I May Be In The Minority . . . But I Believe That Kaapo Kakko Could Be Selected 1st Overall in 2019

[HugeInTheShire]

I was at this draft in Vancouver, and nobody I talked to had them picking Kakko over Hughes.
Every single fan or media member I talked to said they're certain the Devils will pick Hughes, I was so sure of this that I didn't even bother finding Kakko to get his autograph, got Hughes though.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Yeah we either overhype the living shit out of our prospects or hate their guts and constantly point out their flaws. There’s no inbetween.

My post might be a little unfair, as there are many objective Finnish posters on this forum, but I would agree with your assessment.

 

[NitroF]

I never rode the Kakko > Hughes train and it probably doesn’t have any passengers left on it anyway, but am I kidding myself if I still entertain the hope of seeing him produce offensively in the NHL at some point? Like, points only fantasy relevant kind of offense.

 

[mphmiles]

I've mentioned this before, but I think Kakko's struggles to live up to the hype lie mostly in his lack of high end tools to his game. To this point in his career, he looks very much the jack of all trades, master of none.

Hughes' skating, hockey sense, and passing ability were always going to make him an elite player. Kakko has good hands, but that's not enough on its own to make someone a high level producer in the NHL- you need something else to go with it, and he just doesn't seem to have much else in his bag.

It's easy to say with the benefit of hindsight, but I think his ceiling as a player was probably overrated due to his high floor.

 

[Brodeur]

I was at this draft in Vancouver, and nobody I talked to had them picking Kakko over Hughes.
Every single fan or media member I talked to said they're certain the Devils will pick Hughes, I was so sure of this that I didn't even bother finding Kakko to get his autograph, got Hughes though.

I had a Kakko nameplate ready just in case......

 

[HugeInTheShire]

View attachment 688568

I had a Kakko nameplate ready just in case......

I'm so glad they dodged that bullet.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

Hughes was fairly awful in his rookie season as well as at certain junior tournaments. He's ahead now but pretending like he always was is anachronistic.

I disagree with that. He didn’t have the numbers, but you could always see that he had the skill. He just needed to develop better finishing ability. He looked like a 15 year old his rookie year as well. Everybody knew it would take time for him to develop.

 

[just a hockey fan]

Firstly before someone says anything yes I just made this account, haven't had an interest in making one even though I've used HF for a good while.

Now to the point, if people get so mad as some do when it comes to alleged "overhyping" (weirdly this is the reaction only when it's a Finnish player, do people think it isn't something that happens just as much no matter what country or is it only a bad thing if it's a Finn?), is the answer to be hateful and leave completely unnecessary and distasteful comments? Are people unable to ignore something that gets them so riled up? Just curious because I don't really care if some prospects are "overhyped", it's just not a big enough of a deal to start trashing a country or their fans and that player. After all it's just a sport and for fun. To start acting like a shitty person because a player you don't like gets hyped like any other is more weird than the hyping. Especially when it's a smaller country that doesn't get yearly high level prospects who borderline dominate a pro league and break records.

The constant generalizing and one could even say hate or dislike that is shown here is weird and some users seem to have something against Finns be it players or fans from what I've personally seen on here. I won't call anyone a xenophobe but I'd be lying if I said that I haven't seen comments that seem slightly xenophobic towards Finns...

Overall there's definitely some weird "over criticism" towards Finnish prospects IMO, especially in recent years. Kakko couldn't have had a much better draft year so anyone even trying to say he didn't deserve to go at least 2nd is crazy. And it really wasn't disrespectful or crazy to at least have a discussion about the possibility of him going 1st back in 2019... He did have an amazing season and anyone saying otherwise can't be serious. I guess certain people like to demand and expect something crazy and maybe even unrealistic from a Finnish prospect who is rightfully ranked as a top prospect or a potential 1OA.

What do the reasonable hockey fans expect from a Finnish prospect during their draft year to be considered as a possible 1OA?

 

[Albatros]

I disagree with that. He didn’t have the numbers, but you could always see that he had the skill. He just needed to develop better finishing ability. He looked like a 15 year old his rookie year as well. Everybody knew it would take time for him to develop.

Having a good potential ceiling is fairly irrelevant when discussing the current level of a player at any given time though. Hughes and Lafrenière had the exact same point totals in both of their first two NHL seasons. Kakko was ahead after first and behind after second. Cracked 40 points in his fourth year and Hughes in third. Lafrenière barely missed now. Therefore it's fair to say that Hughes broke out the fastest, but it's not like his way there was any smooth either. The formulation "always was better" just doesn't check out. "Is better right now", sure.

 

[Lavar Ball]

View attachment 688568

I had a Kakko nameplate ready just in case......

Epic

 

[Zubrus Coffee Maker]

Kakko just scored 40 points as a 22 year old, yea he’s not as good as Hughes, but he’s already a good player and will only improve. I’m a Devils fan who loves Hughes, but I would certainly not put Kakko in the bust category just yet

 

[jj cale]

I disagree with that. He didn’t have the numbers, but you could always see that he had the skill. He just needed to develop better finishing ability. He looked like a 15 year old his rookie year as well. Everybody knew it would take time for him to develop.

It's the same old thing around here, If they don't produce first year it's "they're a bust" usually done for petty reasons. Same thing happening with Slafkovsky now, but those folks are going to be wrong about him too I predict. I saw him make a couple of big league plays this year that no d-man was going to stop and he just ripped it past the goalie.

The tools are there and as we know he's a beast of a guy.

 

[ricky0034]

I disagree with that. He didn’t have the numbers, but you could always see that he had the skill. He just needed to develop better finishing ability. He looked like a 15 year old his rookie year as well. Everybody knew it would take time for him to develop.

and then his second year he was already really good it just hadn't quite translated into production yet

his breakout stats wise the year after was one of the more predictable i've seen

 

[MichaelFarrell]

Overall there's definitely some weird "over criticism" towards Finnish prospects IMO, especially in recent years. Kakko couldn't have had a much better draft year so anyone even trying to say he didn't deserve to go at least 2nd is crazy. And it really wasn't disrespectful or crazy to at least have a discussion about the possibility of him going 1st back in 2019... He did have an amazing season and anyone saying otherwise can't be serious. I guess certain people like to demand and expect something crazy and maybe even unrealistic from a Finnish prospect who is rightfully ranked as a top prospect or a potential 1OA.

What do the reasonable hockey fans expect from a Finnish prospect during their draft year to be considered as a possible 1OA?

I tell you why that is. Let me start off by saying Finland has always been the country I root for if the USA is out of a tournament. It’s just a matter of people from Finland hyping their guys quite a lot on this site at the expense of other fan bases. This really began with Laine vs Matthews. Fin posters and Leaf fans have been going at it for years at this point and then of course you had the Hughes vs Kakko year long debate.

Unfortunately, a lot of top Finish picks have not lived up to expectations. Kakko, Puljujarvi, Kotkaniemi, Laine (to a certain extent), Lambert (who fell in the draft), and Raty (who also fell in the draft). This just added to pile on.

 

[ricky0034]

This thread isn’t nearly as bad as the one about Kakko being the most NHL ready prospect they have ever seen.

eh he was pretty NHL ready for a prospect and was definitely way more NHL ready than Hughes was

he just also isn't all that good and Hughes in particular is way more talented than him they aren't incompatible things

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Having a good potential ceiling is fairly irrelevant when discussing the current level of a player at any given time though. Hughes and Lafrenière had the exact same point totals in both of their first two NHL seasons. Kakko was ahead after first and behind after second. Cracked 40 points in his fourth year and Hughes in third. Lafrenière barely missed now. Therefore it's fair to say that Hughes broke out the fastest, but it's not like his way there was any smooth either. The formulation "always was better" just doesn't check out. "Is better right now", sure.

Yes, he was. You just had to watch the games.

 

[just a hockey fan]

I tell you why that is. Let me start off by saying Finland has always been the country I root for if the USA is out of a tournament. It’s just a matter of people from Finland hyping their guys quite a lot on this site at the expense of other fan bases. This really began with Laine vs Matthews. Fin posters and Leaf fans have been going at it for years at this point and then of course you had the Hughes vs Kakko year long debate.

Unfortunately, a lot of top Finish picks have not lived up to expectations. Kakko, Puljujarvi, Kotkaniemi, Laine (to a certain extent), Lambert (who fell in the draft), and Raty (who also fell in the draft). This just added to pile on.

Well I just don’t get why certain people start hating every player and fan because of some hype. That’s my whole point, people get really mad for silly reasons here.


The Laine vs Matthews stuff wasn’t just Finnish fans, same with every single Finnish prospect. Of course they’ll hype a player up when they are doing unprecedented things and clearly dominate, completely normal and acceptable, but so do scouts and analysts, players, fans from every country.

Funny thing is I saw non Finns hype up Raty and Lambert way more than Finns. And not living up to expectations shouldn’t mean “now I’ll be a trash human and hate every prospect from a country and find any slight weakness and act like it can’t be improved” like I see people doing.

Already wishing next season was skipped because of the inevitable hate towards the Kiviharju kid (and Finnish fans for no reason) who’s broken records everywhere he goes but is already getting disrespected.