Player Discussion: Sami Niku

[JetsUK]

Wwo Niku sounds like he is really, really bad in the D zone and really good in the O-zone sort of like a Postma.

I wouldn't say he's bad in any zone. He needs to work on his d-zone positioning against pro speed, and get a little stronger, but he's a very heady player with a great skillset, more Morrissey than Postma IMO, or a JMo/Toby hybrid. A MorrisStrom.

 

[Whileee]

I wouldn't say he's bad in any zone. He needs to work on his d-zone positioning against pro speed, and get a little stronger, but he's a very heady player with a great skillset, more Morrissey than Postma IMO, or a JMo/Toby hybrid. A MorrisStrom.

Morrissey seems much more physical and aggressive than Niku. He plays a harder game. That's a big difference.

 

[JetsUK]

Morrissey seems much more physical and aggressive than Niku. He plays a harder game. That's a big difference.

Tho, absolutely. That's always been JMo's game, though less so in his first full AHL seasons. Niku is certainly less physical, but similarly cerebral, IMO. Hence the hybrid nomenclature.

 

[Adam da bomb]

How can you operate with D-men who aren't aggressive?

 

[Whileee]

Tho, absolutely. That's always been JMo's game, though less so in his first full AHL seasons. Niku is certainly less physical, but similarly cerebral, IMO. Hence the hybrid nomenclature.

Morrissey needed to learn how to play really aggressively to take away time and space. Once he made that change, he was ready to play at the NHL level. Niku will need to play with that level of defensive intensity to make the next level. He doesn't need to be as physical, but he does need to play that aggressively.

 

[10Ducky10]

At this point... I think they let him walk. Hes injured every year.

Replace him with Chiarot?

 

[Gabe Kupari]

Replace him with Chiarot?

FA signing

 

[Saidin]

The Rise Of Sami Niku

 

[Howard Chuck]

The Rise Of Sami Niku

Nice article, thanks! I always forget he was a seventh rounder

 

[ps241]

Always good to read about Garret's large adult son. I was on the Niku bandwagon early after specifically PVR'ing him at the WJC in 2016 and thinking...how the hell did we get that kid in the 7th round? The entire Moose team is doing great and no doubt he is benefiting from all the talent around him but he is a big part of why they are scoring in droves. His season in the AHL is exceeding my expectations and that is tough to do because I was expecting big things.

 

[JetsUK]

Yep, he's some player. If he can get near JMo's level of consistency and overall smarts in the D-zone he'll be a very nice add at LHD. Thinking of adding him to my collection of large adult sons (with flow).

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

any chance he can crack the lineup next season?... stat wise he is looking good in the AHL

 

[csk]

any chance he can crack the lineup next season?... stat wise he is looking good in the AHL

I think it's unlikely, but I do think he'll get some games in if injures open up a spot for him. If he manages to improve his d-game a la Morrissey, then I could see him forcing his way on.

 

[allan5oh]

It's unreal how much he has improved since training camp. You could tell he couldn't handle the pace or the smaller rink. I actually felt bad for him. But he did have flashes of talented smart plays. But he had to get the puck first.

 

[MoreMorrissey]

I hope he really puts in the work this offseason and earns Enstrom's role, probably his best opportunity to get a shot in the show for a while considering PoMo's conservative usage of young players.

 

[jets2020champs]

Morrissey needed to learn how to play really aggressively to take away time and space. Once he made that change, he was ready to play at the NHL level. Niku will need to play with that level of defensive intensity to make the next level. He doesn't need to be as physical, but he does need to play that aggressively.

All this comparisons to the way he plays reminds me of his interview. As I recall, he was asked to describe his playing style and who he would compare himself to. He responded that he plays his own style and doesn’t compare himself to anybody. Then I saw him skate, and he was one of the smoother skaters I’ve seen. Almost effortless.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I've been starting to raise my expectations for him too. They were already pretty high. But looking at the trajectory and keeping in mind that he still has almost a half season of AHL plus playoffs to go I think it is possible that he can replace Toby next year. He should be better at next TC than he is now.

I plan on getting to a couple of Moose games this year. I'm looking forward to seeing him play for myself. The reports are encouraging but I haven't actually seen him.

 

[csk]

A thing to keep in mind is that he's been accomplishing all this while primarily playing his off-side. Makes it harder and thus more impressive.

 

[JetsUK]

A thing to keep in mind is that he's been accomplishing all this while primarily playing his off-side. Makes it harder and thus more impressive.

Yep. I've seen him play on his preferred side in practice, and while it's hard to take much away from drills and rushes, I really don't see him as defensive liability at all going forward. Like JMo and Toby (certainly in his prime), I see Niku's ability to think the game at a high level and learn on the job as major pluses, along with his elite skating and excellent puck skills and shot. I think he's going to be very, very good.

 

[Ippenator]

I have to honestly say that it is quite funny that Niku is here praised as an elite skater, while Laine is constantly called a mediocre or even bad skater. I wouldn’t ramble about this otherwise, but because just before the 2016 WJC tournament team Finland had an internal skills competition where they had also skating competition, which Puljujärvi won before Laine, whom in fact beat Niku very comfortably in the first round.

What is good to realize also is that Laine was still only recovering from his knee surgery that completely ruined his off season earlier that year, and after that Laine has in fact substantially improved his skating. But still to understand his stealthy speed, he didn’t lose by a really huge margin to Puljujärvi in that skating competition final, although Laine had the injury recovery for most of that year and Pulju had been healthy.

Anyway, I do like Niku very much, but in my opinion he is just a bit over average skater, at least with his top speed and acceleration. His skating sure looks smooth and effortless, but it is not exactly as fast with his top speed or even acceleration, as the eye can fool us to think. This is how it can often be with skating. Many times skaters whom look so great and effortless with their skating are not after all so great skaters with their top speed or even acceleration, when compared to edgier or lankier skaters. What really matters in the end with this is the end results, and not how pretty or smooth each player’s skating looks like.

That I do agree with though that Niku has pretty darn good agility and lateral movement with his skating, which of course are important factors for defencemen especially. He is also a smart player and a very good passer, so I think he might really be a gem for the Jets in the future. I definitely hope so!

 

[Stej]

You folks are really getting my hopes up. You better not be f***ing with me.

 

[csk]

Niku has been pretty bad so far tonight. Has gotten dummied a few times and made some bad pinches. I sit right behind the bench and he seems frustrated.

 

[puck stoppa]

To answer some above: IMO:
It's clear Niku needs some seasoning, he has some areas to work on much like jmo did breaking in. I think he's skilled enough to pull through. I highly suggest you watch him live if you Havnt done so yet. He reminds me of Erik karlsson. Like I said in moose thread he's not him but boy he is smooth offensively, he just needs to find a balance. One more year in ahl IMO but this kid is a dandy.

 

[Flair Hay]

This guy definitely sounds like he can be a decent puck mover for the big club pretty soon. Certainly closest thing we have to Enstrom replacement.

 

[truck]

I have to honestly say that it is quite funny that Niku is here praised as an elite skater, while Laine is constantly called a mediocre or even bad skater. I wouldn’t ramble about this otherwise, but because just before the 2016 WJC tournament team Finland had an internal skills competition where they had also skating competition, which Puljujärvi won before Laine, whom in fact beat Niku very comfortably in the first round.

What is good to realize also is that Laine was still only recovering from his knee surgery that completely ruined his off season earlier that year, and after that Laine has in fact substantially bettered his skating. But still to understand his stealthy speed, he didn’t lose by a really huge margin to Puljujärvi in that skating competition final, although Laine had the injury recovery for most of that year and Pulju had been healthy.

Anyway, I do like Niku very much, but in my opinion he is just a bit over average skater, at least with his top speed and acceleration. His skating sure looks smooth and effortless, but it is not exactly as fast with his top speed or even acceleration, as the eye can fool us to think. This is how it can often be with skating. Many times skaters whom look so great and effortless with their skating are not after all so great skaters with their top speed or even acceleration, when compared to edgier or lankier skaters. What really matters in the end with this is the end results, and not how pretty or smooth each player’s skating looks like.

That I do agree with though that Niku has pretty darn good agility and lateral movement with his skating, which of course are important factors for defencemen especially. He is also a smart player and a very good passer, so I think he might really be a gem for the Jets in the future. I definitely hope so!

Four-direction mobility is so key in today's NHL. It's a big part of what make Trouba and Morrissey so effective. Same is true for Toby in his prime. Effortlessly pivots and smooth four-direction skating.