Player Discussion Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Part 18

[Habs Halifax]

I would curious to see the counterfactual:
Replay Kk's first 3 years with at least the first two spent developing in Junior and/or the AHL.
But reality doesn't allow such curiosity to be fulfilled.

I have noticed him gradually developing more patience with the puck, allowing himself to survey the play. Once he adds more strength for puck protection, he should a good playmaker. Plus he's good around the front of the net and has a good shot. Really looking forward to seeing him at 24/25 - and playing with players with offensive aptitude.
But

I don't know his ceiling level cause that's guess work but the tools and hard work is there. Once he fills into that frame, he will have more confidence IMO. That's when his game comes together and he potentially busts out. A guy like Couturier had a similar path

 

[Andrei79]

Imagine if they drafted someone else at 3, they might already have won the cup !

 

[26Mats]

He’s creates so much space for his wingers in the offensive end. He’s fantastic. He just isn’t consistent. Hopefully it comes but he’s a beast at opening up space for his wingers and d.

Byron and Anderson have been great on the quick counter strike offense these playoffs. But I do look forward to seeing KK play with more talented offensive wingers down the road.

 

[BaseballCoach]

I would curious to see the counterfactual:
Replay Kk's first 3 years with at least the first two spent developing in Junior and/or the AHL.
But reality doesn't allow such curiosity to be fulfilled.

I have noticed him gradually developing more patience with the puck, allowing himself to survey the play. Once he adds more strength for puck protection, he should a good playmaker. Plus he's good around the front of the net and has a good shot. Really looking forward to seeing him at 24/25 - and playing with players with offensive aptitude.

I don't think KK will ever be a hell-bent for offence player. He will always have an eye on positioning and being on the right side of the puck. I see him down the road as a really good 2C who can break a game open at times.

 

[Archijerej]

I'm not bashing posters for calling him a bust, I'm calling out the posters for making this a shit thread. If we lose a game do you see Gallagher's thread get 8 pages of shit, or Danault's, or Weber or Petry, etc... on average.

Actually, Gallagher is described as washed up and traded away every season.

Weber was treated like dirt this year and regularly mocked for his "legendary stare" by the usual village idiots.

And don't get me started on Danault.

 

[Saxon]

Actually, Gallagher is described as washed up and traded away every season.

Weber was treated like dirt this year and regularly mocked for his "legendary stare" by the usual village idiots.

And don't get me started on Danault.

Yeah but those guys suck..

 

[Hannibal]

We need to grt him a shooting coach asap. That release sucks! His shot is always blocked.

 

[azcanuck]

The power play was pretty bad yesterday outside of Webers goal. Although KK has raised his play for sure last three games I dont like seeing him on the second team PP. He's too slow in reacting. Vegas SH unit puts immediate pressure on whoever has the puck. I personally like that style better than sitting back in the box. In the Final I want to see a different second unit PP.

 

[japhi]

Actually, Gallagher is described as washed up and traded away every season.

Weber was treated like dirt this year and regularly mocked for his "legendary stare" by the usual village idiots.

And don't get me started on Danault.

How about Price? General forum think was you can't pay a goalie as your best player. Significant sentiment that he should be moved to a contender, and a decent amount of posters would have left him unprotected.

In summary, the takes on this forum are embarrassing, Including the idea the KK was being poorly developed, that somehow he would be better served playing with inferior players, coaches and trainers in a shit league 20K miles away. Some players have it, some don't. Guys like Suzuki, KK and CC will get there, because they were always going to get there. Would be very hard to ruin a player that was going to be great in all the ways this forum believes great players can be ruined. These guys have faced adversity their whole playing careers, they aren't so fragile they can't take some games in the pressbox, a benching, time in the minors, going up and down. I suspect most prospects would laugh reading fans takes on player dev.

 

[Archijerej]

Yeah but those guys suck..

Yeah. If this forum had it's way, Anderson would have been healthy scratched before game 3.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Just imagine this team when he puts it together. My god.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I'm extremely pleased at how he's turning out but I have to say what he's turning into is not what I expected when we picked him and were all filled with optimism.

I was expecting him to turn into some sort of cerebral player who slows the play down, gains the zone easily, beats you with his mind not his body.

This kid is gonna be a bully in this league in a short few years. Absolute wrecking ball.

 

[Frank Drebin]

How about Price? General forum think was you can't pay a goalie as your best player. Significant sentiment that he should be moved to a contender, and a decent amount of posters would have left him unprotected.

In summary, the takes on this forum are embarrassing, Including the idea the KK was being poorly developed, that somehow he would be better served playing with inferior players, coaches and trainers in a shit league 20K miles away. Some players have it, some don't. Guys like Suzuki, KK and CC will get there, because they were always going to get there. Would be very hard to ruin a player that was going to be great in all the ways this forum believes great players can be ruined. These guys have faced adversity their whole playing careers, they aren't so fragile they can't take some games in the pressbox, a benching, time in the minors, going up and down. I suspect most prospects would laugh reading fans takes on player dev.

Careful, who knows, a couple more shifts on the wing and kk might be throwing blind passes up the middle in a playoff overtime game that result in a 2 on 0 goal with his 5th team in 3 years.

 

[le_sean]

I'm extremely pleased at how he's turning out but I have to say what he's turning into is not what I expected when we picked him and were all filled with optimism.

I was expecting him to turn into some sort of cerebral player who slows the play down, gains the zone easily, beats you with his mind not his body.

This kid is gonna be a bully in this league in a short few years. Absolute wrecking ball.

I guess we should have seen that coming, he’s Finnish. How many pure skill Finnish forwards are there? Not many, they almost all play the game hard and get points by working more than their opponents.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

I'm extremely pleased at how he's turning out but I have to say what he's turning into is not what I expected when we picked him and were all filled with optimism.

I was expecting him to turn into some sort of cerebral player who slows the play down, gains the zone easily, beats you with his mind not his body.

This kid is gonna be a bully in this league in a short few years. Absolute wrecking ball.

Very good chance he can still do both. He was doing quite a bit of what you were saying in his rookie year.

he's working from a very big palette. SO many dimensions to his game. you add that to him still being pretty gawky and you have a guy that's going to need time to put it all together.

Yeah I love how tenacious he is in the offensive zone on the forecheck. He just wants that puck back so bad. Pretty good at takeaways too. His game is going to be way more than points but I think he could very well do that too. Honestly I think he could still be just as essential as the other 2 kids. There's no guarantee but he's shown flashes to be able to kill you in SO many different ways. Having Suzuki and CC in the spotlight takes a lot of pressure off him and I think that's pretty ideal.

 

[cphabs]

Kid will turn 21 this July. His defensive play is well above average and he is already 50% on face offs. Let that sink in for a moment. Also, he’s 6’2 at 200lbs. He is going to put another 10-15 pounds on before he hits 24...
Oh, his offensive skills are only to get better.
Last player i enjoyed watching develop with this skill set? Guy Carboneau(sp)

 

[Captain Mountain]

Actually, Gallagher is described as washed up and traded away every season.

Weber was treated like dirt this year and regularly mocked for his "legendary stare" by the usual village idiots.

And don't get me started on Danault.

Some people have a hard time actually validly criticizing someones play/performance and instead bemoan that Montreal didn't pick someone else or come up with elementary school-level taunting nickname.

For instance, Weber's play did deserve criticism, but it was clearly injury related. He's still very clearly playing hurt. Gallagher and Petry too. Perry has that wrap on his wrist as well. And who knows about other guys.

Kotkaniemi has absolutely struggled at times this season and last. But he still hasn't turned 21 and we knew he was a raw prospect when he was drafted. Even if he wasn't in the NHL, it was always going to take time to develop his game. He was never as polished as Suzuki or Caufield when he came in. He still has work to do, but you see the tools, the attitude and the smarts and you can see that the high ceiling is still there. But it'll take time.

 

[Canadienna]

 

[azcanuck]

It's okay to look at his game with a critical eye knowing this is not the Finnish(ed) product. It's much more disingenuous to watch the guy struggle and argue with everyone that he's doing amazing. Can you imagine being so obtuse you chastise fellow posters that they shouldn't consider 0 assists in his first 20 playoff games to be a concern or at least worthy of a discussion

It does look like his game is looking better as the Vegas series went along. That's encouraging.

 

[Doc5]

It's okay to look at his game with a critical eye knowing this is not the Finnish(ed) product. It's much more disingenuous to watch the guy struggle and argue with everyone that he's doing amazing. Can you imagine being so obtuse you chastise fellow posters that they shouldn't consider 0 assists in his first 20 playoff games to be a concern or at least worthy of a discussion

It does look like his game is looking better as the Vegas series went along. That's encouraging.

I wouldn’t call posters supporting KK despite him not having any assists “Obtuse”. The assists have 0 to do with the way we’re evaluating him, just watch him play and you’ll see there are so many plays that he could have gotten points. Like a poster said above, he’s only filling into his body and once he puts it all together, the points will come.
In my humble opinion, obtuse is changing your opinion on a player based on 2 assists over the play offs.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

It's okay to look at his game with a critical eye knowing this is not the Finnish(ed) product. It's much more disingenuous to watch the guy struggle and argue with everyone that he's doing amazing. Can you imagine being so obtuse you chastise fellow posters that they shouldn't consider 0 assists in his first 20 playoff games to be a concern or at least worthy of a discussion

It does look like his game is looking better as the Vegas series went along. That's encouraging.

‘20 games and ZERO assists... LMAO this guy suckz!’

Yeah, great critical thinking in this thread.

 

[azcanuck]

‘20 games and ZERO assists... LMAO this guy suckz!’

Yeah, great critical thinking in this thread.

Sure bud, because that's how it went

 

[azcanuck]

I wouldn’t call posters supporting KK despite him not having any assists “Obtuse”. The assists have 0 to do with the way we’re evaluating him, just watch him play and you’ll see there are so many plays that he could have gotten points. Like a poster said above, he’s only filling into his body and once he puts it all together, the points will come.
In my humble opinion, obtuse is changing your opinion on a player based on 2 assists over the play offs.

I failed to see those plays where he was setting guys up. And you can take that argument to every player that plays. But after a while a pattern emerges where that argument loses it's validity. KK was struggling mightily in setting guys up. Getting some nice greasy goals was great. But setting up wingers? Practically non-existent up to the latter part of the Vegas series.

 

[HuGo Sham]

this is why the main board makes me laugh (vomit?) when discussing habs next year...
like we have 4 cornerstones that are 21 or younger...if they all improve, like they're doing now,
i fail to see how teams like boston and toronto are better than habs

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Sure bud, because that's how it went

Yeah, let's check out this astute analysis and level headed thinking on KK.

It's always something. Poor guy.

I remember last year he had the brief stint with the Finnish hockey club and he struggled to produce. Unfair yelled his fans. Look at his line mates!!!

LOL. Finns would get a real kick out of posters like you.

Finns tell it like it is. They would say it's high time KK got off his ass. There a no excuse nation. How else did we fend off the Russians?

it's never KK. It's always someone else's fault.

Every game, every moment. Especially keeping a keen eye on my fellow Finn. And he just doesnt create offense for his wingers.

Last on the team in expected goal percentage is Byron and Anderson. Wonder if they are in the coach's office asking for a center who can get them the puck?

Most of the game falling down all over the place, barely had the puck and took two penalties.

But nice saucer pass to Anderson.

When in doubt just go to the "he's 20 years old".

Totally balanced stuff here.