Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that Red Wings prospect Jesse Kiiskinen isn’t receiving much in the way of respect from one Finnish publication:
Finnish website Ilta-Sanomat compiled a ranking of the best players currently playing in Finland’s top league. Kiiskinen didn’t make the cut.
On the surface, that’s certainly a surprising development. After all, the 20-year-old right-winger was the leading scorer for HPK Hameenlinna last season. He accumulated 44 points, despite being limited to 46 games due to injury and representing Finland in the IIHF World Junior Championship.
Digging deeper, you quickly realize that seniority is playing a significant role in these rankings.
Several of the top-rated players are seasoned veterans of pro hockey. First up is veteran defenseman Sami Vatanen. The longtime NHLer is 34 years old.
Teemu Hartikainen (35), Jori Lehtera (37), and Antti Raanta (36) are also on the list.
Detroit acquired Kiiskinen from the Nashville Predators in a trade for defensive prospect Andrew Gibson. Both were second-round draft picks. The Red Wings signed Kiiskinen to an entry-level contract during the offseason. He’ll play one more season in Finland before coming to play in North America.
Continued; Kiiskinen is a plucky prospect who’s got a goal-scorer’s shot, and he enjoys going to the front of the net and/or along the boards and battling for pucks while pissing off opponents.
I’m not certain how high he’ll climb among the Wings’ top prospects, but he’s certainly the type of player you want to go into battle with.
