Teemu Hartikainen Cracks The Top Ten - Oilers Top 25 Under 25

by Derek Zona on Jul 26, 2010 10:30 AM PDT in Prospects Comment 9 comments

All of Teemu Hartikainen's arrows are pointing in the right direction, and they have been since he debuted in the SM-Liiga. He was drafted 163rd overall in Stu MacGregor's first draft and the longshot has been pushing himself into conversations about the Oilers' future ever since.

His year-over-year scoring is up, despite completing his mandatory military service, which put a dent in the first half of his season. He played in the World Championship warm-ups and was Finland's best player at the World Junior Championships for two years in a row. In the first round of this year's SM-Liiga playoffs, he was the best forward in the league. His shot rates are outstanding and his even strength scoring is tracking well. His post-military scoring was .677 per game, or 36 points for the season. Using Desjardins' NHLE, that's equivalent to 10 goals and 20 assists through an NHL season. For a sixth-round pick, he's tracking far above expectations.

Even though Hartikainen wasn't ranked in the top ten by any of us, the fact that none of us dropped him below thirteen sprung his cumulative rating into the top ten. In fact, outside of the top five, no other player saw his five Copper & Blue ratings converge as closely as Hartikainen. Either my never-ending propaganda campaign has finally had an impact on the writers here, or the arrows described above have been noticed by everyone else except Ben, who inexplicably dropped him five spots this year.

Rank	Player	DOB	Drafted	Year	Ben	Bruce	Derek	Jon	Scott
10	Teemu Hartikainen	5/3/90	163	2008	12	13	11	13	11

Previous rank: 13

Given the amount of coverage I've given Hartikainen over the last year, there isn't much new information to put out there. I recommend you browse the copious Hartikainen wing of The Copper & Blue library; there is information on everything from his propensity to shoot from in tight to his play in the World Junior Championships.

Where does that leave Teemu as he heads to Oklahoma City to begin his first North American season with the Barons? Well, we're not really sure. When I last looked at comparable players, it became clear that the Finnish military service requirement makes it difficult to use any kind of one-to-one projection for teenage Finns. Right now, his closest comp falls somewhere between Ville Niemenen and Jere Lehtinen, and the gulf between those two players is wide. If he does turn into Ville Niemenen at the NHL level, I don't think you'll find an Oiler fan, nor writer here, that would be disappointed.

His season in Oklahoma City will tell us so much about his game and his future. He's moving to a much smaller rink which should allow him to use his physical game and be a more effective winger. At the same time, he's going to compete against larger men, on average, and that should limit his physical game, especially power moves from the boards, something he lives on in the offensive end. But he's more than that - he kills penalties, he was KalPa's version of Tomas Holmstrom on the power play, and he both enjoys and excels in the defensive end, or at least he did in Finland.

There remains every chance that Hartikainen will flame out and never sniff the NHL. Gabe Desjardins looked at the issue last year and gave him a one in three chance of making the NHL based on historical rates. But the kid has a jet stream worth of wind behind his back right now and he plays a game that no other prospect in the organization plays. He's come from nearly nowhere and has been forced to prove himself at every turn; there's a crack in the door and if anyone is capable of wedging his way into the show, it's Teemu Hartikainen.

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Interesting how he wound up in the Top 10 despite ranking outside of it in all 5 individual rankings.

Hartikainen and Lander are my two favourite Oiler prospects at this point, at least among those picked outside of the first round.

Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries

"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg

by Bruce McCurdy on Jul 26, 2010 10:40 AM PDT reply actions

Lander is just three votes back of Hartikainen, but Hartikainen is 14 votes behind number 9.

9 —> 10 is the second biggest gap in ratings after 5 —> 6

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Jul 26, 2010 10:49 AM PDT up reply actions

5 Canadians in the top 12. It IS the Detroit model!

by CDA on Jul 26, 2010 11:04 AM PDT reply actions

. If he does turn into Ville Nieminen at the NHL level, I don’t think you’ll find an Oiler fan, nor writer here, that would be disappointed.

It’s funny that you happen to mention Ville Nieminen. After his team Tappara lost to KalPa in the first round of the playoffs, the big-chinned old rascal went on to commentate the rest of the games on TV (doing mighty fine job too). Ville made it clear that he absolutely hated playing against Teemu because of the skills, attitude and strength he possessed. Ville continued to praise and exaggarate Teemu’s superior anatomy in a way that would make even Derek or Elton John blush.

Things to improve: general awareness & positioning. I have a hunch that Oklahoma City will be perfect place to train those skills. Good luck, Teemu!

by Waker on Jul 26, 2010 1:21 PM PDT reply actions

You make it all sound so dirty.

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Jul 28, 2010 9:02 AM PDT up reply actions

STRONG, MUSCULAR LEGS.

by Benjamin Massey on Jul 28, 2010 9:21 AM PDT up reply actions

I also liked that quote from Derek. But I liked it for its implications about whether or not the writers here are Oiler fans. He must be targeting Bruce with that one…

by Scott Reynolds on Jul 29, 2010 12:44 AM PDT up reply actions

I was an Oiler fan long before I was a writer here. At the moment I consider myself both. And neither of me would be disappointed if we got the next Ville Nieminen.

Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries

"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg

by Bruce McCurdy on Jul 29, 2010 12:50 AM PDT up reply actions

I was trying to separate the erudite writers here from the guy in the second level scream “Horcoff sucks”

Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.

by Derek Zona on Jul 29, 2010 8:53 AM PDT up reply actions

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