Prospect Info: Jesperi Kotkaniemi: The Eagle

[AppsSyl]

It seems you guys have a good one here. He played very well last night against an NHL line up, and looks to be able to hold his own quite nicely.
I am curious to see what your management decides to do with him, but at least 9 games seems a sure thing, and most likely he sticks with you guys, especially if he keeps playing like he has this pre-season.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I would always pick who I think is BPA. And top 3, history says that you pick up a guy who is either ready now or in 1 year. Happens that we finally picked up a guy that is ready now, and not in 3 or 4 years like some thought he'd be, and in our case, yes, you have to go for the best ratio skills/need, and Kotkaniemi had to be the pick. You had to pick a centerman that was real close to a top 5-top 10 pick.

Next year? Go with BPA. If it's C, it's C. Personnally, we still have to know if Poehling is a top 2 C. Might very well be a really great No3. Can't imagine a future C line of Kotkaniemi / Dach / Poehling. Can people imagine that??? Or if we pick later on, BPA where we will pick might very well be Raphael Lavoie.

I think it comes down to a measure of BPA vs a group of players that all can be considered BPA. That's what happened in this past draft. Islanders got lucky Walstrom and Dobson slipped to them at 11 and 12. Many people had them inside of the top 10 for sure.

Walstrom can be just as good as Zadina and Dobson can be just as good as Boqvist. BPA don't exist cause it just comes down to who you value more pre-draft. Everybody's list vary. How many people predicted Zadina slipping to 6th?

I wonder what the measure is between BPA pre-draft and how the actual draft turns out after a few years?

 

[Habs Halifax]

It seems you guys have a good one here. He played very well last night against an NHL line up, and looks to be able to hold his own quite nicely.
I am curious to see what your management decides to do with him, but at least 9 games seems a sure thing, and most likely he sticks with you guys, especially if he keeps playing like he has this pre-season.

It will be interesting to see what they do with Kotkaniemi in those 9 regular season games and with Domi playing. Domi getting suspended created the opportunity of Kotkaniemi playing top line center.

Do they move Domi down temporary? Or do we go with a Domi / Kotkaniemi / Drouin top line for 9 games?

 

[MC94]

I was thinking about this last night...

Can you imagine???

Kotka would definetly be a cayote had we picked zadina or tkachuck and ya it would sting

 

[Gsus]

I've never wanted to see the Leafs get crushed so bad than Oct. 3rd. My hometown kid possibly centering the 1st line of the Montreal Canadiens. I'll be awake for sure at 2AM.

 

[Saxon]

He just hasn't really been in position to use it. That's the thing about being the straw that stirs the drink. Drouin is in his favourite shooting position, and he's always the one passing so he hasn't really gotten ahold of a one timer yet like he did against Sweden.

Playing with Drouin, he'll get lots of scoring chances. I think those two with a natural scorer on the other wing, will be magic for years to come .

 

[waffledave]

It interesting. We can look at this upcoming draft year now and then compare it to the final rankings come June. It's going to vary and I think some really do get connected to the typical rankings you see all year and confuse this with BPA.

A guy like Dobson was not even on the radar to start the year last season. Same as Kotkaniemi. Mooseheads had McIsaac and Groulx who were projected as definite 1st round picks. A lot can happen in 12 months and you got to pay attention to the trends in May or June. Habs did this and we scored an Eagle

There are always late risers in every draft. Sometimes it works out (hopefully this is one of those cases) and sometimes it doesn't (see Pouliot, Benoit).

 

[Saxon]

There was a lot of ''anchoring'' going on as well. People were actually making the argument that Zadina was the BPA at 3 because he had been ranked there longer.

...what a silly thing to type lol.

I remember being called a Narcissist for disagreeing with the rankings and wanting Kotkaniemi at three........

 

[Habs Halifax]

There are always late risers in every draft. Sometimes it works out (hopefully this is one of those cases) and sometimes it doesn't (see Pouliot, Benoit).

Based on what we have seen so far, pretty safe bet he is a top 2 center right? I just don't see any concerns where he turns into a 3rd or 4th line center or winger.

 

[mtlmonk]

I like Kotka and Drouin together, but the third guy should be a finisher who is also good defensively. Know any good Finnishers?

Yes, but he's Vegas right now.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I remember being called a Narcissist for disagreeing with the rankings and wanting Kotkaniemi at three........

Some people can't handle a conversation or disagreement. It's a problem on HF boards. Try talking to someone's face like that?

 

[Habs Halifax]

Yes, but he's Vegas right now.

Tatar can finish? Very much interested to see the gap in production between Tatar and Patch this year. I'd be extremely surprised Tatar gets more points but won't be surprised if Tatar gets 50-60 pts and Patch gets 60-70. And we got Suzuki and a 2nd for futures! Love Patch but also love this trade!

 

[NotProkofievian]

I remember being called a Narcissist for disagreeing with the rankings and wanting Kotkaniemi at three........

Public service announcement: it is not heresy to produce your own rankings lol.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

I could tell right away last year that the kid had smarts, you only had to watch him play on a stream for 5 minutes to see that. As big of a believer in his potential as I was I couldn't have predicted how fast he's adapted though. At a position he's not 100% familiar with yet to boot. He's going from 0 to 100 in a very short time and he's not looking lost at all.

 

[Andrei79]

There are always late risers in every draft. Sometimes it works out (hopefully this is one of those cases) and sometimes it doesn't (see Pouliot, Benoit).

This is true of any draft selection ever, riser or not.

 

[Captain Mountain]

I've never wanted to see the Leafs get crushed so bad than Oct. 3rd. My hometown kid possibly centering the 1st line of the Montreal Canadiens. I'll be awake for sure at 2AM.

Montreal would also have 50% of active NHLers from your hometown.

 

[Cookie007]

No doubt our dire need right now is LD.. if only we still had Sergachev

We got a couple of young C (JK, Poehling, Danualt), couple of young wingers (Suzuki, Gallagher, Domi, Drouin).

Hoping but looks unlikely now that Scherbak will be a beast. The rest you can just fill (look at Pittsburgh)

D is average (its a heck lot better than the Leafs if Weber was healthy). Weber, Petry, Mete, Juulsen are decent.

And it looks like we're stuck with Price for the next 10 years.

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

Guys Kotkaniemi looks really good, he was a great pick up, congrats!

Gonna go back to hating you guys now...

 

[JoelWarlord]

Remember two weeks ago when people were whining that we didn't pick Tkachuk because he scored two goals against ECHL and CHL players in a pre-preseason game?

 

[waffledave]

Based on what we have seen so far, pretty safe bet he is a top 2 center right? I just don't see any concerns where he turns into a 3rd or 4th line center or winger.

Yes for sure. I don't know if he's ready to step in now though. He definitely looks it but so did Sergachev at 18. Give him the 9 games, a legit top 6 role consistently (we won't win games regardless) and then you decide.

 

[Gally11]

Remember two weeks ago when people were whining that we didn't pick Tkachuk because he scored two goals against ECHL and CHL players in a pre-preseason game?

I've never wanted Tkachuk over Zadina or Kotkaniemi but I still think he's going to be a very good NHL player so I think it's fine for people to like him and want him on the Habs. Just personally I think Kotkaniemi is something we really needed.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Yes for sure. I don't know if he's ready to step in now though. He definitely looks it but so did Sergachev at 18. Give him the 9 games, a legit top 6 role consistently (we won't win games regardless) and then you decide.

I agree with giving him a taste of NHL play and competition but we can't be rushing him cause we are in a desperate need for a top 2 center. Bring him in with Suzki and Poehling together next year

 

[Habs Halifax]

Is it possible that Kotkaniemi becomes the 2nd best player from the 2018 draft? I know it's premature at this stage but he is showing a lot of potential for a 18 year old kid playing #1C.

 

[CauZuki]

Is it possible that Kotkaniemi becomes the 2nd best player from the 2018 draft? I know it's premature at this stage but he is showing a lot of potential for a 18 year old kid playing #1C.

Anything is possible but it's way too early to even speculate. Svech and Dahlin are looking just as good if not better so there's also that.

 

[sandviper]

Is it possible that Kotkaniemi becomes the 2nd best player from the 2018 draft? I know it's premature at this stage but he is showing a lot of potential for a 18 year old kid playing #1C.

Well, it's possible for him to be the best. Doesn't mean it will happen as there is a possibility some kid drafted in the 7th may be the best, or second best.

However, I still think Dahlin and Svechnikov are a cut above the rest and will remain so barring any major injury. I think it'll be hard to flat out say Kotkaniemi will be better than those two or anyone else as different positions have different values. Svechnikov is a winger for example, but if he averages 5-10 points more than Kotkaniemi, I'd take the latter. If Dahlin, or my boy Boqvist, score at the same rate as Kotkaniemi, it's a tougher debate.

Obviously, it's early and the hype is strong thanks to the preseason, but I do think Kotkaniemi will be the best center of the draft as well as a top-5 player from this draft class when looking back. In other words, he was deserving of his draft position.