C/W Janne Kuokkanen (2016, 43rd, CAR; traded to NJD)

[JJTT]

Not in a lineup for Kärpät A-juniors today. Might be getting a extended look with Liiga team?

 

[kelsier]

Missed the last Kärpät game. Hoping to see this kid. Any news about Puljujärvi, has he recovered for the game?

 

[behemolari]

shoot me

Fennoscandia

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Where do people see him being drafted? 2nd/3rd round?

Rangers need another Finnish player, although we don't have a second rounder as we traded that pick away with our lone Finnish prospect, which is definitely a problem when Eric Staal has 2 points in 6 games.

 

[MinJaBen]

Well, the Canes have an extra 2nd this year, so they could take him with the Rangers 2nd pick.

 

[Kibe]

got my eye on this kid. wouldnt be a surprise to see him taken 2nd round and i want him on the jets.

Yes it would be a surprise.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

Yes it would be a surprise.

Not necessarily, as any of Finland's 3 skill forwards not named Puljujärvi or Laine are worthy of a 2nd in what's really a crap-shoot draft after the top 10.

Rasanen, Makinen, Kuokannen..maybe even Tuulola. One will get picked in the top 60.

 

[Tormentor]

Not necessarily, as any of Finland's 3 skill forwards not named Puljujärvi or Laine are worthy of a 2nd in what's really a crap-shoot draft after the top 10.

Rasanen, Makinen, Kuokannen..maybe even Tuulola. One will get picked in the top 60.

Räsänen won't get picked at all. Mäkinen isn't more than a maybe for later rounds. Tuulola is nowhere near top-60.

 

[Johno]

Räsänen won't get picked at all. Mäkinen isn't more than a maybe for later rounds. Tuulola is nowhere near top-60.

most of the lists have Räsänen between 55-80th pick, care to explain your judgement for not picking him at all?

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Based on what I have seen, I would easily take Räsänen over Mäkinen.

 

[Tormentor]

most of the lists have Räsänen between 55-80th pick, care to explain your judgement for not picking him at all?

Slow wheels, mediocre hands, no NHL upside.

Someone like Button may have have him in the top-100, but in the real world that means nothing. Wait for the summer and you'll see.

Based on what I have seen, I would easily take Räsänen over Mäkinen.

Neither of them are worth drafting if you ask me, but Mäkinen might have a slight chance of getting selected in the later rounds, Räsänen has none.

 

[YARR123]

Slow wheels, mediocre hands, no NHL upside.

Someone like Button may have have him in the top-100, but in the real world that means nothing. Wait for the summer and you'll see.

Neither of them are worth drafting if you ask me, but Mäkinen might have a slight chance of getting selected in the later rounds, Räsänen has none.

If someone like Button and css have Mäkinen going at rounds 2-4, what make you think that no nhl teams think the same?

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Neither of them are worth drafting if you ask me, but Mäkinen might have a slight chance of getting selected in the later rounds, Räsänen has none.

I am fairly skeptical of their draft status as well, but based on what I've seen Räsänen could be worth a late round pick. He seems to have a good head for the game.

 

[Quethas]

This is already highly offtopic but I'm with Tormentor in with Räsänen. Räsänen might be bit flashier offensively than Mäkinen but other than that I just don't see him being all that special. He is not especially fast, his hands are not that good, he is not exceptionally big, he has a lot to improve in defending and while his shot is above average in juniors, that won't be exceptional against men either. I can't see NHL upside in him either even though he should become good player for Liiga.

I like Mäkinen more from the duo. Mostly because I can see a chance for Mäkinen to develop fairly good player for the 3rd-4th line in NHL. His defensive game is steps ahead of Räsänen IMO.

 

[Tormentor]

If someone like Button and css have Mäkinen going at rounds 2-4, what make you think that no nhl teams think the same?

Central Scouting’s mid-season Euro top-20 from two years back and where these guys went in the end:

1. Kasperi Kapanen - 22nd overall
2. William Nylander - 8th overall
3. Adrian Kempe - 29th overall
4. David Pastrnak - 25th overall
5. Jakub Vrana - 13th overall
6. Anton Karlsson - 87th overall
7. Arkhip Nekolenko - not selected
8. Vladislav Kamenev - 42nd overall
9. Sebastian Aho - not selected
10. Marcus Pettersson - 38th overall
11. Kevin Fiala - 11th overall
12. Emil Johansson - 206th overall
13. Juho Lammikko - 65th overall
14. Vladimir Tkachyov - not selected
15. Lawrence Pilut - not selected
16. Ondrej Kase - 205th overall
17. Adam Ollas Mattsson - 175th overall
18. Dominik Masin - 35th overall
19. Pavel Jenys - 199th overall
20 Alexander Sharov - not selected

5 were never selected and 4 were 6th or 7th rounders. Only 11 of these 20 were top-100 selections. Central Scouting may have Mäkinen at 13th overall on their Euro list at the moment, but it's a fact that real NHL scouts quite often see things differently from CS.

Button may have a fairly good idea about the top draft prospects, but beyond that his rankings are a bit wonky. He's not a knowledgeable source when it comes to lesser prospects.

Why do I think NHL teams aren't that impressed with Mäkinen? Mostly because my own observations of the player aren't that convincing overall. There are several more interesting forwards in Finnish Jr.A this season than Mäkinen.

 

[DoctorDoak]

There are several more interesting forwards in Finnish Jr.A this season than Mäkinen.

Care to expand on who interests you in terms of Finnish junior forwards?

 

[Tormentor]

Care to expand on who interests you in terms of Finnish junior forwards?

When talking about Finnish Jr.A and 2016 draft prospects; Borgström, Björkqvist, Kuokkanen and Koivula.

Mäkinen is in the 2nd grouping with Tuulola, Nurmi and Koppanen.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

When talking about Finnish Jr.A and 2016 draft prospects; Borgström, Björkqvist, Kuokkanen and Koivula.

Mäkinen is in the 2nd grouping with Tuulola, Nurmi and Koppanen.

Borgstrom and Bjorkqvist are both overagers by almost full year over both Rasanen and Makinen. That's an important caveat, especially when talking about scout/draft trends.

There will be teams willing to roll the dice on a first-year eligible even if the overager has him beat in terms of development/production.

While I think this will be an overage-heavy draft, that doesn't make Rasanen/Makinen undraftable.

It's not a good draft crop for the CHL at all. I wish people started to accept that the next two or three drafts will be Euro-heavy, even more so since these Europeans have no problem crossing the pond and moving to the CHL.

 

[DoctorDoak]

When talking about Finnish Jr.A and 2016 draft prospects; Borgström, Björkqvist, Kuokkanen and Koivula.

Mäkinen is in the 2nd grouping with Tuulola, Nurmi and Koppanen.

Borgstrom and Bjorkqvist are both overagers by almost full year over both Rasanen and Makinen. That's an important caveat, especially when talking about scout/draft trends.

There will be teams willing to roll the dice on a first-year eligible even if the overager has him beat in terms of development/production.

While I think this will be an overage-heavy draft, that doesn't make Rasanen/Makinen undraftable.

It's not a good draft crop for the CHL at all. I wish people started to accept that the next two or three drafts will be Euro-heavy, even more so since these Europeans have no problem crossing the pond and moving to the CHL.

Thanks for the info, helpful to get a sense of who to keep my eye on from folks knowledgable about Finnish hockey.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Let's continue this ludicrous arguing between Räsänen and Mäkinen somewhere else.
Those guys have nothing to do with Janne Kuokkanen.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?p=115578505#post115578505
Here's link Aapeli Räsänen vs Otto Mäkinen thread.

This topic belongs now Janne Kuokkanen.

 

[Tormentor]

There will be teams willing to roll the dice on a first-year eligible even if the overager has him beat in terms of development/production.

Generally yes, but that’s irrelevant in this particular case because Borgström and Björkqvist are displaying more upside than Mäkinen and Räsänen.

While I think this will be an overage-heavy draft, that doesn't make Rasanen/Makinen undraftable.

Räsänen has no NHL upside whatsoever, I see no reason to draft him. I wouldn't draft Mäkinen, but I acknowledge that he might be a borderline case.

 

[Unsustainable]

Well, the Canes have an extra 2nd this year, so they could take him with the Rangers 2nd pick.

Seems like we are scouting Finland pretty well also, and RF sees something there he likes with development.

 

[Zaddy]

He had a strong showing in the U18's. It was the first I saw of him and I quite liked him. He doesn't seem to have any real elite, tangible quality that stands out. However, I really liked his decision making and hockey IQ. He seems like a very cerebral player who knows what to do and where to be in any given situation. The game seems to come naturally to him and I'd imagine that his hockey sense is what is going to take him to the NHL. What do you guys think? Where do you rank him?

 

[HockeyHistorian]

He had a strong showing in the U18's. It was the first I saw of him and I quite liked him. He doesn't seem to have any real elite, tangible quality that stands out. However, I really liked his decision making and hockey IQ. He seems like a very cerebral player who knows what to do and where to be in any given situation. The game seems to come naturally to him and I'd imagine that his hockey sense is what is going to take him to the NHL. What do you guys think? Where do you rank him?

I expect he'll be drafted first overall; not many players manage to score at 2,0 PPG pace in Liiga as a 17-year-old.

Seriously though, I have no idea when he'll be drafted, but I agree with your assessment of him as a player. His main asset seems to be his hockey smarts.

 

[wings5]

Could be a real sleeper for the draft had a solid year.