Which finnish players will get drafted 2011?

[YARR123]

I'm trying to organize some sort of list of hopefuls for the upcoming draft:

Obvious picks:
Joel Armia - 10th-20th overall, maybe even crack the top 10)
Miikka Salomäki - anywhere from early 2nd to 3rd round
Chris Gibson - same as with Salomäki
Samu Perhonen - remains to be seen wether/how much his draft stock fell because of the u-18's, probably still a 2nd-4th round pick
Markus Granlund - least obvious pick of the 5 here, mid to late round pick. I've seen him as high as early 3rd round on some lists

Should get picked:
Jyrki Jokipakka - was praised for his good performance in WJC's, some say 4th round even?
Alexander Ruuttu - A homer pick for me, I'm intrigued by this guy and his improvement has been steady. Hope he gets picked
Joel Mustonen - Haven't seen him ever, but got 8 games under his belt in elitserien, so he has to be doing something right.

Maybe gets picked:
Henri Auvinen - Not much info on this kid, somehow didn't really grasp my attention in the few games I saw.
Mika Partanen - Had huge expectations for this guy before the season, and after a slow start in the ohl I half expected him to go on a tear mid season and secure himself a pick. Right now it doesn't look like it however

In the mix:
Joonas Valkonen - Good but not exceptional. What I've seen from him hes pretty decent offensively
Miro Aaltonen - Talented, small. Remains to be seen how good he would be if he would've played an injury free season. Pretty good U-18's, some nice goals. Is he good enough?
Toni Kallela - Like aaltonen, talented but small.
Ville Järveläinen - Guys a midget. I'm 99% sure he wont get drafted because of his size, but still (gerbe is 5'5 ). Impressive stats this year and plays bigger than his size, liked him in U-18
Sami Salminen - Mysteriously not picked on the team. Great stats this year, huge size, is he completely off the discussion?
Iiro Pakarinen, Julius Junttila - Would love to see a team take a chance on one of these guys

And what about guys like Juho Tommila or Heikki Liedes?

Would like some kind of discussion about these guys, and add possible players to the list

[FrankTheTank]

One interesting prospect is Joona Kunnas. Big Dman who played in NA somewhere in California. I dont know anything about him but he was listed by Central Scouting Rankings. He belongs to North-American skaters so that's why people usually ignore him. So I think theres a little chance that he would get drafted. We'll see.

[YARR123]

Originally Posted by FrankTheTank

One interesting prospect is Joona Kunnas. Big Dman who played in NA somewhere in California. I dont know anything about him but he was listed by Central Scouting Rankings. He belongs to North-American skaters so that's why people usually ignore him. So I think theres a little chance that he would get drafted. We'll see.

I've also heard about this kid, just checked and he wasn't on central scoutings final rankings list. Same as with Partanen. I would assume he would've been called to atleast some NT games if he was considered an nhl prospect at this point right?

[Password]

What about Patrik Parkkonen? Maybe a late round pick? Too bad he's so small.

[YARR123]

Originally Posted by Password

What about Patrik Parkkonen? Maybe a late round pick? Too bad he's so small.

I havent seen him play but my guess is that he's too small. Plus if i remember correctly, he's been a healthy scratch on his team. Not on either CS list, not sure if that matters though.

[Sparta2009]

My guess is the same as YARR123 has - obvious picks are going to get drafted. Though I´m not as high as some people are on Granlund, as some seem to be higher. I´m not high on Ruuttu, either, and would not be surprised if he goes undrafted. Jokipakka is a good D-man and should get drafted. Mustonen is a good center, though he´s smallish. I was high on Partanen before the season started, but his development has been backwards, and I don´t see him as an NHL prospect right now. Salminen is an interesting prospect, but why wasn´t he at U18s?

[Granlund2Pulkkinen*]

seriously what happened to Jesper Kokkonen?

[TheRocket87]

Originally Posted by Granlund2Pulkkinen

seriously what happened to Jesper Kokkonen?

From what I've heard, he was brought to Ilves and promised/given everything and it went to his head. It's not uncommon that an extremely talented guy ruins his career by getting cocky at an early stage of his career.

There might be other reasons (and probably are) but that's what I've heard..

[Emppu]

It seems that Christopher Gibson may be a late 1st rounder/early 2nd.

Markus Granlund's U18 WC may help him be a 3rd/4th

[Latex*]

Originally Posted by Emppu

It seems that Christopher Gibson may be a late 1st rounder/early 2nd.

Markus Granlund's U18 WC may help him be a 3rd/4th

From what i saw, Ma.G wasn't impressive at all.

[vsk92]

Originally Posted by Latexi84

From what i saw, Ma.G wasn't impressive at all.

i didnt think so either i thought he was okay but armia completely stole the all the credits for team finland

[Juzmo]

Originally Posted by VilleKarppa

i didnt think so either i thought he was okay but armia completely stole the all the credits for team finland

Agreed.

Really should have put Salomäki, Granlund and Armia together like they were in the final game. Granlund could have been the playmaker for Armia and Salomäki would have had his role as the tough guy in that line.

[ChadS]

Originally Posted by YARR123

Sami Salminen - Mysteriously not picked on the team. Great stats this year, huge size, is he completely off the discussion?

I heard Salminen was injured and that's why he wasn't at the U18's? Apparently he's moving to Jokerit along with his little brother Saku. Which one of the brothers do you think is more potential?

[Tormentor]

Originally Posted by FrankTheTank

One interesting prospect is Joona Kunnas. Big Dman who played in NA somewhere in California. I dont know anything about him but he was listed by Central Scouting Rankings. He belongs to North-American skaters so that's why people usually ignore him. So I think theres a little chance that he would get drafted. We'll see.

Joona Kunnas was a 6th round pick in the USHL Entry Draft. The big news is that Thomas Nykopp was a 2nd overall pick in the same draft. Tri-City Storm drafted both Finns.

A quote from Tri-City Storm's website: LINK
“We are very excited to have selected Thomas. He’s big and can skate well, and should really help provide offense for us next season,” said Storm GM/Head Coach Drew Schoneck. “Thomas was high on our radar, and we happened to be in the right spot to select him.”

I wonder if Nykopp has a chance of getting drafted in the NHL draft, maybe a possible late rounder?

[FrankTheTank]

Originally Posted by Tormentor

Joona Kunnas was a 6th round pick in the USHL Entry Draft. The big news is that Thomas Nykopp was a 2nd overall pick in the same draft. Tri-City Storm drafted both Finns.

Great to hear! Maybe Erik Haula open the road for the finns. Last year Teemu Tiitinen played in USHL and now it seems like we have atleast two player who will play in USHL next year. Markus Kojo might be the third one.

Nykopp truly is an interesting prospect and if he's a 2nd overall in the USHL draft there has to be something special with him.

[hawksfan50]

Chicago drafts #18,#36 #43 #69 (Had #70 but NJ forefeits the #69 in the koVALCHUK signing--so #70 becomes the 69th pick unless there were compensation picks in round two --usually after #45) and CHI also drafts #79..

I personally would trade the #69 and #79 to move back up into the later 2nd to grab SALOMAKI ---maybe EDM would trade the #54 (they have no 3rd rounders so maybe they deal their #54 to get 2 3rds? anyway I think SALOMAKI may go in the 50's to early 60's --last half of the 2nd to very early third at the latest... He does not project as a top 2 line guy-but would be perfect as a 3rd or 4th line gritty,intense ,driven 2-way winger.I just love his effort and intensity-he cares --a ver safe projection for NHL success (but in a checking support role and to score some important goals from the bottom 2 lines when it really counts to get production from them).A long pro career for him-so few guys are that driven-but he certinly is..

So ARMIA projects either a a big top 2 line scorer OR he will bust as an NHL'er---SALOMAKI is a safe bet for a long NHL career --every TEAM needs such a driven player/leader who will make every shift count with the same consistent level of WORK --willbe a coach's dream. Maybe projects to only a 45 pts NHL'er once he gets there but willbe +25 .. Willhelp as a PK'er too...you can rely on this kind of player to help your team win.

[Tormentor]

The Hockey News did an article about Joona Kunnas: LINK

[YARR123]

According to that article both Kunnas and Nykopp should be getting drafted right? Really odd that pretty much no one knows about either of these players, and yet Nykopp was selected 2nd overall to USHL. Surely he should be getting drafted? Impressive stats, and size too.

[Tormentor]

Originally Posted by YARR123

According to that article both Kunnas and Nykopp should be getting drafted right?

Don't get your hopes up (too high), not many players get drafted straight from Tier 1 Midget Major. It's possible, but rare.

[ChadS]

I saw Nykopp play a lot when he was with Jokerit in both U16 and U18 as well as the one game he played with Jokerit U20. He was always one of the best players on the ice and seemed to be able to produce at all levels. Big body and used to his advantage. In U16 he was a deadly duo with Niko Väätäinen, who played in NA last season as well. And 49 goals + 97 points in 61 games this season is pretty impressive as well.

Drafted 2nd overall is really great. Hope he's able to play a solid next season with Tri-City and continue producing at a good level.

[Tony Piscotta]

How is it he was considered the 20th European prospect a year ago but is no longer listed on CS's list?