RD Henri Jokiharju (2017, 29th, CHI; traded to BUF)

[Razamanaz]

Cooler than vanilla ice on the ice with the puck. Oh man, what a boy!

 

[Hattrick Kane]

Don’t look now but Joker just got promoted to PP1. Deservedly so too, he’s been impressive, and he was really good when he was the QB in Portland.

It also can’t hurt that the Hawks powerplay is 0/10 so far, painfully bad.

 

[PG Canuck]

I damn, going to be pretty hard to send him down unless he hits a major wall and starts playing bad in both ends. Right now he’s played his way onto the team with a right to stay there.

 

[AmericanDream]

I damn, going to be pretty hard to send him down unless he hits a major wall and starts playing bad in both ends. Right now he’s played his way onto the team with a right to stay there.

we have two of our top 5 dmen out for another month or so (Murphy and Forsling), I would be floored if he doesn't stick up here the entire year.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Just looking at the stat sheets so far and doing some hard looking at the starts of Jokiharj, Heiskanen, and Valimaki. Stats looked up just now on nhl.com and hockey reference.

Jokiharju has 5 assists, is +5, 10 shots on goal, and an average of 19:39 time on ice after three games.

Heiskanen has no points, is +1, has 2 shots on goal, and an average of 20:14 time on ice after two games.

Valimaki has no points, is a -2, has 3 shots on goal, and averages only 11:43 after two games.


For advanced stats, Jokiharju has 69.2 percent corsi, 64.8 fenwick for percentage, but 71.1 percent offensive zone starts.

Heiskanen has 44.8 percent corsi, 45. fenwick for percentage, but only has 30.4 percent offensive zone starts.

Valimaki has 64.7 percent corsi, 64.3 fenwick for percentage, but 76.9 percent offensive zone starts.


So Jokiharju is putting up a lot more offense than either guy and his team has the puck more when he's on the ice. However, both he and Valimaki have had considerably more offensive zone starts than Heiskanen. I know Jokiharju has had to defend top line guys a lot over his first three games (he had several one-on-one's with Tarasenko), but he at least gets a lot of easy starts to his shifts, something Heiskanen has not been afforded.

Therein lies a question of who between Jokiharju and Heiskanen has had the better start. Heiskanen has played one less game, but he isn't likely to get anywhere near where Jokiharju is production wise after three games. But does the defensive responsibilities he's faced outweigh Jokiharju's production? Fun questions to be had, but both teams have had success so far and fans are happy with both. It'll be fun keeping track of both guys over the season and seeing how they match up in their rookie years.

 

[AmericanDream]

if only Joker was getting some power play time.....ruh roh, shit just got real!!

 

[Kcb12345]

Just looking at the stat sheets so far and doing some hard looking at the starts of Jokiharj, Heiskanen, and Valimaki. Stats looked up just now on nhl.com and hockey reference.

Jokiharju has 5 assists, is +5, 10 shots on goal, and an average of 19:39 time on ice after three games.

Heiskanen has no points, is +1, has 2 shots on goal, and an average of 20:14 time on ice after two games.

Valimaki has no points, is a -2, has 3 shots on goal, and averages only 11:43 after two games.


For advanced stats, Jokiharju has 69.2 percent corsi, 64.8 fenwick for percentage, but 71.1 percent offensive zone starts.

Heiskanen has 44.8 percent corsi, 45. fenwick for percentage, but only has 30.4 percent offensive zone starts.

Valimaki has 64.7 percent corsi, 64.3 fenwick for percentage, but 76.9 percent offensive zone starts.


So Jokiharju is putting up a lot more offense than either guy and his team has the puck more when he's on the ice. However, both he and Valimaki have had considerably more offensive zone starts than Heiskanen. I know Jokiharju has had to defend top line guys a lot over his first three games (he had several one-on-one's with Tarasenko), but he at least gets a lot of easy starts to his shifts, something Heiskanen has not been afforded.

Therein lies a question of who between Jokiharju and Heiskanen has had the better start. Heiskanen has played one less game, but he isn't likely to get anywhere near where Jokiharju is production wise after three games. But does the defensive responsibilities he's faced outweigh Jokiharju's production? Fun questions to be had, but both teams have had success so far and fans are happy with both. It'll be fun keeping track of both guys over the season and seeing how they match up in their rookie years.

I knew I wasn't going crazy. Constantly feels like Heiskanen never gets offensive zone starts and now I realize it wasn't just me thinking that. Makes sense though, he and Methot play with the Stars shutdown line so they will likely see defensive time wayyy more than offensive zone time. That's annoying but I'd rather him face the tough defensive starts like this and not Klingberg, who just makes me so nervous sometimes

 

[Hattrick Kane]

He’s literally the Hawks best defender already. He’s positionally sound, not afraid to use his body for puck battles, by far has the best breakout pass and not afraid to shoot the puck.

Tallied another assist, and might have been one of the few bright spots tonight. I shudder to think what the defense would look like without him.

He’s even starting to get PK time. Being denied PP time because Q loves his vets, but it’ll come soon considering how bad the powerplay actually is.

 

[StiffSquid]

He’s literally the Hawks best defender already. He’s positionally sound, not afraid to use his body for puck battles, by far has the best breakout pass and not afraid to shoot the puck.

Tallied another assist, and might have been one of the few bright spots tonight. I shudder to think what the defense would look like without him.

He’s even starting to get PK time. Being denied PP time because Q loves his vets, but it’ll come soon considering how bad the powerplay actually is.

Hopefully he will get his first goal soon

 

[Kevin Musto]

Hopefully he will get his first goal soon

Hopefully, though he's never been much of a goal scorer

 

[Hattrick Kane]

Played over 24 minutes tonight, seems like Q is going to have him be a penalty killer from now.

Perhaps what is more impressive is the fact that him and Keith neutralized Mcdavid’s line the whole game. Not bad for someone who probably doesn’t make the team without injuries to Forsling and Murphy.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Hopefully, though he's never been much of a goal scorer

9 goals, 42 assists in his WHL rookie season
15 goals, 64 assists in his last WHL season

2 goals, 2 assists for 5 WJC games
2 goals, 1 assists for 6 EHT games

Yes, he scores more assists what goals, but saying that he has never been much of a goal scorer isn't true.

 

[Phenomenon13]

Was looking to catchup with jokiharju and noticed he got sent down to the AHL?

Any idea why that is?

Also, I thought he wasn't allowed to be sent to the AHL and had to go to WHL? Why was that allowed? That's quite interesting.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Was looking to catchup with jokiharju and noticed he got sent down to the AHL?

Any idea why that is?

Also, I thought he wasn't allowed to be sent to the AHL and had to go to WHL? Why was that allowed? That's quite interesting.

He hasnt been good at all the past while with Chicago and needed AHL time

He was originally on loan from his Euro team when drafted to Chicago out of Portland. Its kinda confusing but there have been others in the past that this has happened to too

 

[PG Canuck]

Was looking to catchup with jokiharju and noticed he got sent down to the AHL?

Any idea why that is?

Also, I thought he wasn't allowed to be sent to the AHL and had to go to WHL? Why was that allowed? That's quite interesting.

Coach Q loved the kid and Jokiharju thrived. Once Q was fired, Jokiharju had his minutes decreased and just never found his game after that.

Better for him to be away from that mess, more than likely. Play big minutes and develop his game a bit further in the AHL.

 

[CallMeShaft]

He hasnt been good at all the past while with Chicago and needed AHL time

He was originally on loan from his Euro team when drafted to Chicago out of Portland. Its kinda confusing but there have been others in the past that this has happened to too

He was better than quite a few Hawks defensemen when he was sent down.

He got sent down because he was able to be without waivers, and the larger opportunities he'd have in Rockford might be good for him, but him not playing here has absolutely made this defense a bit worse.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

VIDEO ROOM: Henri Jokiharju, Blackhaws Defensman of the Future

 

[Chainshot]

Still in the "pinch me" stage of this trade. Hoping he slips into the Sabres lineup like he did with the Hawks. Seems as though his defensive game might be stronger than any of the other RHD they've picked up in their recent deals, so it'll be interesting to see where he slots and how he gets used.

 

[Killerjas]

Chicago are betting that they can turn Nylander into Strome 2.0. Chicago's D pool is stacked. Not the weirdest trade but I expected Buffalo to pay a little more, maybe added a 2nd or 3rd round pick into the mix

 

[TheWhiskeyThief]

Sabres have 6 RD and Dahlin should be playing on the right, what changes?

Is someone crazy/smart enough to put Ristolainen on his off hand so your left side is Scandella/Risto/Pilut?

 

[JackFr]

Sabres have 6 RD and Dahlin should be playing on the right, what changes?

Is someone crazy/smart enough to put Ristolainen on his off hand so your left side is Scandella/Risto/Pilut?

Why would they play Dahlin on the right?

 

[TheWhiskeyThief]

Why would they play Dahlin on the right?

Because he breaks ankles and the shape of the defense on his off hand.

Having him and Risto not play on their off hand kills what makes them special.

 

[Chainshot]

Sabres have 6 RD and Dahlin should be playing on the right, what changes?

Is someone crazy/smart enough to put Ristolainen on his off hand so your left side is Scandella/Risto/Pilut?

Buffalo seems to prefer left shot LD and right shot RD. Jokiharju should fit in nicely since he has shown an ability to defend well at the NHL level albeit in a short span of time on the Hawks. That's more than Montour who is very much a rush/transition defenseman who gives up shots and of course Miller who has been more of a 2nd or 3rd pairing guy in his career. Jokiharju seems like he's the best of the three at the moment of the new acquisitions.

As for the hold overs, Ristolainen struggles with exits and that is both him and his most frequent partner Scandella who has fallen off a cliff in his two years in Buffalo. He is measurably below Jake McCabe who while inconsistent and oft-injured, is a better defenseman than Scandella at this point in their careers. Pilut is also recovering from off-season shoulder surgery (he was hurt in the last Amerk playoff game) and may not be ready to start the year but showed he is ready for the show.

 

[TheWhiskeyThief]

I wonder why Buffalo hasn’t won anything in forever? Playing D on their off hand isn’t even thinking outside the box, Ray Bourque was doing it. USSR did it on the PP 40 years ago.

Maximize the positives, minimize the negatives of your roster.

Pair Jokiharju & Risto together, let Joki lug it out or pass out, let Risto set up for 1 timers on the off hand.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Kind of feel bad for Jokiharju. Nothing like being stuck behind Dahlin on the depth chart.