Take my writings with a big grain of salt. It's gonna be long
And I´m not sorry. With Jalonens organization I see us up there behind Canada with the US and Russia. I just have a feeling that Finland, USA and Russia are a bit better than Sweden right now with Sweden being very close. Three years ago I would've had Sweden clearly before Finland.
Teräväinen-Aho-Kakko
Laine-Barkov-Rantanen
Donskoi-Hintz-Tolvanen (or Pulju)
Kapanen-Lundell(or Kotka)-Armia
Mikael Granlund-Kotkaniemi-Puljujärvi
Kiviranta-Luostarinen-Heponiemi
Kuokkanen-Somppi-Lehkonen
Markus Granlund-Lammikko-Ylönen
Ruotsalainen-Haula-Vesalainen
Maccelli-Kupari-Björkqvist
Koivula-Miro Aaltonen-Nättinen
Kossila-Ruohomaa-Veeti Miettinen
Lambert-Björninen-Sampo Ranta
Rajala-Suomela-Manninen
Hartikainen-Borgström-Ojamäki
Innala-Talvitie-Salomäki
Hirvonen-Kemppainen-Leskinen
Juuso Puustinen-Aatu Räty-Tuulola
Koppanen-Kivenmäki-Nordgren
Mäenalanen-Nikkanen-Tieksola
Tyrväinen-Santeri Virtanen-Oden
Turunen- Perttu Lindgren-Pakarinen
Valtteri Puustinen-Leino-Ilomäki
Pesonen-Lehterä-Pulkkinen
etc. etc. Those first five, six or seven lines should be quite accurate regarding the players who will be considered for a spot, not the actual lines perhaps.
Finland never had this much depth before, crazy.
Kotkaniemi, Puljujärvi, Lundell, Tolvanen, Donskoi and Granlund here or there, those six are close for me. Third-fourth liners or just outside. Thing is, with Mikael I just can't see him in a fourth line. Also, I believe he would benefit from having either a speedster like Kapanen or a skilled and strong player like Armia etc. on his line. Always had the IQ and somewhat finesse, but I do put a question mark when it comes to intensity against North American national teams.
I could definitely see Luostarinen getting a fourth center role from Jalonen. Eetu is a good skater and pretty well rounded.
I know Kakko on the first seems a bit of a stretch, but the thing is I do have a feeling that his strengths could match the Canes duo pretty well.
There is lots of opinions of Laine... Say what you want but that bloke has an accurate and lethal shot. He has big weaknesses, absolutely. But in all honesty, how good centers has this great scorer had in his NHL career? Yes, he's a bit limited but with Barkov or Aho or perhaps even a player like Granlund? Well, let's just say im quite sure he would score at least every second game.
Tolvanen is a big question mark for me. But I do have a feeling he could become dangerous with the right center, a bit of a same thing going on with him as Laine.
Tolvanen, Granlund and Armia are players I could see in a PP as well. Always thought Armia is more skilled than most North American fans think.
Both Kiviranta and Heponiemi are good skaters. Kiviranta with a bit more grit and experience but I´m always been a sucker for how elegant Heponiemi looks on ice.
Kuokkanen would probably get the job done both in a third and fourth line, no doubt about it. I just believe we are stacked and there are other more niched players, for example Pulju, Tolvanen, Kapanen, Armia.
Lehkonen? Back at Frölunda I had big hopes for him. A solid guy, no doubt. But I just feel that he never reached his potential offensively and just like with Kuokkanen I do believe there are som others being more capable winning one-on-one battles.
Kupari is for me just like Heponiemi, I love his toolset. Don´t know if he would be mature or smart enough this early on after his injury but he sure can skate and do his opponent. Would probably be better as a winger at this level? Just like Heponiemi.
Ruotsalainen would do his job on a fourth line as well, not doubt about it. Just like with Lehkonen, there are better fits out there in my opinion.
Miro Aaltonen, always thought he was underrated. Injuries was a big part of him not being a solid NHLer.
Also, im quite sure a player like Maccelli could be a big upset in a tournament if he had a good responsible center with him.
Heiskanen-Jokiharju
Heinola-Ristolainen
Lindell-Laaksonen
Välimäki-Hakanpää
Määttä-Niemelä
Lehtonen-Vatanen
Salo(underrated)-Kaski
Nutivaara-
Juolevi-Saarijärvi
Vaakanainen-Tuomisto
Riikola-Kemiläinen
Reunanen-Pokka
Hatakka-Rindell
Kivihalme-Thomson
Nousiainen-
(Not enough right handed D´s, probably forgot many names in my list)
I know Jalonen likes it L-R, therefor I tried to take that into account when making up a squad.
Laaksonen, Jokiharju, Salo, Heinola, Niemelä are all underrated and blooming defenders, probably Vaakanainen as well( like Määttä, I see Vaakanainen buying his role and being good at DEFENDING). Lots of fanboys forgets about defenders that can actually defend without being that spectacular (Vaakanainen, Määttä, Hakanpää etc).
Last but not least, i do believe some finns overrate Ristolainen. Could be good in a tournament but I´m not a fan of his defensive agility and awareness.
Lankinen, Saros, Kähkönen, Rask, Luukkonen, Lehtinen, Olkinuora. Not sure i like Korpisalos goaltending.
