RW Kaapo Kakko - TPS, Liiga (2019 Draft)

[Kaako Kappo]

But on a serious note.. How tall is that blond chick?

5'7?

 

[thomast]

Yes and no. I think if all goes exactly as hoped for, Kakko could have a shot at outscoring both of two in the regular season in his respective D year. Although most chips would have to fall down in the right order considering that Barkov was close to PPG in the draft year. Actually reaching PPG is hard as hell. Looking at 30 top scorers from 2017-18, only one player actually breached the barrier. The lowest scoring league on the planet? Anyway, lets not forget about Laine actually winning the Kurri award as well as the MVP in the WHC while breaking some decades old record there. Fast-forward and he wraps up a top 5 gpg rookie year and continues with 44 goal sophomore campaign in the NHL. These are historical feats from still developing youngster and there's a slim chance for any European teenager to replicate anything similar. When all is said and done, I do think Laine could end up having the most notable career out of all the Finns, granted that he doesn't get wrecked by injuries.

Nonetheless it's difficult not to be stoked about Kakko and how well rounded he is. The kid is clearly ahead of Barkov or Laine on the skates (at the same age) - agile as h*** and as you said, shifty added with excellent balance. Hasn't yet hit the top gear, but considering how fluid he's already moving around the ice, I think he'll be an elite skater once all is said and done. His hands don't fall short in comparison, in fact they're on sync with the footwork, which enables an excellent puck control. Someone said he looked like a slower version of McDavid out there based on the way he skates and dekes with the with the puck glued on the stick. Shooting is the only real question mark at the moment. He is very unselfish and has a pass-first mentality. Could use a bit more of scoring mentality. Otherwise it's difficult to find weaknesses in the game or things not to like. Tremendous talent who doesn't lack hockey IQ nor vision.

Not sure if he's grown since U18s but I doubt he would today be 6"4 as Pronman apparently listed when just a two months back he looked maybe closer to 6"2, yet regardless height/size will never be an issue for Kakko. As I noted, it's hard to imagine another winger of Laine's level, don't think Svechnikov is either, but I knew Kaapo would be something special the first time I got to see any video material about him. In the few FEL games last year (as 16yo) he was usually able to stand up against the grown ups in the corners and that's probably what surprised me the most. Anyway, I suppose nothing is impossible and from the new generation of Finnish prospects I too cut the line after Laine, Barkov and Kakko, then the rest (with Heiskanen looking in). Could challenge Hughes for the 1st OA, especially if he's not considered 100% NHL center. Actually Kakko seems to have many of the qualities required from today's elite center. The kids get rarely transitioned at this age however.

I don’t expect Kakko to repeat what Laine and Barkov has done in their pre NHL career. It’s highly unlikely. I view Kakko as similar talent at this point because of his skill set and how i think it will translate to NHL. His game seems to be taylor made for NHL game in smaller rink. He has offensive confidence that Barkov lacked at his with even better offensive skillset. I think Kakko has potential to be better version of Mikko Rantanen. He has similar game but Kakko uses his size well and is shifty with excellent balance if you will. Rantanen lacks those abilities.

That Laine WC MVP was a joke. He wasn’t even best player in team finland. Granlund was by far the best player and even Matthews looked better against good countries. But no doubt his WC play was impressive and it is more likely Kakko to not play there this year.

 

[Ippenator]

I don’t expect Kakko to repeat what Laine and Barkov has done in their pre NHL career. It’s highly unlikely. I view Kakko as similar talent at this point because of his skill set and how i think it will translate to NHL. His game seems to be taylor made for NHL game in smaller rink. He has offensive confidence that Barkov lacked at his with even better offensive skillset. I think Kakko has potential to be better version of Mikko Rantanen. He has similar game but Kakko uses his size well and is shifty with excellent balance if you will. Rantanen lacks those abilities.

That Laine WC MVP was a joke. He wasn’t even best player in team finland. Granlund was by far the best player and even Matthews looked better against good countries. But no doubt his WC play was impressive and it is more likely Kakko to not play there this year.

Even if you think it was a joke that Laine was the MVP in the WHC in his draft season, I think even you can’t overlook the MVP of Liiga playoffs and on many occasions carrying his team Tappara to the championship.

Also I would say that you are a bit strangely comparing Kakko to Rantanen. Rantanen has extremely good balance. Definitely better than Kakko and also Rantanen is just a lot bigger than Kakko. It’s 193 cm against 187 cm. And 100 kg against 84 kg. So for sure Kakko is shiftier, as he is a lot smaller and lighter than Rantanen. Kakko will need to get a lot more of strength to not be completely tossed around in the top class men’s games. I would say that he will need to get about 10 kg more of muscle mass in general to really stand his ground in the NHL. He can definitely get there in a few years, but when he gets there, I doubt he will be exactly as shifty as he is at the moment. But it is still a thing he will need to do, even if he will lose a step or two, at least in the beginning.

When the strength work is done it is still possible to work on becoming shiftier for that body mass that he will have, but all of it will take a lot of work and time.

I’m also excited and very interested in following the progress that Kakko will have, but honestly I think people are a bit jumping the gun with him at the moment. Lets talk more about how amazing he is after he has hopefully achieved at least 30 points, or hopefully even much more, in his first full Liiga season. Before that happens I see praising him in the class of Laine, Rantanen or Barkov quite premature.

But I want to still emphasize that I absolutely want him to become a Laine caliber player, or even better if it will be possible. But to me it is important to see Kakko have real success amongst men before I will be absolutely sure of his potential. He for sure is very promising already, that I have to admit.

 

[kelsier]

I don’t expect Kakko to repeat what Laine and Barkov has done in their pre NHL career. It’s highly unlikely. I view Kakko as similar talent at this point because of his skill set and how i think it will translate to NHL. His game seems to be taylor made for NHL game in smaller rink. He has offensive confidence that Barkov lacked at his with even better offensive skillset. I think Kakko has potential to be better version of Mikko Rantanen. He has similar game but Kakko uses his size well and is shifty with excellent balance if you will. Rantanen lacks those abilities.

That Laine WC MVP was a joke. He wasn’t even best player in team finland. Granlund was by far the best player and even Matthews looked better against good countries. But no doubt his WC play was impressive and it is more likely Kakko to not play there this year.

No matter what anyone thinks of who was the most worthy of winning the WHC MVP trophy it really doesn't matter. At the end of the day, they picked him. As for the best player in the playoffs, you can hardly argue against that as without Laine Tappara might not have even made it to finals. Anyhow, I wasn't just pointing out on what who have accomplished this far, but also that especially Laine is still noway near his prime years and has tons of development left in the tank, and yet he's managed to got this far in so little time. Who knows what becomes of him.

Actually I was just thinking about the same thing earlier. You could maybe say that Barkov is the most balanced player out of all the young Finns out there, but Rantanen isn't far behind nor does he have any size related question marks. Kakko at the moment looks like he could project as an upgraded version of Rantanen if all goes well (maybe inch or two shorter). At least he is way better player at the same age. Of course at this point it's still only about potential and we aren't talking about upgraded copy either as there are differences in how they play the game. Rantanen has been rather good skater since leaving FEL, but he never was close to being as agile/shifty nor did he have the slick pair of hands of Kakko where the puck looks like it's superglued to the stick. There were also questions surrounding Mikko's shooting/goal scoring as well and look how they turned out like. If Kaapo can muster enough lower/upper body strength during the summer to make balance a non issue, then things are going to happen. Still need to remember that's a lot asked from a 17 year old playing in one of the hardest pro leagues.

 

[Patrik Barkov]

I know we've gone over this already but I just can't express it enough how excited I feel watching one after another blue chip prospect popping up from Finland. We really are being spoiled after tough years of very few good prospects.

We've had 12 first rounders in the past three drafts. In the seven drafts from 2005 to 2011 we had four first rounders, two of them being goalies. 2007 the highest finn picked was Niclas freaking Lucenius in the fourth round!

Be grateful guys.

 

[Jethlan]

Does he project to be better than Svechnikov?

 

[MattiasSnall]

Does he project to be better than Svechnikov?

Hard to tell now, he has the tools for it but let’s see how his first senior season is. But it certainly looks promising.

 

[thomast]

Even if you think it was a joke that Laine was the MVP in the WHC in his draft season, I think even you can’t overlook the MVP of Liiga playoffs and on many occasions carrying his team Tappara to the championship.

Also I would say that you are a bit strangely comparing Kakko to Rantanen. Rantanen has extremely good balance. Definitely better than Kakko and also Rantanen is just a lot bigger than Kakko. It’s 193 cm against 187 cm. And 100 kg against 84 kg. So for sure Kakko is shiftier, as he is a lot smaller and lighter than Rantanen. Kakko will need to get a lot more of strength to not be completely tossed around in the top class men’s games. I would say that he will need to get about 10 kg more of muscle mass in general to really stand his ground in the NHL. He can definitely get there in a few years, but when he gets there, I doubt he will be exactly as shifty as he is at the moment. But it is still a thing he will need to do, even if he will lose a step or two, at least in the beginning.

When the strength work is done it is still possible to work on becoming shiftier for that body mass that he will have, but all of it will take a lot of work and time.

I’m also excited and very interested in following the progress that Kakko will have, but honestly I think people are a bit jumping the gun with him at the moment. Lets talk more about how amazing he is after he has hopefully achieved at least 30 points, or hopefully even much more, in his first full Liiga season. Before that happens I see praising him in the class of Laine, Rantanen or Barkov quite premature.

But I want to still emphasize that I absolutely want him to become a Laine caliber player, or even better if it will be possible. But to me it is important to see Kakko have real success amongst men before I will be absolutely sure of his potential. He for sure is very promising already, that I have to admit.

Rantanen is bigger than 17 year old Kakko for sure but he plays really soft game and lacks intensity and power in his game especially for a guy who is that big. He doesen’t use his size well. If he would he would be monster of a player and i think avs fans agree. Kakko in the other hand plays with really high intensity, he skates hard to every loose puck and win battles at boards. Size doesen’t mean better balance. Look at Crosby. He isn’t biggest guy out there but has one of the best balance in game. I disagree that Rantanen had better balance at same age. He was lanky tall guy.

I never said Kakko is going to be more talented than Barkov or Laine i said he has potential to be same level talent if not better. We all know what Barkov and Laine did at their draft year. I just like his game more than those two at same age. Kakko has alot to prove next year to be called similar level talent but right now so far so good.

I think you have good points in majority of your posts despite having little bias towards finnish players. In the end we all have bias towards something despite trying to be honest. It’s good to have some kind of opinion and good arguments to back it up. Then we have some joke posters like Paul Maurice who doesen’t form any opinions or bring any good points on the table. Just trolling or smashing down other opinions. Trying to be ”cool guy” of hfboards. It was fun at elementary school.

 

[ijuka]

I never said Kakko is going to be more talented than Barkov or Laine i said he has potential to be same level talent if not better. We all know what Barkov and Laine did at their draft year. I just like his game more than those two at same age. Kakko has alot to prove next year to be called similar level talent but right now so far so good.

I just can't agree with this. Laine's equivalent season wasn't that great in comparison to Kakko's but that's due to his knee surgery. 15-year-old Laine for instance scored 26 goals in 40 games at the u-20 league which still no one's come even close to. As for Barkov, his still is the best u17 season in history for Finnish prospects.

Kakko's performance thus far is closer to Sebastian Aho's. Of course, he has the big body advantage, but he just doesn't have a single tool at the level of Laine's shot, even if he's better at just about everything else. I also consider Laine's IQ and physicality to be better than Kakko's but Kakko certainly has the skating, the hands etc.

 

[Ippenator]

Rantanen is bigger than 17 year old Kakko for sure but he plays really soft game and lacks intensity and power in his game especially for a guy who is that big. He doesen’t use his size well. If he would he would be monster of a player and i think avs fans agree. Kakko in the other hand plays with really high intensity, he skates hard to every loose puck and win battles at boards. Size doesen’t mean better balance. Look at Crosby. He isn’t biggest guy out there but has one of the best balance in game. I disagree that Rantanen had better balance at same age. He was lanky tall guy.

I never said Kakko is going to be more talented than Barkov or Laine i said he has potential to be same level talent if not better. We all know what Barkov and Laine did at their draft year. I just like his game more than those two at same age. Kakko has alot to prove next year to be called similar level talent but right now so far so good.

I think you have good points in majority of your posts despite having little bias towards finnish players. In the end we all have bias towards something despite trying to be honest. It’s good to have some kind of opinion and good arguments to back it up. Then we have some joke posters like Paul Maurice who doesen’t form any opinions or bring any good points on the table. Just trolling or smashing down other opinions. Trying to be ”cool guy” of hfboards. It was fun at elementary school.

I in fact pretty much agree with how you see Rantanen. Or at least I saw him very much like that before last season. The lack of intensity and the lack of using his strength for more checking and battling has been in fact even very annoying to me. But I saw a pretty good change in him last season, and I think that in fact was a big reason for his great progress last season. Sure, he didn’t become very physical even then, but at least he had for sure more intensity than before. He went more aggressively to forechecking and also he did better in the corners with and without the puck. He doesnt really use his great size and strength for checking even now though, and that is still pretty annoying to me.

Laine at least does some pretty nice hits occasionally, although he is still clearly physically weaker and rawer than Rantanen. But what Rantanen is and has always been good at (for the last four years at least when I have been following him more) is how he uses his size and strength for protecting the puck, and he has always had very good balance while doing it. This is something that Laine is way, way behind of Rantanen, and I also think that Kakko has a lot to do to be at that level in the puck protecting, even though he has for sure some great tools to become the best Finn ever in the puck protection.

Kakko’s hands and his agility on skates are already on an absolutely wonderful level and they do remind me of Sebastian Aho in fact out of all young Finns at the moment. I’m not sure though if Kakko has as good hockey IQ as Aho, but I’m not doubting it at least yet either. He has show’n really nice examples of wonderful IQ at least against his peers. But for me to be convinced that he has it in the class that Aho, Laine or Barkov have, I need to see him do the same things consistently against men in Liiga next season. And I definitely hope it will happen.

 

[Hokinaittii]

I just can't agree with this. Laine's equivalent season wasn't that great in comparison to Kakko's but that's due to his knee surgery. 15-year-old Laine for instance scored 26 goals in 40 games at the u-20 league which still no one's come even close to. As for Barkov, his still is the best u17 season in history for Finnish prospects.

Kakko's performance thus far is closer to Sebastian Aho's. Of course, he has the big body advantage, but he just doesn't have a single tool at the level of Laine's shot, even if he's better at just about everything else. I also consider Laine's IQ and physicality to be better than Kakko's but Kakko certainly has the skating, the hands etc.

Just curious, what makes Laine's IQ so high that it can't be compared to Kakko's? As far as I'm concerned, Kakko's game is all about that high IQ and reacting to things fast in the rink, very much like how Aho and other elite IQ players operate in the rink.

Let's not forget what kind of player Laine was at the same age. He had a bad habit of trying to deke his way out of own zone which resulted quite often into turnovers. He also didn't really utilize his teammates as much as he could have. Yeah, he has an amazing shot and he should try to use it as much as possible but there is no denying there were times when he just tried to force it too much. He also lacked in the play without the puck and his game was pretty much all about the stuff he could do in the offensive zone. I'm not sure if all those can be buried under the "he was just too good compared to everyone else so it's understandable for him to play like that" argument.

As amazing player as Laine is, I'm not sure if I would rank Laine's IQ near the very best. It's clearly better than the average and in the offensive zone he has so amazing touch to the puck that he can create pretty much anything but as far as I'm concerned, hockey IQ is much more than just making the pretty plays that no other would dare to try. I have seen so many times Laine reacting slowly and therefore losing the puck when he didn't make the easy pass to guy next to him. Granted, he has gotten better at it recently but I would still say Laine's shot/goalscoring is still couple of tiers above anything else in his game.

And when it comes to physicality, what kind of physicality are we talking about? I mean, Ovechkin is very physical when he goes for the hits but someone like Crosby who isn't necessary as reckless as Ovie was in his prime, is still very physical near the boards and when he is trying to pressure the puck for his team like a mad dog. In my opinion, the physicality Crosby shows is a lot more important than stuff like throwing hits and showing to people you aren't afraid of throwing couple of crosschecks back to your opponents after the whistle which I think Laine's physicality is all about right now.

 

[Ippenator]

Just curious, what makes Laine's IQ so high that it can't be compared to Kakko's? As far as I'm concerned, Kakko's game is all about that high IQ and reacting to things fast in the rink, very much like how Aho and other elite IQ players operate in the rink.

Let's not forget what kind of player Laine was at the same age. He had a bad habit of trying to deke his way out of own zone which resulted quite often into turnovers. He also didn't really utilize his teammates as much as he could have. Yeah, he has an amazing shot and he should try to use it as much as possible but there is no denying there were times when he just tried to force it too much. He also lacked in the play without the puck and his game was pretty much all about the stuff he could do in the offensive zone. I'm not sure if all those can be buried under the "he was just too good compared to everyone else so it's understandable for him to play like that" argument.

As amazing player as Laine is, I'm not sure if I would rank Laine's IQ near the very best. It's clearly better than the average and in the offensive zone he has so amazing touch to the puck that he can create pretty much anything but as far as I'm concerned, hockey IQ is much more than just making the pretty plays that no other would dare to try. I have seen so many times Laine reacting slowly and therefore losing the puck when he didn't make the easy pass to guy next to him. Granted, he has gotten better at it recently but I would still say Laine's shot/goalscoring is still couple of tiers above anything else in his game.

And when it comes to physicality, what kind of physicality are we talking about? I mean, Ovechkin is very physical when he goes for the hits but someone like Crosby who isn't necessary as reckless as Ovie was in his prime, is still very physical near the boards and when he is trying to pressure the puck for his team like a mad dog. In my opinion, the physicality Crosby shows is a lot more important than stuff like throwing hits and showing to people you aren't afraid of throwing couple of crosschecks back to your opponents after the whistle which I think Laine's physicality is all about right now.

Well, it can be simply seen, if you can look at the game in the way that a player can choose those kind of decisions in general with a great percentage that either lead to their own team scoring goals or either preventing the opponents from scoring goals. If you have the ability to choose with a great percentage at both ends those kind of plays, it usually leads in to that kind of player being very high with his 5 on 5 goal difference. This is what has been going on with Laine even when he has been a physically very raw and inexperienced young player with playing with different kinds of linemates, and I’m pretty sure that it will be going on for the rest of his career, but the positive contrast will just become better and better also long as he keeps growing and developing as a player.

If you can’t really see it just by watching him play at both ends, then I will give another example. There has always been a lot of players with really great shots, but unless they have the high IQ and great ability for reading the game quickly, they will not get themselves often enough open for scoring as often as the best goalscorers always score. The great shot that some of them might have becomes pretty useless often, and that leads into quite modest goalscoring amounts. Especially if the great shooter has the kind of weak first steps and weak physics that Laine still has. It’s amazing really how he is even despite that able to get himself open as often as he gets.

Also it’s good to remember that he seriously does mostly the good options defensively without the puck that most of all leads into preventing the opposing team from scoring. He’s not a takeaway monster (although not in fact bad with them), but he doesnt need to be, as he reads the play very well defensively and is very good at using his positional play for supporting other players with their defence. He does the so called supportive defending in an excellent way, and it is in fact almost criminal that so little amount of people understand this. It’s a big reason why opponents don't really score much of 5 on 5 goals when Laine is on the ice.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Well, it can be simply seen, if you can look at the game in the way that a player can choose those kind of decisions in general with a great percentage that either lead to their own team scoring goals or either preventing the opponents from scoring goals. If you have the ability to choose with a great percentage at both ends those kind of plays, it usually leads in to that kind of player being very high with his 5 on 5 goal difference. This is what has been going on with Laine even when he has been a physically very raw and inexperienced young player with playing with different kinds of linemates, and I’m pretty sure that it will be going on for the rest of his career, but the positivismi contract will just become better and better also long as he keeps growing and developing as a player.

If you can’t really see it just by watching him play at both ends, then I will give another example. There has always been a lot of players with really great shots, but unless they have the high IQ and great ability for reading the game quickly, they will not get themselves often enough open for scoring as often as the best goalscorers always score. The great shot that some of them might have becomes pretty useless often, and that leads into quite modest goalscoring amounts. Especially if the great shooter has the kind of weak first steps and weak physics that Laine still has. It’s amazing really how he is even despite that able to get himself open as often as he gets.

Also it’s good to remember that he seriously does mostly the good options defensively without the puck that most of all leads into preventing the opposing team from scoring. He’s not a takeaway monster (although not in fact bad with them), but he doesnt need to be, as he ready the play very well defensively and is very good at using his positional play for supoorting other players with their defence. He does the so called supportive defending in an excellent way, and it is in fact almost criminal that so Little amount of people understand this. It’s a big reason why opponents don't really score much of 5 on 5 goals when Laine is ok the ice.

Your response sounds like you think Hokinaittii just called Laine dumb as bricks.

 

[Ippenator]

Your response sounds like you think Hokinaittii just called Laine dumb as bricks.

Oh really? You have a very interesting way of seeing things for sure. I’m pretty sure that you didn’t really understand too well what I wrote in that post if you think that way.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Oh really? You have a very interesting way of seeing things for sure...

Everything he said is correct. Laine's not some holy hockey god, but a very raw player that makes plenty of boneheaded plays and mistakes.

 

[Daximus]

Everything he said is correct. Laine's not some holy hockey god, but a very raw player that makes plenty of boneheaded plays and mistakes.

Yeah I agree. Laine is a very athletic and powerful player with a shot for the ages. But I don't exactly think high hockey IQ when I think of him. He processes the game at a slow rate and often has issues doing things at really high speed other then just shooting. He's not hockey dumb just not what I would consider a hockey genius.

I haven't seen a tonne of Kakko yet but from what I have seen he seems to do things at a quicker rate then Laine even does now. Obviously doesn't have the shot arsenal so he is a very different type of player. He looks to be much better along the boards, where Laine is struggling, Kakko looks like he excels on the cycle and set up where Laine excels off the rush and one-timers.

 

[Ippenator]

Everything he said is correct. Laine's not some holy hockey god, but a very raw player that makes plenty of boneheaded plays and mistakes.

And your response here exactly absolutely declares that you didn’t get much of what I really posted in my post. You just truly missed the real point. Focusing in something completely irrelevent now. A hint: I never claimed that Laine can’t make some boneheaded decisions too. But the thing is that his decision making percentage is way above most players in general. If you dont see this, then I can’t help you. Statistics do still prove what can be also seen with your eyes, if you look at how his decisions lead with great percentage to his team scoring goals and how his decisions lead with great percentage also in the opponents not scoring goals against his team when he is on the ice.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

And your responsibly here exactly absolutely declares that you didn’t get much of what I really posted in my post. You just truly missed the real point. Focusing in something completely irrelevenat now. A hint: I never claimed that Laine can’t make some boneheaded decisions too. But the thing is that his decision making percentage is way above most players in general. If you dont see this, then I can’t help you. Statistics do still prove what can be also seen with your eyes, if you look at how his decisions lead with great percentage to his team scoring goals and how his decisions lead with great percentage also in the opponents not scoring goals against his team when he is on the ice.

Well, if you found a way to make your posts easier to read people might actually bother to argue some of your points.

I really have no f***ing clue what you're saying.

 

[Ippenator]

Yeah I agree. Laine is a very athletic and powerful player with a shot for the ages. But I don't exactly think high hockey IQ when I think of him. He processes the game at a slow rate and often has issues doing things at really high speed other then just shooting. He's not hockey dumb just not what I would consider a hockey genius.

I haven't seen a tonne of Kakko yet but from what I have seen he seems to do things at a quicker rate then Laine even does now. Obviously doesn't have the shot arsenal so he is a very different type of player. He looks to be much better along the boards, where Laine is struggling, Kakko looks like he excels on the cycle and set up where Laine excels off the rush and one-timers.

Speed is not everything. Efficiency is in fact everything. And the players with the highest IQ are always VERY efficient. That is exactly what in the end shows who are the real high IQ players. Just being fast on your skates or with your decisions is after all more just eye candy, unless of course if that kind of a player can also be very efficient. Sometimes that can happen to a point. But still the players consistently with the best efficiency are the ones with the best IQ on the ice.

I have anyway said nothing against Kakko’s IQ. Just that it’s not yet proven against adult pro players. Until that has happened I will not start praising him as the next great Finnish talent. He might very well be that, but lets first see how he does in Liiga next season.

 

[Ippenator]

Well, if you found a way to make your posts easier to read people might actually bother to argue some of your points.

I really have no ****ing clue what you're saying.

I honestly think it tells more about you than about my post.

 

[Daximus]

Speed is not everything. Efficiency is in fact everything. And the players with the highest IQ are always VERY efficient. That is exactly what in the end shows who are the real high IQ players. Just being fast on your skates or with your decisions is after all more just eye candy, unless of course if that kind of a player can also be very efficient. Sometimes that can happen to a point. But still the players consistently with the best efficiency are the ones with the best IQ on the ice.

I have anyway said nothing against Kakko’s IQ. Just that it’s not yet proven against adult pro players. Until that has happened I will not start praising him as the next great Finnish talent. He might very well be that, but lets first see how he does in Liiga next season.

It's more processing at speed that I like. Especially since the game is changing to be incredibly fast in the NHL. I can't say for sure how Kakko's game will translate at higher levels but I think he looks to be a very different style of player than Laine. Which isn't a bad thing for either of them.

 

[Ippenator]

Yeah I agree. Laine is a very athletic and powerful player with a shot for the ages. But I don't exactly think high hockey IQ when I think of him. He processes the game at a slow rate and often has issues doing things at really high speed other then just shooting. He's not hockey dumb just not what I would consider a hockey genius.

I haven't seen a tonne of Kakko yet but from what I have seen he seems to do things at a quicker rate then Laine even does now. Obviously doesn't have the shot arsenal so he is a very different type of player. He looks to be much better along the boards, where Laine is struggling, Kakko looks like he excels on the cycle and set up where Laine excels off the rush and one-timers.

Laine very athletic and powerful player??? I don’t know seriously what on earth makes you think that? He is not weak with his hands for sure (not very strong with them for sure though), but he is definitely still only about average strength with his core and his legs are still on the weak side. He has a lot of work to do to be a strong and powerful athletic player. I’m basing this on what can be easily seen in the games, but also on what I have heard Laine and his trainer Hannu Rautala say in interviews. Rautala has been laughing at how much behind Rantanen and Ristolainen Laine is in strength and athleticism. I’m sorry but it practically sounds like a joke when you write that Laine is ”a very athletic and powerful” young player. Is it seriously possible to see him like that?

 

[Ippenator]

It's more processing at speed that I like. Especially since the game is changing to be incredibly fast in the NHL. I can't say for sure how Kakko's game will translate at higher levels but I think he looks to be a very different style of player than Laine. Which isn't a bad thing for either of them.

If the speed in skating or in the decision making seriously brings also efficiency with a good and consistent percentage, then I’m also for that kind of speed. Unfortunately on most speedy and quick player cases it just doesn't necessarily bring that great efficiency. Of course the end results are still what matters the most in the end. So the players with consistently the highest goal and point amounts and with consistently the best 5 on 5 scoring difference are the best players. And when those kind of players help their teams win championships, that is when those players become legends.

 

[Daximus]

Laine very athletic and powerful player??? I don’t know seriously what on earth makes you think that? He is not weak with his hands for sure (not very strong with them for sure though), but he is definitely still only about average strength with his core and his legs are still on the weak side. He has a lot of work to do to be a strong and powerful athletic player. I’m basing this on what can be easily seen in the games, but also on what I have heard Laine and his trainer Hannu Rautala say in interviews. Rautala has been laughing at how much behind Rantanen and Ristolainen Laine is in strength and athleticism. I’m sorry but it practically sounds like a joke when you write that Laine is ”a very powerful and athletic” young player. Is it seriously possible to see him like that?

Relative to a lot of guys his age he's extremely powerful of course when you compare him to a 22 year old 5 year NHL vet defencemen and a 21 year old who has always been on the bigger side compared to Laine then yeah he looks less powerful. He can lay out some decent hits for sure and he can get guys off the puck. It's his speed that limits how effectively he does that. As for board battles he has a way to go for sure but he handles himself well out there. And he obviously has some athleticism or do you consider him fat and out of shape?
Also what a rather pointless thing to gripe about.... out of all the things I said that is what you have an issue with?

 

[Daximus]

If the speed in skating or in the decision making seriously brings also efficiency with a good and consistent percentage, then I’m also for that kind of speed. Unfortunately on must speedy and quick player cases it just doesn't necessarily bring that great efficiency. Of course the end results are still what matters the most in the end. So the players with consistently the highest goal and point amounts and with consistently the best 5 on 5 scoring difference are the best players. And when those kind of players help their teams win championships, that is when those players become legends.

Hockey is a team sport and speed is a major part of that. You can have a 50-60 goal scorer for the next decade and never win a Championship. You can have an Art Ross winner that never makes the playoffs.
Hockey isn't about point and goal totals. It is about having a strong team game. That is what wins you championships. Tarasenko is the best 5v5 goal scorer in the league over the last 3 seasons, better than Ovi, Sid and Malkin. How many championships has he won so far?