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

[JJTT]

http://www.tilastopalvelu.fi/ih/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&gid=3272

Making his A Junior debut tonight vs Kärpät.

 

[Gsus]

Great skater for sure hopefully he grows more, would be perfect if he can reach at least around 182 cm. Seems the best Finnish prospects are either small around 174-178 cm ( Vatanen, Tolvanen, Granlund, Rajala) or tall around 190 + ( Laine, Barkov, Puljujarvi, Ristolainen ). Would be interesting to see a great prospect in the middle of those heights.

That would be me at 187cm. My skills aren't on par with those guys tho, so shame on me.

Soon there will be a 6'1 elite prospect from finland. I'm sure.

 

[jalperi]

Aaltonens have 14 goals and 24 assist on 23 games on B-juniors and he is 2 points from top place. On A-juniors he have played 2 games without points.

 

[BL92]

Any update on him?

 

[Binister]

Never heard of this guy! Ofcourse the boy is a bit too young to make conclusions but if the interest and evolution progress remains we might have a first round pick!

 

[BL92]

Never heard of this guy! Ofcourse the boy is a bit too young to make conclusions but if the interest and evolution progress remains we might have a first round pick!

He seems very promising, hope he ends up 183cm or over and stays healthy. Would be even better if he played center.

 

[ijuka]

Update?

Well, his production has been relatively disappointing lately and it seems like his u-17 national team stint didn't go that well either. I'm not sure what's up or if something's wrong like him having a slight injury or what. It'll be interesting to see how he does in the u-16 international tournament starting tomorrow.

 

[jalperi]

6 games, 4 goals and 3 assist on actual Finnish U18 league now.

 

[BL92]

Update?

Well, his production has been relatively disappointing lately and it seems like his u-17 national team stint didn't go that well either. I'm not sure what's up or if something's wrong like him having a slight injury or what. It'll be interesting to see how he does in the u-16 international tournament starting tomorrow.

Thanks. Hope it's just due to a minor injury or something similar.

 

[jalperi]

Thanks. Hope it's just due to a minor injury or something similar.

yeah, he was two or three weeks out of games on january.

 

[JJTT]

Anybody seen him live this season? His perfomances with the national team have been a bit underwhelming from what I've seen and seems like Nikkanen has taken over the #1 prospect status from 01 age group. Still has great numbers in the U18 league but after last season I kinda expected more from him.

KalPa has chosen to be the first player on some kinda next generation prospect program

http://www.kalpa.fi/2016-2017_uutin...mi-kiekossa-pisimmalle-kehitetty-pelaajapolku

http://www.savonsanomat.fi/urheilu/...uksille-kaiken-kattavan-polun-huipulle/924896

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

Hope he doesn't become a carbon copy of Toni Rajala. Someone in Jatkoaika said that Rajala's game looked same in the juniors.

 

[Tormentor]

His perfomances with the national team have been a bit underwhelming from what I've seen and seems like Nikkanen has taken over the #1 prospect status from 01 age group.

It's early going, but right now Henri Nikkanen, Kaapo Kakko and Matias Maccelli might all be ahead of Aaltonen when thinking of Finnish forwards eligible for 2019 NHL draft.

 

[jalperi]

It's early going, but right now Henri Nikkanen, Kaapo Kakko and Matias Maccelli might all be ahead of Aaltonen when thinking of Finnish forwards eligible for 2019 NHL draft.

Hopefully Maccelli will come more mature mentally

 

[Tormentor]

Hopefully Maccelli will come more mature mentally

Is Maccelli a smaller finesse player who's stronger offensively than defensively? Yes.

Is Maccelli's mindset or attitude towards the game substantially different from a 16-year-old Teemu Pulkkinen/Markus Granlund/Teuvo Teräväinen? Probably not.

 

[LoveHateLeafs]

Hope he doesn't become a carbon copy of Toni Rajala. Someone in Jatkoaika said that Rajala's game looked same in the juniors.

I remember Rajala as being a huge perimeter player. Is that true of Aaltonen?

 

[Quethas]

Aaltonen signed three-year contract with KalPa.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

I remember Rajala as being a huge perimeter player. Is that true of Aaltonen?

A small sample size, but he seems more eager to drive to the net from what I've seen.

 

[ijuka]

It appears that Leevi Aaltonen is going to play with KalPa's Liiga team in a tournament this August. I have no idea of whether that's just a marketing trick but it certainly will be interesting to see how he can handle it.

Source:

http://www.lappeenrannanuutiset.fi/...oukkuetta-elokuussa-spa-areenan-pihalle-tulee

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

It appears that Leevi Aaltonen is going to play with KalPa's Liiga team in a tournament this August. I have no idea of whether that's just a marketing trick but it certainly will be interesting to see how he can handle it.

Source:

http://www.lappeenrannanuutiset.fi/...oukkuetta-elokuussa-spa-areenan-pihalle-tulee

Didn't Mikko Kokkonen play in that tournament last august too? I don't think that's a marketing trick, probably more to do with giving him some idea what is like to play at a pro-level. EDIT: Kokkonen played in Pitsi tournament, not this

 

[Quethas]

It is fairly common to give the most talented juniors some time with men's team in preseason games anyway. There's still a long way to go from preseason games to Liiga.

But I don't think that source has any other real information regarding KalPa's team besides the roster from KalPa's website. Aaltonen has a contract with KalPa and he is part of the roster but that doesn't mean yet that he would be playing preseason games with men's team.

 

[Hokinaittii]

It will be interesting to see what kind of player he will become in KalPa, especially since the new head coach is Sami Kapanen who was one of the best skaters out there. And Aaltonen definately has the potential to become as good skater as Sami was, as far as I'm concerned.

It was Kapanen's mindset to put great focus on developing young players when he started coaching.

Here is small interview from him in Finnish

 

[ijuka]

3+2=5 in 4 games places Leevi Aaltonen in all-time top 10 for u17 players in Ivan Hlinka tournament. For Finns, he's only behind Aleksander Barkov and Juuso Ikonen and tied with Jesse Puljujärvi in this regard.

He also had a total empty net in this last game vs USA but missed the goal, unfortunately.


He showed some good things and his play was actually quite impressive overall considering he didn't really get anything done at the u17 level last season. He doesn't quite have the size to be able to compete in strength and got pushed around a bit, but still showed that he had pretty good strength for his size and he also showed a surprisingly strong level of compete. He really fought hard even though he often didn't manage to get anything out of it.

Still, all in all, he showed improvement in some of the areas I was concerned about before the season and also showed some promise, even though he still wasn't completely consistent with basic puck actions. Something to build upon for sure and makes me quite exciting for this upcoming season.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

3+2=5 in 4 games places Leevi Aaltonen in all-time top 10 for u17 players in Ivan Hlinka tournament. For Finns, he's only behind Aleksander Barkov and Juuso Ikonen and tied with Jesse Puljujärvi in this regard.

He also had a total empty net in this last game vs USA but missed the goal, unfortunately.


He showed some good things and his play was actually quite impressive overall considering he didn't really get anything done at the u17 level last season. He doesn't quite have the size to be able to compete in strength and got pushed around a bit, but still showed that he had pretty good strength for his size and he also showed a surprisingly strong level of compete. He really fought hard even though he often didn't manage to get anything out of it.

Still, all in all, he showed improvement in some of the areas I was concerned about before the season and also showed some promise, even though he still wasn't completely consistent with basic puck actions. Something to build upon for sure and makes me quite exciting for this upcoming season.

My main concern with him is that he doesn't really show that much hockey sense and is weak with the puck. I mean, it's obvious that he is physically weaker than the majority of his opponents, but still it seems that he loses too many puck battles to be a real top prospect at this point. He looked better today though. Hopefully with added strength and experience he can rise to a new level.

 

[ijuka]

My main concern with him is that he doesn't really show that much hockey sense and is weak with the puck. I mean, it's obvious that he is physically weaker than the majority of his opponents, but still it seems that he loses too many puck battles to be a real top prospect at this point. He looked better today though. Hopefully with added strength and experience he can rise to a new level.

Hockey sense could be an issue, yes, and he lacks some creativity and precision with the puck. But still, this is much more promising than his international games last year.

And he also showed extremely favorably in comparison to his linemate Killinen who probably was the worst forward for team Finland. Always tough to play with someone like that on your line. I'd be shocked if Killinen is with the team in the future, but maybe this age group just is that weak.