Prospect Info: 58th Joni Ikonen
- Thread starter LastWordArmy
- Start date
Interesting bit in this article, published after the dev. camp. Apparently, Ikonen is thinking about going back to play in Finland next season if he can't get an important role with Frolunda.
Hmm...thought a tweet somewhere confirmed a while ago he was 100% staying with Frolunda? Could be wrong.
He needs playing time against men. No use in him being stuck on the third or fourth line on Frolunda. My guess is that he will be loaned to a team in Finland where he can get the playing time he needs against men to develop. Lekhonen played his post-draft year in the Liga in Finland, so this is not a terrible developmental path.
OldCraig71
Registered User
Far from it. It's fast paced, physical hockey, and doing well in Liiga is quite predictive of success at the NHL level.
I had wondered if he'd be considering this route. I didn't see any confirmation in that article that he was, only that he expressed doubts about whether Sweden would make sense for him.
montreal
Go Habs Go
NYR just signed 7th overall pick Lias Andersson. So it will be interesting to see if he was signed to make the club or will they loan him back to Frolunda.
Estimated_Prophet
Registered User
- Mar 28, 2003
- 10,394
- 10,602
Seems to be pretty much common practice to sign high first rounders quickly but you never know......
S Bah
Registered User
If Ikonen works his butt off, listens to Coach Ronnberg(Asst. Coach of Sweden's Mens National Team at WHC's/IIHF many times.) and their strength/skating coaches, with his hockey smarts he will be able to play against the Men in the SHL. That's the gist of the development programs everywhere, players with the talent both smarts & skill, if they work hard/full time into succeeding, chances are great if they don't get injuries that curtail their development. Lehkonen's character was his Forte always, no question of doubt in any ones minds about Arturri's drive to be a Hab/NHLer. Ikonen begins his quest to become the same type of athlete, sounds like Ronnberg will help him become the best he can be, that's their ultimate goal being a quality organization that develops players into NHLers.
So Elite Prospects has the rumour that he is transferring from Frolunda to KalPa.
Not knowing the leagues that well, is this good or bad?
Not knowing the leagues that well, is this good or bad?
I'd say it's bad. Level of competition isn't quite the same, and Frolunda is a powerhouse when it comes to development. Although Ikonen will probably get more ice time in Kalpa without having to really prove himself first.
It depends on his role/playing time. If he's getting lots of opportunity that would be a great path for him to follow. Liiga is maybe not quite as good as the SHL, but it's fast, physical, highly competitive hockey. If you're doing well there, there's a good chance you'll do well in the NHL.
Pompeius Magnus
Registered User
That's about it really. I've seen quite a few SHL games in the last few years and while the level is superior, most of the u20 kids are lucky to get 7-9 minutes a game .If he gets top line minutes with Frolunda then it's better for him to be there, if not then the Liiga is a better option. Don't forget Hamilton has his CHL rights so that's a possibility too.
The source ( which you can find here http://blogg.gp.se/rylanderjohan/2017/07/17/nytt-ikonen-lamnar-frolunda/ ) is quite categorical he's going to the Liiga by the way , because they won't give him ''the Vesalainen treatment'' i.e playing on the A squad right away. Take it with a grain of salt obviously.
Thanks for the info all. If he was angling for a transfer it could also explain Ronnberg's comments a bit more.
Does he even need a transfer? It seems like he only has a junior contract with Frölunda according to EP. I don't know what the implications of that are, or even where to check them.
Pompeius Magnus
Registered User
The article I linked earlier seems to indicate Frolunda could keep him from transferring to the Liiga if they want to. I don't know the exact nature of his contract though.
The article seems to say that they said no to giving him a place on the A team ahead of the rest of the juniors. Don't know if they can prevent a dude from playing pro hockey somewhere else without giving him a pro contract.
montreal
Go Habs Go
He's under contract with Frolunda J20 so I would think they would have to agree to let him go. If he's not going to play in Frolunda then perhaps they won't have an issue with him leaving. Wonder if this is the case, will the Habs put some pressure on him to play in the OHL?
Ikonen to KalPa is great. The most important thing for a young player is 1) to get quality playing time and 2) to play against stronger competition every year. Frolunda is staked at the moment, and Ikonen will be unlikely to climb the totem pole there this year to get the playing time he needs. Him moving to KalPa will get him the quality minutes he needs and the competition to get better. The timing with Frolunda is bad this year. Maybe next year will be better.
In that respect, you're absolutely right, Naslund.
However Frölunda has an amazing off-ice training system (particularly their skating clinic) and the head coach there, when discussing Ikonen's strengths and weaknesses, basically said that improving his strength and (although he's not a bad skater) his skating were key to him improving his chances of playing in the NHL with Montreal. Frölunda has all the high end facilities and programs in place for that to happen.
I don't know if KalPa can match those conditions. Anybody have info on that?
However Frölunda has an amazing off-ice training system (particularly their skating clinic) and the head coach there, when discussing Ikonen's strengths and weaknesses, basically said that improving his strength and (although he's not a bad skater) his skating were key to him improving his chances of playing in the NHL with Montreal. Frölunda has all the high end facilities and programs in place for that to happen.
I don't know if KalPa can match those conditions. Anybody have info on that?
- Aug 21, 2016
- 10,196
- 13,309
I would like it alot personally, would like to see how dominant he can be in the CHL and it would give us the opportunity to watch him more closely..
Would be better for him to start learning to play against men in Liiga than racking up point against teenagers, assuming he can hold his own in that league (I thnik he will).
Yes, all good points. However excess competition for playing time can be much more damaging to development than 2nd grade training facilities.
