2024 Draft - Overagers to watch

[STL fan in MN]

Jere Lassila? In every world tournament he is in people talk about him like he'd be a top 100 pick but he's been passed over I think twice now.

Same.

I watched a couple JYP games to watch Pulkkinen and instead noticed Lassila. Then realized he was the same guy that impressed me in the WJC. Finland’s captain and put the team on his back. That OT goal to knock out the Slovaks in the QF was . He’s 19 and already wearing an A for his Liiga team. I don’t know much about him but that certainly suggests some high leadership characteristics. He’s only 5’10” but I see no reason to not throw a mid to late round flyer at him. Could see him filling a 3 or 4C role in the NHL eventually.

 

[gritdash60]

Same.

I watched a couple JYP games to watch Pulkkinen and instead noticed Lassila. Then realized he was the same guy that impressed me in the WJC. Finland’s captain and put the team on his back. That OT goal to knock out the Slovaks in the QF was . He’s 19 and already wearing an A for his Liiga team. I don’t know much about him but that certainly suggests some high leadership characteristics. He’s only 5’10” but I see no reason to not throw a mid to late round flyer at him. Could see him filling a 3 or 4C role in the NHL eventually.

Lassila has been developing nicely but i dont see him in the NHL. If i have to pick one overager from Finland its Jesse Pulkkinen, same team as Lassila but a giant of a defender, who has bigger chance to be a impact player in the NHL for me. Lassila has the attitude and physique, but i think he is too small for the style of play he does.

I mean there are outliers, but i dont see a 178cm center without exceptional skills even sniffing NHL, it's sad but true.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Lassila has been developing nicely but i dont see him in the NHL. If i have to pick one overager from Finland its Jesse Pulkkinen, same team as Lassila but a giant of a defender, who has bigger chance to be a impact player in the NHL for me. Lassila has the attitude and physique, but i think he is too small for the style of play he does.

I mean there are outliers, but i dont see a 178cm center without exceptional skills even sniffing NHL, it's sad but true.

Oh, I’d definitely take Pulkkinen much earlier but just saying Lassila stood out to me.

He reminds me of Vladi Sobotka. Or a Noel Acciari type. Those guys aren’t exceptionally skilled.

 

[emptyNedder]

He reminds me of Vladi Sobotka. Or a Noel Acciari type. Those guys aren’t exceptionally skilled.

I think Lassila could be as effective as Derek Ryan or maybe even Pius Suter. But still agree with gritdash that he is not likely to get the opportunity.

 

[Hossa]

I'm not sure what your expectations are for mid-late round picks.

Swedish Sebastian Aho went 139th overall in 2017. In the last 78 picks of that draft after Aho, there are two players who have had (marginally) better NHL careers – Morgan Barron and Nick Perbix. All 3 are depth players.

NYI got literally a 95th percentile result out of that pick and 7 years later they still have a serviceable NHL player on their roster for that 5th round pick. And you think they wouldn’t make that pick again?

Likewise Nuutivara was a 7th round pick and Columbus got basically 3 years of regular roster play out of it from a guy on an ELC. Great result, until they gave him a $10 million contract.

Nobody is getting big hits out of the last 4 rounds of the draft. They’re basically irrelevant and if the NHL eliminated rounds 4-7 tomorrow, nothing would really change. As a draft watcher I love following them and tracking players but I can separate ‘I enjoy this and find it interesting’ from ‘this actually matters’.

And if you get a cheap depth player from a 5th? That’s a nice little win and every GM would take that in a heartbeat.

I don't fully agree, and even 2017 is a good example of where rounds four and five can yield real value. Perhaps after Aho there wasn't much, but in the round and a half before, players like Swayman, Batherson, Noah Cates and Mikey Anderson all went. But I do think you're right that NHL teams are being more assertive in selecting players they feel have significant upside earlier in the draft, even if they're raw, and as a result there are fewer players with toolsy upside later in the draft.

Mason Lohrei is a good example. The public sphere scoffed at that pick, and in a different era perhaps Boston doesn't take him in the late second, but they identified a player with a couple specific traits suggesting impactful upside and they went for him. That approach pushes players that are more likely to be depth fodder down the draft, even players that might pick up some points in the league on a bottom feeder team. And then every year a bunch of people in the public sphere are surprised when the seventh round is littered with borderline unknowns while the Peter Reynolds of the world slide right out of the draft.

So I agree, if teams can use those mid round picks to fill out the bottom of their roster on the cheap, there's definite wisdom in that. In that sense, I understand why a team like Ottawa would take a Mark Kastelic in the fourth round, knowing the skating and skill probably don't give him a ton of upside, but as a D+2 with size, face-off ability and some finish, he has a relatively easy and short pathway to being a fourth line centre. Of course with Ottawa it makes even more sense given their appalling track record in pro scouting, but that's another story.

 

[Brock]

Sunday Top 10 - 2024 NHL Draft Re-Entries

It's that time of the year for my annual ( 2023 , 2022 , 2020 , 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , 2016 , 2015 , 2014 , 2013 , 2012 , 2011 , ...

ohlprospects.blogspot.com

My annual look at the top re-entries from the OHL.

 

[TopC0rner]

He's not talked about much, but I think Brayden Edwards may be worth a look in the later rounds

 

[Nevins]

Antonin Verreault

He exploded this year. 40 points more than the second point scorer for his club. But he's small...