Style wise he reminds me more of Karlsson out there, his offensive ability definitely stands out, he is able to make things happen with his willingness to rush the puck and he makes good decisions in the offensive zone.
Regarding Vatanen vs Fowler, Fowler is the more effortless skater of the two and is a more well rounded skater but Vatanen is probably almost as fast and his speed is more noticable due to his skating style. Fowler has an obvious edge in size and defensive ability (although I'd need to see a lot more of Vatanen, especially against better competition to fully judge his defensive game). As far as other attributes go, from what I've seen of both guys (obviously I've seen a lot more of Fowler than Vatanen), Fowler has a higher hockey IQ and better vision but Vatanen possesses a much better shot and seems more willing to make plays offensively than Fowler.
I can't really answer your questions because I haven't seen Vatanen play very much at all. But all I know is that Vatanen and Fowler is going to be one hell of a PP combo one day. Fowler playing rover like Nieds and Vatanen blasting away from the point/making passes from the point.
I can't really answer your questions because I haven't seen Vatanen play very much at all. But all I know is that Vatanen and Fowler is going to be one hell of a PP combo one day. Fowler playing rover like Nieds and Vatanen blasting away from the point/making passes from the point.
Style wise he reminds me more of Karlsson out there, his offensive ability definitely stands out, he is able to make things happen with his willingness to rush the puck and he makes good decisions in the offensive zone.
Regarding Vatanen vs Fowler, Fowler is the more effortless skater of the two and is a more well rounded skater but Vatanen is probably almost as fast and his speed is more noticable due to his skating style. Fowler has an obvious edge in size and defensive ability (although I'd need to see a lot more of Vatanen, especially against better competition to fully judge his defensive game). As far as other attributes go, from what I've seen of both guys (obviously I've seen a lot more of Fowler than Vatanen), Fowler has a higher hockey IQ and better vision but Vatanen possesses a much better shot and seems more willing to make plays offensively than Fowler.
I see it very much the same. Vatanen has a more obviously dynamic game that you can't miss, while Fowler has a more effortless flow where difficult plays can look easy.
Edit: That skating comparison seems dead on too. It's the well-roundedness in his skating that seems to let Fowler basically do whatever he wants on his skates. Vatanen is a bit more limited, but clearly a terrific skater in his own right.
I can't really answer your questions because I haven't seen Vatanen play very much at all. But all I know is that Vatanen and Fowler is going to be one hell of a PP combo one day. Fowler playing rover like Nieds and Vatanen blasting away from the point/making passes from the point.
We had better hope that Boudreau recognizes that ability in Fowler then, because last season he seemed to want Fowler to stay on the blue line. Vatanen is the more stereotypical point man of the two with the great shot, while Fowler's skating and smarts lets him do things that most players just can't do(even Vatanen). It would be a detriment to the team to limit Fowler the way he was last season.
It would make it easier to swallow, but that doesn't change the fact there would be a bad year. You're arguing the degree of the mistake it might turn out to be. At what point do you consider a mistake to be bad? What does it need to cost Anaheim to be a black mark?
3 out of 4 years Getzlaf has been great, but he had 1 bad year, does this make it a bad contract?
thanks for the insight all...kind of echoed what i have heard/read/seen about him having that raw O ability...and i also hope to see vatanen/fowler PP combo (as long as its not a liability),and the future D has potential to be UNREAL with lindholm being the wildcard in all this. fowler/sbisa vatanen/lindholm if potential is reached could run a muck on this league..looking forward to being able to watch/pay attention to the ADS more and it seems as if vatanen hit the ground running over here...DAMN I LOVE FINN'S
We had better hope that Boudreau recognizes that ability in Fowler then, because last season he seemed to want Fowler to stay on the blue line. Vatanen is the more stereotypical point man of the two with the great shot, while Fowler's skating and smarts lets him do things that most players just can't do(even Vatanen). It would be a detriment to the team to limit Fowler the way he was last season.
All contracts more than a couple years carry risk, alot of people thought Anaheim overpaid at the time for Getzlaf and Perry to.
...what? Maybe some people said Perry was slightly overpaid, but Getzlaf? I didn't see a single person question Getzlaf's contract. Not to mention both of them were just coming off of their ELC's, and allowances are made for paying more for young players who are developing. Again, this is a terrible comparison. Getzlaf and Perry gave us no reason to doubt their ability to play out the entirety of their contracts, and they were young players still developing into the players they were going to become. Souray is 36 years old, old by NHL standards, and he's had fewer healthy seasons than he's had injury-ridden ones.
It's no knock on Souray at all...You just do not give 35+ year old injury prone, non-number 1 defenseman 3 year deals - ever. We will be irritated about that contract in 2 years I guarentee it. Hopefully he's at least tradeable at some point during the contract.
...what? Maybe some people said Perry was slightly overpaid, but Getzlaf? I didn't see a single person question Getzlaf's contract. Not to mention both of them were just coming off of their ELC's, and allowances are made for paying more for young players who are developing. Again, this is a terrible comparison. Getzlaf and Perry gave us no reason to doubt their ability to play out the entirety of their contracts, and they were young players still developing into the players they were going to become. Souray is 36 years old, old by NHL standards, and he's had fewer healthy seasons than he's had injury-ridden ones.
It's no knock on Souray at all...You just do not give 35+ year old injury prone, non-number 1 defenseman 3 year deals - ever. We will be irritated about that contract in 2 years I guarentee it. Hopefully he's at least tradeable at some point during the contract.
We can only hope it takes two years to get to that point.
I'd say stylewise Vatanen is closer to Karlsson than Fowler though you don't see Sami doing some crazy wow magic moves/shots in the offense like Karlsson but still Sami makes smart decisions there + plus the slapper has unbeliavable dynamite in it when you consider the frame Sami has.
Fowler is smoother skater than Sami but if we are just checking pure speed and who is faster... I would put "all in" to Vatanen's side. He is a freaking "Speedy Gonzales". I guess he haven't still showed all his gears in AHL.
I'd say stylewise Vatanen is closer to Karlsson than Fowler though you don't see Sami doing some crazy wow magic moves/shots in the offense like Karlsson but still Sami makes smart decisions there + plus the slapper has unbeliavable dynamite in it when you consider the frame Sami has.
Fowler is smoother skater than Sami but if we are just checking pure speed and who is faster... I would put "all in" to Vatanen's side. He is a freaking "Speedy Gonzales". I guess he haven't still showed all his gears in AHL.
Fowler is ridiculously smooth in his pivots and turns. Skating forwards and backwards. Haven't seen Vatanen, but I assume he's not as good at that (along with like 90% of the league).
Can't forget about Welinski too, who HF said has the hardest shot out of all our defense prospects. Fowler-Vatanen, Lindholm-Welinski will look nice in a few years.
I mean more like shooting from positions and zones where you don't expect a shot. When Karlsson has the puck goalies got to be careful. But yeah Sami can do some nice stuff too.
Vatanen is the more explosive skater, imo. I think he goes from 0 to top speed quicker than Fowler, but Fowler is the better overall skater (turns, pivots, backwards).
I remember at the draft, there were two videos of Fowler and Hall. It was advertising for some kind of preparation system. Like a workout system or something to polish skating/technique/etc. Or maybe a video system to help analyze stride?
Anyways basically it had them doing skating drills. Now you could tell Hall was explosive and fast. But I was most impressed by Fowler's pivots and transitions.
I'll try to find the videos.
edit: here is HF thread with reaction to videos. Video embedding doesn't seem to work in that thread.
here is Fowler's video
Hall's video seems to have been deleted since then.
And what is up with Schultz getting player of week (3 + 1 = 4 points, +6) vs Vatanen (1 + 4 = 5 points, +4). I guess it's goals and +/-?
Last edited by snarktacular: 10-23-2012 at 09:53 AM.
Good read.
