Prospect Info: Sampo Ranta LW (2018 78th overall)

[Freudian]

Profile.

Hradek says he sees himself more as a skilled guy but others think he would be better as power forward.

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[Tommy Shelby]

A really big project. He needs to work on consistency, and play without the puck. Needs to bulk up. Hands are really good though as is skating and offensive instincts.

If he pans out he'll be a nice goalscoring wing.

Definitely a boom or bust guy for sure.

 

[Wintersun]

Love this pick, think he could become a second line winger in a few years.

 

[CoachBadkitten]

Perfect place to take a boom-or-bust goal scoring winger. I'm excited.

 

[Echo Roku]

If he's just 5/8ths as good as Rantanen, I love the pick

 

[CoachBadkitten]

 

[BleedWell]

He's from the same part of Finland as Rantanen and they both have played in TPS, Turku junior organisation so Rantanen will be a good mentor for him.

 

[cgf]

Well they gave me my boom-or-buster & high end goalie today, so I can't gripe too much about not getting Bokk yesterday.

...now if the German NT could overcome their idiot coach today as well, that'd be nice...

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Like this pick.


This is the kind of swing for the fences type of pick I like to see. If he works out you get a Top 6 winger from a mid 3rd round pick.

 

[LastWordArmy]

scouting Report

Sampo Ranta Scouting Report: 2018 NHL Draft #51 - Last Word on Hockey

 

[Hasbro]

 

[Spender]

Isn't Sampo how Finns pronounce Shampoo?

 

[Papa Francouz]

I like this pick in the 3rd. Some mocks on the Prospects forum had us taking him in the 2nd, and I wasn’t a fan of that. Since we traded both 2nds, I’m glad we snagged him in the 3rd. He just needs to find out what kind of player he wants to be and he should make the NHL.

 

[ijuka]

Isn't Sampo how Finns pronounce Shampoo?

It's more like Samppoo.

Sampo is the mythical artifact that brings riches and good fortune to its owner in Kalevala.

 

[UncleRisto]

It's more like Samppoo.

Sampo is the mythical artifact that brings riches and good fortune to its owner in Kalevala.

I tweeted about this and it was a hit somehow.

This also relates to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 video above, I reckon.

 

[BKarchitect]

Big time project but good upside and cool name. We have tons of versatile, hard-working, two-way types in the system - we could use a Sampo or two even if takes some time to figure out. Have always loved Blake McLaughlin and he killed the USHL and went right after we picked Ranata but at his best, he's more of a swiss-army knife guy whereas Ranta has raw upside.

 

[klozge]

All I can say is that's a really cool name for a hockey player.

...now if the German NT could overcome their idiot coach today as well, that'd be nice...

Would be even nicer if we lose against Sweden. I'll work the early shift on the day of game 3 and if that game matters I'll have to start at 04:30 so the late shift can finish earlier for the guys to watch the game. It's a transition tournament for our team anyway and I really wouldn't like to have to wake up that early.

 

[S E P H]

Surprising pick because Sakic and Hepple wants IQ and they go off the board for more of a toolsy type of game guy. He's a very Cam Morrison type of player where he's a bigger guy that loves going to the dirty areas that possesses a fantastic shooting ability. Unlike Morrison though, I much prefer Ranta's stickhandling and skating where he's a superior prospect for me. Tends to have problems with blinder mode at times and doesn't have a lot of cerebral skill in his game, but there is still a lot to like here. Wouldn't classify him as a top 62 player, but getting him in the 3rd is pretty good value (again I like smarter players and Sampo isn't the sharpest tool). I would picture his game around Nino Niederreiter or Michael Ferland type of player where he scores off the rush, but has the physical attributes to eventually grind it out as well.

 

[McMetal]

Meh. As a project you could do worse, but he seems like a real blinders-on kind of player and that isn't an easy thing to fix in a young player.

 

[AnimalMother73]

He's going to play for Wisconsin next year which means I'll get to see plenty of him live.

 

[Hasbro]

DU's nonconference schedule isn't out yet, but it would be nice if they could get the Badgers here to see Sampo and Alex Turcotte

 

[avsfan09]

All I can say is that's a really cool name for a hockey player.


Would be even nicer if we lose against Sweden. I'll work the early shift on the day of game 3 and if that game matters I'll have to start at 04:30 so the late shift can finish earlier for the guys to watch the game. It's a transition tournament for our team anyway and I really wouldn't like to have to wake up that early.

Also Chad is a really cool name for a country.

 

[CalderKing21]

I like what the Avs did in the boom or bust category. Some very nice prospects being selected.

 

[Quethas]

Our scouting reports of Ranta can be found here:
Sampo Ranta | FinnProspects.com

Some of our descriptions of Ranta for FinnProspects final ranking

– “Ranta is far from being a complete player at the moment, but he has really good tools to become dangerous power forward when he gets it all together. He is a strong player for his age and he has shown above average skating and stickhandling abilities.”
– “The always-intriguing combination of the S’s: speed, size and shot are what make Ranta a border-line 1st round pick. He projects to be a good complementary power forward that can be used on the power play as well."

 

[Sea Eagles]

Profile.

Hradek says he sees himself more as a skilled guy but others think he would be better as power forward.

How about a skilled AND Power forward type of winger. Think Scott Hartnell in his prime. EXACTLY what we need.

 

[arun]

Sranta claus is in town

 

[Hasbro]

I tweeted about this and it was a hit somehow.

This also relates to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 video above, I reckon.

 

[Freudian]

In Sweden there was this drugged up guy in a mental hospital that took credit for a lot of murders and got convicted for a few of them. The police and doctors were so enthusiastic that they didn't realize they were getting duped by a guy getting heavy drugs as reward for confessing. Later all his convictions were thrown out. Part of the evidence was a corpse sniffing dog giving false positives all over the place.

That dog was named Zampo.

I think this guy might be a bust just like Zampo

 

[UncleRisto]

"And pollution from the nearby paper processing plant." Considering the size of the forest industry at its height...

 

[S E P H]

Meh. As a project you could do worse, but he seems like a real blinders-on kind of player and that isn't an easy thing to fix in a young player.

In the interviews yesterday he mentioned that he's fairly one-dimensional and went to Wisconsin so that Granato can help him expand as a player. I think there is some hidden potential here and why Avs traded back to get him. Actually, I guess the player the Avs wanted was taken above (either Thomas or Groulx) so they traded back and picked up another player they liked. They probably had Annunen as their 3rd rounder from the beginning of day two.

Also for a fun fact, from the Av videos they posted yesterday Tony Granato was at the Avs draft party. Lol.

 

[Avs_19]

In the interviews yesterday he mentioned that he's fairly one-dimensional and went to Wisconsin so that Granato can help him expand as a player. I think there is some hidden potential here and why Avs traded back to get him. Actually, I guess the player the Avs wanted was taken above (either Thomas or Groulx) so they traded back and picked up another player they liked. They probably had Annunen as their 3rd rounder from the beginning of day two.

Also for a fun fact, from the Av videos they posted yesterday Tony Granato was at the Avs draft party. Lol.

Easily the worst part of selecting him. I saw the video where they brought him back to his family after being picked and Granato was there chilling with Bednar.