Player Discussion: Niku

[EpicGingy]

His last 2-3 games last year he was actually pretty good, at least IMO. = to Stanley at the same point, but Stanley was given the rest of the opportunity. No complaint with that but it was Niku's last chance here.

I doubt he catches on with any other NHL team. He will find a place in Europe and probably excel there.

Maybe he got better but there are a few bad shifts in his first few games (where he was paired with Morrissey I think?) where it was real bad. I was never high on Stanley but I wasn't upset when he kept getting the call. I'm far from the type of person who values size at the expense of skill but Stanley's size brought an element we were weak in and he just as, if not more effective as you said.

The only regret I see, as Surixon said, is not moving on from him sooner while we might have been able to get some sort of value out of him. Once we drafted Heinola and he kept improving it made keeping Niku untenable in my opinion when we already had Morrissey and Pionk as well.

 

[sipowicz]

Hey little Niku, where did you go wrong…

 

[DRW204]

Couldn't move on from him soon. He was our only promising rd prospect at the time when we knew trouba was angling his way out and myers was nearing UFA. Then buff hung them up.

Maybe he got better but there are a few bad shifts in his first few games (where he was paired with Morrissey I think?) where it was real bad. I was never high on Stanley but I wasn't upset when he kept getting the call. I'm far from the type of person who values size at the expense of skill but Stanley's size brought an element we were weak in and he just as, if not more effective as you said.

The only regret I see, as Surixon said, is not moving on from him sooner while we might have been able to get some sort of value out of him. Once we drafted Heinola and he kept improving it made keeping Niku untenable in my opinion when we already had Morrissey and Pionk as well.

 

[KingBogo]

Always lots of gnashing of teeth when a prospect finally gets cut loose. The Jets have yet to have one land elsewhere and become an everyday player. Sometimes the player just come up short. In Niku’s case he just never got past being horribly deficient in his own end. Likely he asked out to go to Europe and make more than an AHL wage.

 

[ffh]

Free niku.

 

[10Ducky10]

Always lots of gnashing of teeth when a prospect finally gets cut loose. The Jets have yet to have one land elsewhere and become an everyday player. Sometimes the player just come up short. In Niku’s case he just never got past being horribly deficient in his own end. Likely he asked out to go to Europe and make more than an AHL wage.

He would make 750k in the AHL?

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Maybe he got better but there are a few bad shifts in his first few games (where he was paired with Morrissey I think?) where it was real bad. I was never high on Stanley but I wasn't upset when he kept getting the call. I'm far from the type of person who values size at the expense of skill but Stanley's size brought an element we were weak in and he just as, if not more effective as you said.

The only regret I see, as Surixon said, is not moving on from him sooner while we might have been able to get some sort of value out of him. Once we drafted Heinola and he kept improving it made keeping Niku untenable in my opinion when we already had Morrissey and Pionk as well.

When he was paired with Morrissey he was having to play against the oppositions best. Not exactly setting him up to succeed.

I suspect it was Stanley's size that was the tie breaker (based on those last few games). Then Stanley stepped into the role and improved. No problem there. But I would have liked to see what Niku could have done with that same opportunity. We were also short on puck movement from the back end.

In the end, it is what it is. I'm sure there are lots of decent, not great, players who slip through the cracks over the years.

 

[lanky]

Always lots of gnashing of teeth when a prospect finally gets cut loose. The Jets have yet to have one land elsewhere and become an everyday player. Sometimes the player just come up short. In Niku’s case he just never got past being horribly deficient in his own end. Likely he asked out to go to Europe and make more than an AHL wage.

For the sake of correctness, his salary for this season is $750,00 whether that's in the NHL or AHL. He's taking a pay cut to get something he wasn't getting here.

 

[Critical Mass]

I'm disappointed.

But I'd forgotten he was a 7th round pick. He had some flash and potential when he first arrived. But this might be a case where he just regressed to the mean. The league's objective ranking of draft picks in 2015 appears to have ranked him appropriately.

That said, he's an interesting character and I hope he gets another shot in the NHL. I'll watch his career to see where he's playing.

 

[SUX2BU]

Best of luck Sami

 

[garret9]

BUT MY MEME PHOTO

Okay who is my new meme pic?

Started with the Tie Domi Pizza, then went to Burmi Christmas, then the Niku Hair Whip.

 

[KingBogo]

For the sake of correctness, his salary for this season is $750,00 whether that's in the NHL or AHL. He's taking a pay cut to get something he wasn't getting here.

Not sure having no salary is a pay cut but rather being unemployed. I still think he ends up back in Europe though some team probably gives him a look first.

 

[KingBogo]

Free niku.

He is as free as a bird now.

 

[None]

Okay who is my new meme pic?

Started with the Tie Domi Pizza, then went to Burmi Christmas, then the Niku Hair Whip.

Dmitri Kuzmin's grandmother from the draft video?

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

Good vision offensively, but defensively at the NHL level he, well, he just cant even spell D.

Wishing him all the best and success. His game may be better suited to the larger ice and softer play in europe.

 

[voyageur]

It doesn't seem controversial to suggest that getting a smaller skilled guy to stop doing all the things he does well, and get him to concentrate on all the things he does poorly might be a bad strategy.

He had a breakout season, which led to all the promise. I think it helped his career to start with a veteran like Cameron Schilling as a d-partner. He got to play with some good prospects in Roslovic, Petan, Appleton and De Leo his first year, so there was some firepower on the Moose. He was the right QB for the PP at the time. Afterwards at both the AHL and NHL level it was clear that he had problems defending. The same coaches who helped Tucker Poolman and Logan Stanley become pros, by improving on their weakness, can't by the same token be responsible for Niku's demise? I think Niku didn't make the necessary improvements, there was some talk that his training regimen was lacksidaisical, whatever the case may be, it's not easy to get to the show. Niku made it but didn't stick. Maybe a new opportunity, new coaches will get him back to his promise. Seems, much like Petan, to be a fringe player.

 

[Guardian17]

Dmitri Kuzmin's grandmother from the draft video?

 

[voyageur]

This is a very balanced opinion of the subject. The only thing I wonder about too is why he didn't play over the likes of Beaulieu or Benn. Who knows, if he got his feet under him he might have done OK and at least been a tradeable asset.

We still have to win games, and we won 16 of 25 with Beaulieu in. All stats aside he played PK1, and PK2. Niku was a PP specialist on a team that no longer needed one. You take Beaulieu out of the PK, add Niku, and you are playing Pionk a lot more than you normally would in that situation, a few more goals against, and maybe you only win 13 of 25.

I don't know if you'll agree with me or not but for a hockey player, sometimes timing is the key. Like if we hadn't had a rash of injuries, would Ben Chiarot ever have had the chance to be a regular? And paired with Byfuglien? Sometimes it's the right coach, who likes a certain type of player. You see coaches often have players they have coached at one level or another, and the player gets a chance that way. Maurice would clearly take Beaulieu over Niku 10 times out of 10. But maybe there's a team that want a PP specialist. Those are important points.

 

[GaryPoppins]

The problem for Niku was the same as the one for Postma. He's not the player type Moe wants rounding out his dcore on the bottom pairing. He wants safe defensive PK players for those roles and pretty much always has here outside of 17-19 where he had Myers there.

I think in another setting like Pittsburgh/Philly where they are ok using offensive first players like Schultz on the bottom pairing he may have done well and made a solid career of it.

I think Petan was a victim in much the same way, not good enough for our top 6 and in an org that the head coach wanted different qualities in the bottom 6 then what he offered.

The problem is we kept both players in situations where they were stuck for too long and essentially lost them for nothing.

One thing the org needs to do better is make calls on the talented but redundant prospects quicker and move them while they still have value.

The Par Lindholm fan club now has you on its list of enemies

 

[surixon]

We still have to win games, and we won 16 of 25 with Beaulieu in. All stats aside he played PK1, and PK2. Niku was a PP specialist on a team that no longer needed one. You take Beaulieu out of the PK, add Niku, and you are playing Pionk a lot more than you normally would in that situation, a few more goals against, and maybe you only win 13 of 25.

I don't know if you'll agree with me or not but for a hockey player, sometimes timing is the key. Like if we hadn't had a rash of injuries, would Ben Chiarot ever have had the chance to be a regular? And paired with Byfuglien? Sometimes it's the right coach, who likes a certain type of player. You see coaches often have players they have coached at one level or another, and the player gets a chance that way. Maurice would clearly take Beaulieu over Niku 10 times out of 10. But maybe there's a team that want a PP specialist. Those are important points.

Yup, being in the right place and right time as well as getting a legit opertunity count for so much more then people think when it comes to who makes it and who doesn't.

I'm not talking about the elite guys who make their own opportunities and run with them. I'm talking about average player who is likely indistinguishable in terms of effectiveness from many others.

Players like Tanev and Chariot had the fortune of playing for a head coach who loved the types of games they played. It didn't matter that both stunk out the joint as they were introduced to the show, they had a coach that liked their game and gave them opportunity to grow into decent players. In another org or situation they may not have even gotten a chance to begin or never gotten another as there was nothing special in their pre or early NHL.

On the flip side you had Petan who didn't play a game Moe liked especially for a bottom line role and so unsurpringly he was in and out of the line up and spent a tonne of time in the PB stunting his growth.

Had Petan been in an org that had a different philosophy in what player types could be used in the bottom 6 he may have developed into a useful player. A team like Tampa would have likely found some use for him on their third line had he been their prospect like what they did with Johnson, Palat etc when they broke in.

 

[surixon]

The Par Lindholm fan club now has you on its list of enemies

Lol, had we traded him after the 2015 year or even the 2016 season we likely get atleast a 2nd round pick for him.

After the 2015 and 2016 drafts we had skilled forwards galore and it should have been obvious to the org that Petan would have had a tough time beating out Laine, Conner, and Ehelers for a spot in the top 6.

We also had Perrault and Copp emerging for the bottom 6. A smart org should have realized there wasn't a spot for him and sold him while he still had a lot of value.

 

[KingBogo]

Yup, being in the right place and right time as well as getting a legit opertunity count for so much more then people think when it comes to who makes it and who doesn't.

I'm not talking about the elite guys who make their own opportunities and run with them. I'm talking about average player who is likely indistinguishable in terms of effectiveness from many others.

Players like Tanev and Chariot had the fortune of playing for a head coach who loved the types of games they played. It didn't matter that both stunk out the joint as they were introduced to the show, they had a coach that liked their game and gave them opportunity to grow into decent players. In another org or situation they may not have even gotten a chance to begin or never gotten another as there was nothing special in their pre or early NHL.

On the flip side you had Petan who didn't play a game Moe liked especially for a bottom line role and so unsurpringly he was in and out of the line up and spent a tonne of time in the PB stunting his growth.

Had Petan been in an org that had a different philosophy in what player types could be used in the bottom 6 he may have developed into a useful player. A team like Tampa would have likely found some use for him on their third line had he been their prospect like what they did with Johnson, Palat etc when they broke in.

Some guys just don’t make it. You don’t always need to blame the coach or the organization for their failure to stick in the NHL. I’ll buy the argument the first time a prospect is cut free and actually sticks with another organization in an every day role. TB could have had Petan on waivers if they wanted him or Niku now. My guess is they have a better eye for talent then that.

 

[surixon]

Some guys just don’t make it. You don’t always need to blame the coach or the organization for their failure to stick in the NHL. I’ll buy the argument the first time a prospect is cut free and actually sticks with another organization in an every day role. TB could have had Petan on waivers if they wanted him or Niku now. My guess is they have a better eye for talent then that.

I'm not assigning blame, just stating that players fall through the cracks or fail to live up to what was expected for a number of reasons and not always just due to the easy "they just aren't good enough" answer.

Prospects will miss it happens all the time but certain depth prospects are given more of an opportunity then other depth prospects depending on role and fit available on the team.

You can't tell me Petan given his game and limitations was a good fit for the role Maurice wants his bottom 6 to perform. Given he wasn't good enough for the top 6 where did he fit here. The answer was he didn't fit and as such spent most of his prime development years bouncing between the AHL/press box/fourth line.

I'm not talking about a 25 year old stalled prospect, I was more arguing about where would his game be had he been drafted by a team like Tampa that has no issues playing skill in their bottom 6. Had he been given a lengthy push in such a role early on in his development he may have developed differently.

I just think you understate just how important opportunity can be to fringe prospects.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Niku probably overvalues himself where he likely got fed up believing a team would make better use of him.

Watch him end up with one of the Coyotes, Sabres, or whoever is desperate for defense. Or he ends up in the KHL and I could see him lasting so much longer out there.

 

[Winland]

Please trade Heinola so I can stop following Jets.