[News] With the 16th OA pick, the Flames select D Juuso Valimaki

[robaur]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Leafs fans are probably the fanbase most prone to excessively overhyping their prospects in the league. After decades of always failing with their picks, seeing guys like Nylander, Marner, and Matthews come out of the pipeline has filled them with reckless delusion. Combine that with the fact that they think that they "deserve" to win since they play in a huge market, and, well, you get fans saying that Liljegren "is the best player outside of the NHL" and "is the next Karlsson".

Not relevant to this thread but in relation to Nylander...

Sam Bennett - Please wake the EFF up. You're supposed to be better. Both Nylander and Ehlers raking the NHL.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by robaur

Not relevant to this thread but in relation to Nylander...

Sam Bennett - Please wake the EFF up. You're supposed to be better. Both Nylander and Ehlers raking the NHL.

I still think that the Flames did okay.

4 - Bennett (still developing with 1C potential)
5 - Dal Colle (zero games played)
6 - Virtanen (awful)
7 - Fleury (zero games played)

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by AC

Definitely really good offensive numbers. Here are other first round Dmen drafted out of the CHL and their point productions their draft years:

2017:
#14 Foote (WHL) 0.80 PPG
#16 Valimaki (WHL) 1.02 PPG
#23 Joseph (QMJHL) 0.63 PPG
#29 Jokiharju (WHL) 0.68 PPG

2016:
#5 Juolevi (OHL) 0.74 PPG
#9 Sergachev (OHL) 0.85 PPG
#13 Bean (WHL) 0.94 PPG
#16 Chychrun (OHL) 0.79 PPG
#18 Stanley (OHL) 0.27 PPG
#28 Johansen (WHL) 0.71 PPG

2015:
#7 Provorov (WHL) 1.02 PPG (61 pts in 60 games just like Valimaki!)
#13 Zboril (QMJHL) 0.75 PPG
#18 Chabot (QMJHL) 0.62 PPG
#26 Juulsen (WHL) 0.76 PPG

2014:
#1 Ekblad (OHL) 0.91 PPG
#7 Fleury (WHL) 0.66 PPG
#14 Honka (WHL) 0.90 PPG
#17 Sanheim (WHL) 0.43 PPG (then 65 in 67 games the following season)
#19 DeAngelo (OHL) 1.39 PPG

2013:
#4 Seth Jones (WHL) 0.92 PPG
#7 Nurse (OHL) 0.60 PPG
#11 Morin (QMJHL) 0.35 PPG
#13 Morrissey (WHL) 0.67 PPG
#15 Pulock (WHL) 0.74 PPG
#16 Zadorov (OHL) 0.40 PPG
#18 Mueller (WHL) 0.49 PPG
#26 Shea Theodore (WHL) 0.70 PPG

2012:
#2 Murray (WHL) 0.67 PPG
#4 Reinhart (WHL) 0.62 PPG
#5 Rielly (WHL) 1.00 PPG (18 pts in 18 games)
#7 Dumba (WHL) 0.83 PPG
#8 Pouliot (WHL) 0.82 PPG
#10 Koekkoek (OHL) 0.69 PPG
#15 Ceci (OHL) 0.94 PPG
#22 Maatta (OHL) 0.55 PPG

This Vali-maki me aroused.

[Geeoff]

The more I read about this pick, the more I like it. Finns are really cranking out solid prospects right now.

[Flamescuprun2018]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Has anyone posted this yet? Possibly the most thorough pre-draft profile on him.

https://canucksarmy.com/2017/06/10/n...uuso-valimaki/

Outstanding analysis on Valimaki. Thanks!

Definitely excited about the pick.

Other than a weak WJC tourney for Finland and lack of flash really nothing negative to worry about here.

Projecting as definite 100 game NHLer and probable 3-4D with chance at 1-2D.

[Flamescuprun2018]

Leadership skills too. Captain of U18 gold medal team with Eetu Tuulola.

Well done Flames scouting staff!

Sources: https://thejuniorhockeynews.com/finl...hird-u18-gold/

http://amshockey.com/article/juuso-v...-day-reception

“The semi-final and this game were unreal,” said Finnish captain Juuso Valimaki. “I don’t have any words. We just played so well.”

[GreenLantern2814]

Knowing only slightly more about the young man now than I did six hours ago, I like the pick.

In a draft without top tier talent, there's nothing wrong with taking a rock steady defenseman who, at best, you only need to be a #4.

People worry about whiffing at the top of the draft, but I think missing on quality depth in the bottom half of round one sinks an awful lot of teams.

Good work, Nail.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Knowing only slightly more about the young man now than I did six hours ago, I like the pick.

In a draft without top tier talent, there's nothing wrong with taking a rock steady defenseman who, at best, you only need to be a #4.

People worry about whiffing at the top of the draft, but I think missing on quality depth in the bottom half of round one sinks an awful lot of teams.

Good work, Nail.

That's why I don't care if guys like Klimchuk/Poirier/Shinkaruk only become 3rd/4th line guys as long as they make the NHL and stick. You need to fill 20 spots on the roster. Doesn't matter if it's a 1st line star like Gaudreau, or a #5-6 D-man. Filling each spot with quality is the most important thing.

[getbak]

Valimaki was 5th overall in Points per Game by a WHL defenceman this past season. The four players ahead of him are all older and were previously taken in the 2015 or 2016 NHL Drafts.

[Beninho]

Flames did well in getting one of the best 2 way D-men in the draft. Will be hopefully a nice luxury to have in a couple years. Gio will be a great mentor

[Caged Great]

I wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to overload entirely next season and draft another D-man in the first round again. Just have the pipeline entirely overflowing so that way you can move on more easily from Gio and the future #4/5/6 and just be able to pick from the best of the lot and do what Nashville did with Seth Jones if multiple guys hit the mark.

[savemedrzaius]

Seems like a good pick.

Will be interesting to watch him and Liljegren develop.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

I wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to overload entirely next season and draft another D-man in the first round again. Just have the pipeline entirely overflowing so that way you can move on more easily from Gio and the future #4/5/6 and just be able to pick from the best of the lot and do what Nashville did with Seth Jones if multiple guys hit the mark.

I agree 100%. Always a good idea to have reserves in case of future NHL expansion or salary cap issues.

[RyZ]

I was a little bit dissapointed with the pick last night but that was more because I had focused in on forwards in my own research and didnt know much about Valimaki, but now that i have read every piece of info about him I can find online Im pretty excited about the pick. He seems to have a pretty good chance to become a top 4 Dman in the NHL fairly quickly.

[dammage79]

Yeah, this is our Vaatanan or Lindholm pick. It's kind of beautiful.

[sureLoss]

Ryan Pike @RyanNPike
Worth noting: the #Flames jersey given to Juuso Valimaki had a sewn-on namebar.

[#22]

I like saying Valimaki. Good hockey name

[GGG]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Ryan Pike @RyanNPike
Worth noting: the #Flames jersey given to Juuso Valimaki had a sewn-on namebar.

This is not worth noting.

They probably had 3-4 Jerseys with sewn on name bats for their first pick. If you have the lettering available it's no more work to see it on. Also in the 10 minutes to do the pick you could have enough time to see on the name bar.

I hate that this gets said about the flames as some kind of pro, it's meaningless PR. It's like being shocked that the team that won the Stanley cup has championship hats ready

[sureLoss]

Tod Button says Valimaki was in the Flames top 11 for this draft.

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by GGG

This is not worth noting.

They probably had 3-4 Jerseys with sewn on name bats for their first pick. If you have the lettering available it's no more work to see it on. Also in the 10 minutes to do the pick you could have enough time to see on the name bar.

I hate that this gets said about the flames as some kind of pro, it's meaningless PR. It's like being shocked that the team that won the Stanley cup has championship hats ready

What a strange hill to take a stand on. It's a nice gesture that likely is really special for the kid being selected, certainly not something getting upset over.