Well, to be honest, Välimäki is the one I liked the most even before the 2016 draft and before Heiskanen broke out and was drafted 3rd overall. He has that calm defensive game and solid, but still dynamic offense that make him a pretty safe bet to be a serviceable first pairing defender, but Välimäki in my opinion has some physical tools that may still allow him to overtake Heiskanen. If I had to bet, I'd bet Heiskanen becomes the better defender, but Välimäki can make it interesting. Glad that I can root for both.
LD Miro Heiskanen - IFK Helsinki, Liiga (2017, 3rd, DAL)
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BB88
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Yeah the defensive game is the beauty part in Heiskanens game. So often the top picks shine offensively but have work to do, many a lot defensively before they are really ready but Heiskanen is so good, and he's answering to his offensive upside questions nicely.
Yeah I was wrong about this player, he looks like a different prospect this year, much more dynamic, handling the puck well and thinking the game at a faster pace. Looks like a potential #1. Based on how he played last year you could only optimistically project him as a top 4, but he's made huge strides.
In addition to Valimaki I also liked Jokijarju a lot last year, I had the three of them pretty close together. He' s a similar style of player to Heiskanen, but right shot, though Heiskanen has clearly moved ahead now.
In addition to Valimaki I also liked Jokijarju a lot last year, I had the three of them pretty close together. He' s a similar style of player to Heiskanen, but right shot, though Heiskanen has clearly moved ahead now.
WhatWhat
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Thats because between the handful of people living in Finland who post on the prospect board and the about 7 Dallas fans left on this site there isnt a big voice for the kid.
Someone like Liljegren can fart and about 50 leaf fans out of their hundreds on this site will tell you that it what an NHL caliber fart but with Miro being with a franchise that barely has a presence on this site it makes it hard for him to get noticed
May I ask why have the Dallas fans left this site? And where are they posting nowadays then? I was already a while ago wondering why on earth there is so small amount of Dallas fans here.
lawrence
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Cause that fan base is not as big as Canadian fan base, but that’s not the main point, they are also a humble group, and I had very good talks with them in those, hamhius to Dallas or Tanev to Dallas trade proposals.
mc3488
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Cousin Eddie
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Actually they left because of a little thing that happened with most of their posters and a bunch of moderators on here.
WhoahNow
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Kaako Kappo
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WhatWhat
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Kid is something special. I assume the points will slow down a little bit because PPG pace at 18 in the Liiga is ridiculous especially as someone who was deemed nhl ready defensively but needs to work on his offence. However I am loving his start to the year and if he keeps this up there is no way he is off the Roster next year and might be fighting for a top 4 spot right off the bat
He showed the offensive potential last year and he was actually fairly dominant offensively at the U18s, but he seems to have taken a big step ahead this year. With his offense and defense he could become one of the best overall defenders in the world.
Hokinaittii
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I think he was pretty accurate when he described his playstyle similar to Duncan Keith. Not a bad player to take notes from when growing up.
WhatWhat
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Yeah im super pumped for the kid.
At the draft they were saying his defensive ability is off the charts and good enough for the NHL. Some were weary about the offence 10 points in Liiga is not something many are familiar with and lots of people dont like putting too much stock in one dominant tournament. However since the draft his D looks as advertised and his offence looks to be like what it was in the U18. Kid is looking like the complete package
Hokinaittii
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You really have to watch the dmen in Liiga if you want to get a good grasp of their game. We are starting to have a decent pool of comparables for forwards in their draft years, but for high-end dmen you basically only have Ristolainen. WJC and U18 are important showcases for them, as they can be the only opportunities to get the attention of the scouts.
supermann_98
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Hey I’m a leaf fan but I love reading about great young prospects which is why I’m here and i can say that this kid is gonna be amazing, Dallas has a sure fire top 2D here.
Btw, let us be happy about Liljegren and his farts
VicVinegar
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I think the best comparable would be Vlasic. And even to an extent Lidstrom (not saying he is or will be anywhere near as good). Decent size, skates well, can chip in offensively, uses his stick and body position for defensive coverage. I can see him logging a lot of minutes because of how smart he plays defensively.
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firstemperor
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Well to be fair, he got injured earlier on in the year, hence the prospect talk will die down a bit. Why does this every thread always had to be about Leaf fans/Liljegren?
As for Heiskanen, my opinion hasn't changed since the draft. Him and Glass were my sleeper prospects all year until both of them shot up towards the moon in the draft.
The only D I had above Liljegren in the draft was Heiskanen and Valimaki close behind. We'll see how that holds up over time but Heiskanen really has no flaws to his game...could have some trouble as a crease clearer/physicality of the NHL game.
BB88
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His ceiling is higher than current Vlasic. After Dahlin I don't really know D-prospects/young D-men in the league that have clearly higher ceiling than Heiskanen.
Elite skating, elite defense for his age and +ppg in a mens league.
He's also playing +23mins per game, so not getting sheltered at all and I believe he has the best adv stats on defense.
The numbers he's putting up(small sample size) are ridiculous, only 1 u19 player has gone ppg in the league in the last 30 years and he was S.Aho. Heiskanen is a D-man.
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Damn, but this kid is absolutely insane! His point total is over PPG, he plays over 23 minutes a night and his Corsi is a whopping 69,1%, while the second best Corsi in his team is around 59%! I'm not really much of a fan of the so called advanced stats, but when someone gets very impressive point production while having amazing advanced stats at the same time, it tells me that the player must be doing something really special. And the eye test has definitely proved the same too. He is such an amazing talent that I'm afraid to even start making any predictions on his ceiling, as it could lead into serious disappointment if he does not pan out optimally after all. I will just keep it "modest" and say that I see pretty good possibilities in him becoming the best Finnish defenceman ever. Still long way to that, but at the moment I see definitely huge potential for that happening.
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