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Toni Utunen | D


thejazz97

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I really like this pick. Seems to be on the ice when the team is in control of the puck. JB wins the last two drafts hands down. Quinn Hughes will be the best defenseman to come out of this draft. Dhalin will be good but he is going to be a big boy and lose some of his youth speed. Plus he is not a point per game player with men and Hughes is.

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2 hours ago, doobiedoodoo said:

Have to say, I have liked this guy ever since I heard of him 30 minutes ago.

damn

an honest keyboard warrior

and on these cdc boards

congrats

 

(i always wonder at so many who so ardently criticize draft selections

i have been on here long enough to know there are only a very very few

who actually know what they are talking about when it comes to young talent)

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20 minutes ago, coastal.view said:

well i'll make you a bet

i think sami salo likely gave a strong thumbs up for him

and the canucks followed through

i like salo's assessment of dmen more then yours :)

 

I guarantee he will. I was mocking the constant complaint about player size.

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7 hours ago, doobiedoodoo said:

Have to say, I have liked this guy ever since I heard of him 30 minutes ago.

I was trying to think of what to say about this pick. (Having trouble remembering his name.) But this comment above pretty much captures it. Sorry I didn't think of it and credit to Doobie. 

 

After reading a few things this seems like a good call for a 5th rounder.

 

One thing I like is that it looks like he will play for Finland at the WJC for the next two years, making that tournament more interesting. This year, he, Depietro, and Hughes should all be there (unless Hughes is in the NHL), and maybe Woo and Rathbone have a shot.

 

Utunen seems to have got passed over because a) he is pretty good at everything but not great at anything (no "separating skill" in the words of TL) and his below average size. Those two things together seem to have hurt his draft position. But there is a decent chance he could add a bit a of height and of course he will add some size and strength. He reminds me a bit of Frankie Corrado (also a 5th round pick). If he just turns out a bit better than Frankie, he could be a useful NHL player. Certainly he adds something to the D pipeline,

Edited by JamesB
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10 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

From PITB:

 

Toni Utunen - 5’10”, 172 lbs

Some solid international performances for Finland once had Toni Utunen projected to go much higher in the draft. An underwhelming season offensively, however, has Utunen slipping down draft boards, to the point he might not get picked at all.

Utunen played in the second tier Finnish league, Mestis, putting up two goals and 12 points in 28 games. That was enough to lead all junior-aged defencemen in the Mestis, however.

Scouting reports paint a picture of a solid two-way defenceman, that plays very well defensively, limiting both his opponent’s time with the puck and his own mistakes. He lacks the dynamic skating ability to create offence off the rush and isn’t creative enough to create much in the offensive zone, but he’s capable at distributing the puck on the power play and has a decent slap shot that hints at some untapped offensive ability.

It’s not hard to draw a parallel to Sami Vatanen. Both were captains of their U-18 international squads and both played in a lower tier of Finnish hockey in their draft years — Utunen in Mestis and Vatanen in the Jr. A SM-Liiga. Vatanen, too, had an underwhelming draft year, managing just 10 points in 20 games in the Finnish junior league.

Utunen has great defensive awareness, but also has those two words that the Canucks love: character and compete. His leadership and willingness to battle and block shots in the defensive zone are attributes that will help him on his path to making the NHL. Combine that with his well-rounded game and Utunen could be a late-round steal.

God that trailer is epic.  That music lol. I feel like I am watching a lord of the rings movie.

 

Lets pump this kid over to our Finnish Factory in TPS with the director of Canucks Finnish development Sami Salo.  :P 

 

Or to Utica to Trent Cull :D

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