2016 Draft: 8th Pick: Aapeli Rasanen

[PaPaDee]

Is it just me or has our drafting improved by leaps and bounds since Chia took over

Too early to tell.

 

[Stoneman89]

Is it just me or has our drafting improved by leaps and bounds since Chia took over

Impossible to tell at this point. Lots of the other guys looked really good in the early stages after their draft years, and look where we are now. If some of them start to kill it in the AHL at the very least, then I think we're ahead.

 

[Aceboogie]

Is it just me or has our drafting improved by leaps and bounds since Chia took over

Will have to wait to see how they pan out. Ill say I think weve been picking a lot more guys with high upside tho. In the past I have liked Petry/Marcincin/Gernat/Chase/Platzer/Khaira/Omark/Davidson/Reider/Rajala selections as those guys had high upside at time of draft. But those guys were like 1 or 2 max per draft. Only a few have worked out tho, but still at hit rate on par with rest of NHL

Since 2008 weve picked too many guys like Ewanyk/Hesekth/Abney/Bigos/Moroz//Musil/Motin etc etc. Guys that couldnt score in junior AND scouts were saying they had extremely limited upside. They were never going to turn out from day 1. None did and this is why weve struggled to find talent after 1st round

Most of our picks now have the word "high hockey IQ" attached to them, or are intriguing prospects in that they might not score a ton, but are in poor situations and scouts still like offensive ability. Almost on last 2 entire drafts have been picks from the 1st group mentioned above. Only really our 7th round picks have bene low scoring guys, and Paigin has bucked that pretty fast

A guy like Rasanen is a long shot, but hes a Chase/Reider type prospect to me. Hopefully he turns out like the latter

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

LHS, LHS, LHS, LHS, LHS

If there is one thing we dont need to draft it is more LHS Dmen.

IMO trade the pick unless we have a shot at Liljegren.

Liljegren is ranked TOP3 prospect also he's Nolan Patrick's challenger for 1st overall.
So without acquiring TOP3 lottery pick Oilers has no chance to get Liljegren

 

[HeavyHitter99]

Liljegren is ranked TOP3 prospect also he's Nolan Patrick's challenger for 1st overall.
So without acquiring TOP3 lottery pick Oilers has no chance to get Liljegren

Yup exactly if a defenceman is ranked top 3 at the start of the season then there is NO chance they fall out of the top 3... I mean just ask Adam Larsson, Noah Hanifin and Seth Jones...

Or we could ask David Musil who was ranked as a top 10 pick going into his draft season in 2011...


But yah no chance.

 

[Kalost]

Yup exactly if a defenceman is ranked top 3 at the start of the season then there is NO chance they fall out of the top 3... I mean just ask Adam Larsson, Noah Hanifin and Seth Jones...

Or we could ask David Musil who was ranked as a top 10 pick going into his draft season in 2011...


But yah no chance.

jakob chychrun says hi

 

[BB88]

Liljegren is ranked TOP3 prospect also he's Nolan Patrick's challenger for 1st overall.
So without acquiring TOP3 lottery pick Oilers has no chance to get Liljegren

It is way tooooooo early to say that, especially for defenseman.

 

[HeavyHitter99]

jakob chychrun says hi

I can't tell if you are agreeing with me or if you missed my whole point

 

[snipes]

How he fell to us this late in the draft, I've got no idea. Right handed too

 

[Hokinaittii]

I don't think this has been posted yet. Räsänen showing some skills in the shootout.

2:54

 

[Aceboogie]

Hopefully this guy becomes our Tobias Reider!

 

[Tyrolean]

Hopefully this guy becomes our Tobias Reider!

Whom we should have kept.

 

[nabob]

Hopefully this guy becomes our Tobias Reider!

Hopefully he doesn't refuse to sign and does force us to trade him for pennies on the dollar as well...

 

[LTIR]

Is it just me or has our drafting improved by leaps and bounds since Chia took over

are you really expecting one or more of Cairns, Berglung, McPhee, Wells or Desharnais to pan out? Rasanen looks like a promising prospect but the others drafted after pick 65 not so much.

Liljegren is ranked TOP3 prospect also he's Nolan Patrick's challenger for 1st overall.
So without acquiring TOP3 lottery pick Oilers has no chance to get Liljegren

yup.. so in other words Oilers should trade its 2017 1st round pick lottery protected.
would rather see a NHLer than a prospect not names Liljegren.

 

[Canovin]

are you really expecting one or more of Cairns, Berglung, McPhee, Wells or Desharnais to pan out? Rasanen looks like a promising prospect but the others drafted after pick 65 not so much.

While I'm not happy with those picks either. He did draft Niemelainen, Benson and Rasanen. And also added Caggiula and Benning to the pool. You win some you lose some. Our prospects pool is looking more respectable now.

yup.. so in other words Oilers should trade its 2017 1st round pick lottery protected.
would rather see a NHLer than a prospect not names Liljegren.

If Chia can add 3-5 good prospects every offseasons, we could afford to trade our 1st's for NHLers.

 

[BarDownBobo]

are you really expecting one or more of Cairns, Berglung, McPhee, Wells or Desharnais to pan out? Rasanen looks like a promising prospect but the others drafted after pick 65 not so much.

Even if every player you listed doesn't do a thing at the pro level, it would still be a hugely successful draft having Pulju as a top 6 winger, Benson as a middle 6 winger, Niemalainen as a bottom 4 D and Rasanen as a bottom 6 forward. Four solid players out of a single draft is a win in my books.

And for the record, I personally think Cairns, Berglund, McPhee and Wells all have parts to their games that make them interesting prospects. Desharnais is the only guy they drafted this year that I really wasn't a fan of, but you never know how a college player could look by the end of their career there.

 

[LTIR]

Even if every player you listed doesn't do a thing at the pro level, it would still be a hugely successful draft having Pulju as a top 6 winger, Benson as a middle 6 winger, Niemalainen as a bottom 4 D and Rasanen as a bottom 6 forward. Four solid players out of a single draft is a win in my books.

And for the record, I personally think Cairns, Berglund, McPhee and Wells all have parts to their games that make them interesting prospects. Desharnais is the only guy they drafted this year that I really wasn't a fan of, but you never know how a college player could look by the end of their career there.

It would be a successful draft if only ONE of the bolded becomes a regular NHLer.
Chances of all three panning out is very slim.

 

[joestevens29]

Whom we should have kept.

Kinda hard when the guy wants out. Now he's doing the same to ARI, nothing loss here.

 

[Aceboogie]

Even if every player you listed doesn't do a thing at the pro level, it would still be a hugely successful draft having Pulju as a top 6 winger, Benson as a middle 6 winger, Niemalainen as a bottom 4 D and Rasanen as a bottom 6 forward. Four solid players out of a single draft is a win in my books.

And for the record, I personally think Cairns, Berglund, McPhee and Wells all have parts to their games that make them interesting prospects. Desharnais is the only guy they drafted this year that I really wasn't a fan of, but you never know how a college player could look by the end of their career there.

I fully agree. Thatd be a huge draft. From the last 4, I am really on high on Berglund. I see Cairns/McPhee/Wells/Desharins as extreme long shots. But I still like the picks as hey do have good upside. Just have to climb everest to get there

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

As we know Finland has been huge disappointment in world juniors.
But Aapeli Rasanen has played fine in this tournament.

Before the world juniors i expected him to be one top Finnish scorers.
But that wasn't the case and thanks for that belongs to Jukka Rautakorpi.

I don't still get what was the idea why Rautakorpi separated Rasanen and Tolvanen but clearly that was stupid idea.
Here's videos of Aapeli Rasanen's goals vs Sweden and Switzerland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QmouuKGn-0 ( Aapeli's goal vs Sweden)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvygXw_74d0 ( Aapeli's goal vs Switzerland)

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Well he goes to the areas where most goals are scored so that's a major plus.

 

[McFlyingV]

As we know Finland has been huge disappointment in world juniors.
But Aapeli Rasanen has played fine in this tournament.

Before the world juniors i expected him to be one top Finnish scorers.
But that wasn't the case and thanks for that belongs to Jukka Rautakorpi.

I don't still get what was the idea why Rautakorpi separated Rasanen and Tolvanen but clearly that was stupid idea.
Here's videos of Aapeli Rasanen's goals vs Sweden and Switzerland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QmouuKGn-0 ( Aapeli's goal vs Sweden)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvygXw_74d0 ( Aapeli's goal vs Switzerland)

I know it was a disappointing world juniors for Finland, but hasn't he been one of their leading scorers in the tournament? Or did you mean one of the leading scorers of the whole tournament in general?

I think Rasanen's had a very solid tournament, and I think he'll be poised to be a standout next year with Tolvanen.

 

[llwyd]

There was this great insert by YLE during one of the WJC intermissions about him - the guy seems to be quite an intellectual, interested in history and politics and carrying a collection of Chekhov's short stories with him (they ended the insert with a shot of the book). Rather astounding in a young hockey player aiming to be a pro... (I became an instant fan, must confess.)

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

I know it was a disappointing world juniors for Finland, but hasn't he been one of their leading scorers in the tournament? Or did you mean one of the leading scorers of the whole tournament in general?

I think Rasanen's had a very solid tournament, and I think he'll be poised to be a standout next year with Tolvanen.

Yes Aapeli is Finland's top scorer but if we compare his stats in U18 WJC's where he scored 9 points ( 3+6) that 2+1 what he has now is passable performance.

It would have been absurd to expect that Aapeli would have been leading scorer of entire U20 WJC's this year.
No-one can't replace those points what Finland lost with Laine,Aho, Puljujarvi and Saarela.

Also in pre-tournament games and first 2 world junior games ( Czech Republic and Denmark) Aapeli was separated for Vesalainen and Tolvanen.
And that pissed me off because i expected Vesalainen Rasanen Tolvanen line will be Finland's 2nd line but coach Rautakorpi screwed those lines up .

Aapeli won't play together with Tolvanen in Sioux City next season.
Tolvanen has committed to Boston College so right now no-one can't say for sure where Aapeli plays next year.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

There was this great insert by YLE during one of the WJC intermissions about him - the guy seems to be quite an intellectual, interested in history and politics and carrying a collection of Chekhov's short stories with him (they ended the insert with a shot of the book). Rather astounding in a young hockey player aiming to be a pro... (I became an instant fan, must confess.)

Shame that insert of Aapeli didn't have English subtitles available.¨
It would have been good add in this thread and i'm sure most Oilers fans would have liked to see it. Damn YLE why they must Geo-block all their Hockey videos outside of Finland.