Mikko Kokkonen scouting report for NHL Draft. He is a decent skater with pretty good defensive game for a player of his age. But I’m a lot more confident of my ranking of Nick Robertson than any of those. I’m not sure if I agree that because he’s not an obvious physical late bloomer like Nick Abruzzese, nor someone who needs maturity in their game like Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, that he’s got less room to develop. Reports praise Kokkonen’s skills as a passer, though, and his vision and timing as a defender, both going forward and defending, seem to be strong as well. The thing about defensemen is its not necessarily important for them to be flashy, and while Kokkonen’s game doesn’t feature any big time standout abilities, the total package seems to be an effective one. Even Timothy Liljegren is almost two full years older than Kokkonen. He didn’t get a lot of ice time during the first period, but he was more and more counted on as the game progressed. He had a serious concussion last summer, missed his training camp in Finland as well as the start of the season. “At the under-18s we were very bad, we didn’t play to our level. He is solid all-round, but none of his qualities really stands out. Do the knocks on his skating worry you? He also does a good job of cutting down passing lanes and using his stick to break up plays.
With their third-round draft pick in the 2019 draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs have selected left-shot Finnish defenseman Mikko Kokkonen. Two players were ranked exactly at a weighted average of 12.5 giving us a rare mid-list tie.I’ve said a couple of times during this T25, in comments and now here: I’m so tired of talking about defencemen. However, he is not a big hitter. He has already played extensively for the national squad at various age levels and won gold as an underager on the 2018 world under-18 squad.
He is a decent skater with pretty good defensive game for a player of his age.
He’s not top class for Finland’s WJC team, but he almost certainly will be on the team again, and was invited to their summer camp as expected.Kokkonen is one of the prospects most adversely affected by not having a playoffs to colour in our understanding of him. Kokkonen has a hard slap shot. Mikko Kokkonen | Photo by Kevin Light/Getty Images By Ryan Kennedy Mikko Kokkonen – NHL Draft Projection Kokkonen dropped in many rankings over the course of the year and his point totals and U18 world’s performance may keep him lower in … Up until a few years ago, Jukurit played in the second-tier Mestis; now they’re competing with classic Liiga squads like HIFK and Karpat Oulu.The Hockey News © 2020 Roustan Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved.TheHockeyNews.com gives you the inside scoop on hockey like no other publication. Please view the full post for updates on The Hockey News and upcoming magazines“His slapshot is really hard, so when I was his partner I would give him the puck,” Kokkonen said. While players can compensate for a shortcoming like that, as Kokkonen seems to do, it does mean they have less ability to bail themselves out of trouble when it arises. Blueliners Mikko Kokkonen and Kalle Loponen both hail from Finland, and they even have some early chemistry thanks to playing as partners with Finland’s national squad.“Now it’s higher and higher every year,” he said. Kokkonen is a smart defenceman though and he jumped to Liiga level relatively easy, something he might be able to do in the future too.Last year’s interesting defence prospect vaults into the top 12.There’s so many older prospects in the Leafs system, that the really young ones (other than Nick Robertson) get a little lost in the shuffle until you step back and think about the years of expected upward growth someone like Kokkonen has — unlike players ageing off the list ranked in similar spots this year. His feet could be quicker and his startup less choppy. He is solid all-round, but none of his qualities really stands out. Liljegren just finished his third season in the AHL, and Kokkonen has two full pro seasons in the Liiga, with half of another from when he was very young. “I had to be a little quiet in the room, but on the ice I played my own game.”Kokkonen was taken in the third round of the draft, while Loponen had to wait until the seventh round before hearing his name called.