RD Henri Jokiharju (2017, 29th, CHI; traded to BUF)

[Team Cozens]

Amazing. Franchise d-man incoming.

Not sure about franchise d-man but he certainly lools like a real solid add to the Sabres back end for sure.

 

[kelsier]

What a strange trade by the Hawks. They tend to draft Finns just to get rid of them. Nylander's stocks have everything but escalated post draft just by looking at the numbers alone. Granted I haven't really been following the Sabres (far less their AHL team) so I wouldn't know how that production compared to eyesight. Jokiharju is younger as well. Sorta get a feeling they gave up on him similarly to Teräväinen, which was just wayyy too early and/or saw something in Nylander that I wasn't aware of simply by reading up on how he's been doing post-draft.

While I think the Sabres won this deal I'm still not sure what to make of about Jokiharju. He was ok at the @ Worlds but nothing spectacular and the first thing that comes to mind is him failing to connect with the puck at an empty net from Kakko's cross ice feed. Of course it doesn't mean anything and we're dealing with a very young player. So here's to hoping Dahlin doesn't come in the way. Since Jokiharju plays RD that shouldn't be the case I guess (probably no prime PP time in the future though).

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Kind of feel bad for Jokiharju. Nothing like being stuck behind Dahlin on the depth chart.

How is he "Stuck" behind him? No one's projecting him to be a #1 D

 

[ijuka]

Kind of feel bad for Jokiharju. Nothing like being stuck behind Dahlin on the depth chart.

What? Dahlin's a LD and Jokiharju RD. How does Dahlin block him in any way? Weird post.

 

[Gabrielor]

Kind of feel bad for Jokiharju. Nothing like being stuck behind Dahlin on the depth chart.

I think you meant “next to, as a pair”

 

[Paxon]

Kind of feel bad for Jokiharju. Nothing like being stuck behind Dahlin on the depth chart.

Dahlin is a LHD who played on the right side before coming to the NHL, but he plays on the left side for the Sabres. The real competition is that currently the Sabres have Ristolainen, Miller, Montour, Bogosian, Nelson, Borgen, etc on the right side in addition to Joker.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

What? Dahlin's a LD and Jokiharju RD. How does Dahlin block him in any way? Weird post.

Not that anyone projected Jokiharju to be a number 1 D, but Dahlin being on his team kills any chances Jokiharju had of being the top powerplay unit PPQB. That role will belong to Dahlin for the rest of Jokiharju’s career.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Not that anyone projected Jokiharju to be a number 1 D, but Dahlin being on his team kills any chances Jokiharju had of being the top powerplay unit PPQB. That role will belong to Dahlin for the rest of Jokiharju’s career.

Buffalo uses two Dmen on the powerplay.

 

[ijuka]

Not that anyone projected Jokiharju to be a number 1 D, but Dahlin being on his team kills any chances Jokiharju had of being the top powerplay unit PPQB. That role will belong to Dahlin for the rest of Jokiharju’s career.

They can power play together?

 

[Chainshot]

Buffalo uses two Dmen on the powerplay.

Second unit, yes. Top unit? Not usually.

 

[Chainshot]

I think you meant “next to, as a pair”

That's sort of where I see him eventually as well -- refining what he did beside Keith as part of a high-mobility pair with Dahlin. He probably won't be the top PP option, but hey... there is always the second unit. (Mandatory sarcasm emoji for the blindingly obtuse out there.)

He could very well be getting some very good opportunities with Dahlin 5-on-5 and that will help drive some offensive output.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Second unit, yes. Top unit? Not usually.

I know that Risto and Dahlin played on the same PP unit last season every time I watched them. And they play on #1 PP.

 

[Chainshot]

I know that Risto and Dahlin played on the same PP unit last season every time I watched them. And they play on #1 PP.

To start the year, Ristolainen was on PP1 and retained that for a time during the season. Dahlin sifted in at times, but they usually ran a 4-forward set up (Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner being constants and then Okposo or Mittelstadt or Pominville as the RW option ) with a single defenseman on the blueline. It wasn't exclusive and there were times when they put both Dahlin and Ristolainen out there but they tended to run two D more on the 2nd unit than the occasional shifts by the first unit.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

To start the year, Ristolainen was on PP1 and retained that for a time during the season. Dahlin sifted in at times, but they usually ran a 4-forward set up (Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner being constants and then Okposo or Mittelstadt or Pominville as the RW option ) with a single defenseman on the blueline. It wasn't exclusive and there were times when they put both Dahlin and Ristolainen out there but they tended to run two D more on the 2nd unit than the occasional shifts by the first unit.

So there's no reason why Dahlin & Joki could not play on the same PP.

 

[Chainshot]

So there's no reason why Dahlin & Joki could not play on the same PP.

We will have to wait what Krueger implements. Right now, it seems like it would be less likely to happen regularly.

 

[Havok89]

So there's no reason why Dahlin & Joki could not play on the same PP.

A bit of a logjam in front of Joki for PP1 though. Eichel, Skinner, Reinhart, Dahlin and Olofsson should be locks for the top unit.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

A bit of a logjam in front of Joki for PP1 though. Eichel, Skinner, Reinhart, Dahlin and Olofsson should be locks for the top unit.

I'm not expecting him to play there. Hell, I'm not even expecting him to play for the Sabres next season. I'm just saying it's not something that can never happen.

Funny enough even you are making an assumption; And assumption that Olofsson can contribute and will play PP1. Who the heck knows, really?

 

[GOALOFSSON]

Funny enough even you are making an assumption; And assumption that Olofsson can contribute and will play PP1. Who the heck knows, really?

Let us dream.

Could both end up making a legit PP2 (among others) if not on the 1st unit.

 

[Havok89]

I'm not expecting him to play there. Hell, I'm not even expecting him to play for the Sabres next season. I'm just saying it's not something that can never happen.

Funny enough even you are making an assumption; And assumption that Olofsson can contribute and will play PP1. Who the heck knows, really?

Olofsson ended last season on the top PP unit and looked great. Not much of an assumption to believe he starts the year there.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Buffalo uses two Dmen on the powerplay.

And the second will be Ristolainen.

Powerplay units change week to week, what will not change over time whether they use one Dman or two is that Dahlin will be the PP quarterback on the top unit whenever he is healthy.

 

[tsujimoto74]

I'm not expecting him to play there. Hell, I'm not even expecting him to play for the Sabres next season. I'm just saying it's not something that can never happen.

Funny enough even you are making an assumption; And assumption that Olofsson can contribute and will play PP1. Who the heck knows, really?

Honestly, anyone who watched Olofsson play last year. There isn't a goalie in the league he can't beat clean with that shot of his. I'm not saying he's gonna go out and score 50, but he's definitely gonna score his fair share, and his shot would be a perfect weapon to have opposite Eichel on PP1.

 

[lakai17]

Stan acquired Nylander but I wonder if Stan knew he could have had numerous other forward prospects similar to Nylander.

Nice job by the Sabres.

 

[WeDislikeEich]

Jokiharju is making a strong first impression

I thought Joker struggled a bit in the preseason, so I was a little surprised when he made the team right out of camp. But it just goes to show that we fans only get to see a tiny portion of what goes into a roster decision (he must have been looking a lot better in practice) because the way he’s playing to start the season, he absolutely deserves to be in Buffalo.

I have been very pleasantly surprised by Jokiharju’s start to the season. His transition ability really stands out.

If he continues to play this way, he will be a big piece of Buffalo’s rebuild moving forward.

 

[Chainshot]

Jokiharju is making a strong first impression

I thought Joker struggled a bit in the preseason, so I was a little surprised when he made the team right out of camp. But it just goes to show that we fans only get to see a tiny portion of what goes into a roster decision (he must have been looking a lot better in practice) because the way he’s playing to start the season, he absolutely deserves to be in Buffalo.

I have been very pleasantly surprised by Jokiharju’s start to the season. His transition ability really stands out.

If he continues to play this way, he will be a big piece of Buffalo’s rebuild moving forward.

He's dragged Scandella from being a negative influence on every (including the oft-abused Ristolainen) to being almost adequate. That's no small feat.

 

[AmericanDream]

He's dragged Scandella from being a negative influence on every (including the oft-abused Ristolainen) to being almost adequate. That's no small feat.

I watched most of the first 4 games for you guys, thought Joker played his best game yesterday by far, the other 3 games was pretty average overall but that is all you can ask for at this point with a young dman like him. shielded 16 minutes or so seems right for him currently.. what do you think happens when the blue line gets healthy?? will they move out a player to keep Joker up? has he done enough to warrant a move like that?