Top 14 Finnish Prospects for the 2021 NHL Draft
This is a very mediocre draft class in terms of Finnish players. There’s no clear-cut top player and none are going to be NHLers in the near future. There’s decent amount of talent for rounds 2-3, but the drop after that is very substantial.
Only players who played in Finland last season were considered for this list. This pretty much only affected Viljami Marjala, who would have easily been a top-10 on this list (but I haven’t seen him enough to make more accurate comparison between the others). Foreign players who played in Finland, such as Carson Lambos or Brett Harrison, weren’t considered either.
The data used in this article is based on my U20 SM-sarja tracking project, which consists of 30+ players and 250+ games. You can see the entire data and visualizations through this link.
Ville Koivunen, RW, Kärpät U20 (U20 SM-sarja), 6-foot-0, 165 lbs, Jun 13, 2003
Just a year ago the thought of having anyone other than Aatu Räty at the top of this list would have felt alien. That being said, things have shifted around a lot during the past season. Even though Räty was the highest-ranked Finnish prospect on EliteProspects’ final board, I did a lot of pondering over the past month and as of result, we have another Kärpät forward at the top: Ville Koivunen.
Koivunen differs from many other top prospects on this list in that he hasn’t been playing up multiple levels like Räty and Samu Tuomaala have done. Most of that has to do with Kärpät’s stacked junior pipeline, but it has also given the opportunity for Koivunen to dominate every level of play before advancing to the next one.
In 2018–2019, he led Kärpät’s U16 team to a championship by being the top scorer in the league during the regular season and playoffs. The next year he won the U18 league scoring title and was named the best player in the league while scoring almost two points per game in 37 appearances.
When he finally arrived at the U20 level last season, he proved to be more than ready for the challenge, leading Kärpät in both goals and points while finishing third in league-wide scoring with 23 goals and 49 points in 38 games. Koivunen was also the second-most productive Finn at the U18 Worlds with ten points in seven games.
Koivunen is the most intelligent player in this draft among Finns. Combining his smarts with very good technical skills makes him a very dangerous offensive player. Not only are his individual skills (stickhandling, playmaking, shooting) good in a vacuum, but it’s the way he can seamlessly combine those singular skills that makes the whole package so intriguing.
By reading the play so well at all times, Koivunen recognizes the best play pretty much every time. If there’s no good option available, he can manufacture one by himself. He draws in pressure like a magnet, creating space for his linemates before hitting them with creative passes. Koivunen’s one-touch playmaking is among the top in the entire draft class. It helps him to be effective in transition and also allows him to create in the offensive zone. He knows the right play before he gets the puck, which reduces the number of turnovers and allows him to play fast if needed.
Koivunen’s 23 goals in 37 games are not a result of a top-of-the-world release, but it’s more telling of his patience with the puck and drive to go to the middle. Every goal Koivunen scored at 5-on-5 in the U20 SM-sarja during the past season came from between the dots, mostly in front of the net or high slot. It also helps that Koivunen’s shooting mechanics are ahead of most of his peers in Finland. His placement is very good and he doesn’t panic with his rebound chances, ie. having the patience to move the puck to his backhand before shooting.
It’s not a shock that Koivunen also passes the analytical check with flying colors. His 15-game sample is the best that I’ve tracked during the past two seasons while doing the U20 SM-sarja tracking project. Whether it’s creating chances (high expected goals and expected primary assists rates), exiting and entering zones, breaking up plays, retrieving pucks, or controlling the play, Koivunen has you covered. His numbers are above-average in every metric and top-of-the-pack in many of the most important categories.
There’s only really one catch: Koivunen currently projects as a slightly below-average skater. His four-step acceleration and explosiveness are lacking and even when he gets going, his top speed isn’t particularly impressive. Lack of ankle flexion is a major issue, which also affects his balance (though he’s decent at using contact with the puck and most of the time avoids it all together by taking pucks in motion). Even with further strength training, there’s likely a limit on how much Koivunen can improve on this front and it prevents him from being considered a true top prospect in my eyes.
The thing is that Koivunen’s playstyle isn’t predicated on him being the fastest player on the ice. Quite the opposite, actually. I don’t think that the pace of play is that big of an issue either, even though I know that there are NHL teams who are wary of this aspect as well. Koivunen just screams a player whose skills are going to translate easily to the next level. If his skating takes a few steps forward, I’m rather confident in his projection and upside, which is why he’s at the top of this list.Aatu Räty, C, Kärpät (Liiga), 6-foot-1, 181 lbs, Nov 14, 2002
Even though Räty didn’t enter the season as a clear-cut top prospect like Alexis Lafrenière or Jack Hughes did in the previous years, he was still the most common first overall candidate in pre-season rankings. When the struggles that started during the second half of the 2019–2020 season continued, Räty’s stock started to go down and that remained the case for pretty much the entire season.
Räty added just three goals and six points in 35 Liiga appearances while averaging just over 10 minutes on most nights. There was even a short stint in the U20 league, but it wasn’t enough to earn him a spot on Finland’s WJC roster even though he had been a part of last year’s team. While all hope isn’t lost, it’s been clear that there has to be a major correction to what is expected from Räty in the future.
Räty still has a lot of very good qualities, which is why he’s still likely to go in the first round as the first Finnish player taken.
Räty’s two-way play has improved during the past year, especially during the second half. His wrist shot mechanics are really good as he’s able to utilize the power from his lower and upper-body (top hand in front of the body, a lot of downward force applied, twist from the hips). It’s very unlikely that Räty is going to score as little as he has done during the past 1,5 years in the future - I believe there’s some regression due in that regard (lack of confidence has been a big issue during the past year). He’s also got fast-twitch hands that are a weapon in a vacuum. He’s a good athlete and a hard worker in and out of the ice. He can compete well against pro-level men. He can play modern, fast-paced hockey.
Räty’s results from his stint at the U20 level were dominant (as expected). While he “only” added seven points in eight games, he could have had more based on the way that he played. He put together above-average results in pretty much every category that I tracked.
The problem with Räty is how his singular skills mash into a cohesive skill set. While they weren’t problematic in the junior levels, he has a lot of habits that have proved detrimental at the pro level.
Räty’s decision-making with the puck can be slow at times and a lot of the time he’s very tunnel-visioned with the puck (ie. only focusing on a single variable, fixating on a specific play with an inability to adapt). He has problems with playmaking unless his on perimeter in the offensive zone, and even then there’s not a ton of manipulation or deception in his passing.
One of the best examples of Räty’s bad habits is the tendency to try to stickhandle with the puck in front of him while gliding. A common occurrence was Räty trying to enter the zone with pure handling while not keeping his feet moving or the puck in his hip pocket, which is very unlikely to work at the Liiga level and even more unlikely in the NHL.
There’s also the sub-optimal skating stride that Räty has started to specifically work on during last season. His stride is quite heavy and there’s a clear lack of ankle flexion. Räty also doesn’t recover his strides properly, which results in his power mostly coming from his inside edges. He can somewhat compensate for the inefficiencies by hustling and being a good athlete, but he’s not going to beat too many NHL defencemen with his current form.
At this point, a third-line winger (maybe a second-line if everything breaks right) who can play competent defence and be a complementary scorer seems like the most likely NHL outcome for Räty and even that is not certain in any way.Samu Salminen, C, Jokerit U20 (U20 SM-sarja), 6-foot-3, 190 lbs, Apr 09, 2003
Salminen has been a top player for his age group in Finland for a while. He was already almost a point-per-game player in the U20 circuit in 2019–2020 and put up ridiculous 23 points in seven games during his time with the U18 program. Last season he would have been a strong contender for the U20 league scoring title if Jokerit’s season wasn’t cut short due to pandemic restrictions. Wearing C for Finland in the U18 Worlds, he was Finland’s top goal-scorer by adding seven goals and nine points in seven games.
Salminen is not necessarily the most flashy player, but as you can imagine from the point totals, he’s been a very effective offensive force. It mostly comes down to his smarts and instincts. Salminen’s ability to recognize the situation and adapt is among the best on this list. He just finds ways to produce.
Having one of the best puck skills on this list, he uses the full reach from his 6-foot-3 frame and has excellent hand-eye coordination, allowing him to do stuff with the puck that few on this board can. Sometimes he relies on his hands too much and turns the puck over as of result, but that should be in the realm of correctable errors.
Salminen’s a dual-threat center who can either rip one past the goalie from mid-distance or make a cross-slot feed to an open teammate for a tap-in. As a defender, you can’t really overcommit to either option or Salminen will make you pay for doing so. His first-touch game is also good and he can work smart give-and-gos in transition and in the offensive zone.Salminen has also developed into more of a two-way player during the past season. His work rate isn’t the highest, but he generally does a good job at supporting the play down low and along the boards. Something that is also worth a mention: he’s a beast in the face-off circle. It’s pretty rare to see a team use their youngest player just for a face-off at the start of overtime (which happened during 2019–2020 in the U20 league).
Salminen’s statistical profile from this season is pretty strong all-around. He especially excelled at generating chances for his linemates (high expected primary assist mark), but also did an above-average job off-puck and in transition.
Salminen’s major deficiency is his clumsy skating stride and the overall pace of play. He’s not very quick nor is he the most agile. While this hasn’t been that big of a deal so far, it could present an issue at higher levels and inhibit his effectiveness, especially in transition. It also might force him to wing at some point.
Even though he could have played in Liiga on a different organization last season, Salminen has opted into the college route and will play for the University of Denver starting in 2022-2023, which means he’s going to spend the next season again in the U20 league. Even though the concerns about skating and pace are very valid, Salminen’s combination of smarts, playmaking and shooting is intriguing enough to having him at this spot.
Samu Tuomaala, RW, Kärpät U20 (U20 SM-sarja), 5-foot-10, 176 lbs, Jan 08, 2003
If Salminen has been one of the top dogs among 2003-born Finns for a while, the same can be said about Tuomaala. He added 15 goals and 23 points in 40 games in the U20 league in 2019–2020 and followed that up with 31 points in 30 games last season, earning a five-game stint with Kärpät’s Liiga squad. Having always played his best hockey with the national team, Tuomaala was Finland’s top scorer in the U18 Worlds, finishing fifth in the tournament scoring with 11 points in seven games.
It’s easy to see why Tuomaala is so highly ranked by many outlets and why it’s entirely possible that he goes in the first round on Friday. The 5-foot-10 winger is a very quick skater, being able to generate speed quickly through linear crossovers. There were usually at least one or two times where Tuomaala went coast-to-coast with the puck last season, preferring to beat defenders using the outside lane.
Tuomaala has always been known as a sniper, having put up big goal totals in league play and at international events. His wrister is deadly efficient, being able to shoot from either leg and possessing the best in-stride wrister on this list. Tuomaala’s one-timer is also a big-time strength, being able to hammer pucks in from the left half-wall on the power play. The puck skills are also considered a strength.
Tuomaala’s statistical profile at 5-on-5 from last season is also strong in many regards. His ability to create chances for himself is among the best, but he’s also above-average in expected primary assists. Utilizing his speed, he’s also at the top of the list in terms of generating controlled zone entries.
The reasons for why Tuomaala is “only” the fourth-ranked player on this list have to do with concerns on how his style of play will translate to further levels. Tuomaala’s primary way to create offence at 5-on-5 is the outside lane drive, and the players who are able to execute them consistently are rare in Liiga and even rarer in the NHL. Relying on pure speed just isn’t translatable unless you are a much better skater than your opposition (and Tuomaala doesn’t project as McDavid, MacKinnon or Barzal in terms of skating).
Another red flag is Tuomaala’s habit of just simply shooting too much from bad angles if he’s not able to go past the defender with his speed. For example, the average value of Tuomaala’s 5-on-5 shot in my 15-game sample was just south of 0.05 while Koivunen’s was 0.08 and Salminen’s was 0.07. Shots from near the blue line go in rarely even at the U20 level and it only gets harder to score from that range when you advance. This was a problem for Tuomaala even in 2019–2020 and there wasn’t much improvement made during last season. A player with his talent level should have scored more than he did, even if he put up 31 points in 30 games.
This doesn’t mean that Tuomaala isn’t able to overhaul his game in the future and start to use more translatable ways of creating offence (ie. off-puck play, utilizing teammates better). On pure talent, he’s a first-rounder, but the translatability concerns keep him on the second round on my board.
Oliver Kapanen, C, KalPa U20 (U20 SM-sarja), 6-foot-1, 179 lbs, Jul 29, 2003
Kapanen’s stock as a prospect has been trending upwards for the past few years. He didn’t make Finland’s U17 World Hockey Challenge roster in 2019, but made his national team debut later that season and was one of the top scorers in the U18 league. Kapanen made his breakthrough as a legit top player in his age group in Finland last season, leading KalPa’s U20 team in both goals and points (scoring ten goals more than the second-most productive player on the team). He even had a 5-game stint in Mestis, adding five points in five games. Kapanen’s U18 tournament was ruined by an injury, but his season was still a major success overall.
Kapanen’s separation skill are his offensive instincts. He’s really proficient at finding quiet space in the offensive zone, sneaking his way to scoring positions with proper timing and body positioning. He’s not afraid to go to the net, scoring a large portion of his goals from the net-front area and from rebounds.
I rate Kapanen’s finishing skills highly. As said before, he can score from in tight but also from mid-distance. His wrist shot mechanics are solid and he can get it off from different angles and positions. In front of the net, Kapanen has the patience to finish effectively instead of just shoving the puck to the goalie’s pads.
Kapanen has also made progress as a playmaker during the past year. He has added more deception to his passing, being able to manipulate the defenders more effectively to his will. Hand-eye coordination and being able to pull off difficult moves are also strengths for Kapanen.
Kapanen’s 10-game statistical sample is also rather impressive. He was able to generate both expected goals and expected primary assists at an above-average rate and also had positive impact in transition.
Kapanen’s skating is the biggest reason why he isn’t even higher on this list. His posture and stride form need some work, even though added lower-body strength should serve him well. Kapanen is also not the most consistent performer on a shift-to-shift basis, having tendencies to go invisible for large stretches in a game. His two-way play is also still a work in progress. The raw potential is very intriguing, though.
Aleksi Heimosalmi, D, Ässät U20 (U20 SM-sarja), 5-foot-11, 168 lbs, May 08, 2003
Heimosalmi is the player on my board who made the most significant jump during the second half of the season. In the first half and even before the U18’s, I was rather hesitant about his game and didn’t buy into the hype.
I might still not buy into all of the hype, but it’s fair to say that I’ve come around on him a lot since then, which is why he’s highest-ranked defenceman on my board. Heimosalmi spent last season playing big minutes for Ässät’s U20 team, adding 21 points in 35 games. He made a big impact at the U18’s, being named the top defenceman in the tournament while adding eight points in seven games and scoring two highlight reel goals.
Heimosalmi’s calling card as a prospect is his skating, more specifically his edgework, which among the best in the draft class. He can change his direction in an instant, being able to make a mockery out of the F1 before moving the puck out from his own zone or dancing effortlessly on the OZ blue line. Heimosalmi’s explosiveness and top speed are not quite on par with his edges, but they are still at a good level. Overall, it’s easy to project him as an above-average skater at the NHL level.
Combined with his skating form, Heimosalmi’s posture makes him an effective handler, too. Sometimes the hands don’t follow the feet, but that’s not the case here. The skating and puckhandling form a very strong base to build on.
That being said, Heimosalmi has work to with how to utilize his skills to the maximum. At the U18’s and in the U20 league, he did shoot a lot from longer distances. Way too much for a below-average shooter, in fact. He has the ability to get open at the point due to his edges and lateral agility, but often those sequences only resulted in low-value shots and he missed a lot of better options on the way.
On the power play, Heimosalmi relies more on his playmaking to create, so he should have the skills to do so at 5-on-5, too, but it just hasn’t happened yet and it’s something that I’d like to see him tweak.
Heimosalmi’s statistical profile from the U20 SM-sarja wasn’t also very good (though most of the games were tracked in the first half of the season, for whatever that’s worth). His individual expected goals output is slightly better than average, but it should be greater given his shooting volume. His expected primary assist output is rather weak and his transition numbers are average at best, even though he has the skating and handling skills to do a lot better in this area.
Defensively, Heimosalmi is pretty sound and his positioning is rather good, only occasionally being in the completely wrong spot. He can make stops with well-timed pokechecks, even though he’s physically not yet very developed. Heimosalmi’s rush defence was rather bad at times, though, with him playing way too passively and giving away too much space for free.
Even though there are clear areas for improvement, the fundamental base is strong and as said before, it’s a great foundation to build upon.
Samuel Helenius, C, JYP (Liiga), 6-foot-6, 201 lbs, Nov 26, 2002
A year ago, you wouldn’t have expected Helenius to be the most productive first-time draft-eligible in Liiga during 2020–2021. That’s exactly what happened, though. Helenius moved to JYP’s organization after playing with Jokerit’s U20 team in 2019–2020 and added 14 points in 54 games during his first Liiga campaign. The towering center earned himself a spot on the WJC team with a strong first half of the season, performing well in a fourth line role in the tournament and adding four points in seven games while doing so.
Helenius’ competent two-way play is what made him a full-time Liiga player at age 17. He’s a strong competitor in puck battles, getting down low in the defensive zone to help his defenders and supporting the puck well in every zone, utiziling his ridiculously long wingspan to do so. As a son of a former goon Sami Helenius, he’s not afraid to get physical, delivering thunderous hits on the forecheck but also using his body well in less obvious ways.
Not just an off-puck player, Helenius has also some offence in his game. He has a heavy shot that can surprise goalies from longer distances and surprisingly soft hands for his size, being able to hold on to the puck in tight and while pressured.
Of course, there are some weaknesses, too. Helenius’ top speed is decent, but the problem is getting to that top speed. His mobility is also not that good and quick changes of direction are poison for him. There’s also the aggressive use of the upper-body with his arms swinging violently from side to side. And even though Helenius can make the odd creative play, he’s not a very prolific playmaker.
Helenius is an interesting case study of a player who has a very realistic path to becoming an NHLer, but it’s very likely going to be in a depth role. I usually don’t value players like that very much, preferring swinging for more upside, but at this point of the list, he’s simply the best player available. He’s probably going to go way higher in the actual draft, though.
Aleksi Malinen, P, JYP (Liiga), 6-foot-0, 185 lbs, May 26, 2003
Much like Helenius, Malinen also spend the entire last season with JYP’s men’s team, aside from three U20 SM-sarja playoff games late in the season. Malinen’s role on the team changed a lot. In some games, he was playing over 20 minutes on the top-pairing, while in others he barely saw the ice at all. His ice time fluctuated a lot at the U18’s, too.
Malinen’s clear-cut best attribute is his skating. Tehnically, he’s a very sound skater with excellent posture, proper ankle flexion, and knee bend, and fully extended stride. Malinen’s edgework is not quite on the same level with someone like Heimosalmi, but he nonetheless projects as a good skater at the NHL level and there’s path to further improvement with strength training.
Utilizing his feet, Malinen is a one-man puck-carrying machine. According to the data collected by me and EliteProspects’ Dir. of NA Scouting Mitch Brown, he was the best transition defenceman at the U18’s while pressured. Not just among Finnish players but in the entire tournament. That’s the kind of stuff Malinen can do when he’s playing at his best.
Malinen also manages to use his skating and hands in the offensive zone from time to time, even though playing in Liiga as a 17-year-old (and on the worst team in the league) inhibited his ability to show those things consistently last season.
That being said, Malinen’s hockey sense is a big question mark at this time. There’s not that much planning on his rushes, often skating into pressure before having to make sub-optimal play to not turn the puck over. Sometimes he mishandles the puck in catastrophically bad spots. His awareness in the defensive zone is also a problem, even if he can compensate for some of the mistakes with his feet.
Though Malinen has some very good tools, he’s a very raw and risky prospect. The quality of eligible players on this list does drop big-time at this point, though, and the differences between the remaining players aren’t that big. A team with strong development staff might be able to turn Malinen into a quality prospect given enough time.
Viljami Juusola, P, Kalix HC (HockeyEttan)
Juusola has been the top defenceman of the 2003-born age group in Finland in the past and has put up great counting numbers while playing up multiple levels. The start of his draft-eligible season with Kärpät’s U20 team was rough, though, being stuck in a third-pairing role without power play time. Juusola decided that it was time for a change and he transferred to Luleå in Sweden in the middle of the season.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get to play any J20 Nationell games as the league was shut down, so he spent the rest of the season playing in HockeyEttan, starting to look better and finishing strong in the U18’s by adding six points in seven games even if he had lost his role as the top PP quarterback.
Though Juusola has been known as more of an offensive defenceman in the past, his defensive game has always been pretty good. He excels in one-on-one situations and as a single-variable defender.
Juusola doesn’t make many glaring errors with or without the puck. He pre-scans well on puck retrievals, recognizing the situation and being able to make the right play most of the time.
Although Juusola’s offence took a step back last season, he still has a good shot from the point and can create some offence with his passing, even if his skill isn’t high-end.
Juusola’s skating is rather mediocre for a defenceman his size and he isn’t particularly dynamic in transition, either. His underlying numbers from earlier last season were also pretty brutal. That being said, his overall game is decent and if you make bet on him being able to revive his offence in the future, he could be an interesting pick later in the draft.
Ville Ottavainen, D, JYP (Liiga), 6-foot-4, 201 lbs, Aug 12, 2002
The first and only over-ager on this list, Ottavainen played for the Kitchener Rangers in 2019–2020 but things didn’t go as planned and he ended going undrafted in his first year of eligibility. After some uncertainty about where he’s going to play, Ottavainen moved to JYP’s organization, adding 15 points in 15 games with the U20 team before getting a call-up to the men’s squad. He ended up playing 22 Liiga games in which he added three points.
Ottavainen’s strengths are primarily on the offensive side of things. He likes to join the rush, either by rushing down the wing or dropping down and becoming an option as a trailer. Ottavainen’s puck skills are pretty solid for his size and he makes well-timed activations from the point to make himself available in the OZ.
The biggest shot threat out of all the defenders on this list, Ottavainen’s one-timer and wrist shot make him a real weapon on the power play. His shot selection is rather versatile and allows him to score from different angles. He also improved his playmaking throughout the season, though I’d still say that the shot is his primary offensive weapon.
Even for a bigger defenceman, Ottavainen’s skating needs a lot of honing. His top speed is decent, but the agility and four-way mobility need work. Ottavainen’s defensive game is also rather weak and his work rate isn’t the highest.
That being said, Ottavainen is still very young for a draft-plus-one player and if he was born just over a month later, I think he would have a lot more hype behind him. As a big-bodied offensive defenceman, Ottavainen is an interesting long-term project and he’s likely going to be available late in the draft.
Topias Vilén, D, Pelicans (Liiga), 6-foot-0, 194 lbs, Apr 01, 2003
Vilén is the only defenceman on this list alongside Malinen who spend his entire draft-eligible season in Liiga (if you don’t count a brief stint in Mestis). He debuted with Pelicans’ men’s team back in 2019–2020 and followed that up with eight points in 35 games last season, getting to play decent minutes in most of the games. He served as an alternative captain at the U18’s, adding four assists in seven games.
Vilén is a master of none and doesn’t really have a separation skill, but he’s pretty well-rounded everywhere, which is why he’s always been trusted by his coaches at every level. He’s a pretty sturdy defensive player who competes well in puck battles and doesn’t make many huge errors on his own end.
On the breakout, he can make the simple outlet pass to start the attack. Vilén is a decent skater with some mobility and solid stride form, though he sometimes fails to fully extend. Offensively, he plays a rather meat-and-potatoes game with occasional activations but mostly just shots from the point or D-to-D passes. His rush defence is also rather competent, but he could afford to be more aggressive at times.
Vilén’s upside might not be on the same level as some of the other defenders on this list, but he still has value as a more modern stay-at-home defenceman who can kill penalties and do pretty well everywhere. I expect him to go earlier than I’d be willing to pick him, though.
Valtteri Koskela, D, JYP (Liiga), 5-foot-10, 157 lbs, Oct 20, 2002
Koskela is already the third JYP defenceman on this board and alongside Malinen and Ottavainen, he also got to play in Liiga this season (though that has more to do with JYP being terrible than the players). Early on in the season, Koskela added 12 points in 23 games in the U20 league and followed that up with eight points in 33 games in Liiga.
Koskela’s calling card is his skating prowess. He’s technically sound, has decent explosiveness, and can separate from the forechecker with his acceleration to make a play. His base is strong and can pretty easily be build upon with further strength.
Koskela utilizes his skating a lot in his rush defence, keeping a tight gap in the neutral zone before closing in along the boards. He also had very good flashes offensively during the season. He can make plays in tight and beat players 1-on-1. He’s not a very dynamic playmaker in the final third, but he can occasionally also create for his linemates.
Koskela’s statistical profile from the U20 league is also very strong, with him checking out well in offence, transition, and rush defence. His individual expected goals output was the highest among the defenceman I tracked last season.
Though Koskela is a rather raw prospect and he’s rather old for this draft, there’s enough positives to warrant consideration as a late-round selection.
Jimi Suomi, D, Jokerit U20 (U20 SM-sarja), 5-foot-10, 154 lbs, Mar 01, 2003
Suomi was supposed to play for the Chicago Steel in the USHL last season, but due to the pandemic situation, he decided to stay in Finland and played for Jokerit’s U20 program, getting a lot of ice time and recording 11 points in 15 games. He also played in a top-four role in the U18’s, adding four points in seven games.
As an overall skater, Suomi is among the best on this list. He’s got an effortless stride, utilizing a lot of linear crossovers as he carries the puck through the neutral zone and also having strong four-way mobility. There’s no doubt that added strength is going to boost Suomi’s skating to the next level, which makes him very projectable in that regard.
An offensively-minded defenceman, Suomi can quarterback a power play from the point with ease. His shot is not much of a threat, but he does a good job at moving the penalty kill with effective and rather deceptive playmaking. Suomi flashes a lot of deception on the breakout, too, looking off his passing targets and drawing in pressure. Even though his execution can be lacking, the intentions are good.
Suomi does have a lot of work to do with his defensive game, though, and his pace of play off-puck is a bit worrying and caused some trouble at the U20 level. He’s watching the puck too much in his own end and plays too passively.
Suomi’s 5-on-5 profile in my seven-game sample is also pretty weak. That’s true for even the offensive metrics, which tells you that he did most of his damage on the power play. The lack of breakups is also really noticeable. Basically if the opposition had the puck, Suomi was not going to be the one to take it away. As a long-term project, he does have some upside even if the previously mentioned issues make him very much a long shot.
Jeremi Tammela, RW, Lukko U20 (U20 SM-sarja), 5-foot-9, 179 lbs, Sep 12, 2003
Tammela was a point-per-game in the U20 league already back in 2019–2020, adding 18 points in 18 games with KalPa. He made the switch to Lukko’s program last summer, managing 32 points in 34 games with his new team the following season. He was a key figure in Lukko’s championship run in the playoffs, being the top scorer during the post-season with 10 points in eight games. Despite the hot streak, he wasn’t selected to Finland’s U18 team.
Though Tammela is small, a below-average skater, and doesn’t play with a lot of pace, he can do damage when he gets the puck in the offensive zone. His shot selection and finishing skills are rather impressive. He can shoot off both legs, with two touches or straight off the pass. His timing around the slot is pretty good, too. He’s not a pure sniper, though, and can make some impressive feeds (when the pace isn’t too high, mostly on the power play).
Tammela’s underlying profile is mediocre in most of the areas, but his individual expected goals output is near the top of the sample. His on-ice impacts are also very good, but I suspect that his linemates and Lukko’s strong system had more to do with, especially with the defensive impacts (the lack of breakups also suggests similar things).
Smaller forwards who have issues with skating and pace almost never make it, but Tammela has suffered a lot of injuries during the past two seasons and is among the youngest players in the entire draft by only being a couple of days away from not being eligible until 2022. There’s enough skill to warrant serious consideration as a late-round swing.
