Just wondering who the best players are going to be in 12/13 in Swe/Fin/Germany (players playing in those countries not necessarily from those nationalities) and ignoring NHL lockout signings.
For example if you had to make a top 3 list for an SEL team or SM Liiga team then how would you characterize them?
My top 3 players for every SM-liiga team (Part 1/2):
Blues:
1) Juuso Riksman - One of the best goalies in the league - if healthy. Riksman is getting old, and back injuries destroyed his last season. Tried to get to KHL, but couldn't get a contract after a tryout with Atlant Mytischi.
2) Arto Laatikainen - Solid two-way D, captain of the team. Has lots of experience, doesn't make big mistakes often.
3) Juuso Ikonen - 95-born, extremely talented forward, but could be too small (170 cm, 73 kg) to have a succesful NHL career.
HIFK:
1) Ville Peltonen - Nearly a legend in Finland, didn't have a hugely succesful NHL career, but still played 382 games. Obvious captain for HIFK. Could be the last season of Ville's long career.
2) Toni Söderholm - Returned back to his old form last season, good puck-moving D-man. Hasn't had much success outside Finland.
3) Markus Granlund - The younger Granlund, isn't as talented as his brother, but still a good prospect for Flames. Lack of strenght currently biggest problem. Has some similarities to Jarkko Ruutu in trash-talking and trying to get under the opponent's skin, although not any cheap-shot artist.
HPK:
1) Ville Viitaluoma - Captain of the team, reliable point scorer. Not a big star though.
2) Joni Tuominen - Injuries ruined last season while playing in TPS, now trying to bounce back in different team. Good offensively.
3) Aleksi Laakso - Small but skilled puck-moving D-man, had a good last season after almost falling off the map.
Ilves:
1) Ville Koistinen - Clearly the best player of the worst team in the league, has played 103 NHL games. Could leave the team again in the middle of the season if someone makes a good offer.
2) Jesse Niinimäki - Former Oilers first round pick, never played a single NHL game. Extremely talented but lazy, although not as lazy as used to be.
3) Miika Wiikman - Obvious number one goalie, just has an impossible task. Played in NA for couple years, but couldn't break through.
Jokerit:
1) Ossi Väänänen - 479 games in NHL, best defensive defenseman in the league. Could easily play in a bigger league, maybe even in NHL.
2) Ilari Filppula - Older brother of Valtteri Filppula, one of the more skilled players in SM-liiga. Simply too slow for NHL.
3) Teemu Eronen - Young offensive D-man, earns his paycheck on PP. Blues' 7th round pick from 2011 draft.
JYP:
1) Eric Perrin - Heart and soul of the defending champions. If bigger, would'nt play in Finland.
2) Ramzi Abid - Another Canadian with NHL experience, still has to prove himself in SM-liiga. Very physical, almost stereotypical Canadian forward.
3) Jyrki Välivaara - Experienced two-way D-man. Part of the World Championship winning Finnish team couple years ago.
KalPa:
1) Sami Kapanen - Owner, chairman and the most important player of the team. Played 831 NHL games.
2) Mikko Koskinen - Huge goaltender who covers the net well. 4 NHL games in poor Islanders team in 2010-11.
3) Sakari Salminen - Extremely skilled, but soft forward. Might have future in KHL, but not in North America. Less physical version of Juhamatti Aaltonen.
Top3 is pretty hard. Some prominent forwards.. Bud Holloway, Robert Rosén, Mattias Weinhandl, Carl Söderberg, Calle Järnkrok, Niklas Olausson, Jason Krog, Joakim Lindström, Linus Klasen, Per-Åge Skröder.
If I had to pick three guys for my first line I'd take Holloway, Söderberg and Weinhandl.
Defensemen.. I don't really feel like there are any world beaters. But I like Ryan Gunderson and Dick Tärnström.
Goalies.. Martin Gerber, Alexander Salak, Gustaf Wesslau.
Teams top5: Hv71 - Jason Krog, Johan Davidsson, Mattias Karlsson, Rhett Rakhshani, Gustaf Wesslau. Färjestad - Mikael Johansson, Rickard Wallin, Jack Connolly, Chris Lee, Alex Salak. Brynäs - Calle Järnkrok, Johan Harju, Andreas Thuresson, Ryan Gunderson, Simon Bertilsson. Frölunda - Joel Lundqvist, Dick Axelsson, Mathis Olimb, Christian Bäckman, Henrik Tömmernes. AIK - Dick Tärnström, Tobias Viklund, Broc Little, Esa Pirnes, Oscar Steen. Linköping - Magnus Johansson, Carl Söderberg, Mattias Weinhandl, Pär Arlbrandt, Simon Hjalmarsson. Luleå - Niklas Olausson, Toni Koivisto, Linus Klasen, Johan Gustafsson, Johan Fransson. Modo - Pär-Åge Skröder, Niklas Sundström, Sammy Påhlsson, Ladislav Nagy, Kyle Cumiskey. Skellefteå - Bud Holloway, Joakim Lindström, Jimmie Ericsson, Oscar Möller, Joacim Ericsson. Rögle - Lasse Kukkonen, Martin Gerber, Tom Preissing, Mike Iggulden, Daniel Sondell. Timrå - Mat Robinson, Oscar Hedman, Max Friberg, Niklas Nordgren, Sebastian Erixon. Växjö - Robert Rosén, Tomi Kallio, Brad Moran, Jonas Holös, Petr Vampola.
Not an exact science, many teams are pretty even throughout.
1) Ivan Huml - Skilled Czech with decent size. Played 49 games in NHL before previous lockout.
2) Johan Backlund - Talented Swedish goalie, played well after joining the team midseason. Hasn't had a great preseason though.
3) Miikka Salomäki - Nicknamed "the Bull", he's very physical, but talented as well. Predators' 2nd round pick from 2011 could have bright future ahead of him.
Lukko:
1) Petri Vehanen - Best goalie outside North America? Could be, although his age may scare off NHL teams. Returned from AK Bars Kazan to Lukko after last season.
2) Justin Azevedo - Skilled center, simply just too small to be a NHL player. Scored 124 points in his last OHL season, finished first in points before first overall picks Tavares, Stamkos and Hall.
3) Lauri Tukonen - 11th overall pick from 2004 draft, never reached his full potential. Still a PPG player in SM-liiga when healthy.
Pelicans:
1) Radek Smolenak - Smolenak's playing doesn't look too pretty, but he gets the job done. Right place, right time. 3+1 in the season opener.
2) Markus Seikola - Could be the best offensive defenseman in the league, has a great shot.
3) Angelo Esposito - This might be the last season for Esposito to turn his career around. Was supposed to be the successor of Evgeni Malkin, became the successor of Justin Hodgman.
SaiPa:
1) Brian Salcido - Good puck-moving D-man, PP specialist. Former Ducks prospect, made 53 points in his best AHL season.
2) Per Savilahti-Nagander - Huge D-man with heavy shot. Could improve his movement.
3) Richard Ullberg - Got kicked out of HIFK for stealing from teammates, thus sometimes known as "Thief". Now has to steal points from other teams, if SaiPa wants to get to playoffs first time since 2005-06. Young, big goalie who could even have future in NHL.
Tappara:
1) Pekka Tuokkola - One of the best goalies in SM-liiga. Good size, good movement. Had a tough last season in KHL, so returned to Finland.
2) Tuukka Mäntylä - Skilled but small defenseman, who played most of the last season in KHL. Captain of Tappara, who tries to return to the top after couple difficult seasons.
3) Aleksander Barkov Jr. - Could even be the first #1 NHL Draft pick from Finland. Has the whole package - size, skills, vision.
TPS:
1) Antero Niittymäki - Returned to Turku after battling with injuries last year. When healthy, best goalie in Europe. But will he be healthy? Luckily for TPS, their backup Atte Engren is also one of the top 5 goalies in SM-liiga.
2) Corey Locke - Highest paid player of the league, has led OHL in scoring twice in his career. Guys he beated? Corey Perry, Eric Staal, Mike Richards...
3) Rasmus Ristolainen - One of the best 1995-born D-man in the world. Right-handed player with a good shot, shines on PP.
Ässät:
1) Joel Armia - Sabres' first round pick from 2011, could lead the league in goals scored in the end of the season. Has amazing shot and likes to deke. Disappears from the game sometimes. Next destination Buffalo, NY in 2013.
2) Stephen Dixon - Member of best WJC team ever in 2005. Had a great freshman season in SM-liiga, many expected him to leave to KHL, but he stayed in Pori.
3) Ville Uusitalo - Good two-way defenseman, plays his heart out every game. Has great fitness, can play 30 minutes night after night. Captain of Ässät.
A lot of people underestimate DEL. There are a couple of really good players.
For example Kölner Haie have signed the Swedes Andras Falk, Andreas Holmqvist and Daniel Tjärnqvist.
Then there are dozens of players with at least a bit of NHL experience.
And the league is very entertaining.
Yeah, there really are no big differences in the level of skill between SEL, FEL, DEL, Extraliga and NLA. European Trophy has been a really even competition too.
Question, which league is better, German or Swiss? I know the DEL used to be better but the NLA seems to attract a lot of players now (and not just NHLers looking for an easy lockout pay).
question, which league is better, german or swiss? I know the del used to be better but the nla seems to attract a lot of players now (and not just nhlers looking for an easy lockout pay).
Question, which league is better, German or Swiss? I know the DEL used to be better but the NLA seems to attract a lot of players now (and not just NHLers looking for an easy lockout pay).
NLA, pretty easily. They simply have more money than the teams in DEL, so they can get better players.
1) Ivan Huml - Skilled Czech with decent size. Played 49 games in NHL before previous lockout.
2) Johan Backlund - Talented Swedish goalie, played well after joining the team midseason. Hasn't had a great preseason though.
3) Miikka Salomäki - Nicknamed "the Bull", he's very physical, but talented as well. Predators' 2nd round pick from 2011 could have bright future ahead of him.
Surely Oscar Eklund is better and worth more to Kärpät than Backlund? I mean Backlund is paid a ton of money and he is not even the number one goalie right now. And after his collapse in last years play-offs it's unbelievable that we gave him an extension. Unbelievable stupid.
Eklund in the other hand is one the best defenders in the league, lockout or not. Hope he gets better soon
1) Petri Vehanen (Lukko)
2) Stephen Dixon (Ässät)
3) Alexander Barkov Jr. (Tappara)
4) Ossi Väänänen (Jokerit)
5) Joni Ortio (HIFK)
6) Oscar Eklund (Kärpät)
7) Ilari Filppula (Jokerit)
8) Eric Perrin (JYP)
9) Toni Söderholm (HIFK)
10) Joel Armia (Ässät)
Surely Oscar Eklund is better and worth more to Kärpät than Backlund? I mean Backlund is paid a ton of money and he is not even the number one goalie right now. And after his collapse in last years play-offs it's unbelievable that we gave him an extension. Unbelievable stupid.
Eklund in the other hand is one the best defenders in the league, lockout or not. Hope he gets better soon
Well, this was written before the season started. Had some doubts about Backlund already back then, mostly because of his playoff performance last year.
1) Petri Vehanen (Lukko)
2) Stephen Dixon (Ässät)
3) Alexander Barkov Jr. (Tappara)
4) Ossi Väänänen (Jokerit)
5) Joni Ortio (HIFK)
6) Oscar Eklund (Kärpät)
7) Ilari Filppula (Jokerit)
8) Eric Perrin (JYP)
9) Toni Söderholm (HIFK)
10) Joel Armia (Ässät)
Funny that you place Ortion in the top 10, yet you have no Engren or Niittymäki on that list.
Vahalahti 2gp 0+0... This thread wasnt about 3 seasons ago, was it?
Well, you can also look up the general situation of TPS atm. Besides, as you posted, he has played only 2 games, and in the second one he left the game in the first period. So please, don't use that as an argument.
Hope he gets better soon
