Prospect Info: Esa Lindell

[IceHockeyDude]

Does this mean The Stars have big plans for Lindell?

 

[Mr Misty]

Does this mean The Stars have big plans for Lindell?

On defense we have too many free agents and not enough cap space for them. It's safe to assume he's going to play in Dallas next year, and that has next to nothing to do with Team Finland's plans for him at the world cup of hockey.

 

[OttMorrow]

Interesting that Lindell was taken for Finland WC over Jokipakka.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Better puck skills, ability to get shots through, higher upside. Jokipakka is pretty ubiquitous.

 

[Satan]

Interesting that Lindell was taken for Finland WC over Jokipakka.

 

[OttMorrow]

I don't understand the meaning of this...

 

[LT]

I don't understand the meaning of this...

Waiver-eligibility is probably the main reason Lindell isn't in the NHL playing over Jokipakka/Nemeth/Oleksiak right now.

I don't think its a stretch to say he's the 6th best defender on the team right now (5th before Russell arrived).

 

[OttMorrow]

Waiver-eligibility is probably the main reason Lindell isn't in the NHL playing over Jokipakka/Nemeth/Oleksiak right now.

I don't think its a stretch to say he's the 6th best defender on the team right now (5th before Russell arrived).

I think we need to tap the brakes on Lindell just a little bit.

I'm not saying that he won't be the better than Nemeth and Jokipakka, but to say that he already is...that's a little premature at this point. These Dmen are all at roughly the same level IMO. Except Oleksiak...he's for sure worse.

The WC nod over Jokipakka may lend some credence to that idea, but it could also be a style choice as well for Finland. The gap between Jokipakka and Lindell is at this point very small. Both so certain things better than the other, and neither is outstanding in any given area.

I wouldn't say Lindell is better defensively than Nemeth at this point either.

I'm interested to see how Lindell progresses this next season. I imagine he's still getting used to the smaller rink and NA style.

 

[Satan]

The gap between Jyrki Jokipakka and Esa Lindell is big. I don't think it's even worth discussing.

It will only get bigger as Lindell matures.

 

[OttMorrow]

The gap between Jyrki Jokipakka and Esa Lindell is big. I don't think it's even worth discussing.

It will only get bigger as Lindell matures.

Let's have this discussion next season. Lindell isn't even a lock to make the team next year out of camp...I don't think he's necessarily our clear-cut best defenseman in CP yet...we are a little hasty here guys. I want it to be true that he's on another level than Jokipakka...believe me.

 

[Mr Misty]

Let's have this discussion next season. Lindell isn't even a lock to make the team next year out of camp...I don't think he's necessarily our clear-cut best defenseman in CP yet...we are a little hasty here guys. I want it to be true that he's on another level than Jokipakka...believe me.

Who do you think is going to be here instead of him? The team has zero faith in Nemeth or Oleksiak and can't afford two of Goligoski, Russell, and Demers. We're looking at
1Klingberg
2Russell/Demers/Goligoski
3Oduya
4Benn/Other UFA
5Lindell
6Johns
7Nemeth/Oleksiak/Backman

 

[Hockey Dad]

I don't think it is close between Lindell and Jyrkie. That is my complaint about Nill. He has been icing an inferior team most of the season because he is worried about losing spare parts for nothin. Lindell is the best of the 4 and I don't think it is close. He is much better offensively and the same on the defensive end.

 

[Mr Misty]

I don't think it is close between Lindell and Jyrkie. That is my complaint about Nill. He has been icing an inferior team most of the season because he is worried about losing spare parts for nothin. Lindell is the best of the 4 and I don't think it is close. He is much better offensively and the same on the defensive end.

I understand where you are coming from, but he's been mostly conservative his entire time here and if you think about it you might agree with his decisions.

Going in to the year you have 5 unknowns for 3 spots. The best course of action is to go with the three who could be lost to waivers and let the other 2 develop.

At some point he made the decision that Nemeth, Oleksiak, and Jokipakka aren't good enough to be here long term, but that doesn't mean they are worse than Johns and Lindell, and they still hold value. So the choice is push a rookie into the mix and possibly upgrade your 6 slightly, or let the young players develop more chemistry together.

If you want to say having Moen play means icing an inferior team, I'm with you 100%. In the case of the defense, I don't think it is as clear cut. Plus we've seen them rush Oleksiak and how well that turned out, so I have no problem being conservative with developing prospects (like we've known Nill would from day one) and preserving as many assets as possible until we are sure they aren't good enough today and won't be good enough tomorrow.

 

[Michael Farkas]

I don't think he's necessarily our clear-cut best defenseman in CP yet...

One could reasonably make the claim that Lindell has been the fourth best defenseman in CP this season...

That said, in my eyes, Jokipakka has no upside. Limited puck skills, not a gifted skater, just kind of "sticky" player that just goes about his business defending players in an intelligent and balanced manner. He's one of those guys that plays the same basic role no matter what level he is at.

It's not like a loser like Adam Clendening who dominates the AHL and can't hack it in the NHL. Jokipakka isn't a Quadruple-A player, he isn't good enough to be better than "adequate" at any level really...but he's not bad enough to be barred from playing at any level...

Lindell, as much as I did not subscribe to the hype involving him, which I have expressed numerically, I would probably take because of the upside that he brings...not just in his career, but to a tournament like this. You push guys down when building a super team...a guy like Olli Maatta, just an average skater, slightly above average puck skills, no shot, that's the guy you push down to the "Jokipakka role" in a best on best tournament...because he also doesn't make mistakes, and he also defends well, except he has better puck skills than JJ.

But you gotta push guys down as best as you can in these situations, you can't take depth players and put them into depth roles and expect it to work out. It's like if the Swedes took Klas Dahlbeck...yeah, he's as reliable as they come defensively...but I'd rather try to push Anton Stralman down into that role because he is also reliable but with a "plus" or Hjalmarsson...of course, the Swedes have more at their disposal than the Finns do on defense, but that's the mindset that you need to have...

I am surprised that the "Luga" doesn't have better players than Lindell at their disposal...that, or, I'm going to be pleasantly surprised by how well Lindell's career is going to be. Either way...

Final thought for this too-long post: Lindell is a better player now than he was in November. The Finnish brass are probably banking on him being a better player in September than he was in March. Which is fair. So tough to rank the Lindell/Johns/Backman triumvirate...

 

[OttMorrow]

One could reasonably make the claim that Lindell has been the fourth best defenseman in CP this season...

Yeah. I was just trying to soften the blow for the Lindell Make-A-Wish Foundation over here.

"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you"

 

[dino200022]

How much playing time can we expect to see him get this year, is he a lock to be in the top 6 or do we think he will have to fight for his minutes? Is a Lindell/Klingberg top 2 something the Stars can expect moving forward?

 

[Mr Misty]

Top 6 lock, top 4 60/40.

 

[serp]

He'll like start on the third pairing . Will have plenty of opportunity for more. Long-term the Stars hope he can he a top 4 maybe even a toppairing guy but its unlikely he can be that next year already. But he'll get that role if he plays like that.

 

[WhoahNow]

As of right now will probably be a lock for 2nd PP unit as well. Depends if we sign anyone on the left side from UFA, but he's our only offensive option on the left right now.

 

[Mr Misty]

He'll like start on the third pairing . Will have plenty of opportunity for more. Long-term the Stars hope he can he a top 4 maybe even a toppairing guy but its unlikely he can be that next year already. But he'll get that role if he plays like that.

Behind who? If Jordie plays on the right side there is nobody ahead of Lindell with any meaningful experience.

 

[WhoahNow]

Behind who? If Jordie plays on the right side there is nobody ahead of Lindell with any meaningful experience.

Hamhuis and Oduya of course

 

[serp]

Behind who? If Jordie plays on the right side there is nobody ahead of Lindell with any meaningful experience.

We'll sign someone shortterm . Too big a risk if we don't .

 

[Mr Misty]

We'll sign someone shortterm . Too big a risk if we don't .

Risk of what? It should be obvious that this team will be substantially worse than last year's because we shed our #2 and #3 defensemen. And those decisions were made because of cap space, or lack thereof in this case, which means we don't have the resources to fix the defense and we are stuck with these goalies. Fans should be thinking rookies Johns and Lindell are gonna Nemeth/Oleksiak/Jokipakka a ton because this season is a write off. All we have is the hope that in 12 months those two and possible Honka are starting to look like beautiful butterflies.

We are not contenders and it's gonna be at least 12 months until we have as good a defense as we did this year.

 

[beepeearr]

Risk of what? It should be obvious that this team will be substantially worse than last year's because we shed our #2 and #3 defensemen. And those decisions were made because of cap space, or lack thereof in this case, which means we don't have the resources to fix the defense and we are stuck with these goalies. Fans should be thinking rookies Johns and Lindell are gonna Nemeth/Oleksiak/Jokipakka a ton because this season is a write off. All we have is the hope that in 12 months those two and possible Honka are starting to look like beautiful butterflies.

We are not contenders and it's gonna be at least 12 months until we have as good a defense as we did this year.

Those decisions weren't about cap space, maybe about future cap management, but not space this year. Signing Demers to a long term contract would have effectively blocked Honka, they see Klingberg and Johns as locks at right D for the foreseeable future, and eventually Honka. If Demers would sign a 2, maybe 3 year contract he would be back.

As far as Goligoski, I think you really underestimate how highly the team thinks of Lindell, maybe not next year, but I expect the team thinks in the next couple of years Lindell could be the best LD on the team, and it didnt make much sense to give Goose a long term deal to play on the second pairing.

Its not really about cap space, so much as not wanting to commit long term to guys you think will be surpassed in the next few years. Also I wonder if the disaster of having Nemeth and Oleksiak play so little last year didnt help Nill make this decision. Young D need time to play and build confidence to get better, to act instinctively, instead of over thinking what they should do, especially in this system. One of the reasons Oleksiak has looked so bad is he's just not reacting quickly enough, and our system is all about speed now. Maybe Nill wants to make sure guys like Johns and Lindell get playing time instead of Ruff playing vets more because thats what he is more comfortable with?

For What its worth, I wont be shocked if Nill doesn't sign or trade for at least one more Dman with experience. However, I think they have a ton of confidence that Lindell is ready to not only play in the NHL, but possibly even thrive.

 

[beepeearr]

Interesting that Lindell was taken for Finland WC over Jokipakka.

Not really, the World Championships before his first season in NA he and Jokipokka were both on team Finland and Lindell was far far better then Jokipokka in the tournament. Probably been Finlands best D man in the last two world championships. Both squads were missing some NHL regulars, but it is noticeable he was the part of that group of three defenseman the team named early. He wasn't a bubble selection by any means.