RD Oskari Laaksonen - Ilves Jr, SM-Liiga (2017, 89th, BUF)

[sabres1212]

No clue who this guy is. Anyone know anything about him? Total off the board pick by Buffalo.

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[Esko6]

I am sure they could have had him in the seventh round, I have never heard of him before. The only thing I have heard is that he is an offence first guy.

 

[Castle8130]

From stats, it looks like hes maybe an above average defenseman in finlands junior a league.

 

[JJTT]

Was promoted to the senior team few weeks ago and has played 5 games on the third pairing with some PP time as well.


Report from Finnprospects: Oskari Laaksonen | FinnProspects.com

 

[Genny Screamer]

I've heard that Oskari has been promoted to first pair with Ilves and he's playing 22mins a game. Can anybody provide an update? How has he looked? I understand his strength is skating with good offensive instincts.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

I've heard that Oskari has been promoted to first pair with Ilves and he's playing 22mins a game. Can anybody provide an update? How has he looked? I understand his strength is skating with good offensive instincts.

Ilves (their Liiga-team) hasn't played for a while, I don't think they qualified for playoffs at all.

 

[FinPanda]

I've heard that Oskari has been promoted to first pair with Ilves and he's playing 22mins a game. Can anybody provide an update? How has he looked? I understand his strength is skating with good offensive instincts.

Weird to hear as their season ended quite a while ago, but I think he played well and deserved the time on the 1st pair.

 

[Genny Screamer]

Weird to hear as their season ended quite a while ago, but I think he played well and deserved the time on the 1st pair.

I understand. Sabres' board is ranking our prospects and he is in consideration for our 20th best so I just wanted some perspective.

 

[theVladiator]

Bumping this pitiful thread.

Saw Laaksonen at WJSS, and he was playing absolutely great, reminiscent of a couple of late 1st round picks I thought of highly in 2017 (Jokiharju and Vaakanainen). Of course, it's summer hockey and all that, but I just decided to follow up to see how he is doing, and he has 4 pts in 6 games in the Finnish top league. Looks like this guy's game is developing at a rapid pace, he could become a huge steal for the Sabres.

 

[ookhaab]

Bumping this pitiful thread.

Saw Laaksonen at WJSS, and he was playing absolutely great, reminiscent of a couple of late 1st round picks I thought of highly in 2017 (Jokiharju and Vaakanainen). Of course, it's summer hockey and all that, but I just decided to follow up to see how he is doing, and he has 4 pts in 6 games in the Finnish top league. Looks like this guy's game is developing at a rapid pace, he could become a huge steal for the Sabres.

I definitely think he could end up as a steal for the Sabres, he has played top pair in Ilves for the whole season.

He is puck moving dman with good hands and skating, his top speed and acceleration are surprisingly good. Distibutes the puck like a madman, sometimes I think he should play more calm and look for more options, rather than send it to the first guy he sees open.

He needs to work on his defensive positioning, add weight (dude is beanpole) and be more fierce in front of the net.

Shows great promise and has no doubt NHL level potential.

 

[FinPanda]

Bumping this thread after he just scored his second goal of the season. 2+9 now in a little less than 17 games.

Buffalo definitely saw something in him that most did not.

 

[truthbluth]

Bumping this thread after he just scored his second goal of the season. 2+9 now in a little less than 17 games.

Buffalo definitely saw something in him that most did not.

Well according to rumor, Buffalo was planning on waiting until the 4th, but they got last minute intel that somebody between their third (89th OA) and their 4th (99th OA) was going to take him. My guess is that it was either Pitt or Nashville just based on personnel connections.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Well according to rumor, Buffalo was planning on waiting until the 4th, but they got last minute intel that somebody between their third (89th OA) and their 4th (99th OA) was going to take him. My guess is that it was either Pitt or Nashville just based on personnel connections.

Interesting if true since I don't think any of the public lists or draft guides had Laaksonen ranked. You got a source for that?

Gotta say, our European scouts seem to be doing a pretty good job of finding guys with NHL potential late or outside of he draft over the past few years (Laaksonen, Pilut, Olofsson, Ullmark). It'll be interesting to see how many actually pan out.

 

[JJTT]

His goal from last night

Maali

 

[truthbluth]

Interesting if true since I don't think any of the public lists or draft guides had Laaksonen ranked. You got a source for that?

Gotta say, our European scouts seem to be doing a pretty good job of finding guys with NHL potential late or outside of he draft over the past few years (Laaksonen, Pilut, Olofsson, Ullmark). It'll be interesting to see how many actually pan out.

So, I’m pretty sure I heard it on the radio from...maybe Paul hamilton? But if you read Botterill’s post draft comments, he said, “Unfortunately, sometimes if you don't step up and take a player, you may not get him.” And if you listen to the audio, he sounded a little frustrated, like he expected to get him later. For my money, they did pretty well with those two picks. Jacob Bryson is the Sabres most underrated prospect, imo.

 

[Ace]

Laaksonen has gone from not on lists to prospect to watch.

Someone clearly knew something.

 

[Ace]

Having a nice tournament. Named player of the game in the second Finland game. Scored a nice goal in the third one. A really fun out of (almost literally) nowhere prospect to follow.

Buffalo must have been sure someone else was on him to pull the trigger on a guy on no lists in round 3. But he’s made them look like they knew what they were doing to this point.

 

[slumpy43]

Only saw the first game against Sweden so far. He got outmuscled on a few occasions in the corners and some of his passes were just left hanging in there. Can't wait to watch the second game now that you mention he was named player of the game.

 

[Chainshot]

 

[Hokinaittii]

First time I'm watching the kid and I've been pleasantly surprised. Solid pick in 3rd round by the Sabres.

 

[Snippit]

I thought he looked good

 

[truthbluth]

This dude is straight up dominating the puck in the semifinals in the WJC in his D+2 season....thread is still in page 1.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

He is such a treat to watch on the ice. Great hands, great agility, great passes, hard shot - he has even thrown a few nice hits even though he is built like a pole.

 

[tsujimoto74]

He is such a treat to watch on the ice. Great hands, great agility, great passes, hard shot - he has even thrown a few nice hits even though he is built like a pole.

Being built like a string bean probably isn't a huge hindrance in a tournament of teenagers. Still has plenty of time to fill out that frame before testing it against NHL competition.

What a development trajectory the kid's been on...from being a "who???" on draft day in 2017 to now being the top scoring teenage D in Finland and making a strong showing at the WJC. He's gonna be one to watch over the next few years.

 

[1OApick]

I've been impressed bout his play on Liiga and cause of his strong season he have not matched my expectations.