Team Finland World Jr. Selection Camp Roster Notes

Here’s couple of facts about team Finland:

– There’s 7 player who won the gold medal in Malmö: Goalies Ville Husso and Juuse Saros, D Julius Honka (Status up in the air, depending on Dallas) and forwards Artturi Lehkonen (captain), Juuso Ikonen, Aleksi Mustonen and Otto Rauhala.

– The first training camp starts on next sunday in Finland. The second camp will be in Canada and they are playing two exhibition games before the tournee.

– There are 29 player in the roster.

The Goalies:

Saros and Husso are both playing in the Finnish Elite League and they are starting goaltenders on their teams. This is one of the best goalie duos in the tournament. Both are drafted.

The Defense:

So here is the biggest problem. Julius Honka might miss this tourney if the Dallas Stars don’t release him to play. After Honka there’s couple of interesting offensive Dmen: Joonas Lyytinen(drafted by Preds) is a strong puck-mover and also Sami Niku (eligible 2015) is playing well of late. Niku is an 18-year old and has played good hockey in the second highest men league in Finland.

There are pretty decent defensive Dmen such as Atte Mäkinen (undrafted), Aleksi Mäkelä (drafted by Stars) and Mikke Levo (undrafted). They wont do anything fancy but you can rely on them.

Overall the defensive core probably isn’t a strength.

The Offense:

There’s lot of potential kids who can play roles and Finland should have a great offense.  Many of them have already been productive in a pro league which is somewhat unique for Finland.

Here’s  HP Scout Toni Rajamäki’s projected first 3 lines:

FEL(Finnish elite league), SEL(Swedish elite league) and Finland2 (Second highest Finland pro league)

Roope Hintz (24g 4+7 FEL) – Aleksi Mustonen (25 g 5+12 FEL) – Mikko Rantanen (25g 0+9 FEL)

Artturi Lehkonen (28g 4+7 SEL) – The C is a question mark – Kasperi Kapanen (14g 7+7 FEL)

Sebastian Aho / Juuso Ikonen (28g 8+9 FEL) – Antti Kalapudas (30g 27p Finland2) – Jesse Puljujärvi (10g 3+1 FEL)

HockeyProspect.com Scout, Toni Rajamäki, on Aho “The one problem with Sebastian Aho is that he’s so one-way offensive minded. He doesn’t play a two-way game and he’s not physical at all. What he has going for him is that he has played a lot with Puljujärvi and Kalapudas and they really have some chemistry together. This is the one reason why he might make the final roster.”

1998 born Jesse Puljujärvi will be on the big stage playing in this tournament and show why he will be included in any discussion involving top prospects for the 2016 NHL Draft. Puljujärvi posted 3 goals and 2 assists in the Ivan Hlinka tournament back in August. He already has 6 games under his belt with Finland’s U20 program this year, he has 3 goals and 5 assists in those 6 games.

2015 NHL Draft eligible players Top Six:

Aleksi Saarela: Pretty good at everything but doesn’t do anything exceptionally well. Short kid but likes to play big and he’s doing it pretty well. Good hockey sense and great hands but hasn’t been able to translate it into productivity even though his icetime is pretty good.

Sebastian Aho: Good hands, pretty quick feet and good vision but there’s lot of question marks around his game. Obviously there’s huge potential but he has holes in his game.

Roope Hintz: Big kid and has some hockey sense and vision. Good playmaker but can score as well. Solid in the corners and is decent two-way player. Really mature for his age.

Sami Niku: Great offensive D who has played pretty mature game in the own zone this year. Good vision, great passes and great on the powerplay. Needs to bulk up a lot but that’s not uncommon.  Not the fastest skater but smooth with good technique.

Aleksi Mustonen: went undrafted 2 times but now he has shown amazing skills. Great hands, solid playmaker and quick skater with good technique. He’s small but likes to play much bigger than he is.

Antti Kalapudas: went undrafted last year but a player we like. Great C with really good vision. Average skater and plays pretty good all around game. He’s making his linemates better this year and he’s averaging just under a point per game in the 2nd highest pro league in Finland.

 

Team Finland Selection Camp Roster

Goalies
Ville Husso, HIFK
Juuse Saros, HPK

Defense
Erik Autio, Penn State University NCAA
Julius Honka, Texas Stars AHL
Mika Ilvonen, ST. Cloud State University NCAA
Mikke Levo, Ilves
Alex Lintuniemi, Ottawa 67´s CHL
Joonas Lyytinen, KalPa
Aleksi Mäkelä, Ilves
Atte Mäkinen, Tappara
Sami Niku, JYP
Teemu Vuorisalo, Ässät
Also in training camp:
Elmeri Eronen, TPS
Jere Rouhiainen, Tappara

Forwards
Sebastian Aho, Kärpät
Hannes Björninen, Pelicans
Roope Hintz, Ilves
Juuso Ikonen, JYP
Antti Kalapudas, Kärpät
Kasperi Kapanen, KalPa
Juho Lammikko, Kingston Frontenacs OHL
Artturi Lehkonen, Frölunda, SWE
Aleksi Mustonen, Ilves
Niko Ojamäki, Ässät
Jesse Puljujärvi, Kärpät
Mikko Rantanen, TPS
Otto Rauhala, Tappara
Aleksi Saarela, Ässät
Julius Vähätalo, TPS