Liiga 2020-2021

[Artorius Horus T]

Ilves gonna be in trouble after the loan players leave.

2020-21 season Ilves stats from players that are staying :

G Mäkiniemi 3.26 / .891
G Kolppanen 5.24 / .782

LW Eemeli Suomi 4+16=20
RW Joose Antonen 8+16=14
LW Roby Järventie 7+7=14
RW Ville Meskanen 6+5=11
C Antti Saarela 4+6=10
C Panu Mieho 4+6=10
LD Kalle Maalahti 0+10=10
LW Eetu Päkkilä 2+6=8
RW Miro Nalli 2+5=7
LD Aleksi Elorinne 1+5=6
LD Jarkko Parikka 2+3=5
RW Joona Ikonen 2+3=5
LW Teemu Lepaus 2+2=4
C Ondrej Roman 1+3=4
LD Santeri Hatakka 1+2=3
LD Tuomas Salmela 0+3=3
C Samuli Vainionpää 0+1

Players who are leaving :

G Dostal 1.63 gaa .941 sv% 10-1-0

LD Välimäki 2+15=17 +15 (1.00 ppg)
RD Thomson 0+2= +3 (0.13 ppg)

C Ruotsalainen 16+9=25 +10 (1.56 ppg)
LW Maccelli 6+9=15 +3 (0.93 ppg)
C Hayton 0.83 ppg (6 games)
C Koppanen 0.57 ppg (7 games)

 

[Albatros]

Looks better than some of the other top teams right now.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Ilves has already scored 42% of its last season goals, in just 19 games.....41 games left.

 

[Theokritos]

 

[Theokritos]

 

[Rpenny]

We have a problem

 

[Theokritos]

 

[NJ Fan 12]

With Ilves losing so many loaned players how will that effect the balance of teams at the top of Liiga?

Is Hurricanes prospect Eetu Makiniemi ready to step in full-time in goal?

 

[stastny12]

The Slovak club I support (Dukla Trencin) hired a Finnish goaltender Antti Karjalainen.

Can I get some reference about him? I am wondering what kind of player he is. And here is the best chance to get some insights since he used to play for HPK.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Does Andreas Borgman have contract for the entire season or is he going back to AHL?

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Curious about TPS leading scorer Josh Kestner.

Is now 27, ordinarily a bit old for a "prospect" (especially since he spent the bulk of his first two pro seasons in the ECHL).

Is there anything to suggest an AHL or NHL team signs him?

 

[Albatros]

The Slovak club I support (Dukla Trencin) hired a Finnish goaltender Antti Karjalainen.

Can I get some reference about him? I am wondering what kind of player he is. And here is the best chance to get some insights since he used to play for HPK.

Last season he was fired from the professional team as redundant and had to train independently until his contract expired. Did vocational studies meanwhile. Has had injury problems but at lower levels he has found more success. His significant other is Austrian I believe, so probably that has to do with why he chose Trenčín.

 

[Sanf]

The Slovak club I support (Dukla Trencin) hired a Finnish goaltender Antti Karjalainen.

Can I get some reference about him? I am wondering what kind of player he is. And here is the best chance to get some insights since he used to play for HPK.

Well he was with HPK and despite being in good goalie coaching his career went bit on sidetrack. Partly due to contract issues and partly due to level of play. He was not entirely consistent and his technique had habit to crumble. Sideway movement definitely weakness.

But searching positives. He was in good goalie coaching. He apparently always has been very good on second tier hockey (Mestis) and this is not his first contract abroad.

 

[JabbaJabba]

Does Andreas Borgman have contract for the entire season or is he going back to AHL?

He went to Tampa and to my understanding, he isn't coming back to Finland. Ässät already hired Joe Morrow for their defence, so I doubt they are expecting him to come back.

 

[NJ Fan 12]

Any thing to see in Tappara's Anton Levtchi? Point-per-game scoring pace but is that more a commentary on the competitive level of Liiga or could he play in either the NHL or KHL in the future?

 

[SpinninRodIntoArmpit]

Any thing to see in Tappara's Anton Levtchi? Point-per-game scoring pace but is that more a commentary on the competitive level of Liiga or could he play in either the NHL or KHL in the future?

He has always had very slick hands and passing. From what I've heard and what it seemed like in his first seasons he might've lacked in athleticism. Last two-three years he has gotten a lot stronger on and off the puck, and his skating is also nowadays more of an asset than a hindrance. His shot is quite inconsistent and he doesn't use it much, his goals are mostly "pretty" goals off the rush and shot near the goalie. Pass first mentality. This is the first season he has produced consistently. Now has some minor shoulder injury which'll probably ensure he doesn't get the scoring title (as he's expected to be out three weeks so he'll miss 10 games).

He might play too fancy style offensively for the NHL. I could see him being a joelarmia in the NHL, but more likely he's headed to KHL. Also he's apparently good friends with Barkov, so if Florida wants to smoothen up the captain's deal, then who knows... But he has developed nicely. Three years ago it looked like he'd be a borderline Liiga player.

 

[NJ Fan 12]

Miro Vaananen


Twenty-two-year-old rookie for HIFK was one of the better scorers for Jokipojat in two seasons in Mestis. Is there more to his game and does he have potential as an NHL free agent?

 

[Eye of Ra]

Maksim Matushkin is on fire. 14 points in 14 games as a dman.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Hannes Bjorninen, Pelicans

I remember featuring him as a possible sleeper draft pick in our Finland stories around 2014 or 2015 but haven't heard much about him since.

Was looking at the Pelicans scoring leaders this year and he had 36 points in 33 games and also that he has been the team captain for the past three years.

As a 25-year-old is there any chance he is invited to camp or signed as a free agent next year?

 

[Sanf]

Hannes Bjorninen, Pelicans

I remember featuring him as a possible sleeper draft pick in our Finland stories around 2014 or 2015 but haven't heard much about him since.

Was looking at the Pelicans scoring leaders this year and he had 36 points in 33 games and also that he has been the team captain for the past three years.

As a 25-year-old is there any chance he is invited to camp or signed as a free agent next year?

Well overall if you are over 25 and you are slowly developing to your potential... It´s relatively rare to make it NHL. Only over 25 year olds from Finnish League post lockout season to debut in NHL are probably Petrell, Leino and Pyörälä (well Pyörälä jumped from SHL).

If you look it from optimistic side. Björninen as you said became captain at very young age. There is leadership and great work ethic. He is great at faceoffs. So if some maybe rebuilding team sees potential in him to be depth player who possibly can fill in in lower lines (kind of like Petrell got his chance). Maybe someone could give him a chance... But its a long shot. To be honest I don´t feel that his skating at this point is in NHL level.

But he is player that is easy to like and hoping the best for him.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

The guy (Kestner, 27) who led the ECHL (not, KHL, not AHL, not SHL, not NL), but ECHL, in goals and points, last season,
now has a chance to win scoring title in the SM-Liiga..... John Kestner has 20+23 so far in 50 games this season
and 1 point behind the leader; Petri Kontiola, 36.

 

[PanniniClaus]

The guy (Kestner, 27) who led the ECHL (not, KHL, not AHL, not SHL, not NL), but ECHL, in goals and points, last season,
now has a chance to win scoring title in the SM-Liiga..... John Kestner has 20+23 so far in 50 games this season
and 1 point behind the leader; Petri Kontiola, 36.

Kudos to TPS for that signing.

 

[SoundAndFury]

The guy (Kestner, 27) who led the ECHL (not, KHL, not AHL, not SHL, not NL), but ECHL, in goals and points, last season,
now has a chance to win scoring title in the SM-Liiga..... John Kestner has 20+23 so far in 50 games this season
and 1 point behind the leader; Petri Kontiola, 36.

Just following that Justin Danforth career path. NCAA > ECHL > Liiga > ?. Kyle Platzer is another similar story, albeit not quite as successful.

I mean Liiga isn't what it used to be, ECHL players are cheap and apparently have great chances of succeeding there so we are probably going to see more and more of that, especially from the smarter teams.

 

[SoupyFIN]

Just following that Justin Danforth career path. NCAA > ECHL > Liiga > ?. Kyle Platzer is another similar story, albeit not quite as successful.

I mean Liiga isn't what it used to be, ECHL players are cheap and apparently have great chances of succeeding there so we are probably going to see more and more of that, especially from the smarter teams.

It's really not as simple as "Liiga is bad now that ECHL players can come in and dominate", more so it shows how easily NHL systems throw away talented players. Many of these ECHL guys are on the smaller side, and they only get a tiny chance to prove themselves at the AHL level, before they're thrown to ride the bus for the rest of their North American career.

It does look like players are starting to notice this too, as some move straight away from college to playing in Europe.

 

[SoundAndFury]

It's really not as simple as "Liiga is bad now that ECHL players can come in and dominate", more so it shows how easily NHL systems throw away talented players.

Well, they can sign those guys back from Europe at any point so it's not like this "throwing away" thing is a one-way street.

Also, at the end of the day, it's mostly about money. Your traditional NHL two-way deal pays 70k p/y, before tax. If you don't have a realistic chance to get called up to the NHL (and you probably don't if you just spent an entire year in the ECHL) you would probably make more money anywhere else. Even many ECHL players (with ECHL contracts as opposed to NHL ones) get paid more. So guys like Kestner, who is 27 but have never made any real money in their life are just looking for a better way to make money. And it applies to many of those guys you mentioned jumping to Europe from college. They just want to make more money, faster. What I mean to say, at the end of the day, it's not only the NHL team that has to be interested in the player but also the player needs to be set on grinding it out in the AHL for whatever reason.

And lastly, no one said "Liiga is bad now that ECHL players can come in and dominate". Kestner is a pretty specific case. He only played in the ECHL because he was 26 already meaning he required a veteran spot on the AHL roster. Grand Rapids didn't have one free so he was stuck in the ECHL. He wasn't legitimately below AHL level, he was just a victim of circumstance. But, in any case, those players are out there and some teams are bound to be better than others at finding them.