Player Discussion: Sami Niku

[DannyGallivan]

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.

Perhaps. I'm okay for anything that may prevent Myers playing on his off-side with Buff.

 

[Daximus]

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.

From what I saw of him on the Moose last year he already has the chops to deal with anything the AHL will throw at him. Playing against AHL defence wont make him any better at defending NHL forwards. What he needs is a partner that he can learn from in the NHL while defending against NHL forwards. Hes not going to learn that from guys like Chiarot or Poolman who can barely defend against NHL forwards themselves and who definitely don't know where they need to be on the ice. Buff would be the perfect partner to teach him where to be and how to recover from going deep in the zone. The only way to learn it is to do it. In the meantime he can replace Myers on PP2 where he can actually get a shot through.

 

[Jack722]

Perhaps. I'm okay for anything that may prevent Myers playing on his off-side with Buff.

Yeah I don't like that either. I'd prefer to give Niku a trial with Buff and keep Myers Kuli as the bottom pairing, then have Morrow or Chiarot draw in with Buff if they want to send Niku down for seasoning.

 

[Gm0ney]

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)?

He probably got some bonus points for being a rookie and 21 years old. And his +/- was very good (it's a flawed stat, but still - he was +17 and some of the D who scored similarly to him were big minuses).

 

[Daximus]

He probably got some bonus points for being a rookie and 21 years old. And his +/- was very good (it's a flawed stat, but still - he was +17 and some of the D who scored similarly to him were big minuses).

Yeah from what I saw he had no issues with defending in the AHL its not his strength which is fine as long as hes scoring and setting up plays which is what you want s player like him to do.

 

[Oilpeg]

As ready offensively as we think Niku is, if he's not ready defensively just yet, he's got to go down. Jets are real contenders for the Cup for the first time and shouldn't be training on the job anymore. It was fine for the younger guys when the team wasn't expected to win, but right now they are, so let the players who are close over-ripen with the Moose so they're 100% ready to take over when it's their time. If they Jets keep Niku (or Poolman) when camp breaks, that means one of Morrow or Chiarot are getting waived, (assuming they keep only 7 D). What if they get claimed and then Niku (or Poolman) turn out to be not ready and need more time? Now we're forced to use a less experienced guy if injuries occur because we've lost our serviceable depth. Hate on Morrow and Chiarot all you want, but they're both legit 6-7 guys right now. Sure Niku MIGHT be ready, but we're no longer a team that has to rush prospects. Next year Chiarot will be gone and Morrow could be too, that's two spots opening up for these guys. We've (mostly) all been patient for 7-years, let's let it all happen organically, it's worked so far.

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

Perhaps. I'm okay for anything that may prevent Myers playing on his off-side with Buff.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

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?

He earned that on the strength of his offense. He can still develop the defensive side of his game in the AHL. I don't think this is a case of a player having nothing more to learn at that level.

I like his attitude though. He wasn't happy with his game yesterday despite the 2 goals. With that attitude and the skills he already has, I expect him to develop quickly. I expect him to be the first D call-up. Once up he may be hard to send back down. When the rosters expand at the TD he will be called up and not to sit in the PB.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Yeah I don't like that either. I'd prefer to give Niku a trial with Buff and keep Myers Kuli as the bottom pairing, then have Morrow or Chiarot draw in with Buff if they want to send Niku down for seasoning.

That sounds OK. It means starting the season with 8 D. But, OTOH they can send him down and recall him at any time.

I have to believe that the Left side Myers experiment will die in pre-season. It clearly isn't working and PM can see that as well as any of us. Both Morrow and Chiarot have played well in the past paired with Buff. Kuli and Myers are a great 3rd pair:
JoMo - Trouba
Chia/Morrow - Buff
Kuli - Myers
Morrow/Chia
There is no problem here.
It would be nice to add Niku's offense but that will come with the first injury.

 

[DeepFrickinValue]

He earned that on the strength of his offense. He can still develop the defensive side of his game in the AHL. I don't think this is a case of a player having nothing more to learn at that level.

I like his attitude though. He wasn't happy with his game yesterday despite the 2 goals. With that attitude and the skills he already has, I expect him to develop quickly. I expect him to be the first D call-up. Once up he may be hard to send back down. When the rosters expand at the TD he will be called up and not to sit in the PB.

JoMo said how having moose in the same city as jets was big part of development. Being able to watch the NHL games really helped develop the game. I think Niku, Stanley and other young Dmen will all develop well with the Moose.

Jets organization is becoming hockey university.

 

[Neuf]

Start in the A, called up when Kulikov gets a bump in November, get in the rotation with Morrow/Chiarot, earn a spot

 

[MMANumminen]

He already won the best defender of the AHL trophy, there's nothing for him there. Put someone else down, Niku's place is on a big team

 

[Adam da bomb]

Did I just read that someone wants to give Niku powerplay minutes? That's the last thing we need at this minute. Mo our #2 D is complaining about not getting enough offensive opportunities and you want to bypass Mo and Trouba and give the powerplay minutes to Niku. That is the definition of madness.

 

[cg98]

Did I just read that someone wants to give Niku powerplay minutes? That's the last thing we need at this minute. Mo our #2 D is complaining about not getting enough offensive opportunities and you want to bypass Mo and Trouba and give the powerplay minutes to Niku. That is the definition of madness.

If it works why shouldnt we put him on PP2?

 

[surixon]

If it works why shouldnt we put him on PP2?

Because unfortunately merit and skill play a very small role in how Maurice uses his Pp dmen. He tends to have a wait for your turn mentality with the vets getting first shot. Niku would be behind Buff, Myers, Trouba and JoMo based on seniority. It seems like he doesn't want to upset the apple cart in the room.

 

[Adam da bomb]

Because unfortunately merit and skill play a very small role in how Maurice uses his Pp dmen. He tends to have a wait for your turn mentality with the vets getting first shot. Niku would be behind Buff, Myers, Trouba and JoMo based on seniority. It seems like he doesn't want to upset the apple cart in the room.

Plus it makes some sense as how much of a net positive difference do you get if you get a slightly better pp but lose your best defenseman. Which I imagine is exactly what would happen if you gave Niku a chance without giving Morrissey an extended look first.
Especially if the difference in pp would be minimal.

 

[Daximus]

Plus it makes some sense as how much of a net positive difference do you get if you get a slightly better pp but lose your best defenseman. Which I imagine is exactly what would happen if you gave Niku a chance without giving Morrissey an extended look first.
Especially if the difference in pp would be minimal.

Niku had 10 PP goals and 19 PP assists for a total of 29 points on the PP. That's more of either than Myers has ever had in his career at any level going back to Junior. I think we can both agree that Myers needs to not be on PP2 anymore. But I don't see why we can't try both of these guys out during the season. Give Niku some late looks in games where we are up. He has an innate ability to get shots through from the point. The kid is very comaprable to many QB specialists in the league right now like Karlsson, Gostisbehere, Krug, Klingberg and Faulk.

 

[KingBogo]

Because unfortunately merit and skill play a very small role in how Maurice uses his Pp dmen. He tends to have a wait for your turn mentality with the vets getting first shot. Niku would be behind Buff, Myers, Trouba and JoMo based on seniority. It seems like he doesn't want to upset the apple cart in the room.

I think this is partly true, but Buff is an exceptionally talented offensive defenseman. Any coach in the league would have him on the #1 PP unit. No matter who is the coach the other D will play behind him. Add in the fact the Jets go a 4-1 PP centered around setting up Laine then Scheifele there is very limited room for other D on the PP. To date Myers has proven to be considerably better than Trouba who has never excelled on the PP. Since the Jets set up both PP's from right to left our LHD rarely factor in. However if either Morrissey or Niku start showing some real offensive chops 5-5 I think you see the Jets start looking at a 4-1 operating from the left as the 2nd unit.

 

[Daximus]

I think this is partly true, but Buff is an exceptionally talented offensive defenseman. Any coach in the league would have him on the #1 PP unit. No matter who is the coach the other D will play behind him. Add in the fact the Jets go a 4-1 PP centered around setting up Laine then Scheifele there is very limited room for other D on the PP. To date Myers has proven to be considerably better than Trouba who has never excelled on the PP. Since the Jets set up both PP's from right to left our LHD rarely factor in. However if either Morrissey or Niku start showing some real offensive chops 5-5 I think you see the Jets start looking at a 4-1 operating from the left as the 2nd unit.

I think there is a lot of merit to mirroring our PP1. Throw Ehlers up on the point and then eventually Vesalainen on the halfwall.

Damn we have a lot of shooters...

Perreault
Vesalainen- Rosie
Niku/MoJo - Ehlers


Could be interesting. We have Ehlers, Vesalainen and Connor as left shots that could set up at the right point or the half wall.

 

[KingBogo]

I think there is a lot of merit to mirroring our PP1. Throw Ehlers up on the point and then eventually Vesalainen on the halfwall.

Damn we have a lot of shooters...

Perreault
Vesalainen- Rosie
Niku/MoJo - Ehlers


Could be interesting. We have Ehlers, Vesalainen and Connor as left shots that could set up at the right point or the half wall.

This would be real hard to defend. Teams would have to adjust on the fly which would be almost impossible if you could catch them tired.

 

[Daximus]

This would be real hard to defend. Teams would have to adjust on the fly which would be almost impossible if you could catch them tired.

Yeah I don't think any other teams do this. Vesalainen has a pretty deadly one timer on the right side so he could be the focal point. Throw Ehlers on the half wall and Connor in the middle with Mojo or Niku providing support on the other point. Then maybe drop Rosie down to below the net as a righty pass option and you have basically mirrored PP1. Te shooters up the middle (Connor vs Scheif) and on the point (Ves vs. Laine) aren't as strong but the puck movement will be just as good. And Ehlers is easily a better shooter then Wheeler.

 

[surixon]

I think this is partly true, but Buff is an exceptionally talented offensive defenseman. Any coach in the league would have him on the #1 PP unit. No matter who is the coach the other D will play behind him. Add in the fact the Jets go a 4-1 PP centered around setting up Laine then Scheifele there is very limited room for other D on the PP. To date Myers has proven to be considerably better than Trouba who has never excelled on the PP. Since the Jets set up both PP's from right to left our LHD rarely factor in. However if either Morrissey or Niku start showing some real offensive chops 5-5 I think you see the Jets start looking at a 4-1 operating from the left as the 2nd unit.

Well Morrissey has crushed Myers in ES scoring since entering the league. Also the PP should not run the same way for PP 2 as the pieces are different. Ehlers was wasted playing on the left side where he couldn't set up for his shot. He should be on his off wing where he is a threat to shoot and pass and use his one times like yesterday. You can then have Perrault down low who can locate Roslovic or Little in the slot or cross crease.

 

[KingBogo]

Well Morrissey has crushed Myers in ES scoring since entering the league. Also the PP should not run the same way for PP 2 as the pieces are different. Ehlers was wasted playing on the left side where he couldn't set up for his shot. He should be on his off wing where he is a threat to shoot and pass and use his one times like yesterday. You can then have Perrault down low who can locate Roslovic or Little in the slot or cross crease.

Agreed that is why the Jets would need to set up a mirror image PP operating left to right. If they don't Myers remains the best option for the #2 PP.

 

[JetsFan815]

I think there is a lot of merit to mirroring our PP1. Throw Ehlers up on the point and then eventually Vesalainen on the halfwall.

Damn we have a lot of shooters...

Perreault
Vesalainen- Rosie
Niku/MoJo - Ehlers


Could be interesting. We have Ehlers, Vesalainen and Connor as left shots that could set up at the right point or the half wall.

So Little is taken entirely of the PP in this scenario? A sure fire way for the coach to risk loosing the room esp if done at the start of the season.

I like this setup in principal but would replace KV with Little. Litts and Ehlers need to be on their one timer sides. Even if they are not going to be blasting one timers, the threat of the one timer will open up lanes.

I also want to try Lowry as a regular fixture as the net front presence this season. It will take an injury or two for that to happen though.

 

[ffh]

Niku had 10 PP goals and 19 PP assists for a total of 29 points on the PP. That's more of either than Myers has ever had in his career at any level going back to Junior. I think we can both agree that Myers needs to not be on PP2 anymore. But I don't see why we can't try both of these guys out during the season. Give Niku some late looks in games where we are up. He has an innate ability to get shots through from the point. The kid is very comaprable to many QB specialists in the league right now like Karlsson, Gostisbehere, Krug, Klingberg and Faulk.

He isn't making the team so being on the power play is a non issue.