Helenius: what's the upside?

[Meat Wave]

I'm a bit misinformed concerning Riku Helenius.

I have seen him only once during the WU18 tournament, and though he looked good, I didn't really get a feel of how good a prospect he is. To Finnish fans who have had the occasion to see him many times, how does he compare to Toivonen or Lehtonen in terms of style and potential?

Is he really a notch ahead of Bernier in his progression?

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[Phenomenon]

As has been said in most of the prospect reports Helenius is a conventional big stand-up butterfly goalie and very athetic as most of the new generation of Finnish goalies (Rask, Lehtonen, Toivonen) are, so he is able to face a huge number of shots. The style is patient and he goes down only when necessary - and still covers the top half of the net with his large frame. His positioning is very good and he knows how to make himself look bigger in the crease. He is not as aggressive in challenging the shooter as Rask is, but IMO better with rebound control than the older hot goalie prospect from Ilves. Glove side is excellent, but blocker side needs more work.

He has very good work ethics and is still in a development phase. I expect him to reach his full potential in 3-4 years and I believe he has potential of becoming a franchise goaltender.

Riku is one the biggest risers on this years rankings due to absolutely superb play in WJC, where he showed everyone that he can steal games by himself. He was also able to improve his game all the time and astonished many with his mature appearance under pressure. I have not been following Bernier's development closely, so it is quite hard to make any comparison.

 

[Kirk- NEHJ]

Red Line's not crazy about him, but they acknowledged that he will go a lot higher than where they have him in their rankings.

They feel he gets more attention than is warranted because of the outstanding young goalies Finland has produced in recent years.