Volica
Papa Shango
- May 15, 2012
- 21,430
- 11,105
Haven't you heard, Liljegren is the steal of the draft; the guy fell! 1 spot, but the guy fell!
Prospect Info: At 16th Overall the Calgary Flames Select Juuso Valimaki
- Thread starter LastWordArmy
- Start date
Haven't you heard, Liljegren is the steal of the draft; the guy fell! 1 spot, but the guy fell!
Johnny Hoxville
The Return of a Legend
He was a great pick for the Leafs, but honestly he wasn't much ahead of where Kylington was. I would take Valimaki 10/10 times over Liljegren.
Tkachuk Norris
Registered User
- Jun 22, 2012
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I prefer Valimaki for sure. Fallers rarely turn out to be anything. The one exception that comes to mind is Brandon Saad.
Johnny Hoxville
The Return of a Legend
Cam Fowler to. But Liljegren pretty much went where he was expected. Fowler fell on draft day.
Tkachuk Norris
Registered User
- Jun 22, 2012
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Good point. But I'm more talking about guys who fell in the rankings as opposed to guys like Forsberg and Fowler who fell on draft day.
OvermanKingGainer
#BennettFreed #CurseofTheSpulll #FreeOliver
I would take Liljegren over Valimaki in a vacuum however given the makeup of our prospect group (Fox, Andersson, Kylington, Falkovsky), Valimaki makes a bit more sense than Liljegren. I believe Makar is going to be the best D in this draft however.
However I am not going to get too high on Valimaki until I see more at a higher level... there are some similarities to Brandon Gormley here... right down to the GM being the same as the AGM of the team who took Gormley.
Johnny Hoxville
The Return of a Legend
I think Makar has the highest ceiling without question, but he also has the most risk of any of the top D. I think Heiskanen is the safest D in the draft, he's almost a lock to be a #3 at worst but he looks like OEL as his ceiling. I think Valimaki is a Ekholm/Hedman hybrid. I think he's going to play, at worst he should be a terrific #4 but there's more there with his offensive game depending on how it translates.
SmellOfVictory
Registered User
- Jun 3, 2011
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I'm not entirely sure which particular similarities you're referring to, but it's worth noting that Gormley was substantially less productive in a worse league.
Dack
Registered User
- Jun 16, 2014
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Game 1.
In U20 action today.... CBJ Emil Bemstrom had 2 goals/5 shots for SWE vs. RUS. CGY Valimaki 5 shots vs. CZE. NYR Chytil 1 goal/3 shots. - Pronman
Valimaki (CGY) is near 10 high-level games played already this season before NHL camps even start but has been excellent through all. - Pronman
No one really said anything about game 2, there is no streams and on top of that the site with the stats is Finnish so I don't really know what I'm doing.
Game 3
Ongoing currently but Valimaki scored the goal to put them up 3-1. Finland is going to be so fun to watch at the WJCs they have an all star team on defense and basically nothing on forward (Tolvanen might not be there) save for Vesalainen, Ikonen and Kuokkenen.
In U20 action today.... CBJ Emil Bemstrom had 2 goals/5 shots for SWE vs. RUS. CGY Valimaki 5 shots vs. CZE. NYR Chytil 1 goal/3 shots. - Pronman
Valimaki (CGY) is near 10 high-level games played already this season before NHL camps even start but has been excellent through all. - Pronman
No one really said anything about game 2, there is no streams and on top of that the site with the stats is Finnish so I don't really know what I'm doing.
Game 3
Ongoing currently but Valimaki scored the goal to put them up 3-1. Finland is going to be so fun to watch at the WJCs they have an all star team on defense and basically nothing on forward (Tolvanen might not be there) save for Vesalainen, Ikonen and Kuokkenen.
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Flameshomer
Likeaholic
The more I read on him the more I get a feeling we'll be seeing him play in our 6d spot this year.
Bjornar Moxnes
Stem Rødt og Felix Unger Sörum
That would be awesome, he'd be the first player since Pastrnak to be selected after 15th overall in a weak draft and still make the roster the season following his draft.
Johnny Hoxville
The Return of a Legend
I know what you mean when you say "weak". But that was the perception only because there was no Mathews, Laine or McDavid. But I think Patrick is Eichel good, and the depth of the 1st round is going to be among the best we've seen in sometime IMO. Seeing how late Tolvanen and Kostin went, are good examples. I think Valimaki is a huge steal for where we got him, the Leafs had a great pick in Liljegren, and I think Habs got a great pick in Poehling. There was just so many quality picks.
Bjornar Moxnes
Stem Rødt og Felix Unger Sörum
How I see it is Valimaki most likely would have went the same 16th overall in the 2015, 2016, and 2018 drafts as well. Because the elite talent in those drafts would have been gone already, and in the mid 1st round teams usually take safety over potential since most are still close to contending or already contending. Valimaki's ceiling is lower than a couple of players picked above him, but I'll be honest when I say Valimaki should have been chosen over a lot of the players that went above him, especially Rasmussen (Who was entirely just a bad pick both ceiling and floor speaking). Makar, Mittelstadt, Brannstrom, Vilardi, maybe Suzuki and Necas are higher ceiling players but also higher bust players especially the first 3. Andersson's ceiling is actually lower in my opinion than Valimaki, but his floor is one of the best out of forwards outside of Patrick and Hischier. In fact in terms of both safety and ceiling speaking Heiskanen is the only Dman that's better in both categories than Valimaki in the entire draft. Foote in my opinion has lower ceiling and worse floor, but barely than Valimaki. I think it's Tampa's need of RHD that caused Yzerman to choose him. Liljegren and Brannstrom are high risk high reward players. No point even debating those that went after Liljegren.
Johnny Hoxville
The Return of a Legend
Makar really intrigues me. I want to see how his game translates in a higher league. His skill is undeniable, and might end up as the most valuable player from this entire draft. At the same time, there's a still a question if that's going to happen (I'm optimistic though). I won't be surprised to see Valimaki end up as being viewed as the top Dman from this draft, although I have to say it's looking like that's going to be Heiskanen.
I think Heiskanen could end up as the next Lidstrom, IF he hits his ceiling. His game literally has no weaknesses, he's just stone cold. I personally like Heiskanen better than Jones, Hanifin, & Ekblad. The 2 guys I like more than Heiskanen at this point are Werenski and Provorov but again that could change.
I think Heiskanen could end up as the next Lidstrom, IF he hits his ceiling. His game literally has no weaknesses, he's just stone cold. I personally like Heiskanen better than Jones, Hanifin, & Ekblad. The 2 guys I like more than Heiskanen at this point are Werenski and Provorov but again that could change.
Johnny Hoxville
The Return of a Legend
I don't expect him to, but I mean he needs to only beat out Kulak. I think it's Kulak's job, but if someone in camp outplays him, it's not inconceivable to think it could happen. But generally speaking 18 year olds Dman do not make the main roster in their draft +1 year unless they are exceptional.
Mr Snrub
I like the way Snrub thinks!
- Oct 12, 2016
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I think there's about a 50/50 chance Valimaki now is better than Kulak now, but even if he were head and shoulders, I wouldn't expect him to make the team. The Flames really seem to prefer slowly bringing defense prospects onto the team, giving them a handful more games every year until management is 100 percent sure they can make the jump. I doubt we see Valimaki play any regular season games for the Flames until the end of 2018-19.
That being said, when was the last time we took a defenseman in the first round? Phaneuf?
Calgareee
Registered User
- Jun 29, 2015
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I would not be the least bit surprised to see Valimaki get a couple games to start the year. Don't expect him to stick around for the whole season but if he forces them like Tkachuk it wouldn't be the craziest thing.
Mr Snrub
I like the way Snrub thinks!
- Oct 12, 2016
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I actually forgot about the nine games rule
yeah he definitely gets at least a handful to start the season, you're right.
InfinityIggy
Zagidulin's Dad
I just can't see this management group inserting an 18 y/o D into the lineup. They have Kulak, Wotherspoon, and Andersson all on the cusp.
CraigsList
In Conroy We Trust
Anglesmith
Setting up the play?
Even if Valimaki is our sixth best defenceman at camp, I think he's still going to be sent down due to the philosophy that it will help him become better in the long run vs. rushing him.
Yeah usually it's better to leave dmen to develop as it's more of a hindrance then helpful for them to play right out of the draft.
OvermanKingGainer
#BennettFreed #CurseofTheSpulll #FreeOliver
People are seriously overestimating Valimaki's NHL-readiness here based on summer hockey. I would be shocked if he shows enough in either of the next two camps to burn any ELC years.
