LW Leevi Aaltonen - KalPa, FIN JRS (2019, 130th, NYR)

[FinPanda]

2 primary assists today in a 5-3 loss to Jokerit.

 

[Orvelo]

Can somebody tell me what kind of a player he is?

 

[JJTT]

Can somebody tell me what kind of a player he is?

Very similar overall composure to Sebastian Aho(size,skating,defensive game) but with much better offensive skillset. Constantly makes right decisions on the ice and plays really mature game for his age.

 

[Tormentor]

Can somebody tell me what kind of a player he is?

There are faster skaters, more skilled puck handlers and players with better all-round game than him, but Aaltonen has superior offensive instincts, that's what sets him apart from all the other players in Jr.C. He's great at exploiting opponents mistakes and if there's a way to generate a scoring chance, he will likely find it.

 

[FinPanda]

His team sucks badly. 8-4 loss today and he had 3+1. Last weekend he went without points in two games, but this weekend so far two games and 3+4.

11gp and 11+17 now.

 

[tze]

His team sucks badly. 8-4 loss today and he had 3+1. Last weekend he went without points in two games, but this weekend so far two games and 3+4.

11gp and 11+17 now.

And what is his teams overall production in those 11 games?

 

[tinozz]

And what is his teams overall production in those 11 games?

his been part of 62% of teams goals

 

[FinPanda]

And what is his teams overall production in those 11 games?

45 goals.

 

[JJTT]

Season stats so far:

U16 Scandic Cup: 5 games, 5 goals, 12 assists 17 points
CSM Karsintasarja: 10 games, 13 goals, 12 assists 25 points
CSM Alkusarja: 9 games, 11 goals, 21 assists 32 points
CSM Ristiinkarsinta: 2 games, 7 goals, 2 assists 9 points
CSM Sarja: 11 games, 11 goals, 17 assists 28 points

37GP 47G 64A = 111 points 3.0 PPG

 

[FinPanda]

I think Alkusarja and Sarja matters most because opponent has been better in those games. Not bad 3 PPG in those games too. Really impressive season.

Better than anyone before. But as previously said, Puljujärvi played B-juniors in his age. Laine played also B-juniors most of his season. They were bigger guys than him though.

 

[Noma]

There are faster skaters, more skilled puck handlers and players with better all-round game than him, but Aaltonen has superior offensive instincts, that's what sets him apart from all the other players in Jr.C. He's great at exploiting opponents mistakes and if there's a way to generate a scoring chance, he will likely find it.

Faster skaters yes, but there aren't a lot of more skilled skaters than Aaltonen. He could use some more explosiveness and top speed but the basic skills are very good.

 

[tinozz]

I think Alkusarja and Sarja matters most because opponent has been better in those games. Not bad 3 PPG in those games too. Really impressive season.

Better than anyone before. But as previously said, Puljujärvi played B-juniors in his age. Laine played also B-juniors most of his season. They were bigger guys than him though.

tolvanen but up similar points at that age.

 

[FinPanda]

tolvanen but up similar points at that age.

Yes he was close, but still not as good PPG.

 

[ijuka]

I'm very excited for him as a prospect. So most of the things he accomplished this season have been mentioned on this thread.

I'd like to mention his 2014-2015 season's accomplishments, though:

http://www.tilastopalvelu.fi/ih/ind...ontent&view=article&id=32&stgid=2970&ssn=2015

110 points as an underager in C2 juniors. Worth noting is that his team was atrocious and placed #12 out of 18. His team scored a total of 173 goals, hence he was a part of 63.6% of his team's goals.

His team Kalpa in the 2015-2016 season was also pretty bad. In spite of this, those still are the most impressive C-junior scoring records ever in my opinion. Of course, players like Patrik Laine were already playing at B-juniors at that age.



Now, while he is a relatively small player at this point in time(5'9" right now but could always grow, obviously), what's especially interesting is the type of a player he is. Here are some things he said about himself:

His strengths are: Skating, Offensive game in the offensive zone, hockey IQ and goal scoring.

His weaknesses are: Defensive game especially in his own zone, strength/power and shot.

The strongest physical attributes and how they show in-game:

Speed is the best. It shows as explosiveness/sharpness and for the first few steps. Also very good endurance, able to play for the full duration of a match and train a lot.



There are a few things that really make me excited for this prospect. The first is that he was on a truly horrible team in both of his seasons, both as an underager. While he didn't win the scoring title during the 2014-2015 season, that one was arguably the more impressive one simply due to him playing on Jukurit. He came out of nowhere out of a relatively unknown youth system with no idea what to expect and was really surprised by how well he did against some of the best juniors in Finland.

The other thing I really like is that he actually is an extremely fast and good skater. Unlike Tolvanen, Barkov, Granlund or even Laine whose skating has been a weakness of their throughout the years. Considering that Finland has done an exceptional job with the skating of their top prospects in the recent years, it'll be great having someone who already is a speed demon but who still has exceptional offensive instincts and is no "effort grinder". As we know, speed is in very high demand in today's NHL.


Eeli Tolvanen is a comparable I'd use as he's been hyped as even a top 5 pick for the 2017 draft. When he was the same age, Tolvanen had a pretty comparable PPG to Aaltonen. However, that's not all. Tolvanen was actually playing in the best team in the league with a ridiculous goal differential.

Taking the group stages and the following league:

Leevi Aaltonen in 27 games scored 70 points. His team scored 141 goals(He participated in 49.6% of his team's goals) and allowed 134(+7 goal differential). He missed 1 game.

Eeli Tolvanen in 28 games scored 76 points. His team scored 247 goals(He participated in 30.8% of his team's goals) and allowed 83(+164 goal differential). He missed 4 games.

Note how Tolvanen comparatively took part in significantly fewer of his team's goals and also how ridiculously overpowering his team was in comparison.


After Patrik Laine, this is the Finnish prospect I'm looking forward to seeing more of the most.

 

[JJTT]

Short video clip of him #57



Assist at 0.20
Goal and skating at 1:36

 

[HockeyHistorian]

He doesn't appear to be physically mature, so I'd guess he will gain at least two inches still. I think he'll end up as 5'10 - 6'0 which should pose no problem in the NHL.

 

[ijuka]

Short video clip of him #57



Assist at 0.20
Goal and skating at 1:36

Thanks for this. The goal was really impressive to me. Never slows down, shoots in full speed, good instinct as the situation didn't even seem like it'd be threatening.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

what are the odds of him busting? like is there anything that makes him a "safer" prospect than say Pulkkinen or Armia?

 

[ijuka]

The junior development system?

 

[HockeyHistorian]

He is still so young that there is plenty of time for him to bust, but at the moment there's nothing to indicate that he will.

 

[joshyhockey26]

Short video clip of him #57



Assist at 0.20
Goal and skating at 1:36

Great video, as someone who's only started really paying to prospects the past 1yr 1/2(outside of the main studs like Mcdavid etc) it's going to be a ton of fun to see how this kid progresses.

 

[ijuka]

The first weekend of the Finnish u-18 junior season is now over for KalPa.

Kalpa won both games and Leevi Aaltonen's scores in those: 0+1, 0+3.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Pretty good for a 15-year old

 

[ijuka]

The all-time record is 84 points in 41 games by Eeli Tolvanen. Comparing these two is going to be interesting.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Veeti Miettinen is also in the running; 2 + 3 = 5 in two games thus far. Miettinen is also nine months younger than Aaltonen.