Prospect Info: Henrik Tikkanen

[TheWhiteWhale30]

Henrik Tikkanen​

Goalie -- shoots L
Born Sep 28 2000 -- Lohja, Finland
[22 yrs. ago]
Height 6.08 -- Weight 215
Drafted by New York Islanders
- round 7 #214 overall 2020 NHL Entry Draft

Season	Team	Lge	GP	A	PIM	Min	GA	EN	SO	GAA	W	L	T	Svs	Pct

2022-23

Worcester Railers

ECHL

10

0

0

565

20

0

1

2.12

8

2

0

286

0.935

With how well Varlamov is playing this year it is looking less and less likely that he will re-sign. Just can’t imagine he would leave that much money on the table to remain a backup. Got me thinking about who will our back up be next year. Schneider is good but just won’t ever be a full time NHL goalie again. Skareks save % is awful again this year. That means the Islanders likely go the Free Agent route or a super hot take… Henrik Tikkanen ??

In his first season in North America he is showing very very well. With the Railers in the ECHL so far he is 8-2-0 2.12 GAA .935% . Appleby (Railers other goalie) on the other hand is a .895% in the same amount of games. The sample size is obviously very small, but I would imagine he is already 4th on the depth chart right behind Schneider. Would think he is going to be brought up to Bridgeport sooner rather than later.

Will Tikkanen be backing up Sorokin next year ? Slim chance, but it is worth keeping an eye on him. Interested to see how well he does when he eventually gets his call up to the AHL. For a 7th round pick in 2020 to even see him in the ECHL 2 years later is encouraging… even more so to see him putting up the numbers he is. Very early but the Islanders may have found a diamond in the rough.

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[SCMURRAY]

Varly will be 35 on his next contract so signing on as back up for say 2-2.5mil does not seem unrealistic. There isnt too many GMs jumping to have their starter at 35+. So honestly I think he resigns with the Isles

With that said, Tikkanen has nice numbers so far but its the ECHL so lets see some AHL games. Like you said slim chance he's the back up but doesnt hurt to have a prospect.
And whats his story? Drafted in 2020 but never signed a ELC? I guess he just has a minor league contract?

 

[TheWhiteWhale30]

Varly will be 35 on his next contract so signing on as back up for say 2-2.5mil does not seem unrealistic. There isnt too many GMs jumping to have their starter at 35+. So honestly I think he resigns with the Isles

With that said, Tikkanen has nice numbers so far but its the ECHL so lets see some AHL games. Like you said slim chance he's the back up but doesnt hurt to have a prospect.
And whats his story? Drafted in 2020 but never signed a ELC? I guess he just has a minor league contract?

I would like to see him re-sign but with numbers like .929, .911, .922(this year) he is still a capable number 1 or at the very least a 1a/1b like here. I agree islanders would be looking for 2-2.5 per but I can see him getting a 2 year deal at Atleast 4M per. Is he willing to leave the rest to stay here with Ilya on a winning team ? Maybe. There will be a few teams who would love to have him and have the cap space. See what happens.

As far as Tikkanen idk too much about him. I know he put up good numbers in Sweden and now is doing well the ECHL. Normally I’d say he would just not pan out like most of our goalie picks (Sorokin and dipietro our only real exceptions) but he seems to be projecting well so far. Not going to get ahead of myself as we all thought Soderstrom would be Sorokins backup by now and even he has not worked out. Goalies are a crap shoot. Hopefully he continues to play well because we have no real prospects in net. Tristan Lennox (3rd rd 2021) is the closest thing to one and he is way too soon to tell

 

[Throttle]

Varly’s current starting options in summer 2023 are LAK and CAR. Maybe BUF and SJ. Fleury got $7M/2yrs at 38. Lou probably goes 3yrs to lower cap hit to keep the tandem going.

CAR is his best option for money, playing time, and competition. Isles can get Freddy for $2.5-3.5.

 

[crasherino]

If Varly can get $4-5m somewhere, good for him, and he should take it. But if its a difference between $2m here and less than $3m somewhere else, my guess is he stays. He's playing great this year but he's also probably found the right amount of playing time. Push a 35 year old Varly over 40 games a year, could be a recipe for injury.

They've been at a roughly 2/1 ratio as far as games played. He'll likely end up with 30 starts this year. That's significant action. And from what I've heard anecdotally (A guy I know has taken both goalies fishing recently), he seems to like it here. What does that mean? Probably nothing, but if the numbers/playing time are close, my guess is he stays.

I don't know much about Tikkanen but hopefully he moves up to BP next year and continues his upward trajectory. We've been blessed with goalie health in recent times and haven't had to dip below our #2. That changes real quick in this league.

 

[xECK29x]

Being we didn't offer him a contract to keep his rights and is not a part of our organization I can't imagine they have much interest. However I'm sure the team is monitoring him pretty closely in the ECHL (which is a tough league for goalies based on the poor team structure and chaotic play).

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Be nice for this kid to get AHL time at some point this season to get higher competition in.

 

[seafoam]

I wouldn't be surprised if he got a contract this summer.

 

[seafoam]

Be nice for this kid to get AHL time at some point this season to get higher competition in.

Not that I think it will happen, but they should just trade Skarek and roll with Schneider + Appleby/Tikkanen in Bridgeport.

Skarek hasn't posted a season with a save percentage above .900 since coming to North America.

Try and get a 'Verhaeghe' for some team desperately looking for a minor league goaltender.

 

[210]

Being we didn't offer him a contract to keep his rights and is not a part of our organization I can't imagine they have much interest. However I'm sure the team is monitoring him pretty closely in the ECHL (which is a tough league for goalies based on the poor team structure and chaotic play).

If they didn't have interest, why did they sign him to an AHL contract? Why would they bother bringing a kid over from Europe if they weren't interested in him?

 

[Mike C]

If they didn't have interest, why did they sign him to an AHL contract? Why would they bother bringing a kid over from Europe if they weren't interested in him?

Someone asked why anyone thought it was a good idea to hire Jeff Saturday as a head coach or Garth Snow as a GM on the football thread a few days ago

I told a little story there. I think maybe that applies here and may answer many other of life's puzzling questions.

 

[xECK29x]

If they didn't have interest, why did they sign him to an AHL contract? Why would they bother bringing a kid over from Europe if they weren't interested in him?

I think you answered your own question, they brought him over to get a better look at him, doesn't mean much of anything. The Isles also drafted guys and immediately signed them to AHL contracts and nothing happened. It's just depth.

 

[210]

I think you answered your own question, they brought him over to get a better look at him, doesn't mean much of anything. The Isles also drafted guys and immediately signed them to AHL contracts and nothing happened. It's just depth.

Why would you want a better look at someone you had no interest in? There are a lot of options out there for an AHL backup and even more that are AHL/ECHL tweener guys. You don't fly guys in from Europe without having an interest in them.

 

[Mike C]

Why would you want a better look at someone you had no interest in? There are a lot of options out there for an AHL backup and even more that are AHL/ECHL tweener guys. You don't fly guys in from Europe without having an interest in them.

It's kinda like spending money on women you aren't gonna marry. Just want a better look. Maybe you'll get lucky and something good will happen. At worst you backfill the list of ports in the storm you can call when you're desperate

 

[steveat]

He reminds me of a Ryan Miller. Very lanky and light compared to how tall he is.

 

[TheWhiteWhale30]

Being we didn't offer him a contract to keep his rights and is not a part of our organization I can't imagine they have much interest. However I'm sure the team is monitoring him pretty closely in the ECHL (which is a tough league for goalies based on the poor team structure and chaotic play).

Islanders are definitely keeping an eye on him. If he keeps putting up numbers like this, especially with how weak our goalie prospects are… I would imagine he will be offered a contract in the very near future

 

[TheWhiteWhale30]

Tikkanen called up to Bridgeport

 

[Strummergas]

Tikkanen called up to Bridgeport

Well, it worked for the Sens....

 

[Fist of Fury]

Well, it worked for the Sens....

Bring him up! Deal Sorokin & Varlamov... Yes Yes Yes

 

[The Wahligator]

Getting him some AHL action in anticipation of a Varlamov trade?

 

[Chardo]

Related to Esa?

 

[TheWhiteWhale30]

Getting him some AHL action in anticipation of a Varlamov trade?

Exactly what I thought

 

[crashthenet]

We should call this guy up the next time we play the Islanders. He'll get a shutout.