Prospect Info: At 16th Overall the Calgary Flames Select Juuso Valimaki

[BurnEmUp]

Not that it's gospel or anything, but using NHLe:

Point per game in the AHL = 40 points in the NHL
Point per game in the Liiga (Finnish elite) = 37 points in the NHL

Very comparable according to that.

 

[Khrox]

Holy smokes i didn't know he spoke English this well, you can barely tell there is any accent at all and i got a very good ear for it. It's really rare for a Finn to speak English so well with no accent.

I mean, he's also been playing in North America for 5 years too (since he was 17), so that probably had a fairly large impact on the English.

 

[CraigsList]

I still think this guy will be our top pairing D within a few years.

 

[Mobiandi]

I still think this guy will be our top pairing D within a few years.

Honestly think he'll take that over by the end of next season

 

[Khrox]

Honestly think he'll take that over by the end of next season

Vali-Ras top pairing by the end of the season. If that doesn't happen, we riot

 

[Zub]

Game coming up for Valimaki, stoked to watch him again.

 

[Zub]

Just scored an absolute beauty of a goal, top shelf snipe. He's been nothing but amazing.

 

[super6646]

Just scored an absolute beauty of a goal, top shelf snipe. He's been nothing but amazing.

I love you

Edit: Tripped out on coffee apologize I'm just happy he's doing well lol

 

[Zub]

2.28 for the goal

 

[crackdown44]

Me every time this thread gets bumped

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Gotta be uncomfortable with a laptop stand in your shorts.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Gotta be uncomfortable with a laptop stand in your shorts.

 

[Kranix]

2.28 for the goal

He looks good there

 

[Zub]

He looks good there

Kinda Klingberg esque

 

[crackdown44]

You can’t make me stop posting. He’s got the golden helmet for team’s leading scorer too

 

[User1996]

f***ing love it

 

[Kahvi]

I haven't seem him play, but comments from Ilves's fans forum are along the lines of "best all-around D-man in Ilves at least in 30 years", "dominating play game after game".

Liiga is not what it used to be 10 or 20 years ago but it's still a good league, and not that far behind AHL. Of course you cant directly compare the two leagues because of a lot different things but anyway this sounds really promising.

Wouldnt be the first time fans are overhyping their player after a hot start so take it with a grain of salt but he's leading the team in scoring

 

[crackdown44]

I haven't seem him play, but comments from Ilves's fans forum are along the lines of "best all-around D-man in Ilves at least in 30 years", "dominating play game after game".

Liiga is not what it used to be 10 or 20 years ago but it's still a good league, and not that far behind AHL. Of course you cant directly compare the two leagues because of a lot different things but anyway this sounds really promising.

Wouldnt be the first time fans are overhyping their player after a hot start so take it with a grain of salt but he's leading the team in scoring

I don’t think it would be wrong to say that Liiga is likely a bit stronger this year than the past few years due to all the players on loan there from North America as well

 

[Mobiandi]

2017 was a stacked draft. There's no way he'd be a mid-1st in most other years

 

[Fig]

2017 was a stacked draft. There's no way he'd be a mid-1st in most other years

I was saying we should have acquired more 2017 first round picks in 2017. Pre-draft everyone was calling it a weak draft, but I didn't agree. Not a ton of superstars, sure, but lots of NHL calibre looking players.

2017 has been pretty damn solid overall other than certain prospects that seem more mishandled than full on mis-scouted.

I also remember being enamored by Liljegren and completely confused about who Valimaki was. Solid, solid pick by the scouting team and after watching the interviews and explanations from Button and group, I was quickly sold on Valimaki over Liljegren.

 

[Kahvi]

Google translated parts of a story from Ilves website two weeks ago, after his first Liiga game. I had to do some editing because FFS that was an awful translation for some parts

Juuso Välimäki palasi innolla kasvattajaseuransa paitaan • Tampereen Ilves

Juuso Välimäki's opening weekend was downright dazzling, especially considering the long break. Välimäki admits that he himself was surprised to hear about the 25 minutes of play in the match againts HIFK Saturday.

- I have been fit to play for a long time and done a lot of work to be okay. When you think that it was almost 18 months from my previous game, it’s clearly an awfully long time to be on the sidelines of games, Välimäki sighs.

- On Friday, the game was about shaking the rust off, the puck still fumbled a bit on stick, and the feet were looking for game shape. On Saturday [next game], I think I played clearly better and already have to be really happy with my opening after a long break.

Juuso Välimäki has been really pleased to return to the familiar environment and Ilves jersay. His speech emphasizes the joy of being in Ilves' Jersey, when due to exceptional circumstances it is even possible to play in league.

- It is quite clear that a couple of years ago I would never have thought of making my Liiga debut at this point, but this shows how difficult it is to predict life. I think that at this point everybody wins, however - playing Ilves in a big way to help their core this stage and I believe I can also give a lot of help to Ilves winning games however long I stay here. Of course, it is a great thing to be able to play right now in Ilves and be part of this group, from which I also know in advance the head coach Jouko Myrra and the assistant coaches.

When I watched Juuso Välimäki play last weekend, it was hard to believe that the man was still a little rusty. So is there anything better in the future?

- yes I am confident that I can improve a lot. After a long pause, the courage to play is not yet where I want to be and I can bring a lot more to playing with the puck. Even though I play as a defender, I believe I can also make a difference in the offensive side of the game. The skating will also get better and I think that next weekend the skating will be much better, Välimäki suggests.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I think he’s the next Lindstrom.

 

[Mobiandi]

I was saying we should have acquired more 2017 first round picks in 2017. Pre-draft everyone was calling it a weak draft, but I didn't agree. Not a ton of superstars, sure, but lots of NHL calibre looking players.

2017 has been pretty damn solid overall other than certain prospects that seem more mishandled than full on mis-scouted.

I also remember being enamored by Liljegren and completely confused about who Valimaki was. Solid, solid pick by the scouting team and after watching the interviews and explanations from Button and group, I was quickly sold on Valimaki over Liljegren.

I was definitely anticipating Liljegren too. Never heard of Valimaki (i'm also not a huge prospects guy anyway) but wow what a pick it turned out to be. Can't count our chickens yet because the NHL is a different animal but it's really encouraging to see how dominant he's been so far.

I think people got caught up in the Hischier-Patrick duo. They've been underwhelming as top 2 picks but a lot of the guys that went after have been nothing short of amazing/highly promising

 

[Fig]

I think he’s the next Lindstrom.

Button predicted he will be like Gio...
Gio is in a tier of old ass NHL dmen that scored a ton of points, which includes Lindstrom...

There might be something there, but we might also be 13-14 years too early for this comparison...

I was definitely anticipating Liljegren too. Never heard of Valimaki (i'm also not a huge prospects guy anyway) but wow a pick it turned out to be. Can't count our chickens yet because the NHL is a different animal but it's really encouraging to see how dominant he's been so far.

I think people got caught up in the Hischier-Patrick duo. They've been underwhelming as top 2 picks but a lot of the guys that went after have been nothing short of amazing/highly promising

Yeah, I think the other concern we had was the LHS dman logjam and we wanted RD, so that's also why we in general were enamored by Liljegren. But with Kylington in the system, it also makes sense not to nab a similar styled prospect.

When it was our turn to pick, I still remember being overjoyed that Liljegren was on the board and then being all like...

But boy, oh boy was Button looking excited about the pick and he usually seems kinda dour. I think I was sold on Valimaki even before the next pick was called with what he was describing (Gio).

 

[InfinityIggy]

I think he’s the next Lindstrom.

Why do you continue to underrate and belittle our best prospect?