Player Discussion: Sami Niku

[Adam da bomb]

Competent sure but hopefully he won't be spending much time in his own zone. His puck retrieval is already very good and he has no issues getting the puck up ice. If we have a Karlsson-lite on our hands I'll be very happy.

Can we trade him for a Chris Chelios or Chris Pronger lite??

 

[Daximus]

Can we trade him for a Chris Chelios or Chris Pronger lite??

Well with Trouba and Myers potentially out the door and Buff on the other side of 30. We might not have many other offensive guys in the stable.

Morrissey is our Chelios-lite.

 

[Adam da bomb]

Well with Trouba and Myers potentially out the door and Buff on the other side of 30. We might not have many other offensive guys in the stable.

Morrissey is our Chelios-lite.

But how many Defensive guys do we have that really pride themselves on their play in their own end?

 

[Daximus]

But how many Defensive guys do we have that really pride themselves on their play in their own end?

Morrissey is really the only one who is rock solid defensively. Trouba is pretty good in his own end.
Good defensive minded guys are as hard to come by as pure offensive types. But trying to mold them into something they aren't is a surefire way to ruin them.

 

[surixon]

Morrissey is really the only one who is rock solid defensively. Trouba is pretty good in his own end.
Good defensive minded guys are as hard to come by as pure offensive types. But trying to mold them into something they aren't is a surefire way to ruin them.

Yeah I think him and Poolman (Seems to be more from the Morrissey school of dmen) will make a good pairing imo. I am looking for a good showing from him this camp.

 

[Daximus]

Yeah I think him and Poolman (Seems to be more from the Morrissey school of dmen) will make a good pairing imo. I am looking for a good showing from him this camp.

Agree.

 

[robertocarlos]

Well if you can't have Eric Karlsson at least you can have Eric Karlsson Lite.

 

[LMFAO]

Do you expect Niku to start the season in the NHL?

Thanks for your answers

 

[Adam da bomb]

Do you expect Niku to start the season in the NHL?

Thanks for your answers

No.

 

[Daximus]

Do you expect Niku to start the season in the NHL?

Thanks for your answers

Hard to say. I think he looks better than Morrow, Poolman and Chiarot. But he can clear waivers. He'll have to look MUCH better than them to do so. I think he gets a lot of looks this TC. Hopefully he runs away with it.

 

[bustamente]

Another year with the Moose will do him good, he needs to be better in his own end, he's close real close but it's probably next year for him

 

[EXTRAS]

He should make the team.

 

[Ducky10]

How much worse can he be than Chiarot, Morrow or Poolman, when all of them are paired with Buff? His puck movement and skating are extremely good, let him figure out the rest under the big man's wing.

 

[Daximus]

How much worse can he be than Chiarot, Morrow or Poolman, when all of them are paired with Buff? His puck movement and skating are extremely good, let him figure out the rest under the big man's wing.

I agree. I fear the team is going to cater to the vets for ice time though.

 

[Aggie204]

I’m ok with Niku or Morrow with the Buff.

 

[Ducky10]

I agree. I fear the team is going to cater to the vets for ice time though.

Oh, they will, no doubt.

 

[Robinson2187]

2 goals from our boy tonite! He looks to have a sneaky good shot. I know the second one changed direction. That goal was mostly Tanev and Lowsy doin there thang tho.

 

[ps241]

I know he has a ways to go defensively but he has one big advantage......With his speed and skill on retrieval and transition he is tough to forecheck and Sami has to defend allot less because he moves the puck really well already.

 

[garret9]

 

[brock0791]

Another year with the Moose will do him good, he needs to be better in his own end, he's close real close but it's probably next year for him

I didn't catch any Moose games last year so only saw a small sample size of his play. With 5-6 players around the same PPG as him I'm curious how he eeked out AHL D-Man of the year with big holes in his defensive game.

Has he solidly entrenched himself in the second tier (valimaki, Clague, Fabbro) of D prospects (i.e. middle first round in a re-draft)?

 

[Howard Chuck]

I’m ok with Niku or Morrow with the Buff.

Same. Those are two that I would like to see paired with Buff. Both for different reasons though. Niku, should be able to learn his NHL defense quickly especially with Buff, and Morrow is pretty responsible already and his skating actually seems better this year.

 

[DannyGallivan]

Another year with the Moose will do him good, he needs to be better in his own end, he's close real close but it's probably next year for him

Like to see him mature a bit more with the Moose, and perhaps come in as an injury replacement in a few months. I still like the physical presence and no-frills defense of Chairot and the calm efficiency of Morrow. I still see Niku as a power-play specialist at this time.

 

[Stej]

Like to see him mature a bit more with the Moose, and perhaps come in as an injury replacement in a few months. I still like the physical presence and no-frills defense of Chairot and the calm efficiency of Morrow. I still see Niku as a power-play specialist at this time.

But he was defenseman of the year in the AHL last year. How much longer does he need to mature in a league in which he was already deemed the best over an entire season?

 

[DannyGallivan]

But he was defenseman of the year in the AHL last year. How much longer does he need to mature in a league in which he was already deemed the best over an entire season?

The AHL is not the NHL. The entire reason for the existence of the AHL is to prepare those few players who have a future in the NHL to become NHLers. For Niku, that means developing his defensive game. He can get away with what he's doing defensively against the slower, less agile AHL forwards.

 

[Jack722]

He can get away with what he's doing defensively against the slower, less agile AHL forwards.

Then I can't imagine playing against them for another year would help him all that much.

I think a trial by fire would be good for him, then send him down after some time if he still needs to figure it out. At least that way he'll have a very real idea of where he needs to improve.