Chef Boi RD wrote: ↑Sun Mar 08, 2020 10:32 pm
Not a huge fan of Finnish hockey players in general, they are a peculiar breed,
you wish they were all like Sami Salo. Totally different than the Swedes.
Remember
Sami Salo didn't start his NHL career till he was 24 with the Sens, & not every prospect bursts out of the gates like Petey and Hughes, some take time.
The only issue with Juolevi is he has Salo luck lol, just going through injuries every year.
And our other best
Finnish player dman was
Jyrki Lumme, and he didn't play his first 80+ game NHL season till he was
25. He also had a knee injury with the Habs way back when, but got healthy and had a long superb career.
The Sens and Habs gave up on Salo + Lumme too quick, for Salo (Schaefer) and Lumme (2nd rounder Craig Darby [who bounced back and forth to the AHL).
With that said, I say just relax on 21 yr old Juolevi, he'll be ok in time, he fits the teams systems of a puck possession team and OJ has a great pass, can setup players with superb vision and playmaking ability....Also he won't be needing a big 2nd contract, which saves on cap space down the road. Additionally his value isn't high as it is thanks to injuries, so sit tight and thank the gods Hughes is here to distract you - while OJ continues to develop into a future top 4 dman, cost controlled and likely plays superb NHL hockey 24-25 yrs of age till late 30's, get a good 8-10 years of awesome hockey in him at least.
Can the Canucks just win a Cup within the next 5 years.