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.
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.
You can listen to the interview here.
https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/...-coach-joni-ikonen-draft-prospect-development
He's not so much saying he doesn't believe in Ikonen. He's more saying Lehkonen was exceptional in his work ethic. I'm reading into it here but, he could be saying it remains to be seen if anybody has that type of work ethic, including Ikonen.
He also said Ikonen will have to work on his strength and skating before he can hope to play with men. He says he has the smarts. He says he's not a bad skater, but to play with men he'll need to work on his strength and skating.
At Frolunda, they have strength and skating coaches. He said Frolunda's goal is to be the best development club for young player's to fulfill their dreams. The goal of their brand is to be a club that NHL teams trust to develop young players the best way possible.
I'm glad Ikonen is going to be in such a good developmental system. Hopefully people will tell him how much work it took Lehkonen to get to where he is and whether he's putting in the same amount of work as Lehkonen.
From what I saw in the development camp highlights. The guy is at least a fast skater in open ice. Ronnberg talked about increasing his explosiveness.
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.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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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..
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?