• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

Les Habitants Prospects Thread

If they manage to get a better center next summer (Jack Hughes pls) then Kotkaniemi slots in at #2 and he looks like he’d be a top #2.

It still works out.
 
Yup. That would be ideal. If we get Jack Hughes next year, we're set at center for the next decade. Hell, there's a probable chance all three could be in the lineup on day 1 of the 2019-2020 season, all depending on how Kotkaniemi & Poehling play this year.

Hughes
Kotkaniemi
Poehling

And they would all be slotted perfectly, too.
 
Was reading an article on the Atheltics by Mitch Brown. He gave his top 5 MTL prospect. It went in that order:

5- Jesse Ylonen
4- Noah Juulsen
3- Nikita Scherbak
2- Ryan Poehling
1- Jesperi Kotkaniemi

I was always high on Kotkaniemi but got a bit turned down when Someone on NHL got a rank of all best prospect and Kotkaniemi was ranked 22nd. But Mitch Brown explanation and video for having Kotkaniemi #1 in our prospect pool reassured me on him. Too bad it's a subscription and I cannot share, but annotation to his video showed that even if Kotkaniemi has a "weird" skating style, he is still fast and strong and use his high IQ to composentate and how he use his skills to bate dman and use his amazing vision and playmaking skills to make stunning passes.

Brown finish saying our prospect pool has never looked good since he started doing this in 2012 and that another good draft like this year but next year would probably have us rank in the top of the league in prospect with legitimate skills and ceilling.
 
From that article

Kotkaniemi’s skating is commonly cited as an issue. He’s quick, but his sometimes clunky stride will need tweaking and he lacks that separation or breakaway gear. However, Kotkaniemi rarely gets touched – unless he wants to engage physically. How does a player lacking that extra gear manage to turn the corner on defenders and keep distance from them?

The answer is a combination of skills. First, Kotkaniemi controls his speed. He lets players catch up to him by taking wider lanes or slowing down, baiting them to reach in and try to get the puck. Then, Kotkaniemi gears up and goes right past or through the defender, creating space.
- Brown
 
World Junior Camp notes


Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C, Montreal: Kotkaniemi was very good in the first game versus the Czechs and just fine in the second game. He didn’t go to the showcase in Kamloops. At his best, he showed his dynamic skill and vision that catapulted him to be the third overall pick this past June. Kotkaniemi is such a creative playmaker who makes plays with pace and there were moments he showed some fantastic offensive instincts to create chances. The big question with him is how quickly can he push the pace. There were moments I thought his skating looked decent/average, other times he looked like he was lagging. I was really hoping to see him live in Kamloops to gauge that aspect with more scrutiny, but he didn’t attend. For now, despite the fact he’s not technically smooth, I grade him out as a roughly average skater.
 
I'd rank it much closer to sixth worst than sixth best, that's for sure. It's around middle of the pack.
 
lol it's not top 6, it's not even top 15. Sporting news ranked us at 18 a couple of weeks ago, which is probably where we really are.
 
Back
Top