Jets Prospects 2018-2019 Part 3

[Mortimer Snerd]

Vesalainen will prove people wrong. The kid is still young and making adjustments to his game. With his size and speed he will be a great winger on the Lowry and Copp line next year.
Power forward, strong on the wall.

Like I said, after Heinola and Samberg, you could put them in almost any order. KV started very slowly this year. He has come on gradually. He might take off at any time now. Or not. He might flatline where he is.

 

[puck stoppa]

Hard to argue with the top 10. I would bet Stanley makes it before Gawanke and Chisholm, but not necessarily because he deserves it. Also I love Berdin and really hope he makes it for entertainment's sake, but I don't have super high hopes for him. I'd probably switch him out of the top 10 for Stanley.

I'll add a couple risers in Nathan Smith and Henri Nikkanen, not that they make the top 10 but they're showing well, especially Nikkanen after missing a ton of time last season.

I will add Harrison Blaisdell to my dark horse list that will be a heavy riser next year with more opportunity at UND.

 

[surixon]

Austin Wong made his Harvard debut with two games this past weekend on the third line, had a goal in his first game and nothing in the second. Only 2 PIMs.

Nice to see him back playing

 

[Whileee]

Vesalainen will prove people wrong. The kid is still young and making adjustments to his game. With his size and speed he will be a great winger on the Lowry and Copp line next year.
Power forward, strong on the wall.

I agree with you about KVes. That's why I didn't drop him below #4 and have him above all other forwards. He still projects for me as a top 9 power forward who can score. By all accounts his attitude has been good and he just needs to get comfortable and learn how to he consistently "on". I have him higher than Gustafsson and Harkins mainly because I think they both project as 4th line types, and KV projects higher. Also, Harkins really only showed much this season as a 22 year-old.

I still think Niku will be a good NHLer but he needs to get and stay healthy and the Jets are trying to make sure he knows how he has to play without the puck. I still think the Jets are using this season for some further development purposes all around.

I think Kovacevic might surprise and continue to rise. He is a bit of a late bloomer but he was the dominant D on a poor NCAA team and has good tools and size.

We don't have enough information about Nikkanen or Lundmark, but they have good tools and if the light goes on they could jump into the mix. Nikkanen is showing signs and Lundmark has been at the SHL level, so you can't write them off.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Hard to argue with the top 10. I would bet Stanley makes it before Gawanke and Chisholm, but not necessarily because he deserves it. Also I love Berdin and really hope he makes it for entertainment's sake, but I don't have super high hopes for him. I'd probably switch him out of the top 10 for Stanley.

I'll add a couple risers in Nathan Smith and Henri Nikkanen, not that they make the top 10 but they're showing well, especially Nikkanen after missing a ton of time last season.

Berdin is still hard to figure out. Stanley may make it before several others but the list of promising prospects on the left side is getting crowded. He may lose out to the numbers game. I have Samberg, Heinola and Niku ahead of him on the left side (assuming Niku switches to his natural side) and Chisholm coming up from behind.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I will add Harrison Blaisdell to my dark horse list that will be a heavy riser next year with more opportunity at UND.

Nathan Smith and Simon Lundmark are other dark horse prospects who could make the risers list next year.

 

[surixon]

My list:

1)Heinola
2)Samberg
3)Ves
4)Niku
5)Kovacevic
6)Gus
7)Harkins
8)Chisholm
9)Stanley
10) Berdin

Risers:

Harkins, Kovacevic, Chisholm

Fallers:

Stanley, Niku, Spacek

 

[Adam da bomb]

My list:

1)Heinola
2)Samberg
3)Ves
4)Niku
5)Kovacevic
6)Gus
7)Harkins
8)Chisholm
9)Stanley
10) Berdin

Risers:

Harkins, Kovacevic, Chisholm

Fallers:

Stanley, Niku, Spacek

Do you see Ves as a top 6 player. Is Heinola a top pairing prospect? What is his ceiling? What is the chances of him reaching that? Is Kov a potential top 4 guy or only a bottom pairing D?

 

[Atoyot]

Also add Gawanke as a big riser for me. Definitely had questions as to whether he'd be able to produce at the next level, started off slow but has 9 points in the past 10 games. Didn't play yesterday and was likely a healthy scratch but he definitely hasn't looked out of place for a 20 year old stepping into a men's league.

 

[puck stoppa]

Also add Gawanke as a big riser for me. Definitely had questions as to whether he'd be able to produce at the next level, started off slow but has 9 points in the past 10 games. Didn't play yesterday and was likely a healthy scratch but he definitely hasn't looked out of place for a 20 year old stepping into a men's league.

I’ve been high on a Gawanke for a while. He’s 2 years younger than Kovacevic and although Kovacevic looks more ready now, I think Gawanke will be better than him at 22. These young Ds need to stop being scratched. They can play at this level, please play them.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I’ve been high on a Gawanke for a while. He’s 2 years younger than Kovacevic and although Kovacevic looks more ready now, I think Gawanke will be better than him at 22. These young Ds need to stop being scratched. They can play at this level, please play them.

I suspect the Kovacevic could step in to the Jets roster and help our 3rd pair right now. He is probably better at 3RD than Bitetto playing his off side. Can't say for certain of course and maybe they are thinking that it is better for his development to stay in the A longer.

Hope you're right about Gawanke. I'm optimistic.

 

[Gil Fisher]

I suspect the Kovacevic could step in to the Jets roster and help our 3rd pair right now. He is probably better at 3RD than Bitetto playing his off side. Can't say for certain of course and maybe they are thinking that it is better for his development to stay in the A longer.

Hope you're right about Gawanke. I'm optimistic.

Beaulieu is the one playing his offside. Regardless, I wouldn't mind seeing Beau-Kovy on the 3rd pairing at some point in the next few weeks (as we drift out of a playoff spot).

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Beaulieu is the one playing his offside. Regardless, I wouldn't mind seeing Beau-Kovy on the 3rd pairing at some point in the next few weeks (as we drift out of a playoff spot).

Whatever. Based on recent play, Beaulieu is the one I would sit. Not sure what happens when Kuli returns.

 

[Gil Fisher]

Whatever. Based on recent play, Beaulieu is the one I would sit. Not sure what happens when Kuli returns.

well, Kuli-Kovy obvs!

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

well, Kuli-Kovy obvs!

Not sure Kuli would be any better than Bitetto there. Or not.

At that point, Kovacevic would need to have played very well to avoid being sent down since no one else is waiver exempt.

 

[Gil Fisher]

If anyone were to claim Sbisa, Kulikov, Bitetto, or Beaulieu off waivers, good luck to them!!

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

If anyone were to claim Sbisa, Kulikov, Bitetto, or Beaulieu off waivers, good luck to them!!

When is Kulikov expected back? It might be getting pretty close to the TD by then. Teams will be wanting depth players. I doubt Sbisa would be waived. He has easily been the best of those 4.

 

[Gm0ney]

Kulikov sucks. He had maybe 20 decent games paired with Myers over two seasons and has been a steaming pile of shit otherwise. He shouldn't ever set foot on the ice in an NHL jersey again. Send him to the AHL and call up a promising prospect. If we're lucky, some dumbass GM will pick him up off waivers. If we're unlucky he's Vincent's problem.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Kulikov sucks. He had maybe 20 decent games paired with Myers over two seasons and has been a steaming pile of **** otherwise. He shouldn't ever set foot on the ice in an NHL jersey again. Send him to the AHL and call up a promising prospect. If we're lucky, some dumbass GM will pick him up off waivers. If we're unlucky he's Vincent's problem.

I don't agree that he has been that bad. Unfortunately he seems to have 2-3 weak/bad games when he first comes back after injury. He is often injured so that adds up.

The Jets could save a little cap space though by sending him (and Beaulieu) down. They get 1.075 mil cap relief and have several AHL Dmen who would get <800k. Injury replacement has pushed us over the cap if we had to count Buff's contract after the ruling on his grievance. Saving 500k(ish) by sending down Kuli and Beaulieu and calling up Niku and Kovacevic, for example, might be important.

 

[Whileee]

Also add Gawanke as a big riser for me. Definitely had questions as to whether he'd be able to produce at the next level, started off slow but has 9 points in the past 10 games. Didn't play yesterday and was likely a healthy scratch but he definitely hasn't looked out of place for a 20 year old stepping into a men's league.

I don't worry about Gawanke's offensive production, it's his defense that he needs to develop.

 

[Atoyot]

I don't worry about Gawanke's offensive production, it's his defense that he needs to develop.

No disagreement here, but as prospects move forward it's nice for their strengths to remain strengths. If he isn't producing and is already weak defensively then it's going to be difficult for him to get into games. With that being said I don't even think he's that bad defensively. I like his reads and gaps better than Green and Stanley's. He has some work to do for sure though.

 

[neelynugs]

Heinola
Samberg
Harkins
Berdin
Gustafsson
Kovacevic
Gawanke
Niku
Vesalainen
Chisholm


Risers: Gustafsson, Harkins, Kovacevic, Gawanke
Fallers: Vesalainen, Stanley, Niku

Heinola and Samberg are easy choices. After that they are very close and could be put in almost any order. I agree with Whileee's list of risers and fallers. Add Gawanke to the risers list.

thoughts on vallati and lundmark?

 

[mazmin]

Austin Wong made his Harvard debut with two games this past weekend on the third line, had a goal in his first game and nothing in the second. Only 2 PIMs.

Glad to see he’s back playing. I was hoping the Jets would take him and lost hope late in the draft until he was nabbed with the Jets’ last pick. I’m hoping he’ll become a speedy thorn like Tanev.

 

[mazmin]

I don't worry about Gawanke's offensive production, it's his defense that he needs to develop.

I agree. It wasn’t long ago many of us around here were bullish on Kostalek as a future PMD after a successful QMJHL career. Once he made it to the AHL he couldn’t get anything going in either end of the ice. Gawanke’s offensive output is impressive especially in context of current comparables:

Current AHL PPG, Under 21:
1. Keane 0.66
2. Sandin 0.63
3. Liljegren 0.63
4. Gawanke 0.59
5. Bouchard 0.55
6. Seider 0.43
7. Alexeyev 0.41

I’m not implying the numbers make him better than any of those prospects but it’s extremely encouraging that he hasn’t lost that part of his game on a Moose team that has a lot of options on the back end.

Let’s hope the Moose staff can improve his defensive skills over the next couple seasons without sacrificing his offensive output.

 

[GaryPoppins]

I’ve been high on a Gawanke for a while. He’s 2 years younger than Kovacevic and although Kovacevic looks more ready now, I think Gawanke will be better than him at 22. These young Ds need to stop being scratched. They can play at this level, please play them.

Recalling Niku would fix the scratching issue