Ten Finns selected

[Tony Piscotta]

Including two Finnish-trained players - Erik Haula and Tommi Kivisto - who played in North America last season. A definite improvement over the past two years.

Three goalies - Koskinen, Ortio, and Simila (Karpat)

Three defensemen - Vatanen, Rissanen and Kivisto

Four forwards - Nattinen, Rajala, Jere Sallinen, and Haula

Any surprises? Either who was or wasn't picked? And anybody taken higher or lower than the could or should have been picked?

[mattihp]

Rajala fell too low, but hopefully the Oilers will appreciate him more than they appreciated Omark.

Rajala is a generational talent in Finland IMO and has to get a good shot at the NHL and no disrespect.

Koskinen abit too high, but I expect him to go over straight away.

[wings5]

Karjalainen should have been picked along with Nakyva and Jyrkkio for sure.

[Selanne08*]

yeah just like everyone else, I was surprised about how far Rajala fell.

Koskinen also was a bit high.. but Islanders do need some goalie prospects.

Haula I thought would be around the 5th

[Tormentor]

Originally Posted by TonyVP

Any surprises? Either who was or wasn't picked? And anybody taken higher or lower than the could or should have been picked?

#31 - Mikko Koskinen (G) - NY Islanders (Hopefully he won't be stuck behind Rick DiPietro's untradable contract. Went higher than I expected.)

#65 - Joonas Nättinen (F) - Montreal Canadiens (Saku has paved the way for other Finns in Montreal, so it should be a good fit for Joonas. IMO Nättinen has good potential to succeed in NA, so I was expecting that he would go higher.)

#101 - Toni Rajala (F) - Edmonton Oilers (Wow, who would have guessed that Rajala would fall to the 4th round. Oilers had an interesting draft with MPS, Lander, Rajala and Roy, will be interesting to follow their progress.)

#106 - Sami Vatanen (D) - Anaheim Ducks (The Ducks clearly made room for Vatanen by trading Pronger. )

#163 - Jere Sallinen (F) - Minnesota Wild (2007-2008 season showed that he has got talent, but I'm surprised that a player with his injury history got drafted.)

#171 - Joni Ortio (G) - Calgary Flames (Ortio will challenge Kiprusoff's title as the best goalie from Turku in Calgary? )

#178 - Rasmus Rissanen (D) - Carolina Hurricanes (Carolina clearly likes Finns with Ruutu, Pitkänen and Jokinen already in the team.)

#182 - Erik Haula (F) - Minnesota Wild (Hmm, I'm surprised - I was thinking 3rd or 4th round for him. Apparently the somewhat mediocre performance at the U18WJC's hurt his stocks.)

#208 - Tommi Kivistö (D) - Carolina Hurricanes (IMO a great pick with a 7th rounder. I'm expecting that Tommi will bounce back next season.)

#211 - Petteri Similä (G) - Montreal Canadiens (Big goalies seem to be in style at the moment, but this pick is still a long shot. Kärpät has good goalie coaches both in the first team and juniors, and the first team goalie coach has helped Niklas Bäckström, Pekka Rinne and Tim Thomas on their way to the NHL, so who knows.)

I was expecting that Pakarinen and Näkyvä would get drafted, but I was wrong. Anyways a nice draft year for Finns despite the fact that the Swedes dominated and we had no first round picks.

[Scotianhab]

What are your guys opinions on Nattinen and Simila? Nattinen seems to have the make of a solid pro player. A solid 2nd/3rd line center.

[dfk711*]

Originally Posted by Scotianhab

What are your guys opinions on Nattinen and Simila? Nattinen seems to have the make of a solid pro player. A solid 2nd/3rd line center.

Nättinen was a great pick up by Montreal at the spot they got him. Depending on how he uses his size, he could become a great power forward and 3rd line center. He compares himself to Mikko Koivu and is a good two way center so I hope he can develop the same way.

[SharksAttack]

My lists of drafted Finns are updated
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=534716

[P-M Bouchard]

Joonas Rask wasn't picked.

[Tony Piscotta]

Originally Posted by wings5

Karjalainen should have been picked along with Nakyva and Jyrkkio for sure.

I was actually surprised that Rissanen was selected before those guys as well. I was hearing that Karmeniemi was ahead of Rissanen in terms of the U-18 defensemen.

Will be interesting to see how many, if any, of the 1989-born guys are eventually signed as free agents down the road.

[Tony Piscotta]

Originally Posted by mattihp

Rajala fell too low, but hopefully the Oilers will appreciate him more than they appreciated Omark.

Rajala is a generational talent in Finland IMO and has to get a good shot at the NHL and no disrespect.

Koskinen abit too high, but I expect him to go over straight away.

I imagine it's a different group of personnel people in place, or maybe not, but it's interesting that they would be the team to take a shot at him - especially after it seems Jani Rita and Tony Salmelainen didn't pan out as they expected.

Of course, it sometimes appears that some of the smaller market clubs have drafted Europeans in the past with no intention of signing them only to avoid having to pay out contract bonuses.

[mattihp]

Originally Posted by TonyVP

I imagine it's a different group of personnel people in place, or maybe not, but it's interesting that they would be the team to take a shot at him - especially after it seems Jani Rita and Tony Salmelainen didn't pan out as they expected.

Of course, it sometimes appears that some of the smaller market clubs have drafted Europeans in the past with no intention of signing them only to avoid having to pay out contract bonuses.

Forgetting the almighty Jesse Niinimäki?

[Tony Piscotta]

Originally Posted by mattihp

Forgetting the almighty Jesse Niinimäki?

Yes, I did. How could I have managed to forget his NHL "career"

[montreal]

Simila was just picked in the CHL Import draft, do you think he would report to the OHL or would he be better off staying in Finland in Karpat's system, since I hear they have a great goalie coach.

[Tony Piscotta]

Originally Posted by montreal

Simila was just picked in the CHL Import draft, do you think he would report to the OHL or would he be better off staying in Finland in Karpat's system, since I hear they have a great goalie coach.

While there's no way to know for certain, I'd imagine the Canadians/NHL had some influence in him being selected and would prefer he play in Niagara Falls where the style of play would be more like that of the NHL and he'd probably face stronger scorers on a nightly basis - with more games than he'd see remaining in Finland.

Whether that is better for his long-term development than the Finnish system is a matter for much debate.

Interesting, another Finnish goalie, Ville Kolppanen, was just selected by Lethbridge of the Western League. Can anyone tell me more about him? Apparently, Lethbridge was satisfied with the job Juha Metsola did there the past two years.

[Korkki]

Pick in CHL import draft has almost always meant that the player will play in the CHL next season. So I am quite sure that Similä will play there.

[Link Gaetz]

Why isn't Olavi Vauhkonen drafted?

[No1Joker]

Originally Posted by Link Gaetz

Why isn't Olavi Vauhkonen drafted?

Because his skating sucks hard. So far looks like his gonna be a late bloomer.