RW Sami Moilanen - Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL (2017 Draft)

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Just wondering if anyone has seen him play or can comment?

Seattle Thunderbirds drafted him recently in the Import draft and he just signed today and will be joining Seattle for the upcoming season.

GM Russ Farwell...
“We are pleased to add Moilanen to our team,†said Farwell. “He is a prolific goal scorer and will be an exciting addition.â€

He played 38 games last season with the Jokerit U-20 team in Finland. He had 21 goals and 14 assists for 35 points with 20 penalty minutes.

He was a member of the gold medal winning Finnish team at the U-18 World Championship in April. He played in seven games at the tournament in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and had an assist. Finland beat Sweden 6-1 in the gold medal game.

Moilanen, a 1999-born forward, played for Finland at the 2015 World U-17 Hockey Challenge in November. He appeared in three games and did not register a point.

During the 2014-15 hockey season Moilanen played for the Jokerit U-16, U-18 and U-20 teams. In 37 combined games between the three teams he had 27 goals and 25 assists for 52 points

Can anyone comment?

Click to read more...

 

[Ihmeilja]

I can

A bit smallish right winger who is a really good and fast skater. A hard working and a tenacious player who fitted well for fourth line role in the gold medal winning finnish U 18 squad.
Is not afraid of contact despite of his lack of size and he likes to stay inside the game and battle for the puck.

A really promising goal scorer, that has an impressive junior career. At this point it seems, he will be drafted in the 2017 NHL entry draft. Not in the first round, but I would assume he is a 2-5 round pick.

He is a product of Jokerit junior system and the mens team plays in the KHL and those young guys dont want to go there because of various reasons and the jump for that league is pretty high from finnish junior leagues, so those guys from Jokerit juniors are aiming to North American junior leagues.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

A bit smallish right winger who is a really good and fast skater. A hard working and a tenacious player who fitted well for fourth line role in the gold medal winning finnish U 18 squad.
Is not afraid of contact despite of his lack of size and he likes to stay inside the game and battle for the puck.

A really promising goal scorer, that has an impressive junior career. At this point it seems, he will be drafted in the 2017 NHL entry draft. Not in the first round, but I would assume he is a 2-5 round pick.

He is a product of Jokerit junior system and the mens team plays in the KHL and those young guys dont want to go there because of various reasons and the jump for that league is pretty high from finnish junior leagues, so those guys from Jokerit juniors are aiming to North American junior leagues.

Thanks... good write up. Ya I read that he is 5'10.. unsure if that's an exaggeration or if it's accurate. Hopefully he can put up some goals for Seattle next season

 

[Ihmeilja]

Ya I read that he is 5'10.. unsure if that's an exaggeration or if it's accurate.

I think he is around 5'10, probably ends up at 5'11. He was 5'9(175cm) a year ago.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

I think he is around 5'10, probably ends up at 5'11. He was 5'9(175cm) a year ago.

OK that's alright if he gets up to 5'11 ... also I noticed he is a left shot playing on the right side. Does he have a strong shot? Is he more of a scorer than a passer?.. I ask this cause obviously Barzal is a passer and if he returns, it would be nice if he had a goal scoring left shot that he could set up

 

[Loffer]

Never heard of the kid but sounds like a solid energy liner with some secondary scoring potential in him. Hopefully he adjusts fast and well in the dump n chase rough them up kinda WHL hockey or something ..eh.

 

[Ihmeilja]

OK that's alright if he gets up to 5'11 ... also I noticed he is a left shot playing on the right side. Does he have a strong shot? Is he more of a scorer than a passer?.. I ask this cause obviously Barzal is a passer and if he returns, it would be nice if he had a goal scoring left shot that he could set up

I remember reading from somewhere, that he has a very good wrist shot. From what I've seen, I thought he had a pretty decent shot, but I haven't seen him play that much. In U18's he drove to the net hard many times.

Edit. And yes, he is more of a goal scorer in my opinion, but can pass the puck aswell.

 

[Ihmeilja]

Never heard of the kid but sounds like a solid energy liner with some secondary scoring potential in him. Hopefully he adjusts fast and well in the dump n chase rough them up kinda WHL hockey or something ..eh.

I think the WHL might fit for Moilanen, unlike it will for Aleksi Heponiemi, who is going to be with Swift Current Broncos next season.
Moilanen is probably at home in Seattle, but Heponiemi is not as physical player and is more of a finesse posession player.

 

[Ihmeilja]

I can pretty much agree with this:

"Scouting Notes: Moilanen is a smaller, highly energetic forward who certainly plays bigger than his size. He works hard on the fore check and isn’t afraid of throwing his weight around in the corners. He’s certainly been involved in my every viewing of him this season. Moilanen is a strong skater with very good acceleration. He keeps his feet moving and he’s got the skills to handle the puck at high speed. However, he lacks some creativity at times in 1-on-1 situations. He has good instincts in the offensive zone and is able to find open space, but he’s not always the best finisher. He does have a good, quick wrist shot, but given the chances that he had in some games, he could have had even more goals. He played regularly on penalty-killing this season where he showed an ability to get into shooting lanes."

http://overtheboards.net/jokerit-u20-scouting-notes-moilanen-nyman-and-almari/

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He is a product of Jokerit junior system and the mens team plays in the KHL and those young guys dont want to go there because of various reasons and the jump for that league is pretty high from finnish junior leagues, so those guys from Jokerit juniors are aiming to North American junior leagues.

Do players have a choice to move to another team if they want to remain in the system of a Liiga team?

 

[Ihmeilja]

Do players have a choice to move to another team if they want to remain in the system of a Liiga team?

If the contract expires, the player is free to make a contract with another club, or if the contract is still on, the player could be loaned to another club. I think that most young players have some kind of a CHL clause in their contract, or if they dont, they could be just loaned to the CHL.
I'm not sure, what kind of a contract(how long etc.) did Moilanen have as he decided to move to NA, but he would have most likely stayed the 16-17 season in the A-junior league if stayed in Finland, so he chose the WHL over finnish A-juniors. And with Jokerit system his path would have most likely been that for the 17-18 season he would have moved to Kiekko-Vantaa, that plays in Mestis(mens second highest league) and works as a farm club for the KHL-team and after a season or two with Kiekko-Vantaa the destination would have most likely been another finnish club, that plays in Liiga.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Moilanen is having a nice tournament at Hlinka along with Nyman. I think he might have some NHL upside, but he is fighting an uphill battle since he is on the shorter side. The roster at Hlinka has him at 5'8 and I don't think that is an old measurement since his weight has been updated to 187 lbs. His weight suggests that he is physically mature so I don't expect him to grow a lot at this point, but with his stocky build and gritty game he might just be one of the smaller guys that make it to the big league but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7pugD-1U8I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZm4SpI6PA4

Few videos of Sami Moilanen

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Having a very solid rookie season in the WHL. He has been relied on heavily so far this year in Seattle. Currently playing on a extremely solid 2nd line in Seattle that combined has put up 25 goals, 31 assists for 56 points in roughly 14 games.

He is averaging almost a point per game so far with 17 points in 19 games individually.

In his past 3 games since Seattle finally got their 2 best players Barzal and Kolesar back from NYI and injury, Moilanen has put up 5 points while still playing on that second line. With those top guys back, opposing teams are also focusing on them, allowing more open space for Moilanen.

He has been extremely impressive

as expected, Seattle has been really clicking in the past 5 games since they are finally icing a full lineup. Everyone is back from injury/NHL and they are 4-0-1

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

up to 21 points in 22 games now... recently getting PP time with Barzal now and really benefitting. Had a 3 point night last night. I expect him to put up a real good point total this season. Should average roughly a point a game by seasons end