I am quietly optimistic that we may have a superstar defenseman. That would be absolutely huge for this team if he ends up on the level of a Heiskanen. For now though, excited to have a top dman as a prospect.
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Originally Posted by Geeoff
I did a calculation. I don't know how accurate but it said 8 points in 7 games in Liiga is an NHLe of 42. I'd take a 42 point Valimaki all day!
I was just looking at Valimaki's NHLe progression using Byron Bader's model and Valimaki has been on par or better than a lot of high end defencmen in the league and has every chance to be the next in line to Hughes, Makar and Heiskanen.
It's hard to not be excited about him, my only concern is that the flames won't give him the leash needed for him to reach the levels of those guys as that would probably mean demoting Gio to third pair to play with Kylington. Which wouldn't be a bad idea, I'm just not sure the coaching staff is ready to admit that Gio is regressing and needs his time cut back yet.
Hopefully the young guys all show up in camp ready to play and force the coach's hands to go with something like
This is starting to sound like a recording, but over in Finland, two more assists for Juuso Valimaki today moves him into second in league scoring with 10 points (2 g, 8 a) in eight games. He’s two points behind the leader. He’s one of just three D ranked in the top-20.
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I think lost in the whole excitement of Vali being the next hot young stud d-man is the fantastic goal call by the Finnish PBP guys. That was a treat to listen to.
Valimaki is 22 and is putting up 1.25 PPG in the Liiga.
In the 12-13 lockout year Erik Karlsson put up 1.15 PPG in 30 games as a 22 year old playing in the Liiga. The year before in the NHL he put up 78 points in 81 games. Those are the only 2 d-men 23 or under in the Liiga to average over a PPG in the last 20 years.
It's only 8 games for Valimaki so far but.....just saying.
Last edited by SuperMatt18; 10-23-2020 at 03:07 PM.
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On a side note, I love how they give the total pluses and total minuses and the net, as opposed to just the net number that you get here. Much more useful information. (Valimaki is +9 and has been on the ice for 14 goals for and 5 goals against.)
Tied for 1st in +/- with his teammate who is (likely) the other half of his pairing.
Yes, but I don't see Valimaki being given the same opportunity as guys like Makar and Hughes. They were both top pair and top PP unit right away.
Valimaki would have to force the Flames hand to get that kind of icetime. He's capable though.
Well, there’s no Brodie to leapfrog, Tanev isn’t likely to play powerplay. It’s Gio, Rasmus and Hanifin and maybe Nesterov in the mix. I think he’s gonna get some time there anyway.
