- Kaapo Kakko: RW, TPS, 6-foot-1
There has, for parts of the last year, been a real debate within the scouting world as to whether Kakko really was the second-best prospect in the draft. I am not one of those people. There are few discernible flaws in Kakko’s game. He’s athletic and can handle the puck on his forehand and his backhand at top speed. He slows the game down to dictate tempo when he needs to and he’s crafty. He also protects the puck well, is patient and can escape traffic with edge work when he’s under pressure.
After viewing a series of his Liiga games early on in the season, I watched back some of his Champions Hockey League games last week. You’ll notice that aforementioned edge work below when, after putting himself off balance to reach for the puck, Kakko recovers and goes post-to-post faster than Red Bull Munich goalie Danny aus den Birken can:
(Video)
He’s also unbelievable in breakaway/shootout scenarios, and is already his team’s go-to option on penalty shots (this is a real skill that matters in today’s game, just ask Aleksander Barkov):
(Video)
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- Anttoni Honka: RHD, JYP, 5-foot-10
I’m more hesitant about Honka today than I was entering the season, but he remains firmly in that top-three group of defencemen in this draft for me. The size isn’t my main concern. He’s small for a high-end defenceman in today’s game but it does not hold players back as much as it once did. I’m more concerned with the fact that he’s on the older side of this draft class and he hasn’t taken the strides I expected him to take this season. He’s playing a shade over 14 minutes a night at the pro level as a teenager, which shouldn’t go unnoticed, but he has actually looked less confident in Liiga than he did for the majority of his 20 games last year. Honka’s biggest challenge is that defencemen of his stature need to be able to score (like Boqvist can with his shot) but he’s almost strictly a passer and handler at this point. There are a lot of tools to like in his game, though.
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- Mikko Kokkonen: LHD, Jukurit, 5-foot-11
If Podkolzin is the player I’ve begun to sour on based off of my most recent viewings, Kokkonen is the one who has most put himself on my radar. He doesn’t play huge minutes for Jukurit (a shade under 16 minutes a night on their third pairing at evens) but he could handle more and has taken real strides to become a reliable option on his half of the ice and a productive option at the other. He’s probably owed more than the one goal he has to show for his 43 shots and he’s an excellent outlet passer who is decisive and aggressive in the offensive zone. Kokkonen moves effortlessly in all four directions, closes gaps quickly, rarely gets exposed and is sneaky-strong in puck battles. He looks exactly like what you’d want a modern NHL defenceman to look like.
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- Patrik Puistola: LW, Tappara/LeKi, 6-foot-0
Puistola is whatever the opposite of a safe pick is. I can foresee a scenario where he flames out and another where he becomes the steal of the draft. The kid can just flat out score. In the words of colleague Justin Bourne, he can “shoot the puck into the net.” He’s also a brilliant 1-on-1 threat off the rush — and can make defenders look silly as a result. The concern with Puistola is that he doesn’t see the ice all that well and that limits him as a passer and a cycle threat. Are there players who can find success by playing primarily in transition? Sure. If someone can, it’s Puistola. But he’s going to need to find ways to create offence when that’s not going for him.
The good news? He can do this off the rush:
(Video)
Or this:
(Video)
(Those two plays both happened in the same game…)
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- Lassi Thomson
Honourable mentions:
Marcus Kallionkieli
Henri Nikkanen
Ihmetellen kyllä miksei Ville Heinolaa löydy TOP62. Liigassa pelannut tosi hyvin.