Prospect Info: Hurricanes Prospect Info and Discussion - Part VI

[DaveG]

Aho's dad(GM for Finnish club Kärpät) isn't too happy with Kuokkanen and seems he like he will not be allowed to return to London or play in the AHL(needs to offered back since he is not a first round pick) by Kärpät. So NHL/Liiga next season.

http://www.suomikiekko.com/2017/02/karpat-haluaa-nuoren-lupauksensa-takaisin-pohjois-amerikasta/

Depending if he plays winger or center, he should get first line minutes eitherway.

I'd imagine that's probably better for his development anyway since he really doesn't have much left to show at the OHL level.

+/- is a horrible stat to judge players typically, but Fluery at a +6 on that train wreck of a Checkers team...

Dude's ready, seriously.

 

[Vagrant]

Aho's dad(GM for Finnish club Kärpät) isn't too happy with Kuokkanen and seems he like he will not be allowed to return to London or play in the AHL(needs to offered back since he is not a first round pick) by Kärpät. So NHL/Liiga next season.

http://www.suomikiekko.com/2017/02/karpat-haluaa-nuoren-lupauksensa-takaisin-pohjois-amerikasta/

Depending if he plays winger or center, he should get first line minutes eitherway.

It's really an awful situation for Sebastian that his future teammate and Dad are embroiled in a little drama. Hopefully everyone involved keeps business as business and doesn't let personal relationships become poisoned. I feel like this is effectively saying that Karpat thinks Kuokkanen has wasted his season in the OHL and his poor performance in the WJC may have been a result of not being properly prepared. Calling him home is a little unusual to say the least. Teams are usually pretty complicit with what the NHL team wants because of how important relationships are. I wonder if Francis cosigned this considering Aho was just in town last week and no doubt they had some time to talk about Kuokkanen.

 

[NotOpie]

It's really an awful situation for Sebastian that his future teammate and Dad are embroiled in a little drama. Hopefully everyone involved keeps business as business and doesn't let personal relationships become poisoned. I feel like this is effectively saying that Karpat thinks Kuokkanen has wasted his season in the OHL and his poor performance in the WJC may have been a result of not being properly prepared. Calling him home is a little unusual to say the least. Teams are usually pretty complicit with what the NHL team wants because of how important relationships are. I wonder if Francis cosigned this considering Aho was just in town last week and no doubt they had some time to talk about Kuokkanen.

And as much as I like Janne, his scoring pace isn't as blistering as it once was.

 

[FaulkYouAho]

And as much as I like Janne, his scoring pace isn't as blistering as it once was.

He seems to be doing the same to me :/

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

He seems to be doing the same to me :/

If you look at his game log he's only got points in six of the twelve games he's played since world juniors. He had a 13 game point streak earlier in the year. His pace has definitely cooled off. Not having seen the games I can't do anything but judge his stat line.

 

[tarheelhockey]

If you look at his game log he's only got points in six of the twelve games he's played since world juniors. He had a 13 game point streak earlier in the year. His pace has definitely cooled off. Not having seen the games I can't do anything but judge his stat line.

It's hard to imagine this isn't linked to Aho Sr.'s complaints.

If I had to guess, I'd say London has likely botched either his coaching/deployment or some kind of injury situation, in such a serious way that the news got back to Kärpät.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Dude's ready, seriously.

That sounds very encouraging. I haven't seen him play, nor have I been able to find out much in the media. What's his game, and more importantly his progression been like?

 

[RodTheBawd]

It's really an awful situation for Sebastian that his future teammate and Dad are embroiled in a little drama. Hopefully everyone involved keeps business as business and doesn't let personal relationships become poisoned. I feel like this is effectively saying that Karpat thinks Kuokkanen has wasted his season in the OHL and his poor performance in the WJC may have been a result of not being properly prepared. Calling him home is a little unusual to say the least. Teams are usually pretty complicit with what the NHL team wants because of how important relationships are. I wonder if Francis cosigned this considering Aho was just in town last week and no doubt they had some time to talk about Kuokkanen.

It's hard to imagine this isn't linked to Aho Sr.'s complaints.

If I had to guess, I'd say London has likely botched either his coaching/deployment or some kind of injury situation, in such a serious way that the news got back to Kärpät.

So I'm confused here. Are you saying Aho Sr. is pissed at London for how they were handling Kuokkanen, or pissed at Kuokkanen himself? I'm not sure how the former would cause any awkwardness between Seabass and Kuokkanen.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I really don't think it will have much if any impact on Sebastian. I'm sure this isn't the first time his Dad took issue with someone Sebastian played with. Comes with the territory.

 

[CandyCanes]

Wallmark named AHL rookie of the month

 

[DaveG]

That sounds very encouraging. I haven't seen him play, nor have I been able to find out much in the media. What's his game, and more importantly his progression been like?

He's a lot like Pesce in terms of his dzone coverage IMHO. Biggest thing he needs is more confidence and he'll get that as he grows as a pro.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

He's a lot like Pesce in terms of his dzone coverage IMHO. Biggest thing he needs is more confidence and he'll get that as he grows as a pro.

I say this with admittedly limited viewings of Fleury, so take it with a big grain of salt. One thing I have seen, since day 1, with both Pesce and Slavin is they have almost zero hesitation in their game. They quickly make a decision and act or react. They aren't always right, but more often than not, they are, and it's the ability to think quickly and make a decision that, IMO, is one of their strengths. It seems to come naturally to them and makes them much more aggressive as well. Granted, I didn't start seeing much of those guys until they were 20/21, but still, that to me is something that comes isn't as much learned as it is instinctual. Even Hanifin, who makes his share of mistakes (which I attribute to youth), doesn't hesitate. He makes a decision and goes with it. Ryan Murphy on the other hand is the opposite. He looks like he plays scared, hesitates often, and looks very unsure of himself.

Fleury has all the physical tools of those guys (Pesce/Slavin), and frankly, maybe more. My concern (again in the limited viewings I've seen) is the hesitation in making plays/decisions and because of that, he seems more conservative in his play. Maybe for him, like you said, it's a confidence thing and maybe it's a case where he just takes longer to get accustomed to the speed of the game before allowing his skills to come into play naturally. If he can do that, I see no reason why he can't be a LHD version of Pesce.

 

[FaulkYouAho]

I see a lot of good in him but I think he was a mistake to pick. Now we have to many defensemen

 

[A Star is Burns]

That wasn't exactly something we knew at the time of the pick

 

[DaveG]

I see a lot of good in him but I think he was a mistake to pick. Now we have to many defensemen

The only young, NHL dmen we had at the time we picked him were Faulk, Sekera (who was an impending UFA) and Bellemore. That's it. We had a 20yo Murphy in the system who had seemingly regressed since his concussion in juniors, and had two unknowns at the time in Slavin and Pesce. Fleury addressed a position of perceived long-term need in a big way.

Hell even in the Hanifin draft the next year nobody had any clue how good Slavin and Pesce would be.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

I see a lot of good in him but I think he was a mistake to pick. Now we have to many defensemen

I don't know if you can ever have too many defensemen. They're a valuable commodity that can be moved for other pieces we need.

Besides, at the time we drafted Fleury we did not have Hanifin, Bean, McKeown (I could be wrong on this one) and didn't know that Pesce and Slavin would be so good so soon.

Edit: I took so long to post that I see its already been explained twice

 

[Unsustainable]

Fluery could be our most undervalued asset.

 

[NotOpie]

Fluery could be our most undervalued asset.

I agree with this to some extent. I watched Fleury at the Traverse City tournament prior to his injury and he was head and shoulders the best player on the ice. Not just of our prospects, but really more "ready" than any that I saw. I've seen some snippets of Checkers games and there's a reason he's a plus player.

BBA, I think you're right about his hesitation, but I also think your supposition about "getting used to the speed of the game" is exactly what he was doing. Very much just like Aho in that regard but at a lesser level.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Where do we report mods for padding the last thread? Asking for a friend.

[email protected]

 

[Vagrant]

So I'm confused here. Are you saying Aho Sr. is pissed at London for how they were handling Kuokkanen, or pissed at Kuokkanen himself? I'm not sure how the former would cause any awkwardness between Seabass and Kuokkanen.

Truthfully, probably a little of both. There are some players that, if left to their devices, have real trouble committing themselves to improvement away from their support system. It's not surprising for a kid as young as Kuokkanen to leave home and struggle after losing the structure of having played in their home country under watchful eyes their whole career. It's possible that his training regimen in Finland was perhaps more demanding and more focused on technical skills and playing strong both ways, both of which Kuokkanen failed to exhibit in the U20s. It's possible he may be homesick or that he's simply dogging it in the OHL. Maybe Francis and Aho Sr. got together and compared notes about how their player of mutual interest was being perceived by both parties and came to a conclusion that something wasn't right with his OHL commitment. I have long thought that certain programs didn't push their players to excel as much as others. I feel like London is an attractive option because of how free wheeling they are and how players of skill know that they're going to be allowed to play wide open there. That's not what every player needs for their development and it's possible that Kuokkanen hasn't been self-starting enough to engage the weaknesses in his game and they want to bring him back to the home club to iron it out next season.

 

[JJTT]

So I'm confused here. Are you saying Aho Sr. is pissed at London for how they were handling Kuokkanen, or pissed at Kuokkanen himself? I'm not sure how the former would cause any awkwardness between Seabass and Kuokkanen.

The arcticle didn't say. Probably more at Kuokkanen since he signed a three year contract with Kärpät and decides to go to London few weeks later.

 

[ONO94]

Granted it was just through watching the occasional stream from Red Deer, but it looked like they used Fleury as a "rover" type defenseman where he wasn't really playing right or left. He would shadow the puck when it entered the zone and didn't really stay on one side of the ice or the other. This was probably a nod to his skating ability but I can see why it would cause more problems when trying to move to a more structured format. However, when healthy, he seems to be ironing out those issues and becoming more comfortable in the team schema. I can see the Canes trading Hainsey at the deadline, moving Hanifin up with Faulk and letting Fleury move into the bottom pairing.

 

[NotOpie]

Granted it was just through watching the occasional stream from Red Deer, but it looked like they used Fleury as a "rover" type defenseman where he wasn't really playing right or left. He would shadow the puck when it entered the zone and didn't really stay on one side of the ice or the other. This was probably a nod to his skating ability but I can see why it would cause more problems when trying to move to a more structured format. However, when healthy, he seems to be ironing out those issues and becoming more comfortable in the team schema. I can see the Canes trading Hainsey at the deadline, moving Hanifin up with Faulk and letting Fleury move into the bottom pairing.

If we're clearly out of the playoff race, then yes, I could see this too. But unless Tennyson recovers his game or Dahlbeck continues his solid play, that would seem like a tough assignment for young Haydn. It would be much better if he was paired with something of a veteran presence. But, I guess, you can't always get what you want....wasn't there a song about that?

 

[geehaad]

I can see the Canes trading Hainsey at the deadline, moving Hanifin up with Faulk and letting Fleury move into the bottom pairing.

Playoffs or not, I wouldn't mind this. I would like the team to get an idea of what Fleury looks like at the NHL level before the season is out.

 

[RodTheBawd]

If we're clearly out of the playoff race, then yes, I could see this too. But unless Tennyson recovers his game or Dahlbeck continues his solid play, that would seem like a tough assignment for young Haydn. It would be much better if he was paired with something of a veteran presence. But, I guess, you can't always get what you want....wasn't there a song about that?

Gottem! Hi John.