Saw Vatanen live on several occasions at the WC in Germany.
Was impressed with his ability to play with men, but didn't feel that he displayed the speed or pure puck skills to excel with bigger men.
As he was only 18, a very respectable showing, but I could tell little about what his future could hold. His SIM Liiga numbers are quite impressive.
Ducks fans will have to be patient though. According to what I've seen (granted, only a sample size), he is gonna need his time to adjust to North America. That he may one day be a player like Timonen certainly isn't unthinkable...
i'm not sure why people keep bringin up Timonen as a similar player or as his eventual upside; maybe it's related with the WCH showing itself where imo he was caring about playing a fair game, being responsible and not hurting the team rather than trying to make an impact through his best skills.
If Vatanen will succeed, it will be playing a different kind of game imo, more offensive, more dynamic, and of course riskier than the one the steady Timonen plays. He has much more speed and is more of a shooter, maybe the way he defends will eventually somehow resemble Timo's style (would be a good thing), but overall i would be surprised to see him develop into a similar player.
Saw Vatanen live on several occasions at the WC in Germany.
Was impressed with his ability to play with men, but didn't feel that he displayed the speed or pure puck skills to excel with bigger men.
As he was only 18, a very respectable showing, but I could tell little about what his future could hold. His SIM Liiga numbers are quite impressive.
Ducks fans will have to be patient though. According to what I've seen (granted, only a sample size), he is gonna need his time to adjust to North America. That he may one day be a player like Timonen certainly isn't unthinkable...
It's great that Vatanen is part of an NHL franchise that already has some stud offensive defensemen, it gives him more margin of error when he does make his debut with the Ducks.
Everyone always expects offensive d-men like Sami to produce right away (Subban, Carlson, McBain, Pietrangelo) luckily the hype over Fowler, and eventually Sbisa/Gardiner he'll be able to get acclimated more comfortably. I'm hoping the same is true for Dmitri Orlov when he comes to NA.
I believe someone from Finland said on our board he should be back within a week.
Hopefully so. He said himself in an interview that it is day to day.
Maybe coming back for the playoffs, maybe not.
They are not taking any risks with him because he is young and they don't want to risk his future.
That's a good decision IMO.
PS. He should be ready for the WC, if not for the playoffs.
I really don't see this to be true. Vatanen is a god also defensively, his game is not only offense. Vatanen will open some eyes when he comes over the pond.
They interviewed him today at his team's game and now he has some kind of kneesupport and he might return soon. Interviewer asked if he could play already on Wednesday but he wasn't sure yet. Let's hope that he returns this week and saves his team.
Coach Dufva said after the loss last night that the chances of Vatanen playing for Jyp this season are as likely as that Ovechkin or Crosby would play for Jyp this season.
Coach Dufva said after the loss last night that the chances of Vatanen playing for Jyp this season are as likely as that Ovechkin or Crosby would play for Jyp this season.
Coach Dufva said after the loss last night that the chances of Vatanen playing for Jyp this season are as likely as that Ovechkin or Crosby would play for Jyp this season.
