Prospect Info: 2017 Draft Prospects from Finland

[mondo3]

Just wondering if any of our Jet's followers from Finland want to give their thoughts on the upcoming draft prospects. Looking for their relative rating, their pros and cons, and roughly where you'd guess they go in the draft.

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[MardyBum]

This is a good idea with our new Finnish friends along for the Laine ride.

Try to keep Liiga favoritism out of it when judging them

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Some thoughts of two 2017 draft eligible Finns.

Miro Heiskanen

Pros
1 Patience and calmness in all three zones, looks very comfortable on the ice
2 very strong with his stick, can stop plays from developing and ties up the guy in front of the net
3 sound positioning, knows where he needs to be and can usually recover in the rare cases where he is caught out of position
4 very good vision and playmaking, makes difficult passes look easy and as a result can be the pointman on a PP (espeically since he's used to playing his off hand side)
5 versatility, can play RD (what he normally plays), but can also slot in on the left side if needed to

Cons
1 needs to get stronger, can't just rely on his stick to make defensive plays
2 still needs to eliminate some of the risk he possesses in his breakout game
3 needs to expand his variety and quality of shots, can't solely rely on the snap/wrist shot from out far

Draft position prediction.
Anything between TOP10 and late 1st round.
If Heiskanen has very good tournament in U18 WJC's and Liljegren's stock continues falling Heiskanen could end up TOP defenceman in 2017 NHL entry draft and getting drafted TOP5.


Aleksi Heponiemi

Pros
1 Ability to make plays
2 Great stickhandler
3 has the ability the make nifty moves to stay away from defenders and uses his speed to protect the puck from the opposition.
4 He's able to slow the play down or pick it up depending on the circumstances and is great at finding open teammates to capitalize on scoring chances.
5 One of Heponiemi’s best qualities is his above-average hockey IQ. His vision and hockey sense is on another level and it really contributes to helping plays develop in both zones ( Heponiemi is a wizard when he has puck on his stick)

Cons
1 Small physical stature ( 143lbs)
2 Needs get stronger
3 Is more of a perimeter player
4 Defensive game is adequate but needs works in certain areas.
5 His lack of size and strength seems to play a factor as he is not able to separate opposing players from the puck. (Is red-flag for some scouts and GM's)

Draft position prediction.
Depending WHL playoffs and U18 WJC's anything between rounds 2-6 but could end up undrafted because of lack size and strength.

 

[CaptainChef]

Some thoughts of two 2017 draft eligible Finns.

Miro Heiskanen

Pros
1 Patience and calmness in all three zones, looks very comfortable on the ice
2 very strong with his stick, can stop plays from developing and ties up the guy in front of the net
3 sound positioning, knows where he needs to be and can usually recover in the rare cases where he is caught out of position
4 very good vision and playmaking, makes difficult passes look easy and as a result can be the pointman on a PP (espeically since he's used to playing his off hand side)
5 versatility, can play RD (what he normally plays), but can also slot in on the left side if needed to

Cons
1 needs to get stronger, can't just rely on his stick to make defensive plays
2 still needs to eliminate some of the risk he possesses in his breakout game
3 needs to expand his variety and quality of shots, can't solely rely on the snap/wrist shot from out far

Draft position prediction.
Anything between TOP10 and late 1st round.
If Heiskanen has very good tournament in U18 WJC's and Liljegren's stock continues falling Heiskanen could end up TOP defenceman in 2017 NHL entry draft and getting drafted TOP5.


Aleksi Heponiemi

Pros
1 Ability to make plays
2 Great stickhandler
3 has the ability the make nifty moves to stay away from defenders and uses his speed to protect the puck from the opposition.
4 He's able to slow the play down or pick it up depending on the circumstances and is great at finding open teammates to capitalize on scoring chances.
5 One of Heponiemi’s best qualities is his above-average hockey IQ. His vision and hockey sense is on another level and it really contributes to helping plays develop in both zones ( Heponiemi is a wizard when he has puck on his stick)

Cons
1 Small physical stature ( 143lbs)
2 Needs get stronger
3 Is more of a perimeter player
4 Defensive game is adequate but needs works in certain areas.
5 His lack of size and strength seems to play a factor as he is not able to separate opposing players from the puck. (Is red-flag for some scouts and GM's)

Draft position prediction.
Depending WHL playoffs and U18 WJC's anything between rounds 2-6 but could end up undrafted because of lack size and strength.

I've heard that Heiskanen has the sharpest hockey IQ of D-men projected for the first round and that he is really good with passing the puck out of his own end. Right now, he's my pick of the litter for our first round pick, so no more talk of top 5 please.

 

[Whileee]

I've heard that Heiskanen has the sharpest hockey IQ of D-men projected for the first round and that he is really good with passing the puck out of his own end. Right now, he's my pick of the litter for our first round pick, so no more talk of top 5 please.

Heiskanen is emerging as a strong candidate for top D.

I've seen some reports of Patrick dropping, maybe even out of the top 2. Could he tank his value enough so the Jets get a shot at him?

 

[ps241]

I've heard that Heiskanen has the sharpest hockey IQ of D-men projected for the first round and that he is really good with passing the puck out of his own end. Right now, he's my pick of the litter for our first round pick, so no more talk of top 5 please.

I assume we are going Draft between 7-9 lottery notwithstanding and if we ended up with Heiskanen I would be happy.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Heiskanen will be the best Finnish prospect 2017. I hope the others will pan out to be NHL players too, but i'm pretty confident that Heiskanen will.

Valimaki is doing well in the WHL but apparently the scouts aren't too keen on him (and i haven't seen him play), so he's a bit of a question mark.


It is a bit selfish but i would love if Winnipeg picked another Finn.

 

[LoveNHL]

None of the finns should go in the first round. There are however are several good 2nd and 3rd rounders.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

None of the finns should go in the first round. There are however are several good 2nd and 3rd rounders.

Pretty interesting opinion since most lists i have seen have at least Tolvanen, Heiskanen and Valimaki go in the 1st round.

 

[ps241]

Heiskanen will be the best Finnish prospect 2017. I hope the others will pan out to be NHL players too, but i'm pretty confident that Heiskanen will.

Valimaki is doing well in the WHL but apparently the scouts aren't too keen on him (and i haven't seen him play), so he's a bit of a question mark.


It is a bit selfish but i would love if Winnipeg picked another Finn.

What are the concerns you heard from Scouts Rambokala? Most lists I have seen have him somewhere from 8 to 25.

Here is a link to a good site that displays most of the top 30 NHL rankings side by side:

http://www.mynhldraft.com/2017-draft/2017-nhl-draft-rankings

 

[Kaako Kappo]

What are the concerns you heard from Scouts Rambokala? Most lists I have seen have him somewhere from 8 to 25.

Here is a link to a good site that displays most of the top 30 NHL rankings side by side:

http://www.mynhldraft.com/2017-draft/2017-nhl-draft-rankings

Well, the biggest worry seems to be his skating, which is not bad, just not very good either. He has been putting up a lot of points but some say he could still be a bit better on the offensive side of things.

I mean, honestly it is a coin toss between which will end up better, Heiskanen or Välimäki, but i just find what Heiskanen has been doing in the Finnish league, playing with men, a bit more impressive.

 

[Puckatron 3000]

I figure we should stay away from picking a Finn. Can you imagine how overrun with crazy Finns this board would become if we drafted some high profile Finnish star?

 

[BB88]

I figure we should stay away from picking a Finn. Can you imagine how overrun with crazy Finns this board would become if we drafted some high profile Finnish star?

You have to pick a Finn to keep Laine happy

But honestly someone like Heiskanen makes a ton of sense for the Jets.