Finnish 2009 CHL Import Draft Review

Usually when a Finnish junior player is selected by a team in the CHL Import Draft, he is quite sure to also play for that team. Jani Rita¹ is the only exception to that rule in recent memory. So, when top prospects like Toni Rajala and Teemu Pulkkinen were drafted on Tuesday, it raised some eyebrows here in Finland. I believe the total number of drafted Finns, eleven, is a record of some sort.

Rajala and Pulkkinen both have pro contracts with their respective SM-liiga clubs and both have already seen some action in the pros as well. Both have reportedly been promised a regular spot in the lineup next year as well. If all goes well, they get to play around 10—15 minutes per night in SM-liiga with quality linemates and some powerplay responsibility, there’s no question whether it is a better choice than playing in the WHL. The problem is that neither really has a guaranteed role.

Jokerit has a lot of veteran wingers and while most of them are more checkers/grinders, Pulkkinen would have to do extremely well in preseason games to be considered a top six winger. Ilves isn’t as stacked, but even they do have six wingers I’d rank above Rajala at the moment. His numbers in the juniors last year do not suggest he is able to play a regular shift in a professional league just yet. It doesn’t seem likely that either of them will play in the WHL next year, but if I would be in their position, I’d seriously consider the possibility.

(According to several sources, Rajala has said in Facebook he had no idea such a draft even existed and that he’s not going anywhere. Pulkkinen on the other hand has expressed interest in playing major junior hockey, but according to Kelowna Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton ,they don’t even expect him to play for them next year.

Update: It seems that either the Facebook reports were wrong or Rajala is quick to change his opinion. He said in a radio interview (mp3) with The Pipeline Show that right now he’s leaning towards playing in Brandon.

The interesting thing is that he does have a year left in his contract with Ilves and I wonder whether they will just let their golden boy to walk away from it. Since there now is a transfer agreement in place with the NHL and the Finnish federation and league, the Oilers would be able to sign him, but I’m not sure they would be able to assign him to Brandon without offering him on loan to Ilves first.)

I have no idea why Calgary Hitmen decided to use a pick on Erik Haula. He seems to have made his mind on playing college hockey and according to an article in a Finnish newspaper, no-one had even asked him whether he’d be interested in playing in the WHL. He also says that he doesn’t believe the difference in terms of level of hockey is that big between the USHL and the WHL, which isn’t really the smartest thing to say.

The case of Joni Ortio is also complicated. He has a possibility to play some games in SM-liiga next year, but he won’t be a starter and he has to beat Atte Engren to even be the regular backup. I think it could be better for his development to play in the WHL rather than stay in the juniors in Finland. On the other hand, I have no idea what kind of goalie coaching Swift Current Broncos has, but I’m pretty sure they can’t beat what TPS has to offer. The best option for him would be, in my opinion, to play as a rental in Finnish second tier league Mestis while doing as much of his training with Urpo Ylönen as possible.

There are some obvious choices among those eleven who should make the jump. As I already said in my NHL draft review, Rasmus Rissanen is the kind of player I would see to benefit from playing major junior hockey. He was drafted by Everett Silvertips and I expect the physical style of the WHL to suit him perfectly.

According to the HeraldNet Silvertips Blog, Rissanen — as well as their another Import Draft pick Radko Gudas² — will for sure play for the Silvertips next year.

It seems that Petteri Similä is also going to leave Finland for sure. He was drafted by OHL’s Niagara IceDogs and according to an article in St. Catherines Standard, they were contacted by Similä’s agent. For him, OHL is most probably a great option at this point, but since I haven’t seen him play, I can’t really comment on whether he is really prepared to “get the IceDogs through the 2009—10 season”, as the article suggests.

Of the four Finnish goalies who were drafted, Ville Kolppanen is most probably also about to leave. He was drafted by Lethbridge Hurricanes and they probably expect him to replace Juha Metsola who returned to Finland. I have to admit I had never heard of Christopher Gibson before he was drafted by Chicoutimi Saguenéens. He already played in Canada (Notre Dame Hounds, Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League) last year, so I guess he’ll just move to the other side of the country.

Riku Dufva (I haven’t been able to confirm this but I think he’s the son of JYP head coach (and Team Finland assistant coach) Risto Dufva) was part of the national team of his age group as a 16-year-old, but hasn’t been invited to any camps since then. Last year he played in JYP’s U20 team, scored 11 points points in 37 and was -10, second worst on the team. He’ll be nineteen in a couple of weeks and according to a post on Maine Hockey Journal, that was part of the reason why he was drafted.

Matias Sointu had a good year in the juniors in 2007—08 and got himself a pro contract with Ilves, but his season was ruined by a shoulder injury. He was a surprise pick by Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round of the 2008 NHL entry draft and apparently he now wants to show he can handle the more physical hockey in the OHL despite being a typical small and skilled winger. There’s still nothing official on the Ottawa 67′s site, but according to a post on the 67′s Fan Blog, “He decided he wanted to come over and get the exposure” (quote from 67′s GM Brian Kilrea).

Lauri Tokoi is another Ilves junior who has had injury problems lately. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles the jump from Finnish U18 league (he only had one game in the U20 league last year) to QMJHL, assuming he makes the jump. At least the president of PEI Rocket, Serge Savard jr. seems to think he does: “After he returned from his injury, many teams were interested and we wanted to make sure that we added this depth to our blueline for the coming year”.

Footnotes
1. When Rita was drafted by Kelowna Rockets in 2000, he was already about to turn 19. He had played almost two full seasons in SM-liiga, albeit in a small role. Jumping into WHL at that point would’ve been a step back, so it made no sense for him to leave. In hindsight, he should’ve. He did get a bit more responsibility in Jokerit that year, especially after his excellent performance in the WJC, but I still think 20 minutes per night in the Dub would’ve served his development better than 10 minutes per night in SM-liiga.↑
2.  Radko Gudas is the son of Leo Gudas, who played for JYP (JyP HT back then) in early 90′s. The younger Gudas was actually on a tryout at JYP’s farm team “D Team” (the worst club name ever, beating the MAINEiacs by a fair margin) in June.↑