Player Discussion Henri Jokiharju

He's non-exempt, the cutoff is three pro seasons in North America and he played last year, this year and will play next year. Same deal as Dahlin.

 

isn't that bad?

 

It'd certainly be better if he was given a free pass, but that painful decision (whatever it is) is unavoidable when you cash an expansion team's big check. It will be fun to watch 29 other teams suffer through it, at least.

 

We're probably gonna lose a good defender at the expansion draft. Or we're gonna have to pay Seattle to take a player we're OK with losing.

 

Trying to not get too excited, but man this kid has looked really good. I know he and Scandella are playing 3rd pairing minutes, but if Krueger wanted to reduce Ristolainen's ice time by 3 minutes (which I think he should 25+ is way too much for Risto) I'd be comfortable giving those minutes to this paring.

At least that is what the eye test tells me I'm sure some advanced stat guy will tell me I'm nuts.

 

What a f***ing pickup Joker is. The nickname alone is 10/10, and then steps on the ice...

 

A good D is almost certainly gone. Luckily they’ve been investing heavy in the position and will have replacements in the pipeline.

 

Still hoping we can pay a 1st for them to take Okposo. Joki been great. I don't want to lose any of our D.

 

Sure was joy to see last night.
One mustake cost a goal but other ways jyst so high iq stuff with good skating and stuck play.
He seems to have potential on attack also. Last night was few times well on rush but sadly was not seen by forward.

Nice pick at 29 spot by Hawks.

 

I think it’s not very convenient for him to play on the left side.

 

With Dahlin out and Risto not distributing that well since resuming point duties... Joker is getting a shot on PP1:

 

<3 Joker

 

As Casey Mittelstadt struggles at the NHL level, many of his... (paywall)

Henri Jokiharju would have loved to stay in the NHL all last season. Why wouldn’t he? But in January, after 37 games with Chicago, the Blackhawks sent him to the American Hockey League.

Looking back, what does he think of that move?

“It was really good for me in the end,” Jokiharju said. “It helped me a lot.”

The demotion was simply a step in his development, something that’s helped him become one of only two Sabres defensemen to skate in every game this season. He got more minutes in the AHL, played a bigger role and put up confidence-building numbers.

“I was playing like 12, 13 minutes (in Chicago) so I wasn’t getting any better as a hockey player,” Jokiharju said.

 

Is that not Olofsson on the left?

 

I've found that he's starting to struggle more in the last few games but I may be alone in this assessment. No idea if the stats actually back that up but I've noticed a few bad pinches and turnovers.

Still think he's been our #1 performing defensemen overall this year.

 

I think he was quite good in this game.
Some problems but was then really good at third end with Dahlin on offence.
One thing that is clear is that he needs more muscle.

82 games in a season so every player will have bad games.

 

You're alone. He keeps getting more responsibility and RK mentioned him by name.

 

Still just 20 years old. Might even be able to repair some of the damage the consecutive bust drafts of Nylander-Mittelstadt did.

How do you expect Jokiharju to turn out? Obviously room to grow but nothing about him really stands out to me except he seems smarter than the rest of our d.

 

He does appear to struggle a bit more at times. But its due to getting more responsibilities more so than his game falling off. He’ll adjust.

 

1st pair D. At worst, a very very good 2nd pair D.

 

That post was from December, but certainly it still applies now. He was better in the first ~30 games for sure.

 

He was being more protected in the first 30 games. Ralph has been giving him a lot more responsibility the last 20 in preparation for replacing Risto's minutes after he is traded in the offseason. Like josjjull said.....he'll adjust. Definitely a top 2 pairing RD for the long term.

 

how? We only have 3 good defenders

 

I could subscribe to this theory but I’d like to first see evidence that his usage is actually different (TOI, QOC wise).