First of all, the name of Matt Nickerson seems to have appeared on the player list of the Edmonton Oilers website. It has been reported that the Oilers are trying to help the development of their prospects by adding some more experienced players on the Springfield Falcons roster. Nickerson is likely to be one of them, even though he has much more experience from SM-liiga than the AHL.

There was also another surprise signing earlier this week, when the New Jersey Devils announced they had signed winger Ilkka Pikkarainen. Pikkarainen is already 28, so he can’t be considered a prospect at this point of his career. He scored a career high 24 goals in SM-liiga last year.

Prospect Camps

At the same time when Finnish teams are about to begin their on-ice training, NHL clubs are having their prospect development camps. I’ve tried to gather a comprehensive list of Finnish players who are attending the camps of their respective NHL clubs.

Ilkka Heikkinen attended the Rangers’ camp which took place earlier this week. According to a Hockey’s Future article, he was a standout among the blueliners, which he should be, considering that most of the participants are significantly younger and less experienced than he is.

Teemu Hartikainen and Toni Rajala will be tearing up the Oilers development camp which starts on Monday. I’m sure Coming Down the Pipe in going to follow the camp closely.

Minnesota Wild’s camp will have a strong Finnish flavour to it, as there are a total of four Finns attending. Their both 2009 draft picks Erik Haula and Jere Sallinen will be there, as will their 2007 6th round pick Harri Ilvonen and 2008 5th round pick Eero Elo. The Wild camp opens on Tuesday.

The Canadiens also drafted a pair of Finns this year and both Joonas Nättinen and Petteri Similä are on their camp roster. Nashville Predators also have a number of Finnish prospects, so their camp, opening on Wednesday, also interests me. Their 2008 7th round pick Jani Lajunen is attending, as is their 2007 7th round pick Atte Engren. Teemu Laakso is also there, but that goes without saying, I guess.

St. Louis Blues will announce their camp roster just before the camp opens on Wednesday and I expect to see Jori Lehterä‘s name on it. Washington Capitals will open their camp in a week and Oskar Osala could be participating, depending a bit on the profile of players the Capitals want to see on their camp. Riku Helenius is naturally attending the Tampa Bay Lightning camp.

I couldn’t find the development camp rosters of the following clubs: Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks If you can help me with any of these, I’d be grateful. Is Joni Ortio attending the Flames camp? Is Perttu Lindgren going to the Stars camp? Mikko Koskinen is for sure on the Islanders camp? What about Tommi Kivistö and Rasmus Rissanen and the Hurricanes?

edit: According to a blog post from June 29th, both Rasmus Rissanen and Tommi Kivistö should attend the Carolina Hurricanes prospect camp. According to the same post, Kai Kantola (he may have born in Canada and grown in the US, but his parents are Finnish) is also attending their camp. No official roster has been announced yet, but their camp doesn’t open until July 15th, so there is still time.

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.↑

So, here are the Finnish draftees of the class of 2009, in the order they were drafted. For each player, I’ve also included the prediction from my preview and its accuracy, plus a Hockey’s Future style prospect rating.

31. Mikko Koskinen, New York Islanders

I did, as many others, predict Koskinen being a relatively high pick, but I never imagined he’d be the first goalie picked in the whole draft, never mind being the first Finn drafted. The Islanders didn’t have any top goalie prospects going to the draft, but in addition to Koskinen, they drafted another overaged goalie (Anders Nilsson) this year.

Now that there’s a transfer agreement in place between the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation, SM-liiga and the NHL (more on that later), I would guess the Islanders would like to see Koskinen in the AHL already next year. In Espoo he would have to split duties with Iiro Tarkki, in Bridgeport he’d probably play as much as he wants.

• My prediction: Late 2nd rounder
• Accuracy: Minor underestimation
• Prospect rating: 7C

65. Joonas Nättinen, Montreal Canadiens

Solid pick by Les Habitants. They have no reason to rush Nättinen, he should play at least a couple of years in Finland, seeing a lot of icetime in SM-liiga and being a second-line center in the next two WJC’s.

He was the first Finn drafted by the Canadiens since 2003 when they drafted Oskari Korpikari. My prediction was a bit optimistic, but I was right about him being picked in the third round at latest.

• My prediction: 2nd rounder
• Accuracy: Minor overestimation
• Prospect rating: 7B

101. Toni Rajala, Edmonton Oilers

Another case where my worst case scenario was realized. Being something of an Oilers fan, I love this pick. Even with all the question marks, he never should’ve fallen that far. He has a huge upside, even if he is quite unlikely to ever reach it.

I’m just hoping that Rajala gets a fair chance with Ilves next year, he should be able to score around ten goals in SM-liiga. If he doesn’t get enough icetime, the Oilers should try to lure him to North America for 2010/11.

• My prediction: 2nd rounder
• Accuracy: Major overestimation
• Prospect rating: 8D

106. Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks

Soild pick by the Ducks. Vatanen should have chance to grab a regular spot in JYP lineup next year and should see some powerplay action as well. There’s no need to rush him, but I’m not sure whether the drafts rights are again only valid for two years.

• My prediction: 2nd rounder
• Accuracy: Major overestimation
• Prospect rating: 7D

163. Jere Sallinen, Minnesota Wild

If the younger Sallinen recovers from his back injury, he could be a steal. If he doesn’t, it was a wasted pick by the Wild. Again, a case where patience is a virtue.

• My prediction: 6th rounder
• Accuracy: Spot on
• Prospect rating: 7D

171. Joni Ortio, Calgary Flames

A goalie from Turku, I guess Flames fans are excited. I don’t think he benefits much from another year in the juniors (he already had the second best save percentage of the U20 league last year), so if he can’t grab the backup spot in TPS SM-liiga lineup, maybe they should loan him to a Mestis club.

• My prediction: 5th rounder
• Accuracy: Minor overestimation
• Prospect rating: 7C

178. Rasmus Rissanen, Carolina Hurricanes

Rissanen is yet to see any SM-liiga action and only has half a season in the U20 league behind him, so he needs a lot of experience before he is able to challenge for an NHL job. Whether that experience should come from playing in Finland or North America is a whole another question. He’s the kind of player who could benefit from playing major junior hockey before graduating to the AHL and then, eventually, the NHL.

• My prediction: 5th rounder
• Accuracy: Minor overestimation
• Prospect rating: 6C

182. Erik Haula, Minnesota Wild

Some people thought Haula might in fact be the first Finn to be picked, but having seen both him, Nättinen and Rajala in U18 Worlds I thought he didn’t have the potential of those two. It seems NHL clubs agreed with me.

It is a lovely pick by the Wild, however. Haula already has played one season in Minnesota and he has signed a letter of intent to go to the University of Minnesota. He’s going to play in the USHL next year with the Omaha Lancers.

• My prediction: 4th rounder
• Accuracy: Major overestimation
• Prospect rating: 7C

208. Tommi Kivistö, Carolina Hurricanes

Kivistö has a lot of rebounding to do next year, but given his potential, I don’t think he should’ve slipped this far. He’s one of the prospects I’m going to follow closely in the future.

• My prediction: 4th rounder
• Accuracy: Major overestimation
• Prospect rating: 7D

211. Petteri Similä, Montreal Canadiens

Similä was the only draftee I didn’t list in my preview. He’s another huge goalie, so I guess the Habs are hoping that he would have a similar career path as Koskinen. Similä has a long way to go though, he was a backup in the juniors last year. Definately a “draft and follow” -type of pick.

• My prediction: None
• Accuracy: Major underestimation
• Prospect rating: -

There were also some prospects I expected to be picked who were passed over. Nico Manelius is, as far as I know, fully recovered from his knee injury. If he has a solid season, he’s pretty much guaranteed to be picked next year.

Kristian Näkyvä was another defenseman I envisioned would be a late round pick. If he makes the WJC squad and performs well, he might be picked next year. With the youth movement in Blues, he should have a good chance to see regular shift in SM-liiga, as well.

In retrospect, I have to admit I was stretching it with Iiro Pakarinen and Antti Raanta. They’ll have to prove themselves in SM-liiga before they are considered by NHL clubs. Pakarinen might have a chance of making the WJC squad as well.