Montreal Canadiens: What Joni Ikonen Needs to Do to Improve

Montreal Canadiens 2nd round pick Joni Ikonen has struggled early on in his first season with Kalpa, but there are things that he can do to improve.

Keeping track on how Montreal Canadiens prospects are doing is always fun. It could be for many reasons, but most because Not it gives you a sense of what is to come.

For example, Victor Mete would’ve been only a lot of people’s radars if he was still on the London Knights. Additionally, fans are going to be paying attention to how players on the Laval Rocket fair. Noah Juulsen, Brett Lernout, Jakub Jerabek, and Nikita Scherbak to name a few are definite options to be on the Montreal Canadiens in the future.

There are also the players in the other leagues. The two that we’re excited for the most are the top two picks from the last draft in Ryan Poehling and Joni Ikonen. Poehling has just started the preseason in the NCAA, but Ikonen has already been playing for Kalpa in Finland.

Unfortunately, the transition to a full-time position on a mens league’s team hasn’t been the smoothest. Ikonen has yet to get a single point and has had his minutes decrease.

At the beginning of the season, including the preseason, he was the team’s top line center. As the games went by, his ice time and rank on the roster has decreased to the point where it’s been tough for him to crack the 10 minute mark. He’s even been the 13th forward and moved to the wing for some games.

This is definitely not how Ikonen foresaw this season going after he made the decision to leave Frölunda HC. However, this won’t be any indication of how the rest of the year will go, he’ll be better.

Raising the Ball

If Ikonen stayed in Sweden and played for the U20 team, he would be putting up points left and right. The quality of competition is a true factor and one that he needs to overcome.

It’s easier said than done, but Ikonen just needs to mature a little bit. Certain things that could be done on Frölunda don’t work on Kalpa. For example, trying to deke out everyone into the offensive zone and just decision-making overall. Again, he’s still a young kid, and those things will be picked up over time.

Ikonen is lucky to have a great coach like Sami Kapanen to help him improve. He acknowledges how much skill the young forward has but also the fact that he does too much at times.

I’ve read that some believe Ikonen made a mistake by making the jump to a men’s league. As great as it would look to watch him rip up the U20 team, he’s being challenged to be a well rounded player with Kalpa. These are the kind of growing pains that even NHL players have to deal with. If Ikonen can get past them here, it’ll only make him that much for ready for when he plays for the Montreal Canadiens in the future.

Next: The Laval Rocket's Lines and Pairings

What are your thoughts on Ikonen’s start to the season? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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