Lauri Tukonen Top 5 prospect for 2004

Status
Not open for further replies.

JeromeHP

Registered User
Jan 9, 2003
9,828
173
Montreal
hockeyprospect.com
After reading some scouting report about Tukonen i have to say that kid has to be a top 5 candidate and even challenge for the 2nd spot in this year draft.

From http://www.internationalscouting.com/
A very talented player. Good size Terrific skater with lots of explosiveness for a big man, and is very hard to knock off the puck. Blessed with a massive frame, Tukonen likes to be physically challenged and is a punishing hitter who has no trouble handling the rough stuff. Also highly skilled, he is a shifty puckhandler with a lethal shot and solid passing skills. One of his main assets is his good hockey sense and vision. Possesses natural goal-scorer instincts. Despite his terrific offensive arsenal, Tukonen is not one-dimensional as he does come back to help out the defense as well. The top forward prospect to come out from Finland in some time, look for Tukonen to be among the first names called at the 2004


Look like the real deal, what do you think and have you seen him play if you'r from Finland
 

Sampe

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
2,648
2
Vantaa
Markov79fan said:
After reading some scouting report about Tukonen i have to say that kid has to be a top 5 candidate and even challenge for the 2nd spot in this year draft.

From http://www.internationalscouting.com/
A very talented player. Good size Terrific skater with lots of explosiveness for a big man, and is very hard to knock off the puck. Blessed with a massive frame, Tukonen likes to be physically challenged and is a punishing hitter who has no trouble handling the rough stuff. Also highly skilled, he is a shifty puckhandler with a lethal shot and solid passing skills. One of his main assets is his good hockey sense and vision. Possesses natural goal-scorer instincts. Despite his terrific offensive arsenal, Tukonen is not one-dimensional as he does come back to help out the defense as well. The top forward prospect to come out from Finland in some time, look for Tukonen to be among the first names called at the 2004


Look like the real deal, what do you think and have you seen him play if you'r from Finland

Only seen him once in the SM-liiga. Didn't look out of place at all (and scored a goal, actually) but he sure ain't Ovechkin. I'd say he seemed to be a lot bigger, somewhat less skilled & less explosive version of Teemu Selänne (then again, I hadn't even heard of Selänne when he was 17...and I was 6 ;) ). Tukonen is still raw but he's also one of the youngest players in the draft. Has 1st line potential IMO.

Hopefully others who've seen him play more can add to this...
 

Stidi

Registered User
Dec 1, 2003
37
0
Visit site
Well he has played with men since he was 14 playing in the 1 division/mestis (second highest league in finland) and putting up very impressive numbers there for a 14-15 year old. He played there for one and a half seasons. Then he went to Blues A-jr team last winter and this fall he first absolutely dominated at A-jr level playing against players 2-3 year older than him (believe me, I saw some of his games there). When he had played there for about 10 games and putting up 16 points he got called up to the Blues sm-liiga team. There he scored 2 goals in his first 5 games ( very impressive....there is only one other player born in 86 getting regular time in sm-liiga ( Petteri Nokelainen, Saipa, has 3 goals so far!!). The role of tukonen changes rapidly in the Blues line-up...he has played in every line.
Tukonen certainly has a big frame and is very skillful, but I dont think he is a number 2 pic. But surely worthy of a top ten 10.
 

DJ Spinoza

Registered User
Aug 7, 2003
25,118
3,664
Considering that my team will be right up there picking in the top 5, I've read a good deal of stuff about the draft.

I have to say, if the Pens can't land Ovechkin, I'm hoping for Tukonen. A big guy who can skate fast, as well as talented.

For some reason, I'm hoping that the Penguins can be so bad that they get two top five picks.:D
 

Sampe

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
2,648
2
Vantaa
Seemed to me that Tukonen has softer and better hands than Rita did at his age, but I guess they're pretty close style wise. I really didn't pay attention to his physical play in the game I saw, hence the Selänne comparison (plus he's been compared to Selänne before).
 

Dr.Sens(e)

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
7,014
1
Ottawa
Visit site
I hate exclusively comparing prospects to their country-mates, but he sounds an aweful lot like Jokinen at the same age (perhaps a better playmaker?). Olli put up some serious numbers in his draft year and was already a physical presence. The interesting thing about Tukonen is his age. If he was born two weeks later, he wouldn't be eligible until 2005. And someone already stated, he's basically a year younger than Ovechkin - no small point when considering upside and potential.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->