Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
I would like to see some progression before I can get on board with that.
|
Fair enough. But the team did have him ranked in their top 11 this draft. As good as Andersson, Kylington, Fox, etc have been since their draft years, I don't think any of them have improved their stock above where Valimaki's sits already. Would Andersson or Kylington go top 12 in a re-draft? I highly doubt it. I know someone in an earlier thread was hating on draft position but there's a reason they had Valimaki ranked so high this year, they feel he has top pairing or top 4 potential.
To me Valimaki's upside is as high as any of the other defensemen with less question marks on his game. Kylington still has defense/strength issues. Fox has has size/defense issues. No big weaknesses for Juuso.
It's a balancing act trying to figure out upside vs certainty of achieving it. I think Juuso is a much better bet to make the NHL compared to Fox/Kylington and I don't think he's sacrificing much upside to do so. He's a puck rusher, point producer too but one that can also log big minutes and excel defensively.