2024 Flyers Draft Prospects: Konsta Helenius
It goes without saying that when players are drafted into the NHL, their skill sets are not fully formed yet. What's good enough to get a player drafted needs to be built upon if they want to truly make it at the top level, and that process can be quite the undertaking. For Konsta Helenius, though, it's believed that he's already closer than many of his peers to being NHL-ready.
Source: X - @scottcwheeler - 2024 Flyers Draft Prospects: Konsta HeleniusIt goes without saying that when players are drafted into the NHL, their skill sets are not fully formed yet. What's good enough to get a player drafted needs to be built upon if they want to truly make it at the top level, and that process can be quite the undertaking. For Konsta Helenius, though, it's believed that he's already closer than many of his peers to being NHL-ready.
"I believe that six months from now when NHL training camps start that [his hockey sense] is going to give him an opportunity to play in the National Hockey League next year," Finnish legend Olli Jokinen said of Helenius. "That gives him the opportunity to play and be a really, really good player in the NHL as well. I truly believe that he can make that step because of the way that he plays. He can be a two-way guy too. A lot of the times, the younger players, especially the without-the-puck play, that's something that they don't even want to hear, they don't even want to listen because it's all about having the puck and watching the YouTube highlights. He really is committed to playing good defense. Konsta's a different breed in that way."
By all accounts, Helenius really can do it all. He plays a 200-foot game, with a spectacular hockey IQ, great skating skills, and an admirable competitiveness that keeps him wanting to get better every day.
"He wants to learn all the time and he's a competitive kid," Jokinen said. "He always wants to win. He always wants to battle hard. He's a very, very well-liked player around the team, he always comes to the rink with a smile on. He's just a good kid to be around and he's very, very mature for his age."
Of all the skills Helenius can boast about at the young age of 18, it's his ability to read games and have a significant impact on them that catches onlookers' eyes the most. Head coach Marko Kauppinen said, "He reads the game really well and his skating is really, really good at this level. You can see that he's further along [than his peers]...[He] positions himself really well, and understands the game. He has that understanding of the situation in the game and when to play it safe or take a risk. I think his hockey sense is the biggest thing."
Even though he's certainly not the biggest guy on the ice, standing at 5'11" and 180 lbs., there is still extensive praise for his ability to keep up with guys with more of a physical advantage.
"He knows how you play against bigger guys, and how to tie their sticks with good timing when he's in stick battles," Jokinen said. "He's also very, very physical, too...He plays the game the right way, a really hard way, almost more North American than the North American players in our games at times."
That confidence translates to off-ice situations as well. Before, when meeting with scouts, they would request that Jokinen accompany Helenius because of the language barriers. Soon, though, Helenius told Jokinen that he didn't want or need him during meetings because he felt secure enough in his improved English to do it by himself.
"He's got a good head on him," Jokinen said. "And he doesn't think about the draft or anything. In that way, he's got a little bit of coolness about him. He doesn't put any pressure on it."
Although Helenius seems to possess just about every skill a team could want in a draft pick, it's a "jack of all trades, master of none" situation. The Finnish forward simply doesn't really stand out amongst his peers when it comes to said skills—he has undoubtedly has them, but not in a way that blows any competition out of the water. The lack of truly extraordinary abilities, along with an unremarkable physical presence on the ice, is what makes him a fairly realistic choice for the Flyers. He's projected as a top-15 choice, and with a well-rounded skill set, he could work to fill various gaps the Flyers might have in their offensive roster. Helenius would be the kind of prospect that might not sweep Flyers fans off their feet, but no one would be mad at either.
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