though, 3rd pairing dman aren't hard to address through FA till new blood is ready. I wouldn't worry too much about it

 

[STL fan in MN]

And of course you are referring to the 5'10" Jason Zucker beating the crap out of the 6'5" Hakanpaa. It was, indeed, a HUGE hit and Zucker came to the rescue of his teammate.

Yeah, that game was here in Des Moines so I attended it in person. I just remember being super shocked at how the 5'10" Zucker ragdolled the 6'5" Hakanpaa. It was a total beat down.

As for our defensive depth being NHL ready, I do see that as a concern. I think Lindbohm is pretty close and has done fairly well when called up so I would feel comfortable with him playing if the Blues really needed him too. Regner is also a decent vet call-up option. Other than that though, Hakanpaa and Edmundson haven't taken the step I'm sure the org hoped they would take this season (no fault to Edmundson, ruptured disc is not good at all) and Schmaltz, Parayko and Vannelli have zero pro experience so I don't think they can be considered legit NHL callup options until at least a year from now. The Blues may need to sign a depth d-man or two over the summer to help bridge that gap (ie. what they tried to do with Prosser before he was unfortunately plucked from waivers). It's a concern but a fixable/manageable concern IMO.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I trust your opinions when it comes to prospects.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I trust your opinions when it comes to prospects.

And I absolutely respect yours as well, especially any current Wolves as you see them way more than I!

Regarding Schmaltz, Parayko and Vannelli, the true test will be how they look once they turn pro. The AHL is a much faster pace than either the WHL or NCAA, and then of course the NHL is that much faster. Hockey sense really starts to play a huge role in the pro game as the time players have to make decisions shrinks dramatically.

We won't have a good read on them until they get a good number of AHL games under their belts but here is how I would GUESS those 3 will fare once they turn pro.

Schmaltz - he has high hockey sense so I think he will adapt to the speed of the AHL fairly easily. I expect a good number of defensive and coverage mistakes though and he may struggle with the increased physicality early on as well. All the tools to be a good AHL and then a good NHL d-man are there though.

Parayko - I THINK he has pretty good hockey sense but I've only seen him a handful of times on TV and it's hard to fairly evaluate d-men on TV since they're out of the picture so much of the time. He's dominating physically and with his skill so how well he will adapt to the AHL is still a bit of a question mark for me. I THINK he will adapt fairly well but we should be able to get a very good read on how good his hockey sense is once he turns pro. All the tools are there for him to be a very good two-way d-man in a couple years.

Vannelli - he's the hard one to predict. He has super high offensive hockey sense but he's still struggling mightily defensively. Are the struggles because he's simply small? Because he has poor defensive hockey sense? Because he really doesn't care about the defensive part of the game, ie. he has the mental ability to be good defensively but he doesn't care? Again, we'll find out a lot more when he turns pro. My gut take at this point though is that it's a little bit of a combo of all 3 of those - he's been focusing on making his strengths stronger (he's a very good offensive d-man) but perhaps hasn't quite realized that he really needs to focus on his defensive game to make it as a NHL d-man, and he doesn't engage much physically since he's pretty small...but that size issue is only going to become a bigger weakness in the AHL than it currently is in the WHL. My guess is that if the Blues don't feel he's physically ready for the pro game, then they will try to get him to play one more season in the WHL (this is highly unusual for a 2nd rd pick though to play as an overager (20 yr old) and I also think he has noting more to learn in the WHL. What he really needs is a schedule that includes a lot of bulking up, more practices and fewer games...but the college ship has sailed. OR if he is deemed physically developed enough, I could see him being a 6-8 d-man for the Wolves or having him start in the ECHL and try to have him bulk up there. IF all 3 turn pro this summer, then it will be hard for the Blues to find AHL roles for all of them as I doubt either them or the Wolves would want to have 3 rookies on the blueline all starting at the same time.

I'll also not that one way to potentially "fix" the problem of having 3 rookie d-men turning pro at the same time is to trade one of them...if the right deal presents itself of course. I would absolutely try to hold onto Schmaltz and Parayko if so could if I was the GM though.

 

[Renard]

Yeah, that game was here in Des Moines so I attended it in person. I just remember being super shocked at how the 5'10" Zucker ragdolled the 6'5" Hakanpaa. It was a total beat down.

As for our defensive depth being NHL ready, I do see that as a concern. I think Lindbohm is pretty close and has done fairly well when called up so I would feel comfortable with him playing if the Blues really needed him too. Regner is also a decent vet call-up option. Other than that though, Hakanpaa and Edmundson haven't taken the step I'm sure the org hoped they would take this season (no fault to Edmundson, ruptured disc is not good at all) and Schmaltz, Parayko and Vannelli have zero pro experience so I don't think they can be considered legit NHL callup options until at least a year from now. The Blues may need to sign a depth d-man or two over the summer to help bridge that gap (ie. what they tried to do with Prosser before he was unfortunately plucked from waivers). It's a concern but a fixable/manageable concern IMO.

I'm guessing that fighting wasn't allowed in the amateur hockey that Hakapaa grew up in. Its a big disadvantage for Europeans who want to play in the NHL, especially for defensemen who want to play a physical game. They have to learn to fight as a matter of on-the-job training at the professional level.

 

[Suraj Sukumar]

The name you were looking for is Manny Malhotra. He is of Indian descent as well.

Great read almost decade later. Nothing like going at a 20-something kid starting a writing career. To be honest, wish I paid more attention to these threads back in the day. Not to join the keyboard warriors, but to see if there's actually something to learn. Turns out, not much.

If we're sticking to the race game in 2023, hockey's all you have, so hold on tight lol.

 

[jura]

Regarding the current Blues writer for HF, Suraj Sukumar, I don't think he should at all be judged based on his name or ethnicity. That said, I can't really say I've ever been all too impressed with anything he's written. It's hard for me to take a guy seriously when he ranks our prospects as follows:

1. Barbashev
2. Binnington
3. Allen
4. Rattie
5. Fabbri
6. Schmaltz
7. Vannelli
8. Letunov
9. Jaskin
10. Parayko

put Parayko - Pronger 2.0 on #2 and print it!