Erm, this discussion started with your evaluation of Heponiemi currently being the better player than Kakko, which I (also) don't think is even correct assessment. The few things Hepo has over Kakko at the time being are that he's acceleration and perhaps his top speed could be slightly better. I also think he has an equal or better shot. Now as for your take, throwing some favourable numbers on the table to back up an argument just doesn't quite cut it. Heponiemi has played the most part of the season with Kupari and Pyörälä while Kakko's most regular line mates were Filppula and Wirtanen. While Filppula is an elite player at this level, Wirtanen is mostly defensive center that doesn't produce much. Compared to Kupari and Pyörälä, the former pair pales in my opinion as far as offensive talent goes. Today a large proportion of points come from the powerplay in FEL and Kakko wasn't utilized in a way that would benefit his production (by using him on the walls and working as a playmaker which is where he most excels). So even though he got plenty of PP time, he was oftentimes used as a net front presence which is pretty much the least suitable position for a player like him. Just only recently he's been moved to the right wall on the PP where he's strengths are, on the second PP unit. So in the end, this take to present production to prove a point only shows your lack of understanding the game dynamics in the Finnish league, which then reflects to inaccurate player evaluations.
Now we finally have an explanation of why Kakko is the better player right now. Not my opinion, but you explained it, at least. You understand the Finnish league dynamics better than I do. No argument there. I don't think that makes my opinion invalid though. I think the majority of people who make assessments on these prospects aren't close followers of every league where these prospects play.
You throwing some Finnish bias at me? Are you frigging kidding me? Have you even followed the conversation here? I've been practically stabbed from left to right in this very topic for criticizing and calling out Heponiemi's actions in the WJCs. I did the exact same thing especially with Kapanen and Kuokkanen (and who knows how many others) Finnish prospects who failed to meet up with their expectations not only at the WJC, but elsewhere as well. Out of all the prospects out there it's the Finns that I dispraise/fault the most and this is due to trying to evaluate them from extremely cautious point of view just in order to keep as objective as possible. Sure it works both ways since after all I'm a Finn so following my country's progress is something I enjoy and just to illustrate the few prospects I've "hyped", given high praises or generally had high expectations from and who didn't turn out the way I was hoping for are Teräväinen, Saarela and Puljujärvi (to some extent) and that's about it. None of this excludes tracking, keeping an eye on and respecting the top talent grown elsewhere in the Europe or in the NA.
You made an argument for me that I was about to make.
You, and some other Finn's, opine almost entirely on Finnish players, so of course you'll have some pro and anti opinions on Finnish players, unless you only have pro opinions or only have anti opinions. I don't exactly think that proves anything in a comparison between a Finnish player and a non-Finnish player.
Your last statement makes the least sense out of all. I never once claimed ice time was a factor in the "which one of the two is the better". Where the heck did you even come up with that? The only thing I've said (or rather condemned) was Heponiemi hijacking several minutes from the pocket of one of the best, if not the best forward in the team (pretty much word to word). None of which had anything whatsoever to do with comparing them as players. Don't know if you misread something or if you were just making some assumptions, but either way.
As for Turcotte, yeah I even said he didn't have an equal role as Kakko last spring and that I had taken this into account. I'm not sure if you had Turcotte #1 ahead of even Hughes at the time (or today), but I remember you had Kakko was it sixth or seventh(?) best 2019 draftee the last time we argued about this. You'll be seeing over time how flawed assessment that was. Less than a year has passed since, so please tell me, which one of us seems to have the more correct prediction right now should we reflect our ~3/4 year old predictions to rankings based on the scouting services today? It's fine to disagree on prospects but later on you even tried to brand me as some super homer in some other thread (without mentioning the username but I knew who you were talking about) for no better reason than having this much faith in Kakko even back then and not holding back to bring it up. Oh well, time will prove how badly you've misjudged him, trust me.
You've insinuated that you were upset with Kakko's ice-time during the tournament, and others have said that ice-time is a factor in discussing a comparison between Heponiemi and Kakko. Maybe that isn't an argument you'd make though. If so, why discuss it further?
No, I remember that discussion exactly. I never branded you as a super-homer without responding to your post or tagging you. If I did, please provide a link to where I did that. I've had Turcotte #1 for most of this season and parts of last season. I briefly had Cozens #1, which reflects how close this draft is. I think there's very little separation within the top 10 because I don't believe there are any elite prospects in this draft.
Given that situation within this draft, I think you then have to look at positional considerations. Kakko is a winger. Hughes plays center, but I think he projects much better as a winger in the NHL. I think Kakko's the more likely of the two to play center in the NHL, but neither will likely play center in the NHL. Therefore, I have both players behind Turcotte and Cozens who I believe to be pretty equal talents who will stick in the center of the ice.
Since I know some of you care so much about this stuff, I have Hughes third and Kakko fourth. If Kakko plays more as a center in the upcoming months and plays well there, leading to more discussions about whether he'll play center, I think he could compete for first on my list. Dach is the other player who could compete for first. As I'm sure you'll be delighted to hear, I don't see Hughes as being a 1OA candidate on my list, unless we see a downturn in what the centers show in upcoming months. I don't believe there's enough value in his full game to justify being the first overall pick, although he might score the most points in the NHL from this draft.
