Aleksi Heponiemi

[jman]

I'm thinking of making a pitch for this guy because I see a bunch of potential. I'm not too fussed about how long it takes him to get to the bigs. What are peoples' thoughts on this guy in terms of upside and likelihood of making it?

Thanks in advance.

[TheBadger]

GP24 - G17 - A43 - P60

Hell of a stat line. I am becoming more and more interested in this kid that kind of pace. Based on U19 stats all-time in the WHL Aleksi ranks 10th in points per game... Just under the likes of Joe Sakic(9th) and Mike Modano(7th).

I think I might pick him up over Nick Merkley.. Merk is tearing up the AHL but that could be because of Dylan Strome.. hmm Hepo or Merkley...

[lucafen4]

Next year is going to be really interesting with him. Say he packs on some weight over the summer and gets up to 155-160lbs, he's still way to thin and likely lacking the strength to play in the NHL. With what he's doing in the WHL this year, sending him back at 19 there won't make any sense. He'll be too young for the AHL as well. Gotta think he heads to Europe ala Tolvanen this year and plays against men there.

His ceiling could be 40pts or 90pts. A complete boom-bust candidate. IMO. I nabbed him in one pool, just missed him in another, took too long finding roster space to add him. Super intriguing player for sure.

[rataylor22]

Mostly all I know is he's tearing apart the Dub and also Pronman had a first round grade on him. Hoping he follows a similar path to another undersized Finnish player Pronman had in his top 30 that the rest of the industry was lower on pre-draft, and then blew apart his D+1 season, Sebastian Aho.

[bnet]

Should I drop one of these prospects in my MLP bench for Hepo? Steel, Brown, Kyrou, Suzuki and Shestyrokin.

Keeping Shestyrokin. Kyrou is putting up gaudy numbers and looks like he'll be leaned on heavily by Canada for offense at WJ, truth be told I knew next to nothing about him before this year though.
Suzuki looks like money to me, Vegas top six is wide open and he just oozes oodles of skill.
Brown is gonna center that top US line between Mittlestadt and Yamamoto, I honestly am not sold on his long-term upside in NHL...am I stupid or anyone else think/see that?
Steel had a heck of a year last year and is going to be a very good player I think...but I feel like he may be a better real life player then fantasy asset potentially, top six center spot will open up in Anaheim, but for now Kesler and Getzlaf have the keys to that for the next couple years at least.

[Jouko-Pouko]

I might drop Kyrou but isn't there any way you could trade one of those guys to make room for Heponiemi? It will likely take 2-3 years before we see Heponiemi in the NHL but he does have very nice upside.

[Axeman33]

I think what he's going this season is damn impressive, but you already have some damn impressive prospects. I do like JPs idea of trying to deal one away for a future pick. I would imagine all of them would have plenty of interest.

[bnet]

I'd say outside of Suzuki (No one is touching Shes!) none of my players at this exact moment have a high flashy profile for them to bump up any trade in a significant way. After WJC I would expect at least one, maybe all three (Steel, Brown, Kyrou) for their value to have gone up but by then I'm pretty sure Hepo will have been grabbed since I expect he'll have a rocking WJ's as well.

Shestyrokin - Goalie of the future for Rags, carpet has all but been laid out for him, putting up gaudy numbers in KHL (Granted it's on the best team in league)
Suzuki - At the moment, it's him or Glass who will be Vegas' #1 center (sorry Karlson, not buying it yet, plus your shooting % is just ridiculous) could be a perennial 70+ point center.
Steel - Like I said, better real life asset then fantasy, I think he caps out as a 2nd line center who puts up 50-60 points and plays a very strong 2-way game.
Kyrou - Honestly, no idea, needed a prospect and saw the season he was having and grabbed him. He the real deal? Just having a great jnr season? *shrug*
Brown - High pedigree and has great vision, for whatever reason I'm just not sold on him long-term. I see him being a 2nd line 50-ish point high assist center.

Aleksi Heponiemi - Legit no idea what his upside is, looks like he has oodles of skill, just needs to add size and a lot of weight! also a bit worried about the massive depth Flordia will have in that top six...Barkov, Herberdon't, Trocheck, Tippet, Borgstrom, Bjugstad, Dadonov.

[Jouko-Pouko]

Aleksi Heponiemi - Legit no idea what his upside is, looks like he has oodles of skill, just needs to add size and a lot of weight! also a bit worried about the massive depth Flordia will have in that top six...Barkov, Herberdon't, Trocheck, Tippet, Borgstrom, Bjugstad, Dadonov.

Teams are using more and more a top-9 instead of a top-6 these days. Heponiemi will likely play wing at the NHL level, and there's room on the left side. The right side is a bit more crowded but Heponiemi can definitely play the left side. Besides, as said, we're looking 2-3 years into the future with him, so perhaps someone like Bjugstad and/or Dadonov isn't there anymore then.

[StuntMan12]

Would you guys say Hepo is ahead of Suzuki in terms of prospect value?

[Jouko-Pouko]

Would you guys say Hepo is ahead of Suzuki in terms of prospect value?

No. Suzuki is the better prospect, no doubt about that in my mind.

[lucafen4]

Next year is going to be really interesting with him. Say he packs on some weight over the summer and gets up to 155-160lbs, he's still way to thin and likely lacking the strength to play in the NHL. With what he's doing in the WHL this year, sending him back at 19 there won't make any sense. He'll be too young for the AHL as well. Gotta think he heads to Europe ala Tolvanen this year and plays against men there.

His ceiling could be 40pts or 90pts. A complete boom-bust candidate. IMO. I nabbed him in one pool, just missed him in another, took too long finding roster space to add him. Super intriguing player for sure.

Just signed with Karpat of the Finnish league for 18/19. Either that or Jr. - makes the most sense... sometimes it's fun to look back when you nail one.