Player Discussion Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Part 10

[Scriptor]

That looks great!!

i really like the idea of having Caufield with KK or Suzuki. Both have really great vision and I think would be great at getting Caufield the puck

On the surface, both Cs are great playmakers and either one should be able to set up Caufield.

However, from what I gather about Caufield's game when he's at his best, he's always moving around and weaving in and out of defensive coverage so he makes himself difficult to pinpoint.

The C on Caufield's line, along with a LW that isn't afraid to occupy the crease, will need to buy time so Caufield can seize the moment and find open ice. It only takes a minute amount of time for Caufield to release the puck on net -- That's one element of his shot that makes it elite. Precision and strength are the other two.

For now, from what I've seen from Suzuki and Kotkaniemi (call it one season each, if you will, because last season wasn't a good one to evaluate for Kotkaniemi), The 'Nature of Things' is a much more dynamic C than Kotkaniemi. I reckon, he can thus better challenge the opposing D and help break down the defensive coverage, create more space and unexpected open ice and allow Caufield to pick his spots better.

Of course, that can all change quickly as Kotkaniemi matures, fills in and becomes sturdier on his skates. At that point, he might well be able to use his physique to better challenge the opposing D, buy more time and send off a pass where Caufield will swoop in to convert.

Again, the good news with Caufield is the quick release and the varied shot arsenal. He's also a pretty good passer, something he definitely isn't given enough credit for.

I'm personally really curious to see if Caufield can establish a give and go with either Suzuki or Kotkaniemi where he dishes them the puck and beelines for open ice to get ready to unwind on the return pass?

 

[Goldenhands]

Really want to see him do well (while still losing to the Pens and landing Lafreniere)

Lafreniere-Kotkaniemi-Caufield?????

This would be a perfect line!! Caufield would score a ton with those 2... Hopefully the hockey gods are on our side and we get Laffy!

 

[DiglettDangles]

I'm no expert but I think Caufield's shot would be a deadlier option more regularly if the passes come from a center that shoots left like our boi Kotkaniemi (provided CC sticks to RW in 5on5).
Maybe it's the opposite and he's better served when the pass is "counter intuitive" and he catches the D by surprise, since he likely won't wrestle his way to the net and have to be cunning?
On the PP where he may play LW, I can definitely see a deadly combo with Suzuki opposite him and a big guy to screen!






I'll just add that Lafrenière on such lines would be DISGUSTING
To the powers that be, pls make it happen

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

On the surface, both Cs are great playmakers and either one should be able to set up Caufield.

However, from what I gather about Caufield's game when he's at his best, he's always moving around and weaving in and out of defensive coverage so he makes himself difficult to pinpoint.

That isn't really how it works. Caufield doesn't weave in and out of coverage magically appearing in random locations. He finds quiet spots on the ice where his teammates can find him. He makes it easier on playmakers......not vice versa. The key is that he needs very little time and space to score and is able to create that separation by understanding not only where opposing players are but more importantly where they are going. It is the same IQ trait that allows playmakers to find seams as they appear and having two players on the ice with this ability will make it much easier on both of them.

 

[HOPE]

I'm no expert but I think Caufield's shot would be a deadlier option more regularly if the passes come from a center that shoots left like our boi Kotkaniemi (provided CC sticks to RW in 5on5).
Maybe it's the opposite and he's better served when the pass is "counter intuitive" and he catches the D by surprise, since he likely won't wrestle his way to the net and have to be cunning?
On the PP where he may play LW, I can definitely see a deadly combo with Suzuki opposite him and a big guy to screen!






I'll just add that Lafrenière on such lines would be DISGUSTING
To the powers that be, pls make it happen

Beside his shot, Caufield's best attribute is that he's not a static shooter, he's constantly moving around the ice in a smart way depending on where the puck is. His feeder doesn't need to find passing lane because he does that for them with his "adaptive positioning" I think he could fit with either a LW or RW but he's REALY good at beating goalies short side, He and Suzuki will tear it up on the PP.

 

[HOPE]

That isn't really how it works. Caufield doesn't weave in and out of coverage magically appearing in random locations. He finds quiet spots on the ice where his teammates can find him. He makes it easier on playmakers......not vice versa. The key is that he needs very little time and space to score and is able to create that separation by understanding not only where opposing players are but more importantly where they are going. It is the same IQ trait that allows playmakers to find seams as they appear and having two players on the ice with this ability will make it much easier on both of them.

well we almost said the same thing at the same time.

 

[Gyfu]

He looks bigger, not sure how this will translate. You literally just saw 15 seconds of him...
I'm more interested to see how he carries the puck and what he does with it in both the neutral and offensive zone. Everyone can be taught to play better defensively, even careless offensively minded players like Ovechkin can be turned into better two way players.

What's important with KK is his offensive game.

He's smart and is blessed with lots of skills people can only wish for, as i said in the romanov thread, he's another player i find, when he grows into his body he will at least be a solid mid6 guy (in his case it's all stuff any underage kid will struggle with, his physical maturity was not anywhere near some other kids, he has all the skills to be a beast, all about patience and letting him grow for a few years, I'm a patient man and i can wait, you just wanna make sure he gets better every year no matter by how little, he was, and still is a project imo, raw skills are great tho

 

[Gyfu]

You choose to see what you are looking for. Same as others. Julien has said though that he looks much better than last year. I actually think physical and mental fatigue was an issue. Is he use to this kind of games played and pressure/expectations in a season? Playing him in his age 18 season where he didn't get a chance to dominate the Liiga league was not so smart. We did that too cause we lacked depth at center.

Kotkaniemi will be fine. Biggest question is 1C, 2C, or 3C. I'm sure he will improve and get more stronger. I think he needs work in his mid section to maintain better balance while he skates and gets contact. Vision, Shot, Skill, and hockey IQ is clearly there

Don't mean to be an ass but pretty sure liiga means league, no point saying in saying he played in the finnish league league, not tryin to be a smart ass just sayin... I agree with that post of yours btw

 

[Gyfu]

Good to hear that a power skating coach noticed improvement in KK's skating technique. A couple of things from my perspective....

Yes...his posture has always needed work. I've been saying this since before he was drafted. You mention that you always thought he needed a power skating coach. I would bet a lot money that a #3 pick who played on national teams has had multiple power skating coaches over the years.

My other point is that it's great that his posture looked good in a low intensity flow drill. Improvements can certainly be made to skating efficiency and I'm a believer based on what his coach said but I question whether improvements can be properly diagnosed in that very short clip we saw of him in that situation. In my experience developing hockey players, one of the hardest things is for a player to transform years of muscle memory into a newly overhauled skating technique in a game situation. I've seen it many times, new technique is there but default technique often comes back in games.

I totally believe that KK's skating has improved going by what his coach said and I'm excited about it. My only point was that I don't think that short clip in that situation conclusively tells us a lot. His coach saw him throughout the entire practice and his praise is good enough for me.

Anyhow, leave it to Habs HF Boards to dissect and debate a player's skating over a 10-15 second video even if we both agree that his skating has improved.

I'm definately no powerskating coach, hell, last i skated was about 15 years ago lol... (I will say i agree with "video coach" mostly... Thing is, you don't need to look at this and that or calculate gforce or any of that crap... it's about understanding momentum and using it to your advantage, getting used to your own weight distribution or how to keep momentum and balance, if you got that, you don't even need to be super fast to be efficient, and like "coach" said, they're pretty minor adjustments but it's hard to fight what feels instinctually correct even when you know it's a weakness, instinct is very hard to "uninstinct" lol

 

[AlexGretzchenvid]

This would be a perfect line!! Caufield would score a ton with those 2... Hopefully the hockey gods are on our side and we get Laffy!

I sure as hell hope so ... we need this boys.

 

[AlexGretzchenvid]

He's smart and is blessed with lots of skills people can only wish for, as i said in the romanov thread, he's another player i find, when he grows into his body he will at least be a solid mid6 guy (in his case it's all stuff any underage kid will struggle with, his physical maturity was not anywhere near some other kids, he has all the skills to be a beast, all about patience and letting him grow for a few years, I'm a patient man and i can wait, you just wanna make sure he gets better every year no matter by how little, he was, and still is a project imo, raw skills are great tho

He needs to be surrounded. If they fail to surround him or he suffers injuries then he may just become a ribeiro or grabovski

 

[Gyfu]

He needs to be surrounded. If they fail to surround him or he suffers injuries then he may just become a ribeiro or grabovski

Agree to disagree, I'm not saying i know better than you but the only issue i see wih him looks like it's mostly related to balance/agility or just strength, he just turned 20 earlier this month, maturity and time will fix his weaknesses, assuming he puts the work for it to happen, great skills as a base, gangly, tall, and not quite a man yet, i really do think that is all he needs to be a solid nhler, time, patience, he's got the shot, passing, vision, smarts... He just needs to become a man, its that simple imo (as long as management doesn't destroy his confidence he's gonna be a very good nler for a long time, he's no ribs or grabula... Of course you need vets/experienced players to "shoulder" the young guys, true for any young players no matter the skills, it's learning to be a pro and if he puts the work into it it he'll end up just fine

 

[Habs Halifax]

Don't mean to be an ass but pretty sure liiga means league, no point saying in saying he played in the finnish league league, not tryin to be a smart ass just sayin... I agree with that post of yours btw

Not aware of Liiga being League in English but makes sense now after you brought that forward and made me think about it. Why don't they list it as FEL when you check out stats sheets... elite level prospects for example?

Finish Elite League is the correct translation in English right? I actually looked that up and it use to be called SM-Sarja from 1975-2013.

 

[Habs Halifax]

This would be a perfect line!! Caufield would score a ton with those 2... Hopefully the hockey gods are on our side and we get Laffy!

I think most of us are thinking the same down the road if we get Lafreniere.... If that happens, we might break our 100 pt player curse since Naslund. Not right away of course but it has the dynamics to be very very good. And if we are able to keep the Danault line in tack while we also have Kotkaniemi, Domi, Drouin, Primeau and the guys coming on D? I would be a believer

Lafreniere / Suzuki / Caufield.
- A complete center with vision, skill, IQ, and focused at the 200' game
- A sniper at RW who loves to find soft ice
- A physical puck possession star at LW who can do it all.

Lafreniere fits our team need perfectly. It's too good to be true and a part of me can't stop thinking of it and another part of me says 87.5% of not getting him. But man, if it happens... Bandwagon Habs fans coming out of the closet all over the place. lol

 

[Gally11]

I feel like KK would get one of Caufield or Laf if we had both

 

[peate]

Julien mentioned his skating has returned to form and he's much stronger. Making plays again and impressing him. All good signs he's coming on.

 

[Gally11]

Julien mentioned his skating has returned to form and he's much stronger. Making plays again and impressing him. All good signs he's coming on.

Yeah might only be practice but we didn’t hear anything like that last training camp

 

[Habs Halifax]

I'm definately no powerskating coach, hell, last i skated was about 15 years ago lol... (I will say i agree with "video coach" mostly... Thing is, you don't need to look at this and that or calculate gforce or any of that crap... it's about understanding momentum and using it to your advantage, getting used to your own weight distribution or how to keep momentum and balance, if you got that, you don't even need to be super fast to be efficient, and like "coach" said, they're pretty minor adjustments but it's hard to fight what feels instinctually correct even when you know it's a weakness, instinct is very hard to "uninstinct" lol

Not to be an ass but are you done with your paragraph bracket yet? I found myself looking for the end of it and wondering if I missed it a few times.

As far as what you said... spot on. He just needs to mature and become a man. Not sure it happens overnight but the gains we might see today, might have something to do with him being mentally and physically fatigue from this past season. Improve his foot work which he is working on and also add muscle at his mid section cause that will help him maintain balance and also deal with contact

Question: Has Kotkaniemi adjusted to playing a 82 NHL game schedule yet? Two years in but maybe this is part of his challenge as well? He seems to have extra energy from the video I have seen. He also was much better last season after the all star break

 

[Deebs]

Not to be an ass but are you done with your paragraph bracket yet? I found myself looking for the end of it and wondering if I missed it a few times.

As far as what you said... spot on. He just needs to mature and become a man. Not sure it happens overnight but the gains we might see today, might have something to do with him being mentally and physically fatigue from this past season. Improve his foot work which he is working on and also add muscle at his mid section cause that will help him maintain balance and also deal with contact

Question: Has Kotkaniemi adjusted to playing a 82 NHL game schedule yet? Two years in but maybe this is part of his challenge as well? He seems to have extra energy from the video I have seen. He also was much better last season after the all star break

He better have energy, he just had 3 months off

 

[Habs Halifax]

He better have energy, he just had 3 months off

Kind of reminds me of the rest he had at the break and All star weekend in his first year and how he looked after that. I think he is still adjusting to a NHL schedule to be honest. This past year, he was clearly fatigued mentally and physically.

Nothing has changed with me... drafted him as a long term prospect at Center where guys like Zadina and Tkachuk would be better earlier on but Kotkaniemi catches them or passes them from 21-23 age range.

Hard to believe he's only 20 heading into next year. That was Suzuki and Romanov this past year

 

[Beer and Chips]

I'd say the way he was handled this season by Julien and Bergevin was so bad it would be hilarious if it wasn't kinda tragic. Kotkaniemi bought himself time after a bad camp and pre-season with his 2 goals, but was terrible coming back from his injury. I just don't understand why he wasn't sent back then. He was a nuisance on the ice, lost his confidence and neither the coach nor the GM thought that maybe they should manage their most prized young player with long term vision instead of short term

If they had sent him back in November, he would've ironed his game in all situations under Bouchard, would've gained confidence while the Habs would have fared better. Hell, he could've even been recalled after like 30 games and would have likely contributed way more than he did all season right in time for the "playoffs push"

It's great to hear he looks better, but he still has little to no pro experience on the PK, on the PP's first wave and a lot of other parts of the game. I'm sure he'll be a solid 2C one day, but we likely wasted one season of development on what looks a lot like a "can't miss" prospect. You just can't do that in today's NHL where elite players on ELC contracts are so valuable

I think he needs to be weaned from daddy's advice.

 

[Kriss E]

He's smart and is blessed with lots of skills people can only wish for, as i said in the romanov thread, he's another player i find, when he grows into his body he will at least be a solid mid6 guy (in his case it's all stuff any underage kid will struggle with, his physical maturity was not anywhere near some other kids, he has all the skills to be a beast, all about patience and letting him grow for a few years, I'm a patient man and i can wait, you just wanna make sure he gets better every year no matter by how little, he was, and still is a project imo, raw skills are great tho

I'm not seeing these amazing top skills yet though. Saw a few glimpse, that about it. I hope he will show more now.

 

[ahmedou]

Canadiens' Kotkaniemi surging up depth chart with strong start to camp

The door is wide open for Kotkaniemi to gain the most valuable experience of his career to date. And, above all else, he has a chance to prove he’s worthy of the role that was envisioned for him when the organization drafted him third overall in 2018.

Julien (1/4): "Well, what I’d like to think, and what I’d like for Kotkaniemi to think, is that this week and next week, he can continue to show us how well he’s progressed..."

Julien (2/4): "Well, I think the biggest thing (when) we sent him down… we talked about it yesterday… His skating wasn’t at the level it was before, and because of that his whole game was falling apart. When you don’t have the pace, you’re trying to make plays (and) plays are getting cut off. He was getting frustrated things weren’t going as well as he was used to seeing and I think his confidence was obviously being affected by that. But when you look at him now and you see how well he’s skating, a lot of things are falling into place, which at the time weren’t. So that’s probably the biggest thing here."

Julien (3/4): "Is he going to need coaching? Absolutely. Like everybody else, there’s certain things. Those good players, they want to make good plays all the time and, sometimes, plays aren’t there. Some of that comes from experience, some of it'll get better with time. We've to be patient, and at the same time we have to teach. And I think right now, I keep saying it, I like what I’ve seen so far because his skating is back to where I think we saw it at its best at one point and the rest of the game seems to be slowly falling into place."

Julien (4/4): "This guy here is a future player that should be with this organization for a long time, so there’s no doubt you have to work with him. In his case, I think the best thing to let KJ do right now is to let him come in, let him skate, let him play, let him gain his confidence. He doesn’t need me in his face the first day having to tell him - I want you to do this and that.What I’ve seen so far has been, like I said, encouraging. So I’m letting that ride a little bit. But there’s no doubt that we'll be sitting down and having a conversation at some point."

 

[Video Coach]

From those videos, would you think he's lapsing because he's going against the grain?

No just because it’s taxing and old habits die hard. Takes a lot of practice and reminders.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

I'm not seeing these amazing top skills yet though. Saw a few glimpse, that about it. I hope he will show more now.

he's not crazy toolsy which makes him hard to project. though he can very well be an absolute nightmare to play against when he fills out. the hockey iq's there imo. the ahl stint really heartened my faith in his playmaking abilities. some of those passes were gorgeous. he has a very good shot for a playmaking C or really just in general.

not saying anything new but it really depends on two things: skating and strength development. though his skills aren't jaw-dropping in and of themselves, they could very well be good enough (for solid 1C maybe?) when they're paired with great size, high iq and 'fill in the blank' skating. If he can get to 220 (optimal all in the right places 220) and significantly improve his skating (which is all very very doable) he should at LEAST be a #2 on a contender which is fine by me.