By: Clare McManus
Finland is a rapidly growing hockey country that has produced high-end NHL talent for the last while. Players are getting better and better everyday and it continues to grow in the country of Finland.
This year, Finland could potentially have it’s first ever first-overall pick in Brad Lambert.
Brad Lambert currently plays for JYP of the Liiga and has been a notable prospect to watch for the past couple years. The right-shot forward is known as a dynamic offensive threat with elite skating and offensive instincts. While born in Finland, Lambert played one season in Canada with the Saskatoon Generals, before coming back to his native country and playing for the Pelicans organization.
Lambert played in two full seasons with the Pelicans organization. In the 2017-18 season, he appeared in 19 games at the U16 SM-Sarjia level, posting 29 goals and 19 assists for 47 points. Then during the 2018-19 season, he played 17 U20 games, scoring two goals and nine assists for 11 points. After some time with the Pelicans, Lambert transferred organizations and played for HIFK U20 and Liiga during the 2019-20 year. In 42 U20 games, Lambert scored 18 goals and 20 assists for 38 points. As a 15 year-old, Lambert appeared in four Liiga games and notched two assists.
Since then, he has played full time in the Liiga with JYP. Throughout these years, Lambert has managed to put up consistent numbers at the international level, making him an even more exciting prospect.
The second Finnish player to keep an eye on is five-foot-11, right-shot forward, Joakim Kemell.
Kemell currently competes with the JYP organization and is known to be a natural goal-scorer. He possesses great skating skills all around the ice, and is also known to have decent defensive work. Kemell has played with the JYP organization since the U16 level and has managed to put up consistent numbers throughout the years. During the 2019-20 season, he played 12 international U16 games for team Finland, scoring five goals and five assists for 10 points.
Last season, Kemell led the U20 team in points with 22 goals and 14 assists for 36 total points in 38 games played. He also became the first 2004-born player to play in Liiga and score a goal in his first ever game. This past January, Kemell played a few games at the World Juniors Tournament, scoring three goals in seven games. This summer, he appeared in three games at the U20 tournament, posting a goal and an assist in three games.
The next Finnish player to watch is not a Finnish native, but has played in Finland for the last few years. That is, Slovakian forward, Juraj Slafkovsky.
Slafkovsky is one of the most exciting players in the 2022 NHL Draft class. Currently playing for TPS of the Liiga, the six-foot-four, 225-pound winger brings a ton of energy and skill to the lineup. He is big, strong, protects the puck well, and forechecks hard. He is also known to be a pretty decent skater considering his size.
Slafkovsky started his young career playing in his home country of Slovakia with HC Kosice. He then played a handful of games with RB Hockey Academy in Austria, before transferring to the Czech Republic to play with HK Hradec Kravlove. Since the 2019-20 season, Slafkovsky has played with TPS in Finland.
In his U18 season, he managed to score 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points. In that same season, he appeared in four U20 games, posting three points. This past season, Slafkovsky played in 16 games with the U20 team, scoring eight goals and five assists for 13 total points.
Slafkovsky really made a name for himself at the recent Hlinka Gretzky Cup. In five games with Team Slovakia, he scored three goals and six assists for nine points.
While these are the top three players in Finland, keep an eye on some other players below.
Honorable Mentions:
Miko Matikka (RW) – Jokerit U20
Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (C) – HIFK U20
Topias Leinonen (G) – JYP
Elmeri Laakso (D) – Saipa U20
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling