Player Discussion: Sami Niku

[Snot Rocket]

I hope he really puts in the work this offseason and earns Enstrom's role, probably his best opportunity to get a shot in the show for a while considering PoMo's conservative usage of young players.

If he was conservative, how did the rest of these kids get in the lineup?

 

[YWGinYYZ]

Anyway, I do like Niku very much, but in my opinion he is just a bit over average skater, at least with his top speed and acceleration. His skating sure looks smooth and effortless, but it is not exactly as fast with his top speed or even acceleration, as the eye can fool us to think.

I thought skating around like a speedster wasn't important?

His mobility is important - much like players such as Morrissey, Trouba, Myers, it's not about top speed. It's about agility, transitioning, an edgework, IMO. Niku is a very smooth skater - reminds me of a slightly larger Enstrom, and that's not a bad thing at all.

 

[Ippenator]

I thought skating around like a speedster wasn't important?

His mobility is important - much like players such as Morrissey, Trouba, Myers, it's not about top speed. It's about agility, transitioning, an edgework, IMO. Niku is a very smooth skater - reminds me of a slightly larger Enstrom, and that's not a bad thing at all.

And that’s exactly what I said too (in the last paragraph)... I guess you didn’t read my post too carefully...

 

[YWGinYYZ]

And that’s exactly what I said too (in the last paragraph)... I guess you didn’t read my post too carefully...

I did, and I agree with your comments about mobility. I just found the comments about outright speed interesting, given previous statements about other players.

 

[Ippenator]

I did, and I agree with your comments about mobility. I just found the comments about outright speed interesting, given previous statements about other players.

They were just about that how easily other players are labelled as elite skaters, but in Laine’s case if some area of his skating is not top notch (mediocre first steps) he is easily labelled even as a weak skater. But when Niku has mediocre top speed and even acceleration and great agility and smooth looking skating (which by itself means absolutely nothing), then he is labelled easily even as an elite skater.

I wouldn’t think that Laine is definitely an elite skater, although he has really pretty darn good top speed in fact, but as all areas of his skating are not top class, then definitely he can’t be called an elite skater. But neither should Niku’s skating be called elite, when it includes clear weakness, even if part of it is working nicely. Same applies to any other skater really.

And still nothing has changed with my opinion about pure speedskating. But how you seem to be looking for somekind of a mocking comment on that, I can see first of all that you have not understood really my earlier posts about needless speedskating and how speed and skating are way overestimated nowadays. And then without understanding them you start mocking in another topic with that lacking understanding. Reeks a bit of an agenda against me, without bothering really to understand my previous posts, but instead you were trying to point out something based on your own hasty interpretations and on the dislike that you have against the things that I have posted about.

Just to clarify my earlier posts about speedskating, I never said that great skating and great top speed are useless things, but what I have said is that skating is overemphasized over other even more important areas of hockey. A great skater is useless if he does not have good hockey IQ, good passing skills and preferably good shooting and finishing skills. But if a player has all the other areas in good shape and average skating he can still easily be an absolute top class player even nowadays.

Also having more and more of crazy speedskaters with average other skills in the league is also leading to the league having more and more of brainless dump and chase hockey where these woodhanded speedskating grinders are like crazy competing for the pucks by just constantly dumping the puck to the offensive zone.

One of the biggest dislikes that I have against Maurice is how much he emphasizes dump and chase play. I’m not saying that dump and chase should never be used, but still the greatest coaches are in my opinion the ones that try to make their team play with very good and quick passing game in that way that the need to use dump and chase is really pretty much minimized. Maurice seems to be into much more of the use of dump and chase that is really needed in my opinion. And this kind of play has unfortunately become much more popular with the NHL coaches the more overemphasized speedskating admiration has become.

I also have never said that it can’t be useful to have great top speed and acceleration, if you have other great abilities in hockey also, and you know how to use your great speed selectively, and instead of skating like a madman at top speed constantly, you after all realize that you can often play smarter and better passing game by slowing the game down when it’s needed. So many of speedskaters nowadays are completely incapable of doing it, which makes the game look horrible really.

Great skating sure can be a great thing if you are a player like McDavid or Kucherov, but still hockey IQ and passing and scoring skills are more important by themselves for playing great hockey.

It just really seems to me that you have not bothered to read thoroughly my posts about skating, or then you haven’t really bothered to think what I was really writing about. Hopefully this made it at least clear.

 

[YWGinYYZ]

They were just about that how easily other players are labelled as elite skaters, but in Laine’s case if some area of his skating is not top notch (mediocre first steps) he is easily labelled even as a weak skater.

I think he's a fine skater - I've never said different. He has some things to improve on, but he's young. His top speed is good, his edgework is pretty good - just needs some work on his first step. I don't even recall mentioning Laine in my post.

One of the biggest dislikes that I have against Maurice is how much he emphasizes dump and chase play.

OT for this thread...

It just really seems to me that you have not bothered to read thoroughly my posts about skating, or then you haven’t really bothered to think what I was really writing about. Hopefully this made it at least clear.

I usually don't have time. TL;DR, so I skim. I get the general tenor and idea behind what you're saying though. No need to make it personal.

 

[allan5oh]

Nice to see his English improving quite a lot. When asked about defensive play improvement "play harder" is exactly what many people here think.

 

[jonlin]

Time for a call-up after Trouba injury?

 

[Maukkis]

Time for a call-up after Trouba injury?

No. Poolman and Melchiori are ahead of him in the pecking order. Niku's time will come, though - just not this year.

 

[dabizz]

No. Poolman and Melchiori are ahead of him in the pecking order. Niku's time will come, though - just not this year.

Schilling could very well be ahead of him too. I'd expect Melchiori to get the call after Poolman but it Schilling or Niku definitely aren't out of the question.

 

[FonRiesen]

If he was conservative, how did the rest of these kids get in the lineup?

Injuries to vets.

He still is conservative, which is okay now that we have some depth and almost all the "incumbents" in the bottom 6 and all our starting D actually have some NHL quality skill, unlike in the past.

In also helps that coach Vincent is on the same page as Maurice, and the players are getting prepped well on the Moose. I wonder if KC's current low period is due to not enough practice time - I think the young guys need it more and they get way more time in the AHL.

Edit: back on topic, seeing Niku live is fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how he continues to progress. And the Moose are actually worth watching this year, you don't have to wade through a tonne of garbage hockey to see our young 'next ones'!

 

[KingBogo]

Injuries to vets.

He still is conservative, which is okay now that we have some depth and almost all the "incumbents" in the bottom 6 and all our starting D actually have some NHL quality skill, unlike in the past.

In also helps that coach Vincent is on the same page as Maurice, and the players are getting prepped well on the Moose. I wonder if KC's current low period is due to not enough practice time - I think the young guys need it more and they get way more time in the AHL.

Edit: back on topic, seeing Niku live is fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how he continues to progress. And the Moose are actually worth watching this year, you don't have to wade through a tonne of garbage hockey to see our young 'next ones'!

The Jets are far from conservative with the workload and roles they give young players. Tomorrow's game will likely see 6 players still on their ELC's, and only 2 of them would be considered injury replacements. And in that group we have a top pairing defenseman and 3 guys who primarily play top 6 roles and are mainstays on the PP. As we get deeper and deeper it is more difficult for kids to break into the lineup but that is how it should be.

 

[Whileee]

Four-direction mobility is so key in today's NHL. It's a big part of what make Trouba and Morrissey so effective. Same is true for Toby in his prime. Effortlessly pivots and smooth four-direction skating.

Agree with this. Morrissey needed to transition from being a smooth mobile defenseman to one that used that mobility to aggressively close gaps all over the ice and was able to play against bigger and stronger players using positioning and a very active stick. Before being able to make the jump to the NHL, he played too much of a "smooth" game and was too easy to play against. I think Niku will need to go through that transition before he can be really effective at the NHL level.

 

[ps241]

Agree with this. Morrissey needed to transition from being a smooth mobile defenseman to one that used that mobility to aggressively close gaps all over the ice and was able to play against bigger and stronger players using positioning and a very active stick. Before being able to make the jump to the NHL, he played too much of a "smooth" game and was too easy to play against. I think Niku will need to go through that transition before he can be really effective at the NHL level.

One thing that might make you chuckle is on occasion I spend time with a person who is a huge stars fan and connected to their organization. Last trip we were on we were watching a Stars game together and Klingberg's smooth, relaxed, never in any hurry, style of defending drives him crazy. I pointed out to him Klinger seemed to be doing "ok" on balance. Hopefully Sami brings his version of that smooth euro style like Toby who never looked too stressed in his prime but could gap up, disrupt, retrieve, counter attack, and be very tough to play against all the while looking like he wasn't working too hard.

 

[FonRiesen]

The Jets are far from conservative with the workload and roles they give young players. Tomorrow's game will likely see 6 players still on their ELC's, and only 2 of them would be considered injury replacements. And in that group we have a top pairing defenseman and 3 guys who primarily play top 6 roles and are mainstays on the PP. As we get deeper and deeper it is more difficult for kids to break into the lineup but that is how it should be.

You have a great point about players on ELC's, and I agree with you - our definitions of conservative are just different, my fault. My view of conservative is only in the context of our particular roster, which has been at the youngest end of the spectrum for years - he does play young players in key, parts, and the big advancement in usage has been in the D core this year, though I think that Morrissey and Trouba were ready for more last year already. It's part of his philosophy I guess to always have some "grizzled vets" like Stuart or Thorburn or now Hendricks playing - but at least it's only one 4th liner now. The "conservative" I see is the risk-averse nature to changing things up with the vets. Perrault playing "lower" on the lineup to balance things out is an exception, and reducing Buff's time this year is also different than in the past, and so that's very encouraging. The opposite in my view would be treating everyone the same based on their performance game to game and regularly mixing things up, rotating through our prospects more to give them experience. That "non-conservative" approach would have its own set of problems.

For example, most of us think Niku has a much much bigger future on the Jets than Chiarot, and it would be a good experience for him to play a few games (not all) in the NHL instead of Chiarot when injuries occur, but that would be sacrificing some immediate quality for theoretical long-term benefits (it's probably not necessary). I would see that as non-conservative.

 

[truck]

Another point has Sami tied for 2nd in AHL D scoring.

 

[MardyBum]

 

[PG Canuck]

Another point has Sami tied for 2nd in AHL D scoring.

Tied 2nd in pts among defensemen
1st in pts among U24 defensemen
2nd in pts/game among U24 defensemen (for players who have played min. 10 games)
7th in pts/game among ALL AHL defensemen (for players who have played min. 10 games)

Impressive to say the least. Offense isn't everything, but he's clearly having an impact on games.

 

[Guerzy]

I'll be honest I didn't know too much about Niku, but I didn't really expect him to be this good, this year. He looks like he could be a gem.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Ill be curious if he gets a few games in this season at some point with the Jets

 

[Howard Chuck]

Wow, Niku looks great.

 

[ps241]

Holy Hell that video highlight shows a level of skating that is pretty dominant. That is an AHL game not a junior game. Niku looks like Erik Karlsson for that snapshot in time.

 

[Romang67]

Best 7th round pick since Sliced Bread?

 

[Joe Hallenback]

So much confidence in his game right now. From the start of the season to now his game has elevated. He is adjusting nicely to the NA game and ice. That play will get you excited but what really should get you excited is his overall game. I think they are giving him the Josh Morrissey experience where they probably won't call him up unless they have to this year.

 

[surixon]

So much confidence in his game right now. From the start of the season to now his game has elevated. He is adjusting nicely to the NA game and ice. That play will get you excited but what really should get you excited is his overall game. I think they are giving him the Josh Morrissey experience where they probably won't call him up unless they have to this year.

Yup. He's looking to be on track to fill a second pairing role on this team in another couple of seasons which aligns nicely with Kulikovs contract expiring.