I'm warming up to the Barkov-comparison stylistically. I think he could have a Rantanen-like surge later in the season if he and Ässät find a way to make the play flow through him more. As of now, he seems to be outside the play most of the time. He is rarely given the responsibilty of carrying the puck on a breakout, and on the PP I'd like to see him more on the right wall. If he was given full center duties, I think we would see him having the puck more and thus him being able to use his skills better.
C/W Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Ässät, Liiga (2018, 3rd, MTL)
- Thread starter FinPanda
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I'm warming up to the Barkov-comparison stylistically. I think he could have a Rantanen-like surge later in the season if he and Ässät find a way to make the play flow through him more. As of now, he seems to be outside the play most of the time. He is rarely given the responsibilty of carrying the puck on a breakout, and on the PP I'd like to see him more on the right wall. If he was given full center duties, I think we would see him having the puck more and thus him being able to use his skills better.
I'm not really sure what you mean with the Rantanen-like surge? I mean Rantanen had in his draft season 28 points in 56 FEL games. Kotkaniemi has now in 3 games 5 points, so he would need to in fact cool down to end up with Rantanen's numbers or less. That can of course very well happen, but I do have a pretty strong feeling that he should still manage to reach at least those 28 points this season. At least if he avoids injuries, and gets to play approximately 56 games.
He's being given limited responsibility, but he's really making most out of it. In my opinion, that needs to be seen as a positive, not a negative. Hopefully he can keep this up and have an excellent, complete season. I wouldn't hold my breath for a Barkov-like season but he has a real chance of having a season very close to that, which would be magnificent.
What I'm referencing is the sudden increase Rantanen had in his scoring after the WJC in his draft year. He wasn't given much of a chance to show his abilities before that, and thus his point totals didn't truly reflect his abilities.
I'm aware Kotkaniemi is doing great in points so far, but I honestly don't think he is creating enough chances currently to sustain his production. From what I've gathered watching his games, he is currently quite a low-event, high-efficiency player. However, as I said, he could turn into a high-event and high-efficiency player if the coach used him more and as his confidence grows over the season. I guess whether it will show as a clear "surge" depends on if/when that happens. Judging from Ässät's current play I would expect Kotkaniemi's PPG to drop quite dramatically, but if he can gain his coach's trust quickly, he could be able to continue producing at a high level.
TannedBum
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- Jul 23, 2014
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Well, the guy was a couple of months ago still 16 years old, so it's quite natural. We can expect a more consistent performance in the last third of the season. Even though his physics limits his game at the moment, he is likely to continue making points at least a decent level. There's just too much talent to cool down completely.
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Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
I'll take credit for starting the Barkov's comparisons. Really like this kid's game. Lets see where he goes in the draft, wouldn't rule out top 5.
Steve Kournianos
@thedraftanalyst
Yes, but Kotkaniemi's pace has been still already much better than Rantanen's was during that season. So saying that he could go on a Rantanen-like surge sure is a very weird way to put it, as it would mean that Kotkaniemi's pace would drop considerably from the over 1,6 points per game pace that he has had so far. Which it will practically for sure do. But still very weird to say that he could even go on a Rantanen-like surge, when he has so far been on a much better surge than Rantanen ever had in his draft season.
kelsier
Registered User
- Aug 17, 2013
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Taking credit for starting a comparison? Never heard that before
Cause it probably was a joke. That said,
I reserve copyrights for the "more offensive-minded Barkov" comparison!
Hockeyisl1fe
Registered User
- Dec 8, 2016
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Are you talking about his potential? I hope you realize "more offensive-minded Barkov" would be a top 5 center in the NHL. Anyways I want to remind you all that Barkov was a top-line C at that age and playing PK/PP. Freak of nature really. Taking nothing away from Kotkaniemi, but he is not a same calibre of a prospect.
kelsier
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- Aug 17, 2013
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Comparison are always almost explicitly about styles. He has a lot of the traits I remember seeing in Barkov at the same age: good/great hands, excellent vision, anticipation, being effective (while not necessarily overly dynamic), big bodied and so on. Kotkaniemi seems to be more focused at the offensive end where for Barkov it was always defence first, hence the "more offensive-minded". So far everything I've seen from Jesperi points out that he's a world-class prospect. I'll just leave it at that as it's far too early to be talking about his calibre when compared to guys already playing in the NHL. Lets not forget Barkov was well known commodity and was already playing in FEL at age 16 so there was far more available data about him where Kotkaniemi is just starting up his career and I do expect him to get a fair shot in the middle as the season progresses. Some kids bloom and are pro-ready sooner than others. Whether or not he has the potential to become as good as Barkov is something we can maybe discuss about around ~New Years.
Hokinaittii
Registered User
- Aug 15, 2015
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I'm really starting to like this guy (not that I didn't like him before). 
Here's the full video of his goal tonight.
Here's the full video of his goal tonight.
kelsier
Registered User
- Aug 17, 2013
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Amazing goal. Unfortunately I had no chance of watching the game because it was broadcasted at the same as the Jokerit game. So it was rather that or this. After the previous Ässät game I could not but help to think how much of a difference a team & coaching makes. When you can surround a young promising prospect with a high caliper players the results are whole a lot different than having to play in the bad team. In the game against HIFK Jesperi seemed like alone force against the superior opponent. His entire line looked helpless and he had no one to rely on. Another thing I couldn't but help to wonder was that when the team was behind a goal at the last minute, they didn't even let him on the ice on the 6 vs 5, despite of wearing the golden helmet. Of course it's debatable whether or not Jesperi is worthy of the key player status at this point of time, yet still an odd decision cause this guy can be seriously effective when given the chance.
NHL RankKing
Fantasy Guru
What an amazing start for Kotkaniemi. Not enough people are talking about him. I fully expect to see him quickly rising up most draft projection lists.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
Not sure if he is injured or something. Wasnt in the line up last game i think.
FinPanda
Team Finland 2022 WHC champions
Could you please not rush into hasty and false conclusions constantly? He played 12 minutes and 29 seconds in Ässät first line in their last game against HPK.
I think he is just having a drought that can easily happen to very young players like him. Probably would also need a bit more of ice time to get better results offensively. I’m sure things will start turning better for him sooner or later.
Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
Huh? I checked the lineups on saturday and did not see his name there, so i concluded that he might be injured. That is a pretty reasonable conclusion, because they would probably not leave him out of the line up otherwise. If he did indeed play, then Liiga.fi just did not show the proper line ups. Why are you so aggressive?
I did not even state him being out of the line up as a fact. Next time maybe just correct me and dont act like an ass
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