We've had plenty of those elite hands/skill game breaking level prospects with great upside Granlund/Teräväinen/Armia but all have other flaws in theyre games, skating, size, defensive quality etc and now Kasperi is more of the old 90's finland prototype of Hard Working excellent skating forward with skill and no real downside to his game. I think he might end being better of those mentioned above because his more of an complete package than just one trick pony. If inconsistancy is his biggest problem then thats great. thats one of the things im sure he will learn when becomming professional hockey player. Putting him into top5 was just toss on wake of latest Craig Button rankings, but a team like Columbus where Jarmo Kekäläinen has spoken very very highly of Kasperi in the past are hot on this one. Other thing that hasnt been mentioned is that he drives the net really fearlessly which can only be good.
RW Kasperi Kapanen (2014, 22nd, PIT; traded to TOR)
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We've had plenty of those elite hands/skill game breaking level prospects with great upside Granlund/Teräväinen/Armia but all have other flaws in theyre games, skating, size, defensive quality etc and now Kasperi is more of the old 90's finland prototype of Hard Working excellent skating forward with skill and no real downside to his game. I think he might end being better of those mentioned above because his more of an complete package than just one trick pony. If inconsistancy is his biggest problem then thats great. thats one of the things im sure he will learn when becomming professional hockey player. Putting him into top5 was just toss on wake of latest Craig Button rankings, but a team like Columbus where Jarmo Kekäläinen has spoken very very highly of Kasperi in the past are hot on this one. Other thing that hasnt been mentioned is that he drives the net really fearlessly which can only be good.
QnebO
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He does have the skillset in top 5. At this point no one is saying that he will be there, but he can be for sure. You simply need to look at him play, he definedly is one of those guys. He has phenomenal speed and great overall skillset in other things too. Maybe he should play in Helsinki to get more attention
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Player with his size (he looks ~184 or something) and skating is IMO a pretty safe bet to make the NHL. In what role, I don't know though. I like him as a prospect. We haven't had his type of prospect for a while.
Syan Ruter
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No, he simply doesn't. I've seen him play regularly, and yes, he's got amazing speed and work ethic, but the skill he's got isn't top 5 material, at least not yet. He's got a year to prove it though.
For the record, he's not 184cm. Around 179-181.
Now, before all you start hating on me for giving my opinion on one of our prospects, every Finn is always saying how "Prospect X is better than MiG, Armia etc." The same people said "MiG is better than player X" and so on. How many of you have actually watched him play? Or any NA skater for that matter?
McGlassbangers
Registered User
********. Lehkonen is officially 179cm and Kasperi is without a doubt taller than Artturi. Kasperi is 182-184cm.
Nobody has said Kasperi is better than MiG, Armia or even Teräväinen. As a skater he is in the completely different planet though and even though he doesn't have as good hands as Armia/Teräväinen/Granlund does, his puckhandling skills is still above average. IMO his skating compensates that.
Kasperi is definetly around 182 and i can confirm it. He has some really nice hands but speed is his priority weapon just like MacKinnons. You don't see often that MacKinnon dekes opposite players but skates around them and after that bulls to the goal. Kasperi is most dynamic finnish foward for ages but i would say that he is right now big questionmark to me. I know that he has very high potential. I could see him being late first to top 10 pick with amazing season maybe top 5. I'm not going to guess but i feel good about him right now.
Small sample of Kasperi Kapanen and his hands:
Small sample of Kasperi Kapanen and his hands:
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Who cares about whether he's 179cm or 182cm? A ten cm or more difference in height is a different thing, but a difference of few cm doesn't mean much, at least for me. I've always thought that what player lacks in height, one can make up the difference back at a gym. Actually, since shorter person can squat/bench/etc more compared to tall person due to a shorter range of motion by default, shorter players can achieve a lot more strength at the gym. My 2¢...
QnebO
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I think he just does have hands. I don't know if you can seriousely claim hoe doesn't have at all hands. Well, lets let this season decide ultimately. He is definitely not stone handed or just regular 17y prospect in terms of hands neither, hes way above average. While he might not have crazy hands, does good NHL player need to have? Teemu hasn't THAT good hands and he's done solid, maybe even good career. Jussi Jokinen the same.. you don't always have to be able to do absolutely magician moves in SM-Liiga to be top prospect. It's enough if you're just great prospect overall.
MMANumminen
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McGlassbangers
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Trust me, there is a difference if you're 179cm with terrific skating or if you're 182cm with terrific skating. If you're a GM and there is two identical players left in a draft, other one is 5'10 with good skating and the other guy is 6'0 with good skating only complete idiot would take the smaller guy.
Jack DiBiase
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The hell are you talking about? Last time I checked, a hockey game is played on an ice rink, not in a gym.
Ok, I guess I have to chew this one out for ya folks... I meant that smaller dudes have the natural ability to gain more strength. Hence, the advantage of being a taller is diminished if a smaller player can use this fact to his advantage. What I've understood is that usually the smaller dudes take the route of making themselves lankier (lots of cardio/endurance training) in order to be faster even though imo they should be focused on strength training because they have enough of cardio in the form of hockey games. Don't choke on your morning cereal over this, it's just my opinion.
Trust me, there isn't a situation where there's only a single determining factor for choosing a player over another. In other words, there's not a pair of identical player, which separated only by their height (maybe the Sedins, but that's it). I grant you the fact that I would choose the taller identical player over the other, when there is not a single attribute that separates them. And no, the only complete idiot would be ranking players according to their height and ability to skate. I'm just saying that being taller gives you an advantage at certain areas, but being taller isn't an absolute advantage.
As much anyone else in here, I guess. If you're lost, look for a previous post.
This depends on genetics. Smaller guys have the ability to put on more muscle on average. That doesn't mean this always happens. And the fact is that smaller people are stronger pound for pound in general, but also that bigger people, in general, are stronger in absolute terms.
Granted, genetics plays its role on this. However, my argument on was primarily strength, not on muscle mass. Depending on focus of training, one can achieve either strength, muscle mass, or endurance. I'm not saying that those are mutually exclusive, because one can gain all of them, but the focus of the training is always in one of them. A person with a lot of muscle mass is not proportional to his/her strength. Thus, a really skinny person could possess a lot of strength, which doesn't really back up the argument that a bigger person (in muscle mass) is stronger in absolute terms.
Syan Ruter
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Yes, he can skate. Very well, for that matter. Sure, Kapanen has elite skating, but then again, so did Rita. I never said that anything is wrong with his hands or shooting. All I said was that the his talent simply isn't top 5 material for the upcoming draft. You can't even make that argument, since it simply isn't true. I'm not trolling, believe me. I want Kapanen to succeed as much as the next guy.
BusQuets
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Craigs' list had Kapanen in the top 5 so that's a valid argument. He is the most explosive prospect from Finland I have seen quite awhile.
QnebO
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There are guys who would think much higher about Kapanen if he played in Jokerit or HIFK.. That's what tends to happen with prospects in Finland. Vatanen, when he made it to the league team, was great but didin't become that famouse.. It almost always happens, if you aren't from Helsinki. Armia was exception, Barkov was on he's own level compared to any other prospects, if Barkov was HIFK or Jokerit player, he would have been seen even higher in some peoples eyes.
People think that he is some how guy with just "regullar" skills are plain wrong. He's efforts for 16 year old in the Liiga were great and promise much more than just another "solid" prospect. He is one of the prospects who get in the same "top prospects from finland" pool with Armia, MG, Teräväinen, Ristolainen ect. So far that's how it is. Of course alot is ahead. But he aint any sort of average joe and even top 5 isn't unrealistic, there is still season ahead and he's again going to be more experienced, bigger (in height), stronger and therefore even faster when the league starts. He did great when he debuted as 16 YO old in the Liiga and next season there is a chance that he is able to becom very high impact, big role player in KalPa, the effort so far has been that good. I think that is also what Craig has seen in he's game. That's why he puts him in top 5 at this point.
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Yeah he has looked great, nice toe drag on the goal. Looks like he has more confidence to try some dangles than he did last year.
McGlassbangers
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QnebO
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