C/W Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Ässät, Liiga (2018, 3rd, MTL)

[NotProkofievian]

Just like in the NHL where a lot of rookie centers break in on the wing, Kotkaniemi played wing in his country’s top men’s league. In his own age group, he’s played center. That’s pretty common among very young players in men’s leagues.

“Skating” is such a broad term that it’s really very meaningless. He’s not slow of foot. He actually gets around the ice pretty well, despite some very poor mechanics. He skates hunched over, and has a scoot to his stride. Even with those very correctable issues, he’s really quite mobile and is able to get around the ice effectively.

Now imagine what happens when an nhl skating coach works with him on his mechanics and gets a lot of that stuff corrected? How good is he then? It’s about upside and development. He’s already very good and has a lot of room to grow.

Same story with his size. He’s a string bean but already quite strong and tested very well at the combine despite being thin and lean. How powerful can he be when he’s able to work with nhl strength and conditioning and nutrition folks? When he’s able to add lean mass to his lanky frame, how does that improve his game?

He’s got some easily correctable things that could really elevate his game. That has to be very intriguing to NHL teams. They have the resources to take this prospect and mold him into something so much better. That’s exciting.

What do you mean by scoot?

Great post btw. A lot of the narrative on the habs board is how we should avoid him because he's ''flawed'' and you don't take ''flawed'' players 3OA. Little to no analysis is given about what the flaws are specifically, or if they're correctable. Given a player of Jesperi's calibre, and the opportunity to select him, that should be the question.

 

[boredmale]

This is exactly the part that bothers me. He was ranked 10thOA in Bobby Mac's last available ranking. Several posters on this site are putting him in the conversation as a BPA in the 3OA spot.

Aren't there issues with his skating? Also, didn't he play mostly as a winger and only has a handful of games as a center? We know for a fact that Zadina is going to be a winger down the line. What is Kotkaniemi? What if his skating relegates him to becoming an eventual winger? How much value would he have then?

I wouldn't be surprised when McKenzie's final list comes out Kotkaniemi is rated higher then 10. As for 3OA, i think people aren't saying he is the third best player as much as Montreal might go slightly off the board and take him at 3rd

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

The Eagle seems to be flying high currently. Would be a pretty big jump in a short time if he went 3rd, although Heiskanen had a similar, quite sudden rise late in the season if I remember correctly. 3 consecutive drafts with top-3 picks for Finland would really be something, especially when you still have Kakko coming next year.

 

[WinterLion]

The Eagle seems to be flying high currently. Would be a pretty big jump in a short time if he went 3rd, although Heiskanen had a similar, quite sudden rise late in the season if I remember correctly. 3 consecutive drafts with top-3 picks for Finland would really be something, especially when you still have Kakko coming next year.

Kakko is scary good!

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

Kakko is scary good!

Yep. Should be another exciting Liiga season with Kotkaniemi, Kupari, Kakko and company.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Yep. Should be another exciting Liiga season with Kotkaniemi, Kupari, Kakko and company.

The KKK?

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

The KKK?

I didn’t want to post that

 

[NekkiChiconey]

I just have this feeling that Kotkaniemi will explode next season, and I think there is some evidence to believe so:
- He is a young player in this draft (and he was young for a Liiga player)
- He will play center next season, might have Top-6 and PP minutes
- He could have still been recovering from his knee injury this season
- His main issue (skating) could be improved this summer

 

[TheRocket87]

I just have this feeling that Kotkaniemi will explode next season, and I think there is some evidence to believe so:
- He is a young player in this draft (and he was young for a Liiga player)
- He will play center next season, might have Top-6 and PP minutes
- He could have still been recovering from his knee injury this season
- His main issue (skating) could be improved this summer

- He will be coached by his dad, which has its perks.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

When did he get injured and what exactly were his injuries?

 

[Newusername]

THN has this guy going 16th to the avs, no way that happens right?

 

[pckstpr31]

THN has this guy going 16th to the avs, no way that happens right?

Extremely unlikely, but it's a very wide open draft. At this point I expect him to go top 10 though.

 

[Runner77]

Am I missing something on why he's rising? Seems like the general opinion is that he's a 2C.

Can someone please provide sources on this, assuming there are some? Where is this supposed "general opinion" coming from and is it still being shared?

 

[G0bias]

- He will play center next season, might have Top-6 and PP minutes

- He will be coached by his dad, which has its perks.

He already had top-6 and 2nd wave PP minutes this season. I figure he'll be their go-to offensive center and given 1st wave PP opportunities by the end of next season.

 

[Hostile Offer]

I wouldn't be surprised when McKenzie's final list comes out Kotkaniemi is rated higher then 10. As for 3OA, i think people aren't saying he is the third best player as much as Montreal might go slightly off the board and take him at 3rd

I'd be excited if we picked him at 3rd. First chance since Galchenyuk to draft a top C and it's not like there will be a clearly better prospect available (unless Svech falls to us but chances of that are very slim). There's still work to do with Kotkaniemi, especially with his skating, but I think this is a chance we might want to take.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

I dont want Montreal to pick him 3rd...people will rip the kid apart if he becomes nothing less than NHL 1C in a year or so....

 

[kelsier]

Yep. Should be another exciting Liiga season with Kotkaniemi, Kupari, Kakko and company.

Heck, could be one of the best ever. Usually doesn't happen, but I got a feeling Kakko could actually be productive straight off the gates next year. Thought he was offensively the most dynamic out of the three in the U18s despite of being the youngest.

FEL should be fun to follow next year if not for else, then just for the following reasons: a) How will Kotkaniemi fair after being transitioned to center b) Will Kupari finally start being productive c) Is Kakko going to be one of the few draft eligible prospects ever that have been able to make an immediate impact and take the league by storm

Plus these three won't be the only teenage players in the league so we could be in for some surprises.

Weird, Finns take a lot of heat for hyping their prospects but I don't see that happening here. If anything, most are being carefully cautious.

 

[torniojaws]

Weird, Finns take a lot of heat for hyping their prospects but I don't see that happening here. If anything, most are being carefully cautious.

I guess it's because a hefty chunk of under 20-yo Finnish top prospects never pan out, so even careful optimism is seen as hyping

It all started with Aki-Petteri Berg, who was described as:

"Hitting like Scott Stevens and skating like Paul Coffey"

But it actually became:
"Hitting like Paul Coffey and skating like Scott Stevens "

 

[lawrence]

I dont want Montreal to pick him 3rd...people will rip the kid apart if he becomes nothing less than NHL 1C in a year or so....

sounds like every prospect picked by a Canadian team.

 

[kelsier]

I guess it's because a hefty chunk of under 20-yo Finnish top prospects never pan out, so even careful optimism is seen as hyping

It all started with Aki-Petteri Berg, who was described as:

But it actually became:
"Hitting like Paul Coffey and skating like Scott Stevens "

Ha.

Actually that rule of thumb seems to have stopped existing. Most of the recent top prospects have either panned out (some better than the others) or are in the verge of panning out. From this new generation of youngsters can't (recall out of fresh memory) anyone busting real hard. There are a few question marks still, but which country wouldn't have these? Berg was one huge pile of s....disappointment though. Heiskanen who also is a D and a third OA seems to be doing just fine however. Of course as for his future, the jury is still out there.

 

[torniojaws]

From this new generation of youngsters can't (recall out of fresh memory) anyone busting real hard.

Well, checking the 1st round drafts from 2010 on:

Joel Armia (16th) is a decent grinder with hot streaks here and there, but overall not really a 1st round level guy.
Kasperi Kapanen (22nd) is still behind the curve, even after 2 full seasons (+1 season of 9 games), not really a first rounder.
Jesse Puljujärvi (4th) is dangerously close to a total bust, compared to being a 4th pick. If he doesn't break out in 2018-19, he'll probably be traded somewhere and if that doesn't work, he'll be overseas for good.

Bonus:
Ville Pokka (2nd, 34th) didn't even get a chance and has now moved back overseas.

 

[kelsier]

Well, checking the 1st round drafts from 2010 on:

Joel Armia (16th) is a decent grinder with hot streaks here and there, but overall not really a 1st round level guy.
Kasperi Kapanen (22nd) is still behind the curve, even after 2 full seasons (+1 season of 9 games), not really a first rounder.
Jesse Puljujärvi (4th) is dangerously close to a total bust, compared to being a 4th pick. If he doesn't break out in 2018-19, he'll probably be traded somewhere and if that doesn't work, he'll be overseas for good.

Bonus:
Ville Pokka (2nd, 34th) didn't even get a chance and has now moved back overseas.

Joel Armia has been positive surprise actually. Been steadily improving his two-way game these past years and would probably produce in almost any other organization with some actual ice time.
Kapanen was picked 22th and still made it to NHL. That's far from granted from late first rounder.
Jesse belongs to the group of "question marks" I mentioned earlier.

What happened to Aho, Rantanen, Barkov, Laine etc? Even from that group, only two have been top 3 picks (you referred to another 3rd overall the earlier). If this is bad jr production, then I guess the standards have climbed quite a bit these past last few years (or days?).

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Where do you guys expect him to go? I'm guessing Hawks at 8, unless Hughes is still available.

 

[TkachukNorris79]

Where do you guys expect him to go? I'm guessing Hawks at 8, unless Hughes is still available.

Habs trade down and take him. Or they get bold and take him at 3.

Interesting comment by Zadina (expected -#3 pick) regarding that.

 

[Habs888]

Bergevin always in love with D ..habs will select dobson