Lauri Tukonen vs Petteri Nokelainen vs Lauri Korpikoski

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Rez

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Some similarities are there: all three were drafted in the same year, and seem to possess offensive and defensive abilities. However, that's where the three start to diverge.

Tukonen seems to have the upside of a 1st line/2nd line power forward. Nokelainen seems to have the upside two-way center, who could potentially be a 2nd line scoring center. Korpikoski seems to be the biggest enigma, as some project him as a 1st/2nd line scoring winger, while some say he might just be an energy player.

In terms of overall ability/overall potential, everyone seems pretty divided on #1 and #2. A lot of posters tend to rank Tukonen above Nokelainen, while almost every Finnish poster I've seen ranks Nokelainen ahead of Tukonen. It's generally agreed upon that Korpikoski is #3.

My question is, what are the potentials of these guys (have they changed recently?) and how do they line up to each other?
 

Pepper

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Aug 30, 2004
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Nokelainen is IMHO clearly the best of the three with Tukonen next. Korpikoski is a bit of a mystery to me, it's hard to measure this guy and what kind of player he will become in the NHL.
 

edd1e

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Korpikoski was in army last year, that effects his game alot. (Looked like Selänne time to time in WJC:s)

Nokelainen i think has the most potential of these three, he got in to NHL team with a busted knee.

Tukonen got speed and hands, he could be first liner, but you never know.
 

Levitate

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i think we have to wait and see with korpikoski...he's more of a long range prospect and it'd be nice to see what he can do in NA first, instead of being burried on his team in finland

but out of tukonen and nokelainen...i'd take nokelainen.
 

007

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Warning: there are others who know a lot more about these guys than I do.

These three are interesting, because any one of the three could end up being better than the others, but all three are pretty safe bets to make their NHL teams in some capacity (Nokelainen already has, of course). Each also seems capable of emulating the skills of the other (shooting, stickhandling, skating, checking, etc.), but their natural playing styles are different and complementary. Here's how I see it:

Nokelainen - Safest bet of the three, most complete player right now. He still has the ability to improve, and could become a player who occasionally takes a 1st line shift, but will most likely pan out to be a 2nd-liner. Very responsible, will never hurt his team, a great sort of player to have. At worst, he never scores much in the NHL and has a decent career as a checking centre.

Tukonen - Another fairly safe bet. His upside remains 1st line, but I think most would agree this is less likely than people thought/hoped when he was first drafted. Less defensive than Nokelainen, but more of a forechecking force and the best finisher of the three. Worst-case scenario he doesn't pan out in the NHL and decides he'd rather be a star in Europe than an energy guy in the NHL. (I'm interested in him because he used to play baseball (pesäpallo) with my close friend's little brother).

Korpikoski - The least well-known, the youngest, perhaps the most exciting. If the potential of all three players maxes out, I think he could be the best of the bunch. May well lack a finisher's touch, though he has all the tools. This guy can skate, dangle the puck and make things happen. He's a long-shot first-liner in the NHL (but then again, most players don't even have that potential). At the least, I think he'll be valued in the NHL as a guy who brings energy to a team from the 3rd line. (I root for him the most, because I'm a Rangers and TPS fan :).)

Most of all, I am very excited by these three guys and I'm hoping that they'll form a great line for the Finnish national team. I'm even willing to let the Islanders have a great player in Nokelainen to have that happen!
 
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King'sPawn

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007 said:
Tukonen - Another fairly safe bet. His upside remains 1st line, but I think most would agree this is less likely than people thought/hoped when he was first drafted. Less defensive than Nokelainen, but more of a forechecking force and the best finisher of the three. Worst-case scenario he doesn't pan out in the NHL and decides he'd rather be a star in Europe than an energy guy in the NHL. (I'm interested in him because he used to play baseball (pesäpallo) with my close friend's little brother).

Pun intended? :P
 

Rez

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edd1e said:
Nokelainen i think has the most potential of these three, he got in to NHL team with a busted knee.
I thought Nokelainen injured his knee for the first time after he made the team? He reaggrivated it? That's even more impressive.

007: Thanks for the excellent insights. I still find it strange how Tukonen has dropped since the 2004 draft, though. There was plenty of hype, as many called him the best overall talent behind Ovechkin and Malkin in that draft year. He also looked very sharp during this year's WJCs.

Also, I know Korpikoski's numbers in Finland aren't a very good reflection of his overall talent, but does anyone know what kind of ice time he's getting? 3rd/4th line minutes I presume?
 

KH1

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nomoment said:
I thought Nokelainen injured his knee for the first time after he made the team? He reaggrivated it? That's even more impressive.

No, he injured it for the first time while on the Isles. It's a weird injury though and thanks to poor media coverage all we know is that he's been out indefinately for quite some time and that he isn't having surgery.

He is still the best of the 3 prospects as far as I'm concerned though. He made the Isles out of his first training camp and, much like his fellow Isles prosepct Ryan O'Marra at the WJC's, knew that he wasn't going to be put on the ice as a scorer so decided to get playing time by smashing the living daylights out of everyone on the ice. He's gonna be an excellent center who could be productive on any of the top 3 lines (though he is best suited to be a #2.)
 

A Good Flying Bird*

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"Lauri Tukonen vs Petteri Nokelainen vs Lauri Korpikoski "

I'd say they're all equally hard to spell.
 

007

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TinCanCommunications said:
"Lauri Tukonen vs Petteri Nokelainen vs Lauri Korpikoski "

I'd say they're all equally hard to spell.
Yeesh! Come on, man, Finnish is the easiest language in the world to spell: you just spell it exactly how it's pronounced!
 

007

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nomoment said:
Also, I know Korpikoski's numbers in Finland aren't a very good reflection of his overall talent, but does anyone know what kind of ice time he's getting? 3rd/4th line minutes I presume?

One of the regular posters on the Rangers board from Finland has commented on how much the military service has affected the Korpedo's game this season. Some of the Finns think he's going to be a very good player, but others are more suspicious. He's generally been on the lower lines this season, but he also saw quite a lot of time on the second line, and even a little first line fill-in duty. Apparently his coach has him concentrating on defensive duties, but still, his scoring is a concern.
 

A Good Flying Bird*

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007 said:
Yeesh! Come on, man, Finnish is the easiest language in the world to spell: you just spell it exactly how it's pronounced!


Errr,
I can't wrap my head Valtteri Filppula. Two Ts two Ps????
 

007

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TinCanCommunications said:
Errr,
I can't wrap my head Valtteri Filppula. Two Ts two Ps????
OK, seriously then, a quick lesson in Finnish pronounciation:

There are no silent letters, nor do the sounds of any letters change in combination (unlike English). There's always a slight emphasis on the first sylable in any word, and then any time there is a double letter, you put a slight emphasis on that sound, too.

Therefore: VALTT-eri FILPP-ula. If there were only one T and one P, it would be VALteri FILpula.
 

Kingler

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I'm not expert to evaluate all 3 players. But Nokelainen making the NHL vs. Tukkonen not making really doesn't say much.

Tukonen could have made the Kings, and because of the mass injuries our team have had he could have been called up at any time during the season where many lesser prospects had been called up ahead of him.

The NHL new CBA change UFA to 27 (by the time Tuk will be UFA) or 7 years of service in the league. Lauri's DOB Sept 1st means that he will almost have to be 28 to be eligible for UFA. If Tukonen were to play NHL this season his UFA becomes 25 (almost turning 26). With his power game he will only be better as he develop more physically. So as far as the Kings organization goes, there really is no incentive to play him now (or next season or the year after next for that matter)....this is how i understood the new CBA anyways.

It sux for Lauri but if I were the Kings I would do just that.
 
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Frolov 6'3

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007 said:
Korpikoski - The least well-known, the youngest, perhaps the most exciting.
Mistakes happen quite often but this must be the most frequently made mistake. :)

Lauri Tukonen is the youngest and people seem to forget he was on of the youngest draftees in the NHL Entry Draft class of 2004.

Petteri Nokelainen - 16 January 1986
Lauri Korpikoski - 18 July 1986
Lauri Tukonen - 1 September 1986

I've no idea who's better, I've only seen a few games of Nokelainen and some images of Korpikoski and Tukonen.

I do know that Nokelainen should be better at this stage of his career because he's almost a year ahead in development.
 

edd1e

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nomoment said:
I thought Nokelainen injured his knee for the first time after he made the team? He reaggrivated it? That's even more impressive.

I think somewhere Nokelainen said that he hurted his knee in summer and it has been a problem for him after that..
 

Pure Slaughter Value

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I can't speak for the Lauri's but Petteri was a joy to watch during his limited time as an Islander. High-impact, smart, fast with a decent scoring touch in limited minutes.

If we hold onto Jason Blake, we'll have three wonderful energy players with decent skill in Petteri, Jason and Sean Bergenheim.

2nd line center with character. The Islanders will take that and smile.

Re: his injury. As King Henry mentioned, the media coverage here was spotty at best. One thing rumored was that the injury is similar to what Ruutu is going through. If that's the case, I hope he has surgery, rehabs and joins the Sound Tigers in the middle of next year.

He should be closely monitored by the Islanders and brought along slowly as he's a sure-fire NHL'er, and his upside is as a 2nd line center that could pot 20 goals but be the leader on the line.
 

A Good Flying Bird*

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007 said:
OK, seriously then, a quick lesson in Finnish pronounciation:

There are no silent letters, nor do the sounds of any letters change in combination (unlike English). There's always a slight emphasis on the first sylable in any word, and then any time there is a double letter, you put a slight emphasis on that sound, too.

Therefore: VALTT-eri FILPP-ula. If there were only one T and one P, it would be VALteri FILpula.

I don't get it.
Either way, the emphasis is on the first syllable.
Please explain further.

This is actually interesting.
 

hannes_ko

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TinCanCommunications said:
I don't get it.
Either way, the emphasis is on the first syllable.
Please explain further.

This is actually interesting.

If you take another look, you'll see that in Filpula the emphasis is on Fil, but in Filppula its on Filpp. (Actually syllables should be Filp-pu-la, not Filpp-ula.

so:

VALT-Teri FILP-Pu-la.

same thing with ANT-Ti. It's not Anti, another T is there for a reason.

Also MIK-Ko, JAN-Ne, NUM-Mi-nen etc.

Kimmo Timonen is a good example. KIM-Mo TI-mo-nen. I hope there's player called Timo Kimmonen, and he would join Predators. That might drive people crazy..
 
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