FLPensFan Offseason Mock Rosters

[Wyopen]

On Dan Kingerski’s podcast he stated that he was not impressed with Ville Koivunen’s play. Stated he was not fast, not a great skater, and couldn’t find open ice. Any truth to this? Said he should be better because he played 15 games in the AHL last year.

[FLPensFan]

On Dan Kingerski’s podcast he stated that he was not impressed with Ville Koivunen’s play. Stated he was not fast, not a great skater, and couldn’t find open ice. Any truth to this? Said he should be better because he played 15 games in the AHL last year.

I am not an expert in prospect evaluation by any means, but I don't think Kingerski knows a damn thing about prospects. He likes to think he does. He has taken the stance that, when fans scream for prospect X to get a recall, the Penguins already know what they have because they've seen, evaluate, and develop these players 24/7. If they say they can't make the NHL, that's it...according to Kingerski. I would not listen to Kingerski when it comes to prospect evaluations.

Koivunen was 6th in points, 7th in goals in Liiga this year. He had the 12th best U21 production ever in Liiga. Skating is an issue. That's his biggest weakness right now. Other than that, everything I have seen says he is a very smart player, wants the puck on his stick, and has middle 6 potential. One scouting report compared him to Joe Pavelski...if he can put it all together, that's who his style and output may mimic. From what I have seen about his skating, I don't think that it is that he is slow, but more that he may have some abnormal mechanics that hold him back.

This is one of the last scouting reports during his draft year that I found:

April 2021 – Ville Koivunen has gained notoriety as the season went on. He played with Samu Tuomaala, the top Finnish forward on most boards, in Kärpät and he was the one making the motor run on most nights for that line. He elevates whoever he is playing with and has helped Tuomaala stay in the first-round on most boards. He may not have the most impressive tools on the surface but when you dig into his game, he has the skating and mobility to be agile on the wing and the dual-threat ability to make him a superb playmaker while still remaining a shooting threat. He gets himself into a position to succeed by working through traffic, showing a bit of a slippery nature to his game off the puck. He doesn’t always use his speed to their full extent but has the ability to pull a bit more speed out of his back pocket when needed. He is harder to knock off the puck than most players his size, showing a solid base and strength that allows him to navigate pressure with or without the puck. As a playmaker, Koivunen finds the open man regularly and puts the perfect amount of touch on his passes. His ability to toss sauce all over the offensive zone is impressive and he has a knack for dropping it right onto a teammate’s stick. He is a very good powerplay threat. He can play any position on the powerplay from the net-front to the half-wall, being an effective playmaker from any position, even on his off-wing. Koivunen may not be in many first-rounds come draft day but he is one of the players drafted on day two that could have people asking why he wasn’t drafted higher when we look back on 2021 in a decade.

[FLPensFan]

Will any of this matter if Sully remains coach?

Exactly. Honestly, as I have said before, for the first time really in 37 years or so of watching this team religiously, my give a **** meter is about 0 until he is gone. After almost a decade, I just don't care anymore until he is gone because I already know 100% what is going to happen and until they change the coach, this organization is telling me, as a fan, expect the same. We have changed the roster over what, 6 times already? What difference does another mock roster make? THIS one will be the magic sauce? Not as long as our head chef has hepatitis.

I get it with the give a **** meter. I've watched the least amount of hockey this year than in any year prior. Most games it was on in the background with me doing other things, paying attention 5 minutes here or there most nights.

At the same time, we're still planning on fielding a team whether Sullivan is here or not. Dubas earned some points by clearing out some of the muck that Hextall brought in. He made a few good moves in Eller and Nedeljkovic, plus getting Bunting. He made a few bad moves like Graves contract and fixing the defensive side of the bottom 6 while still icing an offensively more anemic bottom 6 than the year prior.

I want to see what Dubas can do this summer. Move out Smith for a pick/prospect, or a player who can definitely help. Add 1 or 2 more pieces up front to strengthen the depth and improve bottom 6 scoring. Ride out the defense until we see which Graves and EK65 show up this year.

If we bring in a couple of Mark Jankowski types as filler instead, Dubas will have lost my faith.

[Pens4Life]

Yeah,but I think that will Sullivan want.. more vets to play bottom lines again lol

[Wyopen]

On Dan Kingerski’s podcast he stated that he was not impressed with Ville Koivunen’s play. Stated he was not fast, not a great skater, and couldn’t find open ice. Any truth to this? Said he should be better because he played 15 games in the AHL last year.

I am not an expert in prospect evaluation by any means, but I don't think Kingerski knows a damn thing about prospects. He likes to think he does. He has taken the stance that, when fans scream for prospect X to get a recall, the Penguins already know what they have because they've seen, evaluate, and develop these players 24/7. If they say they can't make the NHL, that's it...according to Kingerski. I would not listen to Kingerski when it comes to prospect evaluations.

Koivunen was 6th in points, 7th in goals in Liiga this year. He had the 12th best U21 production ever in Liiga. Skating is an issue. That's his biggest weakness right now. Other than that, everything I have seen says he is a very smart player, wants the puck on his stick, and has middle 6 potential. One scouting report compared him to Joe Pavelski...if he can put it all together, that's who his style and output may mimic. From what I have seen about his skating, I don't think that it is that he is slow, but more that he may have some abnormal mechanics that hold him back.

This is one of the last scouting reports during his draft year that I found:

April 2021 – Ville Koivunen has gained notoriety as the season went on. He played with Samu Tuomaala, the top Finnish forward on most boards, in Kärpät and he was the one making the motor run on most nights for that line. He elevates whoever he is playing with and has helped Tuomaala stay in the first-round on most boards. He may not have the most impressive tools on the surface but when you dig into his game, he has the skating and mobility to be agile on the wing and the dual-threat ability to make him a superb playmaker while still remaining a shooting threat. He gets himself into a position to succeed by working through traffic, showing a bit of a slippery nature to his game off the puck. He doesn’t always use his speed to their full extent but has the ability to pull a bit more speed out of his back pocket when needed. He is harder to knock off the puck than most players his size, showing a solid base and strength that allows him to navigate pressure with or without the puck. As a playmaker, Koivunen finds the open man regularly and puts the perfect amount of touch on his passes. His ability to toss sauce all over the offensive zone is impressive and he has a knack for dropping it right onto a teammate’s stick. He is a very good powerplay threat. He can play any position on the powerplay from the net-front to the half-wall, being an effective playmaker from any position, even on his off-wing. Koivunen may not be in many first-rounds come draft day but he is one of the players drafted on day two that could have people asking why he wasn’t drafted higher when we look back on 2021 in a decade.

Wow what a 180! Thanks for the response and “evaluation”. FLPF I trust your judgement, always a deep review.

[Ohio_Pens_fan]

From Dave Molinari:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/th ... r-BB1lR09g