C Samuel Helenius - JYP Jyväskylä, Liiga (2021, 59th, LAK)

[Albatros]

It’s so stupid how this nowadays skating fetish has turned around player evaluation close to blindness towards many other player abilities. In reality a player of Helenius’s size, with his skating and otherwise quite good skills should definitely go in the 1st or 2nd round, at least if he can continue scoring with the pace that he is scoring at the moment.

This waterbug hockey admiring is honestly really starting to get on my nerves. Seems like almost every hockey fan only looks at skating and even can’t judge that at all right. When the player is big, fans almost always judge the skating somehow weak and the player not interesting.

Sure it’s impossible for a really big player to ever be as agile as some smaller waterbug type of a player is. But on the other hand they compensate a lot with their long reach and also with the straight line speed that bigger sized players very often have better than a bit smaller players. And anyway the most important ability for any player by a mile is hockey IQ which doesn’t have anything to do with what size the player is.

If the bigger player has good hockey IQ, he will be always the better player than a smaller player, if the smaller player has the worse hockey IQ. Even their skating doesn’t matter much then.

Helenius seems to have pretty good hockey IQ and his skating is also surprisingly good for a huge 197 cm tall player. I think it is in fact pretty unlikely that all the NHL teams are so mesmerized with the silly waterbug-fetish that not a single one of the teams wouldn’t be willing to take a bit of a risk with drafting a player like Helenius around the end of the 1st round or at least in the 2nd round.

Why would they though? Just because he's big? Byfield went higher because of that, but he also has the other abilities of an early 1st round pick. Helenius is nothing very special apart of his size.

 

[Ippenator]

Why would they though? Just because he's big? Byfield went higher because of that, but he also has the other abilities of an early 1st round pick. Helenius is nothing very special apart of his size.

He is a pretty good skater, and much more importantly he has pretty good hockey IQ. When his size of a player has good skating and hockey IQ, it is very likely that he becomes a quite high level player at some point. I see a very good future ahead for him.

 

[tellermine]

He is a pretty good skater, and much more importantly he has pretty good hockey IQ. When his size of a player has good skating and hockey IQ, it is very likely that he becomes a quite high level player at some point. I see a very good future ahead for him.

Ah. This is nice to hear. With good positioning and speed, with good reach he can be quite a pain in the ass.

 

[Albatros]

Sure, I can see him go sooner or later. Third round or thereabouts even. But one has to ask what his ceiling is in NHL terms. If he has no serious top line potential in the big league then what would be the point in drafting him as high as first round?

 

[tellermine]

Sure, I can see him go sooner or later. Third round or thereabouts even. But one has to ask what his ceiling is in NHL terms. If he has no serious top line potential in the big league then what would be the point in drafting him as high as first round?

There would be No point.
But if he is good in defence and gives some goals and grit, 3rd rounder would be realistic.

 

[Nate070]

Sure, I can see him go sooner or later. Third round or thereabouts even. But one has to ask what his ceiling is in NHL terms. If he has no serious top line potential in the big league then what would be the point in drafting him as high as first round?

Honestly, do you know anything about him? Some people here spew facts left and right so i am just curious.

 

[Albatros]

I've watched him play, I know his background. He has what it takes to be a good Liiga player. But some here are starting to present him as a blue chip NHL prospect and I can't see where the justification comes from.

 

[Nate070]

I've watched him play, I know his background. He has what it takes to be a good Liiga player. But some here are starting to present him as a blue chip NHL prospect and I can't see where the justification comes from.

Ok, I see. He has interesting tools and he´s just 17 so anything can happen really. Will keep my eyes on him

 

[BusQuets]

I've watched him play, I know his background. He has what it takes to be a good Liiga player. But some here are starting to present him as a blue chip NHL prospect and I can't see where the justification comes from.

6'6 17 year old playing against Men and being able to produce. The list of players who's done that is very very short. That's enough for NHL speculation.

 

[CLW]

6'6 17 year old playing against Men and being able to produce. The list of players who's done that is very very short. That's enough for NHL speculation.

Easily. This lad can skate, has hands, reads the game (good IQ), has size to spare and is already having an impact against men as a 17 yo center. Goes without saying NHL clubs are keeping their eyes peeled.

 

[JabbaJabba]

Sure, I can see him go sooner or later. Third round or thereabouts even. But one has to ask what his ceiling is in NHL terms. If he has no serious top line potential in the big league then what would be the point in drafting him as high as first round?

I've watched him play, I know his background. He has what it takes to be a good Liiga player. But some here are starting to present him as a blue chip NHL prospect and I can't see where the justification comes from.

I don't think anyone is calling him a blue chip prospect at this point but he has exceeded the expectations so far this season. Mature gameplay and ability to score and be relied on in Liiga. And then you take into consideration his size and the fact that he can skate well. How can you not get excited? With that size and reach and speed he could be all over the ice.

Also, you shouldn't expect all first rounders to be first liners or top pairing players and I am sure that NHL teams don't expect that either. They want the best value out of every pick. So, I don't see a reason why a team wouldn't take him later in the first round (20+ picks in) if they see Helenius as potential versatile middle six center.

 

[JJTT]

Trent Frederik, Freddy Gauthier, Riley Tufte, Tage Thompson, John Beecher are all recent first rounders, teams still value size in the late first round without great offensive game.

 

[CLW]

Samuel is rated as a B prospect by NHL Central Scouting.

 

[karhukissa]

has hands

Probably inherited this skill from his dad.

 

[CLW]

Probably inherited this skill from his dad.

Hah! Samuel has almost caught up with has father's paltry 5 career goals in Liiga after only 9 games! The skill is from his mother's side I'd say

 

[wings5]

Easily. This lad can skate, has hands, reads the game (good IQ), has size to spare and is already having an impact against men as a 17 yo center. Goes without saying NHL clubs are keeping their eyes peeled.

I don't think anyone is expecting him to be an elite player, but if a team can get say a Brian Boyle type player out of Helenius anywhere after the first round I'm sure any team would take that easily.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Just scored his 5th goal of the season,

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Leads his team, in goals.

5 Helenius (17)
4 Tuppurainen (40)
3 Lambert (16)
3 Turkulainen (21)
3 Siikonen (24)

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Probably inherited this skill from his dad.

Son of Sami?

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Son of Sami?

Yup.

 

[mazmin]

I wonder how much ice he sees at the WJC-20? Scoring and massive physique aside, the fact that his team trusts him on the PK at that age is incredible. I’m looking forward to taking a look.

 

[JJTT]

I wonder how much ice he sees at the WJC-20? Scoring and massive physique aside, the fact that his team trusts him on the PK at that age is incredible. I’m looking forward to taking a look.

4rd line line center and pk, I don't think he will get big minutes in the tournament

 

[Artorius Horus T]

4rd line line center and pk, I don't think he will get big minutes in the tournament

Incorrect.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

I wonder how much ice he sees at the WJC-20? Scoring and massive physique aside, the fact that his team trusts him on the PK at that age is incredible. I’m looking forward to taking a look.

I reckon he'll get decent minutes. Many will have hard time dealing with his physicality. He'll also probably have a letter in his jersey in next years wjc

 

[FLAMESFAN]

I reckon he'll get decent minutes. Many will have hard time dealing with his physicality. He'll also probably have a letter in his jersey in next years wjc

Marc Staal type? I'm also interested to see how he does, mainly on faceoffs.