Who is this Lahti

[l<OV4L3V]

Lahti does not make the 07.08 roster...but perhaps the 08/09 one....pending on who leaves

[Habitforming]

Lahti does not make the 07.08 roster...but perhaps the 08/09 one....pending on who leaves

I find that extremely hard to believe considering he is on a one year deal.

Lahti will be on the habs roster or he will go back to Finland/sign with someone else that will give him playing time.

[saskhab]

1 year is all you can sign a 24 year old entry level player to... Lahti had very limited flexibility in his contract negotiations. He'll have a 2-way clause in his deal as well.

He's in a battle with Grabovski and possibly Locke or Chipchura for an everyday roster spot (which also could depend on how the D pans out, with Streit & Dandenault capable of being converted to forward). The ones that don't make it I think will at least start the season in Hamilton... there looks to be only 1 extra forward spot available and I think they'll give that to an older "tweener" player like Murray, Ferland, Locke, or Milroy rather than a guy that can play every day in Hamilton without clearing waivers.

[Oleg Petrov]

I'm typically a big optimist - I've got high hopes for Plekanec, Kostitsyn, Higgins and Kovalev to each float around the 60-point mark this year, to give you an idea of how optimistic I am - and I really don't see Lahti as much of a likely force this year.

Granted, 20 goals is pretty solid in Finland. Only 12 players in the 14-team league scored more than Lahti's 20, and only 3 players scored more than 24 goals.

But success there doesn't necessarily translate: 35-year-old Kent Manderville - remember him? At his prime, a fourth-liner in the NHL, with a career record of 37 smoking-hot goals in 646 NHL games - scored 19 in the Finnish league last year after being washed out of the NHL in 2003 (after a 2-goal, 82-game season).

So I wish him the best of luck at cracking the lineup, but I don't see him replacing Michael Ryder, or even Perezhogin.

[SAKS-AVENUE]

I'm typically a big optimist - I've got high hopes for Plekanec, Kostitsyn, Higgins and Kovalev to each float around the 60-point mark this year, to give you an idea of how optimistic I am - and I really don't see Lahti as much of a likely force this year.

Granted, 20 goals is pretty solid in Finland. Only 12 players in the 14-team league scored more than Lahti's 20, and only 3 players scored more than 24 goals.

But success there doesn't necessarily translate: 35-year-old Kent Manderville - remember him? At his prime, a fourth-liner in the NHL, with a career record of 37 smoking-hot goals in 646 NHL games - scored 19 in the Finnish league last year after being washed out of the NHL in 2003 (after a 2-goal, 82-game season).

So I wish him the best of luck at cracking the lineup, but I don't see him replacing Michael Ryder, or even Perezhogin.

You are pretty optimistic, especially when it comes to replacing Perez . That should be pretty easy considering he's not with the team anymore.

[Habitforming]

I'm typically a big optimist - I've got high hopes for Plekanec, Kostitsyn, Higgins and Kovalev to each float around the 60-point mark this year, to give you an idea of how optimistic I am - and I really don't see Lahti as much of a likely force this year.

Granted, 20 goals is pretty solid in Finland. Only 12 players in the 14-team league scored more than Lahti's 20, and only 3 players scored more than 24 goals.

But success there doesn't necessarily translate: 35-year-old Kent Manderville - remember him? At his prime, a fourth-liner in the NHL, with a career record of 37 smoking-hot goals in 646 NHL games - scored 19 in the Finnish league last year after being washed out of the NHL in 2003 (after a 2-goal, 82-game season).

So I wish him the best of luck at cracking the lineup, but I don't see him replacing Michael Ryder, or even Perezhogin.

Ugh

[lazy26]

I'm typically a big optimist - I've got high hopes for Plekanec, Kostitsyn, Higgins and Kovalev to each float around the 60-point mark this year, to give you an idea of how optimistic I am - and I really don't see Lahti as much of a likely force this year.

Granted, 20 goals is pretty solid in Finland. Only 12 players in the 14-team league scored more than Lahti's 20, and only 3 players scored more than 24 goals.

But success there doesn't necessarily translate: 35-year-old Kent Manderville - remember him? At his prime, a fourth-liner in the NHL, with a career record of 37 smoking-hot goals in 646 NHL games - scored 19 in the Finnish league last year after being washed out of the NHL in 2003 (after a 2-goal, 82-game season).

So I wish him the best of luck at cracking the lineup, but I don't see him replacing Michael Ryder, or even Perezhogin.

Ok... so this represents the pessimistic end of the Lahti spectrum. We've seen mostly overly-optimistic posts regarding Lahti, so this is almost refreshing. Almost.

Fact is, Lahti is only 24, and his best years are ahead of him. It's not too much to assume that he'll improve with time, and be a much better player than this Manderville fella (kudos on your research, OP). However, I don't want to place unreal expectations on Janne, as he will still have to get used to the NHL game. Nevertheless, I think his potential MIGHT be higher than some people might expect.

I'd love to see him take the Calder as a sleeper, but really, I'd love to see him help the team on both ends of the ice, show some decent work ethic, and contribute consistently.

Also, telling dirty jokes in Finnish with Koivu would be an added bonus.