Right, I know Radulov was a little different but its the same concept - by loaning him and giving him a QO we hold his rights until he decides to come back over, if ever.
Same reason we still hold Vasily Koshechkins rights.
Not the first message here, but still having trouble to use appropriate hockey slang, so sorry about that.
Helenius played for the team that I support, and yey, we won the championship. And yes, it's the top tier. It's kinda hard to compare the Swedish, Finnish and eg. the Swiss league, but I wouldn't count only on that one swede's opinion (as it happens, our team won all the preseason games it played against the teams from KHL and the Swiss league - didn't play against any SEL (swedish) teams). KHL is the top league in Europe, that's for sure - but then... I don't know. But I would say one thing: FEL could perhaps be described as the most North-American style of hockey. Anyways, not gonna go into that now.
Helenius played reasonably well in the season, but on the other hand our team (JYP from Jyväskylä, go ahead try to pronunciate that) has been noted for the last four seasons as one of the most defense-oriented teams in the league. Well, maybe not just one of them, it is THE most d-oriented team there is in FEL. It has allowed the fewest goals in each of these four seasons - even without Riku, who came to JYP this season.
At the start of the season Riku was a bit shaky (umm... if you know what I mean?), but the d-men were giving a huge helping hand, so the stats may be a bit deceiving. BUT, on the other hand, in the playoffs he played insanely well. JYP lost three of its best d-men (due to injuries), but Helenius improved his play a lot at the same time. Loads of game savers, and I would even say - did not allow a single easy goal. He was one of the key factors for JYP winning the championship. 11 wins out of 13 games for him, not bad at all. Other stats have already been posted here before.
I'd say that he has loads of potential, but I think he's not ready for NHL yet (and yes I know he has already made his kind-of debut there already, but still). Maybe another great season for him in the FEL, and then... Who knows?
Same thing we've said about Koshechkin. Came up in Lada who played the trap, struggled when he left, rounded out, looks good now. Riku seems to be taking the same path. His athleticism was never questioned here, thats for sure.
A Finnish tabloid reporting that Helenius has rejected an offer from TBL. His agent is being interviewed and he's saying that Riku wants a two-year one-way deal and so far they haven't got one. He goes on to say that they're still open for talks and the NHL is still the number one option but also speculates that Helenius might sign in the KHL or even stay in Finland, although that's unlikely at this point.
We should sign him to the two year one way deal, hope he can make the team and contribute. If he doesn't we could loan him to the KHL or FEL, keep his rights and trade them if he plays well.
We should sign him to the two year one way deal, hope he can make the team and contribute. If he doesn't we could loan him to the KHL or FEL, keep his rights and trade them if he plays well.
Problem is there's no trade agreement in place between SM-Liiga and NHL. Since he has one more year on his deal with JYP he won't be able to sign with Tampa unless an agreement between the 2 federations are reached or JYP releases him from his contract(unlikely).
Problem is there's no trade agreement in place between SM-Liiga and NHL. Since he has one more year on his deal with JYP he won't be able to sign with Tampa unless an agreement between the 2 federations are reached or JYP releases him from his contract(unlikely).
I thought I read somewhere that he has an out clause or an agreement with the team to leave for the NHL if he got a contract.
