Heiskanen vs Risto

[StatisticsAddict99]

Top 10 defenseman? hahahaha. Heiskanen is a great defenseman, but Ekblad, Hanifin, Jones, Ristolainen, Provorov and more, they are better IMO...

Jones, Provorov and potentially Ekblad...

 

[WhatWhat]

Risto put up same ppg in Liiga year before draft

He is also an October birthday instead of a July one. In their 17 year old Liiga season Heiskanen actually had a better PPG. I would still put Risto as the better offensive player and Heiskanen as the better defensive player down the line but Heiskanen produced very well for someone not labeled as an offensive guy.

Regardless I would love them to be a pairing on the national team in a couple years

 

[WhatWhat]

Why do you hate Risto?

Its not hating Risto. At the same age Heiskanen had a better PPG in the Liiga. Its not that far of a stretch to say what he did

 

[BB88]

Top 10 defenseman? hahahaha. Heiskanen is a great defenseman, but Ekblad, Hanifin, Jones, Ristolainen, Provorov and more, they are better IMO...

Like mentioned above defensive D-man.

Heiskanen is miles better skater than Ekblad, that today gives him a much higher ceiling.

 

[joshik]

Ekblad vs Heiskanen defensive ? in future

 

[joshik]

Its not hating Risto. At the same age Heiskanen had a better PPG in the Liiga. Its not that far of a stretch to say what he did

yep, that would be great see them at the world championship together. (best Finnish off D+ best def D)

 

[oconnor9sean]

In this thread: People find it perplexing that a #3 overall pick might be elite someday...

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

Ekblad vs Heiskanen defensive ? in future

I'm no evaluator on Defence as there's not really a stat(There are some but you have to bundle them together to get the real evaluation, so I guess WAR) that can predict Defence better then a Coaches Eye, but statistically Ekblad is falling heavily in production and I think if he can get back up on the latter he could still have a Top 5(maybe better) Defenseman career. I really have my fingers crossed they're in the convo for Dahlin next season(cause I just love seeing peices fit together). But at the moment I'd say Heiskanen has a brighter future than Ekblad as one is currently on the decline(once agin will Ekblad fix it?) and in is only seeming to rise.

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

In this thread: People find it perplexing that a #3 overall pick might be elite someday...

I don't find it perplexing but I think it's the matter of which draft we are talking about as no one would shut up about the fact of how weak this draft was in comparison to others. I don't find as horrible as others as the Top 3 look really prizing, any three could eventually become a Franchise level player is what I believe(I doubt more than one will warrant that status though).

 

[hairylikebear]

I don't find it perplexing but I think it's the matter of which draft we are talking about as no one would shut up about the fact of how weak this draft was in comparison to others. I don't find as horrible as others as the Top 3 look really prizing, any three could eventually become a Franchise level player is what I believe(I doubt more than one will warrant that status though).

Outside of Mackinnon this draft is very comparable to Ristolainen's 2013 class. Barkov and Drouin are in the tier as Patrick and Hischier. Heiskanen, Makar, Nurse, and Risto were about the same class of d-men with Jones slightly ahead of that group.

 

[ek93]

Risto offensively Heiskanen defensively.

 

[THall4]

Heiskanen is an absolute rock in the defensive zone and he's probably going to be a top 10 defensive defenceman in the entire league before he's 25.

Until he shows it in the NHL....nothings a given....Look at Zach Bogosian....

 

[Josepho]

Until he shows it in the NHL....nothings a given....Look at Zach Bogosian....

hence the word "probably"

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

You could cut off 3 of my fingers and I could still count the amount of defensemen more offensively talented than Risto on one hand.

Right, the guy who has scored exactly 20 ESP once is a top-3 offensive defenseman



To answer, Heiskanen.

 

[BrianFromAIH]

Heiskanen.

 

[darcyRegier]

Just want to put it out there that Risto was top 5 in the NHL in TOI/game (26:28). He is 22 years old. There also were multiple games this year where Risto was over 30 mins a night. The season before that (20/21 yrs old) he was #10 at 25:16 toi/gp. The next closest D-man in that age group is Trouba (24:57). Even Seth Jones doesn't play 24 mins a night.

Yes the only reason he played that much is due to the Sabres arguably not even having another top 4 D on the roster so far during Risto's career. Buuut...

I highly doubt Heiskanen will be playing/have the skillset to play over 25 mins a night during his 21/22 year old season. When Heiskanen's 23-24 that's a much different story.

Plus Risto now has D-man-whisperer Phil Housley mentoring him everyday.

 

[wildandwoolly]

I know I'm a homer, but Risto reminds me of the Russian guy in Rocky. He has borderline robot-like drive. I expect the sky to be the limit for him.

Everyone that's critical should pull up the Ovie v Risto vid. He's capable of fully shutting down the top players in the league. Getting in their heads - physically dominating - etc. That's what I'd see him doing night in and night out.

 

[Moskau]

Right, the guy who has scored exactly 20 ESP once is a top-3 offensive defenseman



To answer, Heiskanen.

20 even strength goals is like... the total amount of even strength goals Buffalo scored each season under Bylsma and Nolan.

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

Outside of Mackinnon this draft is very comparable to Ristolainen's 2013 class. Barkov and Drouin are in the tier as Patrick and Hischier. Heiskanen, Makar, Nurse, and Risto were about the same class of d-men with Jones slightly ahead of that group.

The 2013 draft is one of the best in the the last 25 years along with 2003,2008 and 2015. The 2017 draft isn't even on the same tier as 2005 and 2006. It will almost assuredly be better then 1996 and 1999 aka two of the worst drafts in league history but the 2017 draft is not a good one. It is comparable to the 2002 draft which was also pretty bad. There will likely be one or two "semi-star" players like Rick Nash from 2002, along with one stud dman (Keith) and then several second line/second pairing dmen. The 2013 draft was loaded.

The star forwards:
MacKinnon
Barkov
Drouin
Monahan
Guentzel

Second line Forwards:
Wennberg
Horvat
Domi
Burakovsky
Mantha
Lindholm

Stud D:
Jones
Ristolainen
Pesce

Solid D:
Nurse
Morrisey
Zadorov
Pulock
Theodore


Again, the 2017 draft is NOTHING like 2013. There are easily 6-7 players from the 2013 draft who I would gladly take #1 in the 2017 draft (MacKinnon,Barkov,Drouin,Monahan,Jones,Risto)

 

[Kairi Zaide]

Edge to Heiskanen defensively, edge to Ristolainen offensively. Think they'll come out as about even in terms of impact.

Haha, get a load of this guy, watching hockey like some neanderthal. It's 2017, we use Excel spreadsheets to enjoy hockey these days.

Using Excel in 2017.

 

[SenzZen]

I like Risto more than most, I think- and I haven't seen enough of Heiskanen to get a comfortable read on him. He certainly has the hallmarks of a great player, though.